 Poster: A snowHead
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I have edited the title to see if it prompts any more responses ,St Jean d'Aulps is a bit bigger and it's close to Essert La Pierre.
Does anyone know this area? As far as I can see it's a village/hamlet outside Morzine/Les Gets/St Jean d'Aulps.
I am assuming it is not lift linked so where would be the nearest lifts?
What's it like as a base? Any shops, restaurants? How far to St Jean for supermarket?? What's St Jean like?
How far from Geneva, AA route planner suggests 1 hour but seems to show a route via Thonon but I would have thought the road via Bonneville and Cluses looks like it might be faster?
I'd be really grateful for any insights into the place or surrounding areas from anyone who knows it well.
Thanks a lot! 
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 30-01-09 22:58; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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andyph, Thanks for that! Bit of a relief to get a reply too. Sounds a bit like I thought, not directly linked but within a 10 mins or so drive of quite a few areas. It looks like it is very much closer to St Jean d'Aulps.
Still mulling it over a bit, I don't normally like to be car dependent in a ski resort, and here I think we would be very much. Although it looks like we would have an enormous choice of areas within a less than 30mins drive which would be good.
I'm going to edit the title a bit to see if I can get any more comments.
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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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sarah - there is a road leading almost due north from Morzine to Thonon (about 40km away) on the shore of Lake Geneva. This road goes via St Jean d'Aulp (which is on the road), which is about 10 minutes from Morzine. If you were heading north then Essert Roman (where andyph has stayed) is on the left before you get to St Jean d'Aulp and Essert la Pierre is on right hand side of the road.
It's about 75 minutes from Geneva via Thonon if you have a satnav. If you don't have a satnav then, personally, I'd go via Cluses.
Essert la Pierre is a nice little hamlet, but doesn't really have an ammenities itself.
There is a big Champion supermarket 3 minutes away and St Jean d'Aulp is about 5 minutes away. St Jean d'Aulp has one of my favourite restaurants in the area (Armandier), a very good pub that does pizza (Bar National) and another couple of restaurants.
If I bought another property locally in the area I'd probably buy in St Jean d'Aulp. It's a nice little with everything I'd want.
St Jean d'Aulp has a local ski area, called la Grande Turche, which is actually 10 minutes the other side of St Jean d'Aulp. The piste skiing in Grande Turche is very limited, although there's loads of good off-piste - one being and inverse function of the other.
Whether you'll enjoy Essert la Pierre depends on whether you like eating in or not (in a chalet or self-catering). You'd need transport to get to the slopes.
From Essert la Pierre it takes about 10-15 minutes to drive to the ski lift at Ardent, which (IMHO) is the best place in the PDS to ski from - lots of parking; few queues and a 5 minute gondola takes you to chairlifts going in all directions.
Personally, I never used to like the idea of driving to the slopes, but it really isn't as much hassle as you might imagine. Our apartment is at the far end of Morzine and we have the choice between a 150m walk to the ski bus or driving. If we take the ski bus then it takes us 40-60 minutes to get to the centre of Avoriaz. If we drive then it takes us a reliable 25 minutes.
Anything else you'd like to know?
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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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FlyingStantoni, 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Why thank you Hurtle
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FlyingStantoni, no, seriously, that was a tour de force! 
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Thank you Hurtle, one tires you know 
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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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FlyingStantoni, agreed, but then it is getting late.
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FlyingStantoni,
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Anything else you'd like to know?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We stayed in St Jean de Aulp last year. We didn't have a car and it would have been useful. We used the bus from St J ski station down to St Jean village and then picked up the ski bus that runs along the valley up to Morzine. It did take a while but was uncrowded and quite pleasant to use. The ski area at St Jean was quite fun but we only skied there the first day and the last day and the rest of the week up in Morzine. Would go again but would hire car
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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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Final tip from me. Get Google Earth (if you haven't already got it) and download my 3d PdS piste map from this thread http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=48587. Makes planning a day out from Ardents (or anywhere) a whole lot easier. If slightly geekier...
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You know it makes sense.
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Good point about the Ballad d'Aulps bus service MrDan - I'd forgotten about that. A bargain at 1 euro a journey.
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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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FlyingStantoni, Wow! Thanks very much indeed! I was out all day yesterday and have just logged in now to see all of that, much appreciated!
ruthie, MrDan, andyph, thanks very much too.
It's sounding more appealing!
It's not exactly for just a holiday, there's an outside chance of being able to rent a place there for the rest of the season  we're just trying to weigh it all up, the place itself, the practicalities, hubby's work, etc etc I don't know if it'll come off, it's been a bit of spur of the moment thing, well since we came back from our hols 3 weeks ago, and so obviously has not been well planned.
FlyingStantoni, if I think of anything else, I will ask!
Thanks again all
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Poster: A snowHead
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dogge a lot of queues
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is that one of the non-skiing activities in the 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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I stayed a couple of weeks ago in a colleague's chalet (Chalet Aslan), it was great! We did it without hiring a car and had no problems whatsoever. We got a transfer with Action Transfers, it took about an hour and cost 350 euros (return) for 8 of us. They were pretty decent and turned up on time etc.
There are two bus services that run from St J, one that starts at the tourist office and takes you to the Grande Terche, it runs hourly but takes about 5-10 mins. The timetable says it actually takes 25 mins but they lie! (no idea why, maybe some days they like to drive slowly!) The other bus service is the one that links St J with Morzine, Avoriaz etc. We got this every day from the tourist office and it takes about 10 mins to Morzine, we then skied to the other resorts. It didn't seem like a chore at all, even though most years I've gone for a ski in/ski out chalet. The busses are nice, the only complaint is that they only run 1 or so an hour, and that they finish early (6:15 is the last one back from Morzine). You can get a cab back from Morzine for about 10 euros though.
There's a small supermarket in St J, called the Huit a huit (8 till  . Confusingly it shuts at 7:30pm!!! This isn't open on a sunday though, so your other options are the Champion on the way to Morzine, or the Champion IN morzine which stays open till 9pm.
I agree above with what someone said about the Armandier, it's the nuts! Make sure you call in the morning though if you want a Fondue as they order in the cheese. They're also shut on a Wednesday.
Bar National was quite cool, served some good pizzas and had free wireless 
Hope this helps!
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