Poster: A snowHead
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hi there. we leave for valmorel on saturday but we dont get into geneva until 5.30pm (as long as we are not delayed). i belive the coach journey is 2 and a half hours to resort. we are hiring skis and boots and i was just wondering what the normal practice is. do the ski hire shops open late tour operator patrons to collect their stuff or will we have to wait for the following day?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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polo99, your rep will probably ring or email you this week. It's a good question to ask. There has been a TO complaint thread this week regarding people who arrived late evening in resort and had inadequate rep support to enable them to get their equipment hire and lift passes in time for ski school.
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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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Polo - As you know its some time since I went to Valmorel so can't remember the time the shops shut. I think it might be too late for you to collect skis etc that day. I would phone crystal and ask them the ski shop opening times or if they could tell you which shop they use. If they can tell you which shop I would google and see if the shop has an internet site. Often I've found TOs tell you thinks like the shop opens at 8:30 and then when you get to the shop it turns out it opened at 8 and there is already a long queue so thats why I'd check with the shop itself if possible. I think sometimes ski shops open slightly earlier on the first day of ski school knowing there will be lots of people needing skis.
Hope you have a great holiday!
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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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Hi polo99,
I posted about a terrible experience my fiends had with this TO and getting their ski's. In short they ended up missing a full days skiing.
Your circumstances may be totally different to theirs but I would agree with the advice from snowymum, I used to always get the exact location of the ski hire shop and their opening times so that I am first in the queue.
Hope you have a great trip.
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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 have tried already to ring crystal to see if the hire shop will be closed when I get there and they said it would. so it looks like a big queue on sunday morning. lucky for us we havent got ski school to rush off to so not a big problem. when i asked what time the ski hire shop opened and closed, their response was that my rep wouold tell me when i got on the bus.
they also sent me an email with my information pack to help me with my first 24 hours in resort ie rep contact details, what is giong on in resort etc. but i couldnt access it and they said that they would ring me back and they did but they couldnt sort it. . anyway i am not going to let it put me off and i am really looking forward to it.
I will let you know how i get on. sunshine were your friends in valmorel?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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polo99, no they were in Morzine.
I am sure it will all be grand. Have a good one.
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polo99, That info pack online thing is a real joke with Crystal as it is only available (apparently) up till 9 days before you travel, since it is not active till they send your tickets 14 days before you travel you have about 2 days after you get your post to actually be able to access it. We had exactly the same prob as our tickets were delayed in the post so by the time we knew where the info pack was it had gone.
You will get an info pack on the coach anyway, but if you have your reps number already give them a call.
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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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kevindonkleywood, I guess I was lucky that my tickets arrived 3 weeks before departure but I also had an email from Crystal telling me about the online info pack over a week ago (I leave on Sunday).
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thanks for the link queen bodicia but I could get to that bit, it just wont accept my booking ref. even the girl who i rang said she couldnt access it either. nevermind, i am not going to let it bother me too much. i got the tickets about a fortnight ago but no info pack. it would just be nice to have a read of it, especially when they send you an email saying it is there, but then you cant access it.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I have just been to Valmorel with Crystal. We flew in to Chambery.
You will not arrive in the resort in time to pick up your skis. The transfer time quoted is the actual travel time on the bus and does not include the reps faffing around at the airport (they seemed to have no clue what to do when we arrived and ran around like headless chicken for an hour before they showed us our coach) and the time spent changing buses in Moutiers and perhaps also elsewhere en route.
They use Skiset - Claude Sports for their ski hire packages, which is in the main street/square near the Altispace lift. If I am correct, they are open 8:30 AM to 19:30 PM. I was there at 10 AM and there were only a few people in front of us, but anyone with ski classes at 9 AM would struggle to make it to the meeting point in time.
Don't bother with the infopack. There is nothing of interest in there anyway in my opinion.
Have fun!
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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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thanks for the information. We are flying into Geneva so our transfer time is longer than what it is from Chambery. Did you enjoy your trip to Valmorel? where did you stay? did you find it expensive?
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This was my second year in Valmorel and I quite like the resort.
We stayed in the Les Lauzes appartments in the Creve Coeur area (pierre & vacances), which was quite convenient for the ski lifts and the ski school. I had booked a larger apartment than needed as I had read complaints about their sizes, but in retrospect that was not really needed. I was actually pleasantly surprised about the size of the apartment.
We did most of our cooking this year, so cannot really comment on the prices. Things are more expensive than in the UK, but they are not extortionate and they do need to drag everything up the mountain for you, so it seems only fair.
Valmorel is very much a family resort with mainly French visitors. For some reason, most foreigners seemed to be either Danish or Belgian, but this could be a question of holiday timings.
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