 Poster: A snowHead
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Looking to book our first ever ski holiday and finding France a bit pricey, I stumbled upon a catered chalet (which we would prefer) for 4 adults and 2 kids in Nendaz. Is Nendaz a good choice for begnners in January? Many thanks for any advice!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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extrepid, The main beginners area is up at the top of the gondola and looked pretty good when we went. A friend who went at the same time with young kids thought the childrens set up was great and went back again the following year.
The upside of having a beginners area at the top of the godola is that it is often more sunny and snow sure than resorts where you start off at resort level. The downside is that the lift pass is usually a bit pricier for beginners if you have to take a lift up. Great views over the Rhone valley from Nendaz.
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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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Nendaz is excellent for beginners as T Bar says the nursery slopes are at the top of the gondola and have several different areas for beginners as they progress none of which need a liftpass so you only pay for the gondola. If you use Neige Aventure ski school you will have an english speaking instructor and probably an english speaking class .
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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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There are already a number of threads relating to Nendaz which you may want to search and read eg: http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=53915&highlight=
Having skied across Europe for many years I came across Nendaz as a cheaper alternative to Verbier and ended up buying a place there - so I clearly am a fan of the resort and am biased...
Nevertheless, I would not necessarily recommend Nendaz as my 1st choice if everyone is completely new to skiing... If you are in a mixed ability group then its a great choice, however if you are all 1st weekers, some of the advantages of Nendaz (access to the 4-vallees region etc) are wasted and indeed there are not as many easy green/blue runs in Nendaz as there are in some other resorts...
Notwithstanding this, there are some excellent ski schools in the town (Neige Aventure in Nendaz itself or Arc-en-Ciel in Siviez) and fantastic accommodation options. There has been quite a bit of upmarket development in the resort over the past few years and there are a number of luxury catered chalets which look very nice.
January is obviously cold but is a good time to be there; Nendaz is a reletively uncrowded resort even at peak times (compared to Verbier or 3V in France) and January is much quieter then the peak times.
I'm sure others will come up with alternative resort recommendations, however even if it isn't "built with beginners in mind", if you do decide to go there, I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time... 
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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 would totally concur with GaryT. The actual beginners slopes, where you first practice snowplough turns etc, are fine, it's just when you progress from there. Depends how confident you are, but even at the end of a week you may struggle to ski all the way back down to the resort from the top. There are 2 short runs, I would say, that you could immediately progress to, the Jean Pierre and Lac, and perhaps the Dent. The Jean Pierre is a lovely little run but can be busy with the ski schools. It depends on the person, I know people who are quite happy to find a run they like, and ski it continuously for a week, others want more than that. If you drive or get the bus to Siviez, the Tortin blue is one such run, its long and quite flattering.
Again I agree with Gary, Nendaz is a lovely little place, IMO.
Edited to add, the L'Alpage is also a good run for progressing beginners.
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