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Swiss resorts

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Swiss resorts exam question 1.

Manda is a skier. She likes mega-French resorts, because the pistes are big, wide, well connected, usually snowsure, lift systems are newish & fast and ... importantly, accomodation is next to the lift.

Mr Manda, however, wants Switzerland for 5 days beginning January 2. Neither have been before. Mr Manda's an experienced intermediate (easy blacks), Manda's a middling intermediate (easy reds).

In relation to Wengen, Verbier or Zermat, discuss in general how will Manda in particular as a lover of the comfort and ease of the mega French resorts (e.g Trois Valles) find the Swiss resorts mentioned above.

Total 12 marks.

For additional 4 marks evaluate Manda's main concern regarding proximity of accomodation to the lift system. Pay attention to whether public transport or walking is important to your answer.

You have until Jan 2 to complete this section of the exam.
Turn over your papers and begin writing.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
manda, why not go to the Portes Des Soliel? 6 French and 6 Swiss resorts on one lift pass. You will love the ease and convenience of Avoriaz, hubby will just adore the quaint old Swiss custom of providing T bars wherever a chair should go. You will both love Champery, one of the prettiest villages in the Alps and get some good skiing on over 650 kms of pistes. Chatel is IMO the best of the French resorts but the village is a bit spread out and you'll have to walk to the Super Chatel gondola or catch a bus to Linga/Pres Le Joux. You could try Morgins or Torgon for accomodation on the Swiss side. Torgon is delightful with great views of Lake Leman.


Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Mon 29-11-04 14:54; edited 1 time in total
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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?
You probably want to add Crans Montanna to that list. Are you neutral about German or French speaking?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
Why not stay in Morzine not high up but easily connects to Avoriaz by cable car and you can get to Les gets easily
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Take Wengen for example...Manda will absolutely hate every minute of it. Having to walk at least 2 minutes to the train/cable car, and then having to travel 30 mins on the train (through some of the most breathtaking scenery in Europe) or 8 mins on a cable car will put her off for the whole day. Having to ski on empty pistes will make her feel very lonely - and as for not having to queue for lifts...well it's just not British.

Manda will also hate the fact that Wengen is an intermediate resort, therefore not giving her an excuse not to ski every piste. She would also, probably, hate the fact that prices are far cheaper than atr Trois Vallees, therefore making the holiday better value.

However, Mr Manda will love it. Traditional Swiss village, beautiful scenery, the chance to ski "James Bond Style" down the Schilthorn, etc etc.

If I were you, I'd stay at home. It's just not worth going on a holiday if you're not 100% convinced that you're going to enjoy it. Let Mr Manda go on his own, and you can sit at home watching the webcams rolling eyes
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You'll need to Register first of course.
David@traxvax wrote:
manda, why not go to the Portes Des Soliel? 6 French and 6 Swiss resorts on one lift pass. You will love the ease and convenience of Avoriaz, hubby will just adore the quaint old Swiss custom of providing T bars wherever a chair should go. You will both love Champery, one of the prettiest villages in the Alps and get some good skiing on over 650 kms of pistes. Chatel is IMO the best of the French resorts but the village is a bit spread out and you'll have to walk to the Super Chatel gondola or catch a bus to Linga/Pres Le Joux. You could try Morgins or Torgon for accomodation on the Swiss side. Torgon is delightful with great views of Lake Leman.


PdS is a great suggestion, although I'm not convinced that Champery is that pretty - perfectly OK though.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Methinks Manda could also look at other Swiss resorts too. For size, Flims/Laax and Davos/Klosters are pretty big with decent lift systems, she just needs to pay that little extra to get Hotels next to the lifts and runs.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
marc gledhill, if going to Flims/Laax, I recommend Falera. It's so small that you're never much of a walk from the lift (and it's a quieter lift).

Otherwise there's loads of hotels at Murschetg (bottom of the main Laax lift) and a few by the lifts at Flims. There's also hotel/hostel at the top of the Laax lift (Crap Sogn Gion) that's ski in, ski out.
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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.
Elizabeth B, only missed out one disadvantage of Wengen, in recent years they have taken to replacing the lovely old slow lifts with shiny new fast ones.

However to be fair there are in effect 3 areas Wengen to Grindelwald in the middle, Murren on one side and First on the other side of Grindelwald, Manda, would probably spend most of the day on the wide pistes of the Mannlichen
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Manda - from your Skier Profile you've only done Meribel, Courchevel & Soldeu, so how do you know what you like?

While I disagree completely with ElisabethB's Wengen obsession, I think you should definitely try and go to some of these places - Zermatt, Wengen and Verbier are all fantastic resorts in different ways and you might find you prefer them! My first 10 holidays skiing were all in the French mega-resorts, but now I try to get out more and see different places. OK so you have to walk a bit in Zermatt, or sit on a train for a bit in Wengen, or queue for a bit in Verbier, but give them a try!
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Elizabeth B, I like your style - and your solution earns extra points. snowHead Mr Manda is a Bond freak and will relish chance to play "Bond" where possible. However watching skiing via webcam isn't a viable option, so half points deducted.

A helpful clue: Manda and Mr M are ex-pat Kiwis who revel in the fact that ski-in/ski-out really does exist (!!!!!), and they now refuse to stay any further away from the lifts than absolutely necessary.
In actual fact a 30min train ride is probably doable if it means empty pistes. Bring on the lonelyness!

Points awarded for dual French/Swiss options. Hadn't thought of that. German or French - language not really an issue.

All suggestions so far sound good - if anyone has any other ideas, please feel free to advise. snowHead
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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.
Plake, cause I'm all knowing??? I do read a LOT. And ask questions. And I know what I like so far, which as you rightly point out is the 3V (And NZ, but that's a red herring in relation to Europe).

I really really really really do want to try non-France!!! I'm just wanting to know as much as possible what to expect.

Bring it on!
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Manda,
A few points. I dont think that in general snow reliability in Swiss resorts is any worse than French ones. At the fairly early season that you are going it can be a bit scratchy in either and not a lot of snow seems to have fallen anywhere so far.
Switzerland has a reputation for being expensive, it probably is a little more expensive on average than France. However if your sole experience of France is 3V you will probably be very pleasantly suprised, in my experience 3V is more expensive than anywhere in Europe.
If you are keen on comfort Swiss hotels at a given price will probably beat French ones. Just make sure you go half board for value, eating out in the evening can be v expensive unless you want a diet of pizza, pasta or rosti.

Transport to and from the lifts is a function of where your hotel is contact the tourist boards for a map of any resort you are interested in. To be honest I have never found this a problem, it is certainly nothing like NZ for distance. Anything more than 5-10 minutes by bus is fairly unusual.

The lift systems may not be quite as efficient as the 3V, conversly the pistes are rarely as busy. Unfortunately for you the new year period is one of the busiest times in Switzerland.

Given the current snow conditions you may want to hold on, if I had to booka flight now and I could get to Zurich at a reasonable price I would do this you can then choose between Wengen, Flims, Davo/Klosters and others including some wetern Austrian such as Lech/ Zurs Ischgl which would suit just as well.
Alternativly you could try Geneva which would set you up for Zermatt, Verbier, Crans or France or Italy etc.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I've found that contacting the hotels directly can be very beneficial. Also, the local tourist offices tend to do "special offers" that, while not being huge bargains, are certainly worth a look.
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