 Poster: A snowHead
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My needs are few and simple:
* Fast to load, easy to navigate
* What lifts are running? (When will it open)
* A decent webcam or three
* maybe cost of liftpasses
* maybe good accommodation search
So my first nominations for websites failing on all of these points and generally using too much animation, flash, music and general crap (flashturbation is the technical term I understand) are:
Chamonix
Morzine - Which doesn't even work properly with Firefox 
Tignes
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| David Murdoch wrote: |
My needs are few and simple:
* Fast to load, easy to navigate
* What lifts are running? (When will it open)
* A decent webcam or three
* maybe cost of liftpasses
* maybe good accommodation search
So my first nominations for websites failing on all of these points and generally using too much animation, flash, music and general crap (flashturbation is the technical term I understand) are:
Chamonix
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I was thinking just the same about Chamonix - sent my browser into a whirl and the CPU was at 100% just so they could tell me they would open the lifts half an hour earlier.
I would add : an avalanche bulletin in French and English, current weather conditions - AFAIK only les Sybelles has done this over the last few years.
State of roads to resort.
It's not rocket salad, is it?
One of the best is les7laux.com, not for the site as such but for the forum where the people who run the resort actually contribute useful information (useful information - now there is a bizarre thought for a website).
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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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davidof, Useful? information? no, that would spoil all the fun.
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I didn't used to be unimpressed by Les Deux Alpes site - but they seem to have got their act together. Very good - apart from the irritating animation around the navigation bars - and, in FF at least, "Fermer cette fenêtre" doesn't for the web cam.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Fri 23-11-07 11:02; edited 1 time in total
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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David Murdoch, I'm with you on the new Morzine site. It's trying to be far too clever.
I wonder when the tourist office will realise that people don't ski "in" the village...?
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I would nominate La Plagne, also the English version of the site is different to the French with different content, the summer sites suffer the same problems, but at least they leave the Webcams on all year!
The Paradiski site is even worse!
The best site for La Plagne is RG's http://www.perso-laplagne.fr/index_ENG.html
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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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boredsurfin,
Agreed. RG's site makes a mockery of the La Plagne site
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What annoys me so much about the Chamonix one is that, as cfc5mu0 says, the info available on it is excellent. But it's appallingly organised and visually a complete mess - pointless animation, arrows everywhere, my eyes, they bleed!!
I generally use the saner
http://www.chamonix.com/
unless I really need something that can only be found on the CMB - e.g. they have much better webcams, and you can recharge passes, book the top of LGM etc. These last two are excellent but in the nature of things, you are more likely to be using them as an occasional tourist, who will need it to be simple. They are so badly laid out that most people just give up.
And as for the full page ad that blocks you from using the site at all until you've dismissed it. ooooh!
More good ones please though!
http://www.snow.com/
is one I like
http://www.hotham.com.au/
is also nice.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Chamonix's is awful. Is a decent printable piste map of each area too much to ask for? Instead you get these 'interactive' maps that are totally useless (it isn't just Chamonix that does this. St. Anton is the worst offender I've seen). Yippie! When I click I can make little chairlifts go up and down, but it doesn't actually tell me anything.
Far worse, though, is what I repeatedly see in German and Austrian sites: a lot of informaition that is on the German language site is not on the English language site. What's the point of translating 30% of your website?
Oh, and music that you can't turn off. If I'm listening to something else while browsing (and thus don't want to turn my speakers off), it gets really annoying.
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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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They all suck.
Cairngorm is the worst.
Zermatt is the best.
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A small point, on the CdM Chamonix website if you click on the PDA links for lift info, its clean ie no interactivity.
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You know it makes sense.
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a website needs:
1. weather forecast
2. snow depths/lifts open/weather conditions
3. decent webcams about 3 is needed
4. accomodation pages
5. reguarly updated all year round
6. easy to read piste maps
7. news of what is happening in the resort
8. map of the village with all the accomodation
9. good directions and conditions of local roads
10. all of the site needs to be translated
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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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I think all web sites should have massive buttons with gradient backgrounds 
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Poster: A snowHead
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cfc5mu0, chamonix didn't tell me until Wednesday whether they were going to open the Grands Montets or not. I'm running 1mb down, 500kb up...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Don't know about the worst but I like interactive pistemaps that show live which lifts & runs are open eg Verbier site.
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brian
brian
Guest
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| Whitegold wrote: |
They all suck.
Cairngorm is the worst.
Zermatt is the best. |
Falls off chair .... I think I actually agree with that.
Zermatt's is great: real time updates of opening of lifts/runs and weather, plenty of cams, at least links to the SLF avvy bulletins, no annoying flash, regularly updated news, loads of info on the resort, accom, timetables, etc, etc, .... and all in 4 languages. Very much the badger's nadgers.
http://www.zermatt.ch/index.e.html
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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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Livignos is pretty crap
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
I'm running 1mb down, 500kb up
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That's the problem then I'm on 19mb down and 1.3 up..at home..I'm sure work is much faster.. 
I suppose my main point is the improvement over 5 years ago is immense..
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cfc5mu0, that'll be it then...
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Laax's new one is pretty unusable. Content is there (in German - piste openings not in English) but not at all intuitive to access. It's bloody flash too. We're on 10Mb down and it's still slow
Courchevel's site used to be good but the new one is nowhere near as good.
They all seem to have gone for appearance over functionality this year 
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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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David Murdoch, i actually think the Tignes site isn't that bad if only for the fantastic panoramic webcams and the daily updated weather forecasts and theres plenty of links to the resorts accomodation-i prefer it to the Alpe D'huez site which i'm not very impressed with.
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I think the french are still hurting that the internet / web killed off Minitel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel They were late to the web game and it still shows in some very poor websites and of course they are always on strike. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
10. all of the site needs to be translated
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Into what? Only English, or all of the planet's other languages as well?
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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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kevinrhead you are spot on --- http://www.chillfactore.com/flash.asp
i want to find the person behind the idea for a website on angle...  I have an idea where i can find him - A&E BROKEN NECK SECTION!!!
Just after a minute spend on the site i had my neck damaged....
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FAQ
may need to get a faster connection or better PC..No 100% CPU for me loads in a second. The domain map covers DM's first four listed requirements passes are even discounted until 2/12 ..
