 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi All,
We have been skiing for the past 3 years to Chamonix in Feb Half term. We Have to go in the half term week because of work commitments etc.
Was just wondering if anybdy could give some ideas on good places to go. Ideally they would be fairly quiet, and cheap. We are all intermediate level skiers!
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Matt
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Blah blah half term blah blah you'd have to be mad blah blah avoid France blah blah etc etc.
May I just be the first to say: have you considered Austria, at Easter?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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No we have not considered Easter. We cant do that this year though, as most of the party have taken holiday from work. We are planning on Driving, and there will be 6 in the party. Any ideas?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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gream0604,
You haven' indicated how many people you require accomodation for?:
My neighbour has a small apartment in my building http://nicetoski.com/16001/221081.html however as you know it's a popular week so you'd need to be quick!
Best of luck
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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^^^ Just posted before you ... Will need accomodation for 6 people!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Not too busy in around here (Ski Amade in Austria) at that time... yes it will be busy and you may have to wait 5 minutes in a pushy line for some of the main lifts but I have never chosen not to go out skiing during these peak times.
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Do you not want to visit Chamonix again, as it's the devil you know? If you've sorted the half term drive down there and want to do France again you might consider one of the resorts in the vicinity, such as Flaine or Megeve. But they won't be quiet - there isn't anywhere quiet at half term in France because it's peak French time too.
A lot of accommodation will already be booked for that week so as someone has already said - don't delay!
If you haven't driven before you'll need to think about timing to try to avoid the worst of the queues, both on the autoroute going down (Reims, in particular) and on the A40 more locally.
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Its not that we dont want to visit Chamonix, but it would be nice to go somwhere different, and maybe find somewhere a bit cheaper!
We have flown once, and done the drive twice, so thats all good.
It doesnt have to be France either, we are open to other options (Switzeland etc)
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Given that you already know the area and have done the drive before, go pretty much anywhere along the Aosta valley which is just the other side of the Mont Blanc Tunnel from Cham.
Courmayeur, La Thuile, Pila, Cervinia (in increasing order of distance) will all be fine in terms of not being overcrowded, and you won't have any bother finding accommodation at any of them. Further along is the Monterosa bit, but that's more of a cult off-piste sort of a place than a regular holiday resort.
With the exception of Cervinia, they're all a bit on the small side for a week's skiing - but the lift pass you'll get at any of them allows you to day trip to the others.
Cervinia has the added advantage of being linked to Zermatt, but it's own local slopes are disappointingly flat and boring in my opinion. YMMV.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Okay, these are all considerations.
Does anybody have any other ideas? or good reveiws?
Thanks again
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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gream0604, why not have a look at La Rosiere, it will givw you the opportunity to see Mont Blanc from a different direction, the ski area, Espace San Bernardo is shared with La Thuile and even at half term the resort doesn't get over-crowded. There's lots of info at www.larosiere.net and for an example of a chalet holidays and some good views of the are have a look at www.morealps.com We have a chalet in the village and have skiied the area for many years so we are a little biased.
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I too am forced to go at half term (wife works in education and has teacher's holidays). We have been to the Dolomites 3 or 4 times (Arabba specifically) and it has been a) quite reasonabley priced and b) not too busy
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You know it makes sense.
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I think that the Dolomites are a bit far for us. We are not planning on flying, so would therefore have to dive!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Apart from the Aosta Valley, my other half term experience (last year) was in Valmeinier (linked to Valloire).
Dirt cheap, not crowded, really enjoyable slopes (very surprised it's not better know). The Maurienne valley has great potential for day tripping and hopping about between lots of modestly sized areas as well, though we didn't.
Not crowded? IN FRANCE?
Impossible!
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Poster: A snowHead
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gream0604, I went to Laax in Switzerland the last half term, review here
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Again, why not Austria, the drive isn't that much more than France, slightly less depending on which ferry crossing you do and no tolls on the German Autobahns.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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gream0604, Friends place will be too small-sorry dsoutar, http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=39913
Apart from the terrain variety which the GM www.grand-massif.com has in spades, generally you’ll be comfortable with most of the runs as intermediates and there’s plenty to develop your skills and experience too. There are lots of good lifts and queuing is rare apart from one of the dispersal lifts which at half term can mean a five minute wait at the start of the day – that’s it, wait over! You'll also have great views of MB from the top of the Flaine snowbowl which has considerably less ice than many of the Chamonix resorts due to angle/wind bearings.
If you're looking for a family orientated village where you can walk everywhere easily, good varied entertainment for children in the main square most evenings, a growing centre for live acoustic music and enough decent places to eat without bankruptcy then I’d thoroughly recommend Samoens as a base. I am biased, but it really is a fantastic magical place! You can PM to Vermont Powder who spent the season there last year having never been before –she can tell you all you need to know.
I'm on the list above and at the moment currently have half term 12-19 Feb after that I’ll have just one more week to offer as we'll be using it ourselves 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I didnt realise there were no tolls on the German AutoBahns!
Is there any resorts in Austria that are cheap/nice?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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gream0604, Murau is a good base -I took my boys there a while back and we had a great time.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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How much further is the drive to Austria - i went on 3 school ski (coaching it) trips in the 90s and never once went to france - we did austria twice and italy.
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| Mr Technique wrote: |
Not crowded? IN FRANCE?
Impossible! |
Rubbish, had a day at St Gervais last year mid half term, only had a max 5 min queue at one bottleneck, other times it was ski straight onto the lift, or maybe 5 folk in front of me.
Cheers,
Greg
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Well we did Saalback which was 1664km 
Seem to remember it took the best part of 24 hours with the ferry.
think i'll stick to flying
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| kitenski wrote: |
| Mr Technique wrote: |
Not crowded? IN FRANCE?
Impossible! |
Rubbish, had a day at St Gervais last year mid half term, only had a max 5 min queue at one bottleneck, other times it was ski straight onto the lift, or maybe 5 folk in front of me. |
Have you heard of 'irony', Greg?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Flaine in the GM. Nearest large resort by road from Calais (about 540 miles). Extensive skiing, reasonably priced SC apartments. So long as you don't mind ugly architecture.....
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Mr Technique wrote: |
| kitenski wrote: |
| Mr Technique wrote: |
Not crowded? IN FRANCE?
Impossible! |
Rubbish, had a day at St Gervais last year mid half term, only had a max 5 min queue at one bottleneck, other times it was ski straight onto the lift, or maybe 5 folk in front of me. |
Have you heard of 'irony', Greg? |
yes but others, especially first time readers may well take things literally.....
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They might notice the disparity between my deployment of the word "impossible" and the fact that I have cited an example of the very thing I am claiming is "impossible" just above my use of the word "impossible".
Unless your theoretical first time readers are, in fact, mentally retarded.
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You know it makes sense.
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Own up Greg.
You took it literally because you hadn't read it properly.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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What about one skiing person looking to join other skiers over the half term? Somewhere not too busy, of course, which seems to be possible.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
Unless your theoretical first time readers are, in fact, mentally retarded.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Anyways, getting the post back on Track ... Does anybody have any reveiws of Montgenevre?
I remeber i went there with school about 6 or 7 years ago. Ski passes seem quite reasonable (144 euros according to the website), and there is some nice accomodation.
Cheers
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Okay ... Confirmed dates are - Leaving England Friday 18th Feb (PM) and Arrive at destination Saturday Lunchtime/afternoon. Skiing from 20th for 6 days, and leaving 26th.
There will be 4 adults, 1 teen? (1 and 1 child? (14)
Sleeping arrangments - 2 doubles + Twin/bunks, 1 double 2 twins etc? (2 couples, and 2 brothers)
Budget is around £500pp for self catered accom. (£3000 total). This will include travel (From england), self catered Accom, Ski hire + Lift Passes.
Dont need anything child friendly and not fussed about clubs etc.
Many thanks again, and sorry i havnt been more helpful.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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That's a tight budget. Give SnowTrex a try since you're willing to be somewhat flexible on location - they have a lot of s/c accommodation in a lot of places.
All their accommodations are inclusive of lift passes, and they can arrange discounts on pre-booked ski hire.
I've used them twice (for Valmeinier/Valloire and Vaujany/Alpe d'Huez). No real complaints. You get what you pay for though, obviously - don't expect to land in the lap of luxury.
Alternatively if you can narrow yourself down to a resort or two, you should contact the tourism office for a list of private apartments. Often these places are run very modestly with no internet presence etc. and so if you're willing to blunder through a few phone conversations in pigeon French you can get some real bargains. A related tip that I have found useful in the past is to search the net in the native language of your destination rather than "self catering Chamonix" which will tend to turn up the UK-focused more expensive end of things.
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Okay,
Ive had a little look at that site, and the location looks great!
When looking at the ski pass prices, i dont think we would need the one that covers the whole area. I cant see a price for just the Flaine area for 6 days though??
The other main place that i was interested in was Montgenevre, but again im finding it hard to understand the ski passes!! http://www.montgenevre.com/363.0.html?&L=4
Any help would be much appreciated!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The other child is 18
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FAQ
1765KM Leeds -Murau 
