 Poster: A snowHead
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The thread about Solden got me thinking about which resorts I was most underwhelmed by and what sort of things I look for in a resort. I guess this is probably very different for all of us...
My least favourite resort/holiday was La Plagne. Went there on a Uni trip in 1990 and stayed in very cramped shoebox apartments (1 room, 6 beds, 1 loo, 1 shower, 1 sink, 2 cooking rings, no fridge in Plagne 1800. It was quite an uphill walk to the bus stop or a longer walk in the opposite direction to the chairlift. Snow conditions were patchy (I realise I can't blame the resort for that) and I found the runs very difficult. Even the blue runs seemed mogully and the red runs were often scary (I was a much better skier then too). There was one tiny supermarket, two expensive restaurants and no bars or nightlife at all unless we walked all the way up to Plagne Centre, which was an architectural eyesore...
Hopefully La Plagne has changed for a better since then but it still stands out to me as having been a horrid resort...
I've been to a couple of other ugly resorts; Tignes and Pas De La Casa, but found them both more to my liking. Tignes at least has some nightlife and atmosphere and some nice easy runs. Pas De La Casa has some great runs and loads of nightlife, although it is a bit 'Blackpool'...
What are your least favourite resorts and why...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Tignes - the bleakest place I have ever been, skiing was far too difficult for my level at the time, town itself was beyond ugly, accomodation communist block-a-like
Have a feeling I would enjoy it now I'm a better skier though and we were pretty unfortunate with the weather when there, only good thing about the week was it threw me into the arms of the wonderful world they call Austria
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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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I actually found Val Thorens more bleak than Tignes. I guess I like a few trees here and there. Val Thorens was another Uni trip with shoebox apartments but scored higher than La Plagne because the location of the apartments was great (pretty much on the piste) and the snow was fabulous. Plus we actually managed to find a bar. But other than that I'm not in a hurry to rush back there...
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Claviere - lack of development in infrastructure (despite being there the year after Turin Olympics), mountain restaurants surprisingly bad (queue to pay for food, then take ticket to another queue to get food, then joing another queue to get drinks), holes in ground for toilets, poor signing on runs.
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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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meribel
if i wanted to go to fulham, i'd go to fulham
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Never been in a resort I didn't enjoy. Any minor irritations I might have had pale into insignificance when I remember that I'm actually in a ski resort rather than stuck in an office somewhere, so I find it difficult to answer the original question 
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rob@rar,
I'm with you there! Even a bad day on the slopes is better than a good day almost anywhere else IMV
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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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I've never been to a resort that I would be reluctant to re-visit, with the possible exception of l'Espace Killy. Like queen bodecia,
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I like a few trees here and there
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I prefer to be staying somewhere where the architecture isn't too horrible. That's why, if I were to visit the Paradiski area again, I'd go to Les Arcs in preference to La Plagne: there are some fairly ghastly buildings in both, but you can get away from them in no time in Les Arcs, whereas in La Plagne, they are more difficult to avoid, at least from the pistes.
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Kaprun
We were unlucky in that there was no snow in the resort and on the Maiskogel slopes so it was a bun fight up to the glacier.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Les Menuires, It looks like it's fallen from the top branch of the ugly tree and hit every branch. No atmosphere whatsoever, rubbish food, crappy apartments not big enough to swing a cat.
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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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Red Leon, I have to disagree with you there. One of the offices I work from is within a 5 minute walk of XScape in Glasgow which as well as MK and Leeds calls itself the 'ultimate winter resort' but I can get better tea at the office. 
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Borovets - we had a laugh and made the most of it (group of 16 - hard not to have fun  ) - but I will never go back. However, that's the only resort out of about 25, some more than once or thrice, so not bad really!
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You know it makes sense.
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Itter in Austria, which is a pretty little village but had only one lift when we were there a few years ago, and if the snow isn't superabundant the lift doesn't get you to the main ski area in Söll, so it's a pretty horrible bus ride, standing and clutching your skis on a crowded bus, to Söll where the queues were fairly horrendous. It was half term, though.
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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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Themes coming across here are nothing to do with choice of resort, really. If you choose to cram huge numbers into a tiny and cheap apartment, that's your choice (I've done that in the past, to get a cheap holiday - I'm not knocking it). If you hit poor weather (which for some people means no snow, for others might mean too much snow, poor visibility, or very cold and windy) it's not so enjoyable. If you don't want to be surrounded by Brits, don't go to Meribel. And it seems you can hit crowded runs and lifts most anywhere at half term or New Year. Anyone should be able to find runs to suit them in the Espace Killy (or if you can't, you need to ask around and get the right advice, and if you're a beginner, download to Val D'Isere in a lift, like what I usually do) but if you don't know your way around, and hit the wrong runs, it can be intimidating when there are so many really good skiers and boarders there. The Espace Killy isn't my favourite - but I don't know it at all well and I'm not a very adventurous skier; my son spent two seasons there and loved it. If you go to a resort with just a few runs, then it's easier to find your way around - but then you can't sensibly complain about lack of variety and distance. With the right crowd, and the right attitude, you can have a good holiday almost anywhere and the reverse is also true. I once skied for a bit with the most moaning woman I ever met - it was always too steep, too flat, too cold, too hot, or too something for her (she was a guest in a chalet I stayed in and her husband took every opportunity to dump her on some ignorant twit). By half way through the week nobody bothered to talk to her any more and I dare say she went home and moaned that we were all very unfriendly. I'm sure she finds fault with every resort she ever goes to. I've also skied with people with very little experience, faced with quite challenging conditions, who are just willing to have a go and enjoy themselves, and have a laugh.
If you're a serious skier there's so much information available - on snowheads and elsewhere - on EXACTLY what resorts have to offer that it's easier than it used to be to make the right choice. I really dislike having to get on and off crowded buses with skis - especially with kids - but if you choose to go to a resort where that is likely to be necessary...... Equally I can't stand driving round searching desperately for somewhere to park a car (like in Chamonix last Sunday, in the middle of a very quiet part of the season). I like parking - free - within a few metres of the slopes, thanks. People clearly want diametrically opposite things from their resorts - so it's just as well there's such a variety. You just have to accept that you can't have everything and decide what's really important to you.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| pam w wrote: |
| Themes coming across here are nothing to do with choice of resort, really..... If you don't want to be surrounded by Brits, don't go to Meribel. |
does
not
compute
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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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rob@rar, Totally agree!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| Never been in a resort I didn't enjoy. Any minor irritations I might have had pale into insignificance when I remember that I'm actually in a ski resort rather than stuck in an office somewhere, so I find it difficult to answer the original question |
Hear hear. Many places aren't perfect but mountains + snow beat flatlands plus rain anytime. By such a margin that individual variations are less relevant.
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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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Tamworth - the apres ski and the views were especially rubbish.
Seriously liked the 3 valleys skiing but echo Arno's comments about Merryhell
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But if I was to be picky...
Chamonix - what a hassle to move from one area to another (plus see St Anton below)
Selva Gardena - the queues! the queues!
Val de Tignes: what have you done with the trees?
Les Menuires and the like: uglier than the chick you find in your bed the morning after a heavy night out
St Anton: I was 5 minutes late for breakfast and when I got to the top of the mountain all the powder had been skied!
Verbier: yo! gimme back my wallet!
Cervinia: with 2000m of vertical, surely they can ensure that you don't need to walk uphill?
Hey, this is fun  ...but I think I'll stick to my original post above
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| horizon wrote: |
| ......St Anton: I was 5 minutes late for breakfast and when I got to the top of the mountain all the powder had been skied!... |
Quite. St Anton has a fabulous off-piste area - but it's trashed in double quick time when the powder does come. For that reason, and because it is costly and noisy, it is no longer on my top list. There's plenty that's good about the Arlberg area overall, though.
Mind you, I agree with those who cannot think of anywhere they would not be prepared to return to. I suppose my least best is Meribel - somehow relentlessly British when I was in the area. I guess you might say that about Wengen, but somehow that does retain its native character.
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Flaine - gets my vote for ugliest resort I've been to. Skiing not particularly impressive
Alpe d'Huez - Had very bad weather when I visited, and top lifts were closed all week, so quite disappointing
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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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| horizon wrote: |
| St Anton: I was 5 minutes late for breakfast and when I got to the top of the mountain all the powder had been skied! |
That's why it's best to get a St Anton guide and get into the back country.
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Flaine - gets my vote for ugliest resort I've been to. Skiing not particularly impressive
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Ugly-yes. Can't quite agree about the ski area though!!!
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Verbier: yo! gimme back my wallet!
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Personally i found it notable cheaper than some large french resorts i have visited!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Of course there are rubbish resorts with great skiing, Like Les Menuires or Champoussin, and great resorts with rubbish skiing, like Megeve, great resorts with disjointed skiing like Cham and Verbier, but the resort with the most overall disappointment for me was Valmorel, but the kids loved it!
alpinequeen seconded about Flaine
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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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St Anton has a fabulous off-piste area - but it's trashed in double quick time when the powder does come.
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Same with other "big name" off piste areas, I think. Having spent two seasons in Val D'Isere my son's best snowboarding day ever was right here in Les Saisies, after a huge dump of snow, when one area with two steep reds and a black, and a steep drag lift, was left entirely unpisted. They were finding fresh lines all day. He said it would have been tracked out in 45 minutes in Val D'Isere, here he and his cousin shared it with another half dozen snowboarders, and were trashed but ecstatic when they finally came down to the apartment.
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Is it just me then, or was La Plagne especially 'difficult'? I do remember a couple of hellish blue runs in Val D'Isère too rather than singling out La Plagne. On the whole I like French blues and would attempt the occasional French red (never black). However in Austria and Italy, I'm happy on all the blues and reds and might even think about the occasional black...
Is it a sweeping generalisation that the skiing is more difficult in France, or is it just a few resorts...?
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You know it makes sense.
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There's nowhere I wouldn't go back to, but some I won't rush back to: Meribel, because of the town (I like the 3V skiing); Obertauern, because of the rather characterless nature of the town and the skiing (although I liked the Lungo regional pass); Breckenridge because sleeping at 10000 ft doesn't do much for me (I liked the skiing and the town is OK); Vail, because of the town (I'd like to see more of the skiing).
I've enjoyed my visits to all those places, though.
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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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pam w, agree with you on the themes. I genuinely cannot think bad thoughts about any of the places I have been! Even La Rosiere for an afternoon Like rob@rar says, beats the office anyday.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hey there, my comments weren't supposed to be taken seriously!
(I certainly hope to ski pow this weekend in St Anton)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Les Deux Alpes. I've seen some great reviews of the resort on here, and put it down to conditions at the time we went (late March, 2005). It was very hot, the snow had disappeared off the lower slopes, lift queues out of resort were horrific, and available runs with decent snow on them were few and far between. Allied to which the area outside our chalet front door seemed to be the agreed place for all dogs in resort to take their morning shites. Good nightlife though, which was handy as we spent more time in the bars than on the slopes...
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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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Living near a whole bunch of small mountain that serves locals, I do have a list of a few that I would probably not go back to, even if it's for free! The problem was with the management (of crowds). Some mountain chooses to attract AS MANY skier as possible, regardless whether they have the lift capacity or open terrain to handle them. So yes, long queues EVERYWHERE! Not just at the lifts, to buy a lift pass, for a chair to sit down, or even queue for the loo!!! 
For the more "destination resorts", I'm less critical. After all, as pam w suggested, RESEARCH for the one that would suit your own style! That really cut down on the potential of disappointments. Still, as I posted on the TO thread, I wouldn't be hurrying back to Summit County of Colorado, for a multiple of reasons. I've been going there for many years back in the 80's and 90's when it was relatively inexpensive to ski there. But eventually, the cost of skiing there caught up with the "high end" resorts such as Jackson Hole and Aspen, but without the high level of service. So the value factor had dropped off the cliff as far as I'm concern.
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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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Wasn't over impressed with Valloire at New Year, the Piste maintenance was dire, partly due to there being a half pipe comp at the weekend and that's were there efforts were concentrated. What most skiers on the packages did not see however was the the snow cannons were on all Friday night and the piste basher's were out making the most of what they had, this continued for the other 3 days we were there, when all the package tours had gone home.
It was as though all the tourist's have gone, now lets make it a half decent place to ski. IMHO A bit naughty, but they are French.
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chamonix...
noisy, smelly, unsunny, pain in the back bottom to get around - buses etc, need to queue at 8am for a sniff of powder and rip-off bar prices..
So many better places (IMHO) that I can't see why I'd ever go back there..
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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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easiski, Strangely enough, my least favorite resort was Les Deux Alpes. Found myself doing the same runs most days and the town was a bit like a seaside strip of cheap shops and bars. Only go to Flaine for the snow, but then its only a couple of lifts away from the best place!
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| Patch wrote: |
Flaine - gets my vote for ugliest resort I've been to. Skiing not particularly impressive
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Nope can't agree with that. Though as ever depends on what you are looking for. I just love the huge choice of decent reds.
Yes the resort is dreadful, to look at and for its size I think there's a poor selection of decent reasonable restaurants/bars and shops (we don't go anywhere for the shopping but it's good to have at least some choice when kids are spending pocket money and thank you gifts need to be purchased from the dog!)
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