 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm off skiing for a long weekend in January and after much umming and arring picked Les Contamines because i thought it would be lovely (never seen a bad word anywhere about it), quiet (never seems to really get hammered, but mid Jan should be nice and sedate) and easy to get to (car hire from Geneva, easy peasy).
Anyway, as everyone does, I have been watching the webcams and the snow reports but this morning i noticed on the main resort website that the SkiCross World Cup is being held in Les Contamines on the weekend that i am there!
I've looked into this on the website and found that it only seems to affect a couple of runs - on the Friday and the Saturday the main blue back to the village is affected and on the Saturday and the Sunday the Skier Cross area is a write off.
Does anyone have any experience of these kind of events? Will the resort be absolutely hammered or will it not really be that noticeable once you are up on the mountain?
Want to try and guage how badly the place will be affected while i still have time to change my plans!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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magic_hat, Should be good to watch, it will be slightly busier than normal, but as most people will be watching the events, then the remaining pistes should be reasonably quiet. If you find that the resort is very busy, you could always ski one of the other resorts lower down the valley - St Gervais, St Nicholas, Megeve, Les Houches (from St Gervais on railway)
I would stick with your original plans.
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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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magic_hat, it doesn't look like it would give you much problem, the main blue Montjoie down to the village can be avoided by downloading in the gondola and I think the Loyers is somewhere down in the village - I've never been into the village, so I couldn't say. But the best of the Contamines skiing is above the top of the gondola and should not be much affected. The Belleville side should also be pretty quiet - it's usually deserted. Doesn't hold it's snow as well as the Contamines side, but if it's cold and snowy weather, worth a visit. And there might be some fun "animations" in the village in the evenings. I would agree with srobbo, go for it.
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Hi Magic Hat, I enjoyed a week in Les Contamines in early March 2006, a sizeable ski area, good snow record, village charm, deserves more recognition, but perhaps it's best kept a secret. Good choice.
I remember watching the SkiCross racing on Eurosport in Jan 2006, looked like the course was laid out on one of the steeper pistes under the Signal gondola, there are a number of variant pistes that criss-cross in this section also served by the Montjoie chair, so they must leave a way down beside the course. Most of the skiing is above this area, over the Col du Joly and in the open bowl below the Aiguille Croche, so shouldn't affect the skiing too much. Not sure about the crowds, but I don't think it attracts the same support that say you get with Downhill racing.
As an alternative you could always drive down (10-15 mins, huge free car park) to the gondola at St Gervais, that opens up an even bigger ski area that links across to Megeve, very enjoyable and beautiful views of the Mont Blanc range if visibility is good, but Contamines has the edge on snow quality. Hope this helps
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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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Sorry for the repeats in my above post, while I was typing it, pam w and srobbo replied along similar lines, at least we're all on the same wavelength.
Some of the events are held on the Loyers halfpipe near the village centre, this is well away from the main ski area, might be worth watching the floodlit final on Sunday evening. I bet there'll be a good vibe, so go for it!
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Thanks to everyone for the replies... they were just what i was hoping for, quite a relief!
I was dreading it being absolutely packed and completely ruining everything that i had picked the resort for!
srobbo, Thanks. Slightly busier should be fine - thanks also for other resort suggestions. Will have a hire car so definately an option if things do get a bit hectic.
pam w, You're spot on... i found a map and and the Montjoie run is the main one down (but there appears to be an alternative) and the loyers run is one of the greens in the village itself. The Skier Cross area is next to this run, so i presume the events will be here.
luigi, Thanks for all that. Good to have a few people all of the same opinion! And thanks for the pointer about the free car park at St Gervais, wasn't aware of that - will bear it in mind.
Cheers All! And a Happy New Year!
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magic_hat, be sure to come back and tell us how it all works out. 
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