 Poster: A snowHead
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We are booked to Chinaillon first week of March and had every intention of getting the Aravis pass for us all as we will probably want to go to La Clusaz at least 1 day to take a look see in case we ever want to book a holiday there.
However, I think it is possible that our 8yrs old will be eligible for a Bambin pass in Grand Bornard in which case we can save a fair bit of cash by not buying him a full area pass.
Realistically, if you were staying in Chinaillon at Outalays for a week looking to ski ski blue/well groomed red pistes do you think you would go to La Clusaz more than once?
How difficult is it to get there? we will have a car but we don't know till we get it whether skis will fit in or not as we haven't booked a ski rack, so we may need to rely on public transport. If we get the bus all the way it looks like its two buses and could take a fair while? Looking at the piste map we thought maybe the route would be to ski down, get a lift up and then get the bubble down to Grand Bornard (would this be quicker than the bus?) and then get the bus to La Clusaz - however this would mean that the littleone would need a GB pass and a Clusaz pass that day in order to use the bubble.
Any comments on the practicalities of getting to La Clusaz, and whether or not you think it is worth the trip and if you think you would bother to go more than 2 days?
If you have skied both, how would you compare Grand Bornard/Aravis to the Grand Massif? - last year we stayed in Samoens but had a full area pass and went to Flaine twice because we found Samoens itself a bit limited and Carroz was short of snow. We loved the Carroz/Morrillion slopes and the reds/blues down from Perdrix in Flaine.
Unfortunately unlike some other areas it seems it isn't possible to buy the GB pass and then pay the extra to upgrade it, so we will have to decide before we buy passes when we are likely to go to La Clusaz.
Christine
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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skimom, you might find that there is so little saving in buying a pass for the whole week that you could just decide day by day.
"Bambin" doesn't go up as old as 8 where we stay, but maybe Grand Bornand is more generous.
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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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Hi Skimom we were in Chinaillon two weeks ago and got the Aravis pass because we wanted to visit La Clusaz like you but didnt know when. We ended up going there twice and used our hire car which was fortunately upgraded to a small estate. If you can fit your skis in then this is the best way to go as the drive is easy and takes 15 mins.
We found the slopes of the Manigod area and Balme to be the nicest and you can drive straight to either if you wish.
The skiing at GB is more extensive then you might think so I dont think you would go to La clusaz any more then twice.
The lift pass finance question is hard to call, 6 days in GB is €123, for the Aravis its €160. 5 days its €111 and €141. A day pass for La Clusaz is €29. If you went to la Clusaz in the middle of the week obviously you would then need something like a 3day GB pass, 1 day La clusaz then 2 day GB pass. I dont think there will be much saving especially considering the flexability you get from the Aravis pass.
The ski bus goes regularly between the two areas if you prefer but takes a bit longer.
We have also skied in Grand Massif and think you will really enjoy GB, if only because the lifts are a bit quicker then around Les Carroz!
The nicest thing is that you get the sun on the home slopes for the whole afternoon and if you ski the Maroly area in the mornings then you get the sun there as well
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Thanks for those comments.
We will almost definitely get the Aravis passes for us and our 10 yr old, because as far as we can see the overall cost is much the same as doing 5 days + 1 day and like you say, we won't know which day we are going to go.
In GB the Bambin pass is for 8yrs - one website implied born from 1/1/2001 in which case he wouldn't be entitled, but when I emailed the lift pass office I said he was 8 and gave them his dob and they said he was eligible, but maybe they only spotted he was 8? I guess we won't know till we get to the till.
My current thinking is that if the LO is entitled to the Bambin pass then we should buy Aravis passes for the rest of us and buy the LO daily passes - but not sure how practical that is - the most we can save is £40 and that if we end up not going to Clusaz at all, which if we have bought Aravis passes then we will definitely go! If we only save £20 its not worth it to have to detour/queue every morning to get him a pass! The other option is to buy him the week long GB pass for 70E which would save buying him a pass every day and if we end up going to Clusaz 2 days we will only save 3E, but if we only go once we'll save a little bit.
I'm a skinflint and hate to spend when I don't have to - but even I can see that on a holiday that in total is gonna cost about 2K its not worth having inconvenience for just a £20 or £30 saving! Not even sure if you can easily buy lift passes - assuming we want to 'ski in/out' of Outalays presumably if our first stop every morning or last stop had night had to be the lift pass office that might be difficult?
There is a real part of me that thinks we should buy 1 day passes to GB and see what we think - because if there IS enough skiing there then why bother schlepping to Clusaz at all? and that would be a saving worth having...
As for driving between resorts, we have hired a Focus or equivalent - getting skis in will all depend I think on whether the rear seat can split and still leave room for the kids. If it doesn't then it would be nice to know how long it would take to get to Clusaz by ski/bus because if it is, for example, 40 mins each way, then we might decide not to bother on the grounds that we would waste nearly 2 hours just getting there and back.
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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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The last two times we've been to Le Grand Bornand we've not bothered with La Clusaz simply because we've had to pick kids up at 2ish. There's a fair acreage of skiing in LGB/Chinaillon but you can ski a fair amount of it quite quickly. If we were doing a week of full days we'd definitely be looking for a day or two away. It's a while since I've skied La Clusaz but I remember it being a good place with varied skiing. There's enough there for more than one day's visit.
I can't comment definitively on how long it takes to get there and back by bus but I'd reckon 40mins is a good estimate given wiating time and the bus winding down from Chinaillon, into LGB, through StJean etc.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Agree with Higs, about the bus estimation. As for the rest of it, depends how much ticking off ski slopes means to you. We were VERY happy i LGB all week and only a couple of our crowd ventured to La Clusaz and that was just for a day.
As for the Grand Massif comparison, well Morillon is my other favourite resort! Obviously skiing in LGB is not as extensive as the GM, but I feel it is very similar in feel to what you find on the Morillon/Les Carroz side.
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Not really bothered about ticking off slopes, just don't want to get bored doing the same runs over and over.
In Samoens we definitely had to go to Carroz and Morillon every day or we would have been bored - it was also fun for the kids to go to Flaine as they felt they had 'got' somewhere - but that is different to getting on a bus to get somewhere.
Hubby is a bit worried that the runs will be short and we will spend a lot of time on lifts in GB - he liked Tignes where we hardly spent any time on lifts - if they are about the same length runs as Morillon/Carroz then I can't see a problem. We are much less fit than last year - I am nearly 2 stones heavier (eek) so whilst we may have memories of skiing for 6 or 7 hours a day last year, I think the reality is that we should spend more time on 'technique' this year, and less time on miles.
We don't need to get back for ski school pickup so a day out does make a change, but I think Annie is probably right and the absolute MAX days we will go for is 2. That means it comes down to whether DS is eligible for the Bambin - if so then I think we will get him that and see how we go.
At the end of the day my view is a piste is a piste isn't it? so why have the convenience of ski in/out and then sit on a bus for ages.
Maybe I should let Alamo make up our minds - if they give us a car we can get the skis in we will plan a day trip, if not we won't bother!
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Had a brainwave and used the online booking system which confirms that son will NOT be eligible for the Bambin pass unless we get a less than attentive operator at the pass office.
When we buy 'area' passes its normally because we like to set out from wherever we are staying and 'aim' for a different resort for lunch and then come back again - we get the feeling that in the Aravis we would just be swapping one set of pistes for another - the journey part, which is the bit we like to ski, would be by bus!
Talked to hubby again about what we might do and we both agree if we can't get there by car then we won't bother trying to get to La Clusaz - unless it makes sense to ski to Grand Bornard and ski/get the bubble down to the village because then the trip would be part of our skiing day. I get the impression though that the red down to Grand Bornard itself is quite a hard one?
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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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| skimom wrote: |
| I get the impression though that the red down to Grand Bornard itself is quite a hard one? |
Not at all - it's very pleasant.
The only issue I've had with it in the past is patchy snow at the bottom, not a problem you'll have at the moment.
The bottom of the LGB lifts is basically a biggish car park. There are two or three bars/hotels none of which I've ever used. The village itself is a bit of a walk away - doable but a chore in ski boots.
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If you want to 'aim' for somewhere for lunch, how about the restaurant at the top of the 'Joyere' bubble?
You could either ski straight there or take the red down to the bottom and then get the smaller bubble back up.
We've never eaten there - we used it for beer (us) and crepes (kids) at the end of the day - but it's a nice place with a sunny terrace and good views.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Beer and crepes sounds good - do you then ski back?
Not knowing the area its hard to know where we will go, I think we might just buy a Bornard pass and use the money saved to get the kids a couple of private lessons - which would give us some time to ski without them (although to be fair they ski as fast as we do now).
Last year at Samoens it took us probably the best part of an hour from leaving the apt to getting on a slope - 10 mins for the bus, 5 queueing for the bubble, 10 mins on the bubble, 10 mins up to 1600, 15 mins for hubby to go get all the skis from the storage point (I had tennis elbow and couldn't carry them and it was a very steep icy set of steps so and he had to make 2 trips).
We would then ski for about 5 mins to the lift, sit on a freezing chair for what seemed like ages, ski 100M, get on another long cold chair and then finally 'leave' Samoens and ski to Morillion/La Clusaz/Flaine
We always carry a packed lunch, but we stop in a restaurant for a plate of frites to go with our baguettes, some drinks and to use the loos! We would then repeat the morning runs and then start heading 'home' - the run back from the top of Samoens was quite a good length, and the kids liked it that they got to ski a 'black' (although I have read that this year it is now designated a red) - we would then stop in 1600 for crepes while hubby put the skis back in the locker. Then there were two bubbles back down, so again about 40 mins to get back to the apartment.
I am not sure whether we will be able to ski the extra 1.5hrs that hopefully being closer to the skiing will allow - but it will be nice if we don't have to queue for a lift to get home, worry about missing it, or squish onto overcrowded buses with tired kids.
I think we need to print off the piste map and plan some days...
getting excited now though and just hoping the half-term crowds don't ski away all the good snow!
If anyone can tell me which blues are 'reds' and which reds are 'blue' then that would be really useful - the first 2 days in Samoens we skied some very 'red' blues which led to some hairy side-slipping moments.
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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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| skimom wrote: |
Beer and crepes sounds good - do you then ski back?
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Yes - Mrs Higs and the kids went down in the bubble. I skied down the red (and waited for them at the bottom  )
| skimom wrote: |
| If anyone can tell me which blues are 'reds' and which reds are 'blue' then that would be really useful - the first 2 days in Samoens we skied some very 'red' blues which led to some hairy side-slipping moments. |
Piste map here: http://www.sima74.com/documents/2/images/PlansHiver/alpingrandbo.pdf
My views (and remembering that conditions are at least as important as piste colour):
The reds in the Maroly valley (Tetras and Chardons Blanc) are effectively on the same piece of mountain as the blues (Airelles and Primaveres) - in effect they're one big piste, wide and smooth - big fast fun.
The same can be said for the lower sections of the reds and blues into Chinaillon itself (Gentianes, Abondance, Cyclamen and Pessotays). At the top end Gentianes (red) and Abondance (blue) run close together (in fact criss-cross) - it's sometimes difficult to tell which one you're on and why it's red rather than blue.
I'd say Les Lanches, Piste 2000 and Tolar are 'proper' reds. Gypaete and Les Dames are at the tough end of reds, often left unpisted.
The blue 'Col de Chataillon' is one of my favourites and worth the long drag lift up it.
I was surprised when I looked at a piste map recently to find that 'La Duche' was a blue. It's not that it's desperately difficult but I always thought it was a wide, easyish red.
I've not skied red 'Le Fenil' for a few years now but I remember it as being quite steep until you hit the blue and then just schuss down to the Duche lift - basically it's right at the end of the resort with a drag lift and not worth it in my opinion.
I can't remember if I've ever skied La Noire do Lachat. As for the other two blacks, it depends entirely on conditions I've skied and enjoyed them both, I've also had a 'mare on both of them!
Towards LGB, Les Trolles is a nice blue, out of the way and often quite. Red 'Les Envers' down to the bottom is better skied from the Rosay side than Joyere side (unless you've ended up at Joyere for beer and crepes!)
Hope this is helpful - I've actually quite enjoyed mentally going round the resort - it's the nearest I'll get to skiing it 'til next year now 
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Thanks - this is helpful - I'll print it off and let hubby take a looksee at the piste map.
My varifocals are generally not up to reading piste maps, so I let him do the 'navigation'.
I can get down most red runs, albeit unelegantly if they are steep, but give me an 'edge' and I'm snowploughing - there was one piste in the GrandMassif - Pierce Neige - I think it was to get to Morillon where you have a path along a ridge, with drops on either side - I think it was a green - kids used to schuss it - I snowploughed it! After the first day we took a very circuitous route every day to avoid it!
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You know it makes sense.
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Sorry, nother question.
Does the bus to La Clusaz go from the bottom of the bubble - or do you need to do the walk into the Village?
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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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I've never caught it but I'm sure it does go from the bottom of the bubble.
We get a different skibus from where we stay and they're well organised and reasonably frequent.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I ski several weeks each year in GB and La Clusaz - so know both areas very well.
I suggest you drive over to La Clusaz - but get there early (ideally for the 1st lift) to get a good place in the car parks which can get very crowded. Avoid the public car park in the town and find a space on the road signposted to the Col des Aravis (right on the slopes just above the main lifts). For easy skiing through the trees stick to Beauregard and Manigod. For more demanding - Etale, Aiguille and La Balme are superb.
You can ski all of Grand Borand in a couple of days max. La Clusaz is much more extensive.
Enjoy!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks all... in the end we just bought the Grand Bornard pass. At the desk they had a special deal for families (which isn't on the website) so it worked out really cheap - about £380 for 4 of us. It was the equivalent of 2 adults, 1 child and 1 bambin (under 8 ) but applies to any family with 2 kids under 15.
We did do just about every run - I think we missed out 2 reds and the blacks... everything else we did at least some of. Son loved 'les Trolles', going in and out of the trees so we spent most late afternoons there. We found we could literally ski the whole resort in a day from one far end to the other, and at the end of the week we felt we were running out of runs. We only skied down to GB once and came straight back on the bubble - Envers was a nice run, but the bottom was a bit icey compared to the fantastic snow we had in Chinaillon.
Overall our impression was that it was a great resort for up to a week if you were an intermediate - which we are - if you skied faster/harder then I think you would get fed up. The lift system was pretty slow in our opinion and the runs quite short, but to some extent this was mitigated by the lack of any queues whatsoever. By the end of the week we were planning our runs based around which lifts we knew were the quicker ones, rather than which runs we preferred. We would probably go back for a long weekend but think we have come to the conclusion we prefer the faster lifts and longer runs that you get in a resort like Tignes. That being said the lift pass price difference is also a big plus in the GB favour.
Having driven to Thones on the Monday night and seen the signpost to La Clusaz we were glad we didn't bother with the area pass - I think it would realistically have taken us a good 30mins to and from (I'm not a fast driver on such twisty roads) and we would have had to get skis in and out of the car etc. for not much benefit. However, we may go back and do La Clusaz another year as the area is so easy to get to from Geneva.
Higs - you were spot on with your assessment of the runs, and we found it really helpful to keep your suggestions in mind. We also thought La Duche should have been a red - it was fine for us, but there were a few people who seemed to be struggling as it was quite steep and mogully. It was annoying the first time because we got to the bottom to find the Les Annes lift was closed and we met the only big queue of our holiday trying to get back out of the valley. We did go down Le Fenil the next day because we were there and we thought we'd try Col Des Annes again - Fenil was steep but empty (only us and 2 other skiers on it) and the kids got a real sense of achievement from it. The lift to Col Des Annes was closed by the time we got there though - for the second day, so it was four days in before we got up there - that is a lovely blue, but not worth the freezing cold lift imo.
During the week we looked at Piste 2000 and the top of Les Lanches and decided they were too steep, although we did do them from further down. On our last day we looked at Gypaete and decided that it looked ok - so we went up Le Lachet lift - but when we got to the top I bottled it as it seemed to be 'over an edge' - so we ended up coming down Piste 2000 - it was very steep, mogully and busy. The kids managed it no bother! (same can't actually be said for us, but we survived).
So in the end we missed the top end of Les Lanches, Gypaete, Les Dames and the blacks - everything else we skied!
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