 Poster: A snowHead
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Off to Morillon 1100 (Les Esserts) in the last week of Feb. I'm wondering whether the full Grand Massif pass (including Flaine) is worth the extra expense.
In favour of the full passThere is 10% off for families
Gives access to the highest skiing around Flaine and things might be gettting a bit spring like by this point in the season
No indication that the local pass can be upgraded on a day by day basis
AgainstI'm not fussed about mile eating (normally we go to PSV)
Might put the kids in ski school which would limit our range anyway
Another post recently implied Flaine might be rather crowded at the time we are going and I hate queueing
I would also be interested in opinions on the ski school for kids. Snowbizz ESI is our reference. I know there is an ESI in Morillon.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just back from a week in Les Carroz with the kids (who are 8 and 5) and my other half.
1. We went for the Grand Massif pass but only used it one day out of 6. The kids were in ski school in the mornings until 12 with the ESF. In hindsight I would have gone for the smaller pass. The link runs to Flaine and back were really busy and the snow cut up and became very bumpy, too much for my 8 year old (but she is pleased she went once)
2. ESF in Les Carroz were very good and the kids progressed well. They were in group lessons with about 11 in each group, but not all the kids turned up every day so 9 was the average. I know ESF gets a mixed response as it is sometimes seen as a ski guide, but that was not the case last week for us.
3. I think you can upgrade for the day to cover Flaine if you want to, all the details are on www.grand-massif.com I think
Have a great time
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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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nessy, We are going to Samoens in a few weeks, with a mixed group including two children in their 2nd year out of ski school. We ski with them all day, so our mileage is dictated by them, and for the past few years have only bought the local pass wherever we have been. We simply aren't skiing enough miles or even enough different pistes (the boys find a few they like and feel confident on and we tend to do them ad nauseum!) to justify whatever the 'big' pass may be. The local pass for Morillon also covers Samoens, Sixt and Les Carroz so for us in our situation, that's fine. Have fun 
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If you think your kids will be in the Morillon ski school each morning then I doubt you'd use the full pass much with them as it takes a little while to traverse across the valleys from Morillon to the Flaine bowl, and the linking runs can become very crowded especially at the end of the day. Many times when I've been out skiing from Morillon and friends have had lessons they have never skied across, so the smaller Massif pass would have been fine.
Myself I always get the Grand Massif pass to cover Flaine as well, primarily to give flexibility depending on snow conditions. The blue and red runs in the Flaine bowl are lovely and being that much higher tend to keep their condition better than the lower runs down towards Morillon. The last two years I've been there in late Jan / early Feb and the snow hasn't been great low down, but a drive up to Flaine with the beginners (takes 45 mins from Verchaix, just opposite Morillon) provided good snow and a far wider selection of green runs, or even a drive over to Samoens 1600. Both the last two times the long Marvel green run from Morillon 1700 down has been closed, leaving the debutants mini slope as the only green run in Morillon. However this is not that usual - all the previous times Marvel has been open, and the two blue runs down from Morillon 1700 are nice and wide too.
I'm pretty sure you can upgrade a pass from Massif to Grand Massif on a daily basis. What's the difference in cost between the Massif and Grand Massif weekly passes for the family once you've taken into account your 10% discount on the GM pass?
Have a great holiday.  I'll be out there for 10 days in early Feb and another week mid March - it can't come soon enough!
chrisb, glad you folks had a good time.
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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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nessy, I would think unless acomplete beginner or cautious 2nd weeker you would hope to progress outside the Morillon area. The Massif pass gets you Samoens, Les Carroz and would keep you pretty busy for a week, saving €40 over the GM price. The snow shouldn't be too much of a worry at the end of Feb, but who can tell? You don't (& won't want to with the exchange rate fluctuations) have to get your pass just yet.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@all thanks for the info. Assuming conditions are OK will probably stick with the Massif pass then. I'm not a fan of busy transit pistes.
Any thoughts on whether staying away from Flaine will help to avoid February crowds?
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| nessy wrote: |
| Any thoughts on whether staying away from Flaine will help to avoid February crowds? |
To be honest I'm not sure Flaine would be any more busy than other areas of the Grand Massif. It generally isn't too bad in my experience although I do try and avoid the half term weeks where possible. The Morillon runs seem to be as busy as the Flaine ones, but yes, the only really busy bits are the linking pistes, particularly the Perce-Neige run back from Tete Des Saix (and therefore Samoens and Flaine) back towards Morillon.
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The 10% discount only applies to families of 4 and we are 5 so we would be 766 for the GM pass (family pack 2+2 + 1 more child) and 669 for the Massif pass. As far as I can tell there is no price advantage to buying the tickets online so I guess we will just see when we get there based on conditions and the forecast. I still can't find a daily upgrade price on the website.
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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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nessy, getting off the Samoens plateau took 1hr + when we were there Feb half term 2 years ago! best left till after lunch unless they have updated the lifts now.
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| Quote: |
Another post recently implied Flaine might be rather crowded at the time we are going and I hate queueing
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well it's peak French holiday time, so more than likely that the whole domain will be a bit busy. But you'd be unlucky to have problems with "spring snow conditions" - it's a lot colder now than last January, and the lower altitude slopes, round here at any rate, are in far better shape than this time last year. But, as said above, who can tell?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Martin Nicholas, No update on those lifts yet, still slow 2 man chairs
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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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Postscript: We got the Massif pass and did not regret it. We are going again this March and will do the same again
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new lift from Samoens 1600 to Tete des Saix.. one lift takes you all the way... high speed 6 man also new lift from Molliets which is nearly the same... capacity up from 1600p/h to 3000!!
Should reduce lift queues at both of those pinch points!!
As for GM vs M... you'll probably be quite happy with the Massif pass.. lots to do and more than enough mountain to play with.
Snow "shouldn't" be an issue.....
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You know it makes sense.
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marcellus, Les Molliets will be interesting because we queued there for a bit. But I hope they will improve their queue management. The fast quad predecessor was not being used to it's best capacity.
We went to Samoens one day and seeing as there was a bit of a queue for the obvious way out we just took a couple of other slow old chairs which we didn't really queue for.
In all the time we were there we didn't even get into the bowl between Tetes des Saix and Grands Vans so we still have that to look forward to. How about the run down to Flaine or is that just a busy link piste?
It would be good if Les Molliets was not too queue prone, then we could get back to Morillon without taking the rather flat run from Tetes des Saix or even uphill trudge from the top of Gron both of which were rather painful with my 6 year old daughter.
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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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nessy, you Really should use the Valley between Tete des Saix and Flaine it would be lovely for your 6 year old...... there's the 6 man fromt eh car park to take you back up too (le Lac chair iirc) and then down through the trees to Moillets as an easy way home....
Personally I wouldn't take the run down to Flaine.. it's a bit like the M25... those who know what they're doing (or rather think they do) are using it just to link to Flaine (so high speed) and others are pootling and it's got some obvious pinch points which can make it very busy too (best avoid with a 6 year old)
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Poster: A snowHead
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| marcellus wrote: |
| nessy, you Really should use the Valley between Tete des Saix and Flaine it would be lovely for your 6 year old...... there's the 6 man fromt eh car park to take you back up too (le Lac chair iirc) and then down through the trees to Moillets as an easy way home.... |
You mean the blue piste direct from Vernant to Les Molliets?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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yes, that's the one quite enjoyable especially the bottom half!
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