 Poster: A snowHead
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Lillehammer - an astonishly boring place for skiing and nightlife. Also on my lift of never to go again would be Les Deux Alpes, ugly full of ski bum/bores and overrated skiing.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rayscoops,
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There is some incredible snobbery and reverse snobbery on here
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If you can't have an opinion on a ski resort life would be dull.
FWIW although agreeing that I would go to pretty much any resort if the offer was good enough
WHilst paying my own good money and with all the alternatives on offer I have no real desire to return to Meribel for the reasons stated by others.
Flachau was way to dorwded on my very brief visit to make me want to return. Up the road at Zauchensee was great though would return to the area but not the resort.
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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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Not in a rush to go back to Bulgaria (but it was ~20 years ago). We also didn't get on with Panorama. The commonality theme on both of these was lack of snow. In good conditions, you can have fun skiing anywhere.
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La Clusaz, went with a group of 24 & nobody was impressed with it.
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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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Hemsedal, chamonix of the north it is not...................
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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St Johann [Tirol] -Sheffield ski village had more variety of slopes.
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The 2 resorts that i wouldn't rush back to would be Chamonix and Zermatt-both mainly through the lack of ski convenience,cham was a long walk to the lifts,infrequent ski bus/poorly linked area and hour long waits for lifts up the mountain and to get down too(due to home runs being shut due to lack of snow/low resort altitude),Zermatt whilst not quite so bad still seemed to take an age to get up the mountain-after all the reason we go is to ski!
I must say though that we went to both resorts in early season(week before xmas) so not all lifts/terrain yet open and it was a few years ago and i hear that Zermatt especially has improved their lift system since then-so i kind of wouldnt mind giving both resorts another try further into the season though i wouldn't gamble a weeks hol but try a day or 2 from another local resort and i'd onlythen try Chamonix again if i had a car.
As you can see that high on my list of priorities is ski convenience and thats why my favourite resort is Tignes-i saw a couple of sh's on here slating it for the resort being ugly but imv its one of the most beautiful sights on a bluebird day and i tend to focus more on the fantastic mountain scenery around me once i'm up there rather than the resort below.
So, for anyone trying to decide on a new resort to go to for this season then i'd say take not the slightest bit of notice of what i or anyone on this thread has said and make your own mind up as people's favourite and least liked resorts can be very objective.
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I'm with the 'ski anywhere' crew. Maybe I've just been lucky, but there's no place that I've skiied where I wouldn't jump at a chance to return. Everywhere I've been has had enough memorable runs to carve a perfect mogul on the slopes of my memory. The only thing that stops me returning is that there are so many mountains in the world and so few skiing holidays in a life.
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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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| Anniepen wrote: |
| Borovets, Bulgaria. Went once 20 years ago, with a group of about 15 others, including some beginners. Snow was rubbish, it took best part of an hour to get to anything skiable, infrastructure non-existent, hotel reception was a mecca for prostitutes each evening, and the food the worst I've had anywhere. Never, ever again |
Ditto. Plus we got food poisoned and shot at.
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Actually, I think this thread, as well as being entertaining, is very useful for anyone looking on this forum for recommendations for resorts - it really does illustrate that one man's meat is another's poison, and that to get any sensible recommendations they need to be very specific about their requirements and priorities. It also illustrates the unhelfulness of writing off a resort because of poor snow. The only time I spent a whole week in Courchevel (based in 1650) the snow throughout the 3V was rubbish. The only time I spent a whole week in Mottaret the snow was good but the weather was rubbish. Mid January both times - it happens. It would be unreasonable to write off the 3V for that reason (though there may be others). Equally, some useful notes of caution for people who might base a decision on a report that "I went to resort X in mid December and was waist deep in powder the whole time".
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Had a fairly rubbish time in Chamonix. Poor accom, buses, queues etc, etc.
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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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Good to see others also have sceptical views on Chamonix. I was so dissapointed with the place. I would go back though this time I would hire a car and get a better hotel so as to insulate myself from the hassle of the town/resort.
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You know it makes sense.
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| rayscoops wrote: |
Beaver Creak, Aspen, Keystone - I would have thought those are high on the list for europeans heading to the other side of the pond
Does not say much for NA then ? |
As I wrote at the openning of the post, "Different resort for different need"!
Actually, Aspen and Beaver Creek both have excellent skiing. It's just very pricy both places. So, for the price concious, Aspen and Beaver Creek wouldn't be too good choices. And it wasn't like there're no other places that have just as good skiing as those two.
However, those who has loads of money, why not? It's as good as the cheaper places! 
And for Europeans, the equation is a bit different. You pay quite a bit just for the flight to get there. So the price difference between Aspen than say, Big Sky or Snowbird is a much smaller portion of your total cost after all. So why not spend a few extra and enjoy the posh'ness?
If someone is paying for me to go, I'd pick Aspen as one of the top choices. Precisely because I don't feel like paying for it myself! (and the skiing is actually more than good)
I'm told Keystone is really good for lower intermediate. I didn't like it because my first trip out there I was already a pretty strong intermediate skier. So I found it boring. A lesser skier might not be bother by it.
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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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abc, I think crossing the pond to go skiing is a lot more expensive than Europe. Plus it really doesn't make sense to go all that way just for a week.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Valmorel - it was just a bit dull really, had a good ski but was glad to leave,
a bit like the dry slope really.
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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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Rubbish snow just after Xmas 2007
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the snow didn't arrive till New Year, IIRC, just about anywhere in France. La Rosiere probably had more than many places, to be fair. When I went to Alpbach the snow was pretty poor - it was my first visit but there are many repeat visitors and one such, who had been going every year for 15 years, told me that snow was about the best she'd seen. So I think it was fair to conclude that good snow probably isn't one of the resort's key attractions.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Chamonix
Tiny, Fragmented Ski Areas, Pain in the back bottom getting a bus everywhere - or even spending 45 minutes on a provided minibus.
Place sprawls along the valley like a bad case of diarrhea. Parts of town are noisy, smelly & fumy from the Mont Blanc Tunnel lorries, No sun in the valley in Dec/Jan
Long lift q's on bluebird days and no chance of fresh tracks 20 minutes after the lift opens.
Full of 'wannabe pro's'.
Expensive bars/restaurants
Even if I won a trip there for free I wouldn't take it.
Any other resort I've been to I would gladly pay money to go back too.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Mon 21-09-09 8:51; edited 1 time in total
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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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Claviere. Dated lifts, crappy town (very busy road through centre although I believe now tunnel goes under) and seriously disappointing mountain restaurants (queue to pay for food, then queue for food then queue for drink and what was in the main motorway food - oh and holes in the ground for bogs). And this was the year after Olympics!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| abc wrote: |
| rayscoops wrote: |
Beaver Creak, Aspen, Keystone - I would have thought those are high on the list for europeans heading to the other side of the pond
Does not say much for NA then ? |
As I wrote at the openning of the post, "Different resort for different need"!
Actually, Aspen and Beaver Creek both have excellent skiing. It's just very pricy both places. So, for the price concious, Aspen and Beaver Creek wouldn't be too good choices. And it wasn't like there're no other places that have just as good skiing as those two.
However, those who has loads of money, why not? It's as good as the cheaper places!
And for Europeans, the equation is a bit different. You pay quite a bit just for the flight to get there. So the price difference between Aspen than say, Big Sky or Snowbird is a much smaller portion of your total cost after all. So why not spend a few extra and enjoy the posh'ness?
If someone is paying for me to go, I'd pick Aspen as one of the top choices. Precisely because I don't feel like paying for it myself! (and the skiing is actually more than good)
I'm told Keystone is really good for lower intermediate. I didn't like it because my first trip out there I was already a pretty strong intermediate skier. So I found it boring. A lesser skier might not be bother by it. |
fair enough, there are many resorts that would slide down my list based upon financial considerations, but none that would fall of it 
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Where skiing is concerned, I'm not picky. I'll ski anywhere and go back anywhere. I would certainly return to Zürs. I even enjoy returning to Scotland, where I started; maybe that's nostalgia, though, for usually the conditions (and certainly the areas) can't be compared to the Alps. However, I am looking forward to my 50th anniversary tour of the glens in 2011, for there's good skiing to be had there too!
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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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Not keen on Saas Fee. Seemed a very small ski area with only 3 main runs. Top (allain) to bottom 2 ways and the other smaller mountain (Platten). Have to say very pretty but not up to the hype.
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La Ros, bitingly cold despite continuous March sunshine, terrible food, slush by lunchtime.
Would go back to Sauze only if it upgraded the lifts and there was a freak year with loads of snow and all pistes open.
What looks like a long term devaluation of sterling means I will never get to return to Courchevel (or try other expensive French and Swiss resorts)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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While snow is snow and a ski resort beats the pants off dry slope or indoor, I'd be disappointed if the missus told me she'd booked a secret ski trip for us both and it turned out to be any of the below:
Geilo: flat, small, dark, boring
Flaine: architectural nightmare, most of the off-piste is dangerously riddled with cracks.
Super Devoluy: simply dreadful
La Rosiere: snore
Steinplatte: unlike the rest of the Tyrol at least there was snow when we went here, but I'd never want to go back
Deux Alpes: IMO boring skiing tacked onto quite a nice glacier. Only real saving grace is access to La Grave. Overshadowed by the much better Alpe D'Huez next door.
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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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| Sideshow_Bob wrote: |
| Deux Alpes: IMO boring skiing tacked onto quite a nice glacier. Only real saving grace is access to La Grave. Overshadowed by the much better Alpe D'Huez next door. |
I agree. Les 2 Alpes is the only skiresort I would really hasitate on going back. Have to say snow cover was poor when I visited in January 2007, but found it too one-dimensional anyway.
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To : anyone who has posted a resort they don't want to go back to,
If you win an all expnses paid trip to said resort, please feel free to hand prize to me
I'll happily ski in any of these places if the deal is right ... better to be skiing somewhere than sat at home watching a webcam ?
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You know it makes sense.
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masmith, you clearly haven't been to Aviemore.
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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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andyph, 3 times
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Poster: A snowHead
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| masmith wrote: |
To : anyone who has posted a resort they don't want to go back to,
If you win an all expnses paid trip to said resort, please feel free to hand prize to me
I'll happily ski in any of these places if the deal is right ... better to be skiing somewhere than sat at home watching a webcam ? |
If I won such a trip to Keystone, I'll gladly hand it to you!
I'd rather save my leave time for something a little more interesting than a bunch of tree-lined slope of the same character. I'd stay home and ski the icy slope of the east coast, save the trouble of the flight.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| masmith wrote: |
To : anyone who has posted a resort they don't want to go back to,
If you win an all expnses paid trip to said resort, please feel free to hand prize to me
I'll happily ski in any of these places if the deal is right ... better to be skiing somewhere than sat at home watching a webcam ? |
If I won such a trip to Keystone, I'll gladly hand it to you!
I'd rather save my leave time for something a little more interesting than a bunch of tree-lined slope of the same character. I'd stay home and ski the icy slope of the east coast, save the trouble of the flight.
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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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| masmith wrote: |
| andyph, 3 times |
Wow! On purpose?
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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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| abc wrote: |
| masmith wrote: |
To : anyone who has posted a resort they don't want to go back to,
If you win an all expnses paid trip to said resort, please feel free to hand prize to me
I'll happily ski in any of these places if the deal is right ... better to be skiing somewhere than sat at home watching a webcam ? |
If I won such a trip to Keystone, I'll gladly hand it to you!
I'd rather save my leave time for something a little more interesting than a bunch of tree-lined slope of the same character. I'd stay home and ski the icy slope of the east coast, save the trouble of the flight. |
Really, even if your leave time was compensated / paid for ?
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Mon 21-09-09 15:37; edited 1 time in total
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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 wouldnt go back to Niederau - especailly at Feb half term.
resort is too small, 30 mins to get on gondola and ski nursery lifts. kids ski school - kids left unattended a lot of the time and sent up on gondolas without adult supervision. blue runs should be marked as red andpart of a red run should be marked as black. very limited
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masmith, cherchez la femme!
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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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| masmith wrote: |
| abc wrote: |
| masmith wrote: |
To : anyone who has posted a resort they don't want to go back to,
If you win an all expnses paid trip to said resort, please feel free to hand prize to me
I'll happily ski in any of these places if the deal is right ... better to be skiing somewhere than sat at home watching a webcam ? |
If I won such a trip to Keystone, I'll gladly hand it to you!
I'd rather save my leave time for something a little more interesting than a bunch of tree-lined slope of the same character. I'd stay home and ski the icy slope of the east coast, save the trouble of the flight. |
Really, even if your leave time was compensated / paid for ? |
Well, if my leave time is paid for, it'd be "work" time, isn't it?
In that case, I'd say skiing at Keystone is no less interesting than my regular work. (BTW I quite enjoy my work day at the job , though I wouldn't mind being send to a ski resort, even of NOT my liking)
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Mon 21-09-09 15:57; edited 1 time in total
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I'd never say never about anywhere as its all about the snow not the place itself but I wouldn't be desperately upset if someone said you can never ski Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge again. Otherwise big Euro ski factories that specialise in tedious blue commuting runs (though I realise that there is often some good stuff just a short hike over the ridge )
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FAQ
Breck is not my all time favorate but not on the "avoid list" either.
