 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Hi There ................. anybody got any useful info on ISOLA 2000, going late Jan, never been to this part of the Alps and any info would be greatly received ............. Cheers in advance !
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
fraserpreston, This isn't really about Isola itself but may provide a little info. If you have any specifics then please ask, and I'll see if I, or others, can help.
Enjoy ....
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
| Agenterre wrote: |
fraserpreston, This isn't really about Isola itself but may provide a little info. If you have any specifics then please ask, and I'll see if I, or others, can help.
Enjoy .... |
Many thanks for the response .................. will have to bear the concrete jungle for week .....................
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
I went at Easter last year for the first time. Must admit, I was a bit dubious about skiing at Easter so close to the Med, but it was fantastic. We had loads of snow, in fact on the drive up it was snowing heavily and we got stuck on the outskirts of the village.
I have skied in quite a few European countries (France, Italy, Austria, Germany Andorra etc.) and Canada and really enjoyed the skiing at Isola. As with most places when skiing at Easter, conditions were better in the morning than late afternoon.
There's plenty of difficult runs (well hard enough for me), no queues for lifts and well pisted.
There are a few different sides to the resort, including one that lets you see Nice from the top of the mountain, which is excellent.
It is different to all other resorts I've skied in, in that previous to this I have either been with friends or just me and the missus. This time we took our two sons for the first time, who at the time were aged 8 months and 30 months and previously we've been on package tours. This was brilliant at the time, but times have changed! This time we flew to Nice and then used a hire car to get to Isola. Quite a nice drive until you get past Isola and towards Isola 2000. It's amazing the number of British families in Isola 2000 who did exactly the same.
As far as I am aware, there were no ski companies with trips to Isola, which was part of the attraction, we didn't want expensive, crowded slopes and bars filled with pissed up Brits, plus we had my parents to look after the kids whilst we skied, so we wanted somewhere fairly quiet. It still had enough bars and places to eat though.
I believe Crystal are using the resort this year, so things might be a bit different, though I doubt it. Still can't see it attracting the sort of groups I used to go with!
The French ski school seemed very good. We had some private lessons for our eldest child, and he absolutely loved it. Still talks about it. The instructor was great and it was a good way to introduce him to skiing, and there was enough space on the gentler slopes for us to take him skiing as well.
If you're self-catering there are a couple of supermarkets that are well stocked, and not expensive.
The lift system seemed ok. We never queued, even over the Easter holiday weekend (which surprised us). There are a couple of gondolas (the newer being better as faster and gives easier access to the better ski area), newish chair lifts and quite a few long drag lifts, which is one of the downsides.
It's certainly not the prettiest or livelist resort you'll ever visit, and not the largest ski area either, but I suppose it depends on what you're going for.
For us it was a cheap, quiet holiday with short travelling time, skiing most of the day with no long queues, a beer or two afterwards and introducing the eldest to skiing.
They are trying to hide the concrete with wood cladding, but it's not much of an improvement really.
As I say, I've only been once so don't take this as gospel, especially as we didn't sample the night life to much. It might be great really, but we enjoyed it so much we are going back this year as well, and the snow looks amazing so far, as it was last year. Good snow and skiing most days always helps you remember a resort better than if it's poor.
Talking to the instructor last year, it was better last Easter than normal at that time, but Isola is unique for it's snow as it's quite high and gets a lot of weather systems off the Med that can dump snow on Isola even when there's nothing in the more traditional Alpine resorts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
We are also going (in the last week of January) having bought a timeshare week - on ebay would you believe  From what I have read and seen on webcams it looks quite promising. Certianly loads of snow at the moment. French TV last night reported an avalanche risk of 4/5 in the area and I believe the road up was closed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks for all replies to my original post - loads of info and my expectation is for a great few days ......................... roll on the last week in Jan !!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ