 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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stanton, Swim? 
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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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Thank god I am going West!
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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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stanton, sorry to disappoint, but Speedferries is not "out till February".
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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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stanton,
Guess, I'll go P&O.
1st trip booked pre-Xmas with EJ so I am covered so far.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Sorry to disapoint again but only one bore of the tunnel will be partially closed, caused no problems last time it happened see no reason why it will this time
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EJ - December, BA - February, Eurotunnel - April.
Hopefully the first 2 are safe and it gives them 7 months to sort the tunnel out. I feel pretty confident.
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| Ordhan wrote: |
| Thank god I am going West! |
i should still keep your fingers crossed because there will be a few other airlines that will topple before the end of the 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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We are flying over to Amsterdam with KLM then smoking ourselves into oblivion
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Smokin Joe, 
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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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Well no problems with Eurotunnel after the last fire, so I expect to be taking the Tunnel again come Jan. No worries from my perspective
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Boris, I've got a crossing booked for Friday 28th November, I'm not too worried either. It's at 20.20 though on a Friday evening so not sure how many extra hours I need to allow because I will need to travel down the M25 on a Friday afternoon/evening!
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You know it makes sense.
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VolklAttivaS5, I'd leave as early as you can and arrive as early as you can. Chances are they will put you on an earlier crossing. The day before Good Friday this year I was on one that was 2 hours earlier than my booking.
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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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Colin B, yeah good idea. I was going to get there in plenty of time me being me, I prefer to be there in plenty of time rather than by the skin of my teeth but it hadn't occurred to me I could go on an earlier crossing if I get there too early. I know they allow you onto the next one if you're within 2 hours of missing the one you were meant to go on if you're stuck in traffic though.
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Poster: A snowHead
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VolklAttivaS5, depends on the height of your vehicle. If it's over-high then it has to go on a single decker and there are fewer of them.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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holidayloverxx, no it's just a normal car.
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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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| VolklAttivaS5 wrote: |
| Boris, I've got a crossing booked for Friday 28th November, I'm not too worried either. It's at 20.20 though on a Friday evening so not sure how many extra hours I need to allow because I will need to travel down the M25 on a Friday afternoon/evening! |
I remember the first time I went on the tunnel lost about 2 hours on the M1, was flying down the M20 at well over 100 to get there in time, only to be sat waiting in a queue for an hour.
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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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Kel, hmmm yeah. Well multimap says 4 hours from my house to Folkestone so I reckon if I set of at 2.00pm then that leaves 5 hours 20 minutes to get there and allowing an hour for check in, only need 30 minutes to check in I think. Hopefully in that time I should be past M25 before the tea time rush starts. Might even have to leave at 1pm instead.
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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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VolklAttivaS5, Tricky one - you could fly round M25 or crawl. I would leave an hour early and miss the worst - M25 can be a nightmare Friday night - best case you get an earlier crossing - worst you have a coffee and break at terminal
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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VolklAttivaS5, the crossing is pretty non-eventful. I tend to look out the window until we're in the tunnel - then there isn't anything to see. Sitting in the car reading, eating, napping, looking at map is about the only thing to do. With 3 young kids I tend to have a walk around to stretch the legs - usually to the loo 
We're on the overheight usually with roofbox - and they only have loos at each end of train so can be a treck and a queue if there is a lot of coaches on. Kids have a habit of deciding to go half way across. On the car decks loos are every 3 coaches so easier to get to.
On the rare occassions I'm on my own - I never get out the car
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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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Boredsurfing, well the train going into the dark tunnel - very suggestive 
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Boris, In all the crossings we have done I think only once did we suspect that in a car behind us they were joining the mile under club 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Boris, Boredsurfing, thanks. I think I will use the opportunity to stay in the car, no need to get out as I'll be on my own, study my map and to have some food and a coffee. Once you're in Calais how long does it take roughly to disembark and get going on the motorway? Is it clearly signposted i.e how to head south? Someone else said you can go wrong at Calais if you're not careful. Dunno what they meant though.
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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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VolklAttivaS5, there are no customs or anything on the other side - you clear them all on the UK side. So as soon as train stops I'd say couple of mins then you are driving off. Exit goes straight onto the motorway which goes past Calais - so you either filter into the lane which takes you inland towards Reims, or off down the coast towards Boulongne. Very very straightforward
By South - I'm assuming you are heading Reims, Dijon, Lyon
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| Boris wrote: |
| VolklAttivaS5, Tricky one - you could fly round M25 or crawl. I would leave an hour early and miss the worst - M25 can be a nightmare Friday night - best case you get an earlier crossing - worst you have a coffee and break at terminal |
What he said. You cannot predict the M25 especially on a Friday, but there is no such thing as the tea-time rush hour, it last's from about 1pm with all us Northerner's going home from the smoke  and goes on till about 7 pm.
Best advice be early if there is room they will let you on, but if you are late they will only let you on when there is an available space, or so I believe.
IMHO It is the only way to cross the water but it is a none event.
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You know it makes sense.
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VolklAttivaS5, As Boris says, its straight off the train and then as long as you know which towns are next on your route (or their general direction) it's very straightforward.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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VolklAttivaS5, If heading to Reims, the only thing you need to watch out for -is that soon after you join the motorway from Eurostar - you bear right onto another motorway towards Reims. Miss this and you're in Belgium. But keep your eye on the signs and you can't go wrong
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Boris,
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By South - I'm assuming you are heading Reims, Dijon, Lyon
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yes, indeedy. Reims, Dijon, Lyon and then Via Michelin says go towards Chambery and then Albertville, Tarentaise and then I'm almost there I guess with about 100km to go according to the Via Michelin. Do you think Via Michelin is the best map site to go by? I'll have a Euro map with me anyhow as a back up.
Kel,
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| Best advice be early if there is room they will let you on, but if you are late they will only let you on when there is an available space, or so I believe |
Yeah I might even alter it to an earlier crossing perhaps, or set off at 12.00 midday and see if I can get on an earlier one. Just means I can have a longer break the other side.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Yes Via Mich is fine - map as backup
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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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VolklAttivaS5,
M25 on a friday...hmmm.. I'd want to be past Heathrow by 2:30 and approaching Dartford by 3:00 to avoid the rush.
If you go past Heathrow at gone 3:00 you can lose two hours getting past the A3, IME from the M40..!!! and I think the trafiic doesn't start geting lighter until $:30 or so... lighter, not thinning out to normal speeds...
IMV, M25 and fridays don't mix unless early or late... and your travel time will be out of the window
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JT, oh. Well I've got to go on the Friday one way or another because I need to be in Tignes on the Saturday afternoon/early evening. If I leave Friday morning then I'll be in Tignes too early so to speak and I don't want to stay overnight after getting to Calais-I won't sleep anyway because I'll want to get going. And if I catch a really late crossing on the Friday night then I still have to drive down to Folkestone during rush hour this end and I'll get stuck this end then instead because of the Gloucester/M4 traffic presumably.
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VolklAttivaS5, Why won't you sleep if you stop somewhere ?
I usually book a ferry at a similar time to your tunnel crossing and find that a day stuck in traffic in the UK has worn me out enough to sleep just fine.
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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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rjs, what I was on about was if I set off Friday morning and get a crossing earlier say at 4.00pm to avoid the M25 traffic right, (my crossing is 20.20 ATM) then to carry on driving straight through to Tignes would mean that I'd be arriving about 7.00am including a few hours for stops which is too early really to get in the room and I'll be knackered by then anyway. So that means stopping overnight if I do the set off Friday morning idea and setting off again at say 8.00am to arrive in Tignes 'bout lunchtime ish/early afternoon say. I know I won't sleep because I'll have set off that morning and will be thinking about the rest of the journey. Thinking about it though perhaps I will be knackered as you say because I'll have been driving/travelling for 8 hours.
If I keep the crossing the same as it is now at 20.20, I was gonna drive through the night with stops of course so I will arrive in Tignes about 11.00am. I can then ski if I want or if knackered go to bed until afternoon tea.
So tell me what time you set off from your house (Manchester! Jesus just saw where you live-no wonder you need to stop overnight!) what ferry do you go on and where do you stop overnight? What time do you leave next morning and what time do you get to Tignes? I might change my crossing I think, I live closer to Folkestone than you and your way of stopping overnight is safer.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sat 13-09-08 1:13; edited 2 times in total
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VolklAttivaS5, I understood what you meant, I think you are underestimating how tiring the drive will be and the impact that will have on how you ski. I drove out to Tignes without stopping overnight once, I wouldn't do it again.
You could easily get to Reims before midnight French time, stop in a chain motel overnight then be in Tignes mid-afternoon the next day.
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FAQ
I'm really looking forward to going and giving driving a try, 11 weeks today until departure. Didn't seem that long ago that it was about 6 months to departure! 