 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm hoping that buses, lift queues etc shouldn't be 'too bad' as the dates are outwith the school holidays etc. Any comments folks?
Also, any tips would be much appreciated - our apartment is close to the train station so one thing we can do is take the train round to Vallorcine for access to the balme ski area.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Brightside, That week in France should be relatively quiet as no kids school hols. We are in France that week too and picked it for that very reason.
Sorry can't help with any Cham tips but plenty of Cham experts will be along soon
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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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Snap!! I will be in Chamonix the same week! can't wait!! any info would be great 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Just got back and resort was quiet no queues all day except small ones onto the cable cars to first get up on a morning (even walked straight on to the Grands Montets cable car with no queue at all from the station at the top of Lognan), back next week and hoping its the same.
Only bit of info I can give you guys is that if you want to eat at the Chamonix Mountain Brasserie you need to reserve a table no matter how quiet resort is!
Can anyone give me a bit of info? Whats the restaurant at the old golf clubhouse (the one that burned down) in Les Praz like? Price & quality.
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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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I was skiing yesterday in Chamonix and it was extremely empty - can't have been more than a few hundred people on the whole of the argentiere pistes. Did the grand Montet cable car 5 times in the day, and always got on it with no queue and a maximum of 20 people in the cable car for each lift - so can't believe it will be much busier in 2 weeks time - hope it snows by then - whilst the snow on-piste was generally good, a dump is going to be needed soon. The hotel we were in was almost completely empty as well.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Even in New Year week there were no queues at Vallorcine. The most I queued at Flegere was 20 minutes for the main lift up and you could walk onto the new Brevent lift without a queue at any time after 9am. In fact the only time I did queue was for 10 minutes at the the second lift up from Le Tour and for 20 minutes just after crossing from Flegere to Brevent when the Flegere cable was shut because of the wind.
I never made it to Argenterre as my wife hurt her knee on day 3 and asked that I be cautious when out on my own. Accordingly, I have a very good reason to go back to Cham, soon.
As for eating, the Eden Hotel is near the golf course and is very well respected. The dearest set menu was €39. The Rhododendron is now open again too, but I have no idea what the food is like. I stayed in Les Lanchers in Praz. Its a simple hotel run by and English bloke (Jon) and his French wife. Good food, comfy warm rooms and excellent value. 2 mins walk from Flegere lift.
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humble, dump forecast for Sunday onwards.
midgetbiker, you mean the MBC I think? Why would anyone be so bothered about eating there anyway? I am afraid it doesn't do it for me... Re "near Golf Club", do you mean the Labrador hotel?
Brightside, Shouldn't be as busy as it will be 2 weeks later...train to Vallorcine an option I considered the other weekend as we were going to have a "lunch" and I didn't want to drive. Trains not that frequent, about 30 mins from station to station. But definitely doable.
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| humble wrote: |
| I was skiing yesterday in Chamonix and it was extremely empty - can't have been more than a few hundred people on the whole of the argentiere pistes. Did the grand Montet cable car 5 times in the day, and always got on it with no queue and a maximum of 20 people in the cable car for each lift - so can't believe it will be much busier in 2 weeks time - hope it snows by then - whilst the snow on-piste was generally good, a dump is going to be needed soon. The hotel we were in was almost completely empty as well. |
I was boarding Le Tour on Sunday, somewhere else on Monday and Gd. Montets today, and whilst your comments about the lift lines are pretty accurate, I still felt the pistes felt a little 'crowded' at times
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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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Brightside, you should be OK pretty much everywhere at that time of year - it's when we like to go, we'll be out the week before! Don't miss the train station restaurant at vallorcine, it's ace.
midgetbiker, The old golf clubhouse - La Cabane - is a good place for a nice, quite smart dinner. I slightly prefer the Eden or the Sarpe myself, but la Cabane is a fun spot and when I was there for a wedding in October the service seemed markedly better than the last time. It's not the most authentic of joints but it's nice and the food's very good. I wrote a review of it last year:
http://www.les-praz-de-chamonix.com/eating-drinking/la-cabane-des-praz-the-golf-club-restaurant/
The only thing is that now, with the euro, they're all pretty expensive :/
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I get the impression that lots of places are a bit emptier than usual. I was in Meribel today and heard that some of the fancy chalets there have very few bookings for the season. And on another thread I think someone said that the Russian New Year was very quiet in Courchevel - I heard that today too. Friends who visited last week from East Midlands said their flight was only one-third full, and their original return flight was cancelled - presumably because of too few bums on the seats.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We always go to France 3rd week in Jan before the school hols. It's never really busy, but you can still queue at bottleneck lifts.
It'll be great - don't worry. We'll be jealous - we'll be just home!
CW 
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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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Sounding very promising! No long queues and a dump forecast for next week. The only other thing I could hope for is a positive change on the euro rate! 
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I can not wait!! Planards for the first day with the wife & 5 year old lad then play time!!
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You know it makes sense.
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under a new name, I like the MBC (the beer mainly i suppose), but it has become a victim of its own success as it's too crowded and the staff don't always give a toss.
firebug, yes I do mean La Cabane, thanks for the info as we will be trying it out (it's just over the road from our building).
Brightside, hasn't the euro 'bounced' by about 8% since new year?
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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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| Bluenose75 wrote: |
| I can not wait!! Planards for the first day with the wife & 5 year old lad then play time!! |
You forgot the Father-in-law, two Brother-in-laws and Sister-in-law!
Looks like Geneva airport is going to be full of snowheads on Saturday the 24th Jan!
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Poster: A snowHead
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I'm flying out 28th Jan until 4th Feb.
Big dump forecast for the weekend, so good news.
Also good news that lift queues should be small, so not much standing around cold giving the OH a chance to moan!!
Euro is at E1.10 ish, so an improvement, bt still pretty brutal. Just gonna have to take the hit on that I suppose.
Anyone got any tips on the best (cheapest) chilled out bars for apres?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The Rhododendrons has been transformed and is now a very nice friendly apres spot - highly recommended after coming down from Flegere.
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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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Hoop, vagabond
Happy hour at Bar'd Up.
midgetbiker, OK, yes, the beer's great but the food leaves a bit to be desired...
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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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| Quote: |
can't believe it will be much busier in 2 weeks time
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yes, it will be busier - French places seem to get busier as January progresses.
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