 Poster: A snowHead
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Jonpim, That does sound civilised. Who have you booked that with?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Jonpim wrote: |
Hezza, you are going out the same day as me! 
Where are you intending to ski?
We must meet up and compare notes. I promise to buy all of your group a drink 
I'm going out the civilised way: Eurostar to Paris, amble across town to Gare Austerlitz, relaxing meal with wine and a few beers, 1st class sleeper down to Bourg, arriving 06:39, relaxed, refreshed and raring to go
And really Hezza, we are not against what you are doing. Go for it, I say! But some of us who have suffered the Overnight Direct Ski Train feel honour bound to inform anyone considering the trip or our experiences. You may well come back saying I am a complete wimp and talking a load of tosh. That would be wonderful. Its just not for me. |
Skiing just in Les Arcs - i'm a personal fan of the runs above 1950/2000...although maybe thats because i went in Jan last year and the lower runs around Peisey were rocky, slushy & basically not very snowy! How about yourself?
All of our group a drink you say?  - i would probably advise against that sort of offer, as we will hold you to it  although the note comparison is a must.
I personally love the sleeper train to Bourg, and would love to try out the 1st class cabins - only problem is the people i organise the trips for are generally poor students! (one of the lads on our sleeper to Moutiers is traveling down in a £15 reclining seat)
Chris
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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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NIKKIWHITE, book direct. Eurostar for Eurostar. SNCF for SNCF.
I have gone off Rail Europe because their website is 2 days out of date - you should be able to book 3 months in advancd but today you can only book up to January 27th. On the SNCF site you can book up to January 30, and you need to get in early to get the cheap tickets.
Hezza. I don't know Les Arcs that well, but am happy to be educated. I'm actually on my way to Tignes, but Tignes can wait.
The offer of a drink for all 8 of you stands - maybe 2 drinks for that poor broke student.
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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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| Hezza wrote: |
Expensive!? I don't know what your skiing holidays are like, but this is pretty cheap. I have been skiing 4 times - twice organised trips, twice DIY (once on the Corail overnight sleeper to Les Arcs) and have spent between £160 - £200 per day on all of them. This trip is £99train, £25ski pass, £20 food = £145 for one day. Certainly not extortionate!
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Well I've done a week in St. Anton for 500 quid. Got best part of a days skiing across the two transfer days so lets call that 7 days - 500/7 = just over £70 a day..about 1/2 the price of that trip. and NO FRIGGING DREADFUL EUROSTAR..
Still it's good that there's varierty in the world or else we'd all be going to the same venues...
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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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I cannot believe that any self respecting skier or anyone remotely interested in the sport (which "Whitegold" must be as s/he is on this site) could say that weekend ski trips from the UK are pointless.
We do 4 or 5 1 night dashes to the Alps from Stansted or Luton each season and they are hard to beat when you have limited time (ie no chance of any weekdays off as my other half is a teacher...) We kick off with a very early Saturday flight out, hire a car & drive to resort of choice, ski Saturday pm, apres ski, find a cheap B n B, night out, sleep, ski all day Sunday, drive to airport then get back to Blighty at about 10.30 pm. zzzzzzzzzzz.
Pre-season we travel to glaciers and have had phenomenal conditions over the years from September to June - although glaciers inevitably mean longer drives and a 3 hour drive from GVA to Saas Fee has been known. But once the season proper is underway there are loads of resorts within 1 hour of any of the alpine airports - last season we got to Ski Amade within 35 minutes of Salzburg Airport.
But the most pointless trip we squeezed in last season was 2 days skiiing on the May Bank Hol weekend in Val D'Isere - 60% of runs open in Espace Killy on 3rd May, no other skiers (and I mean no other skiers in sight), sunshine and fresh, untracked powder. We gazed at the untracked stuff before us and wondered why we bothered.....
Oh - and we live in the North East so there's the small matter of a 460 miles round trip to get to our local airport! But where there's a will there's a way. If you live darn sarf you've really got no excuse not to (unless you think it's pointless that is.....)
It really is well worth it though - we kick off our 1 night dashes for the 07/08 season in 3 weeks with a £28 return flight to Salzburg (and a 45 min transfer to Kaprun).
Can't wait!!
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John Crawford, absolutely. 2 full days is very easily done from daaan sarf and it feels like you've had a week off. There are risks regards weather but we all accept that don't we? I used to regularly leave work on a friday lunchtime and head for Dover, then drive like a banshee all night to Kitzbuhel or wherever, ski all day, find a room, go out, ski sunday morning and drive back home... usually made it to desk by monday morning just like everyone else. Sometimes did Scotland. These days, of course, even easier thanks to cheap flights and cheap car hire.
I reckon this eurostar lark will be a riot... hundreds of de-mob happy city workers on a train where nobody can sleep! End of a hard week, boozy lunch followed by boozy pre-boarding meal. Oh dear. Think I'll pass as my body needs to get properly horizontal at least one night in two but bon chance and bon voyage to all you brave eejits who have booked.
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and a 45 min transfer to Kaprun
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didn't know you could hire Bugatti Veyrons at the airport
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| regular trips to Dicks Tea Bar - 10-15Euros per drink! |
what a shameless rip off. Still, if there are people willing to pay, free enterprise rules, I suppose. Reminds me why I gave up going to Meribel.
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holidayloverxx, liz09, Hezza, good on you. It sounds like a lot of fun, especially going with a bunch of mates. Some people can function fine on hardly any sleep for a day or two and others need their 8 hours or more every night. I'd love to do it, but there's no way in the world I could get MrQ to
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