 Poster: A snowHead
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Apologies for the fact that this is not very current, nor were the conditions epic, but my main reason for writing this is to see if anyone knows of other establishments offering a similar deal. I am a male solo skier looking for off piste group skiing with a mountain guide; I have been on enjoyable off piste trips with SCGB Freshtracks but they don't always match up with my ability and where and when I want to go. I was recommended http://www.skierslodge.com which offers accommodation and a guiding service. Their basic package is 7 nights with 6 days guided skiing, although they also do short breaks as well:
I booked to arrive 14 March with 4 days guided skiing, to leave 19 March- my first trip to La Grave
Early bird Easyjet from Gatwick 7.00 Sunday 14 March, arrive Grenoble 10.00. 10.30 Bensbus from Grenoble to Les Deux Alpes arrive 12.15. Leave luggage in the shop at Place deux Alpes that offers left luggage service and change into ski gear which leaves enough time for a bite of lunch before the half day lift pass is available from 1.30. Conditions at LDA were good on pistes higher up, but all the visible off piste was pretty horrible. Skied at LDA until 5.30 which was ideal to get back into it after 6 week break and to get used to new skis. I had arranged a taxi from LDA to La Grave and arrived at Skiers Lodge about 6.15 in time for a shower and evening meal. On arrival you can discuss your ski standard, which will help to get you in a suitable group.
Monday 8.00 buffet breakfast, during which the guides sort out the groups, which can vary according to arrivals and departures but are generally 5 or 6 plus guide. Leave at 8.50 for the 5 minute walk down to the lift.
1st days skiing: My group was truly international, the guide is Rasmus who is Finnish and there are 2 Brits, 1 Russian, 1 Greek, 1 Dutch and 1 Swede. fortunately the common language is English. We take the gondola to the top and spend the morning skiing superb terrain which unfortunately has been skied to death so there is no soft snow anywhere, although the scenery and sunshine are amazing especially from the top of the drag on the glacier with views to Mont Blanc. Later in the afternoon we took the draglift to the top and then hiked a little further and did the run off the back down to St Christophe. The snow was a bit softer here with about 300 metres of almost spring snow where we could make some tracks. But what a beautiful valley with a long, long run out to St Christophe where we ended up skiing through paddocks and gardens to get into the village about 5.30. We were picked up from there by the Skiers Lodge minibus for the 45 minute drive back round the mountain.
2nd days skiing: into the minibuses at 8.30 and drive to Montgenevre,same group as before. Snow much better here including some powder after a long traverse and 20 minute climb. Highlight was last run of the day which I think was from the back of Le Janus. After another 20 minute climb we had fantastic first tracks down through the trees, and finally came out at a layby, at La Vachette I think,on the main road almost at Briancon. 2 other Skiers lodge groups followed us down and the guides took a taxi back to Montgenevre to fetch the minibuses. Returned to La Grave about 6.30 pm.
3rd days skiing: minibus to Auris to ski at Alpe d'huez with the same guide but different group members. Long traverses and a steep climb to ski off the back down to the col de Sarenne, conditions not great, some corn snow but got really heavy and porridgey in the afternoon - very hot. 4 guys from the hotel had gone heliskiing , involving a drive to Sestriere, largely at the behest of Vadim the Russian: there was much scepticism as to whether they would find good enough conditions to make it worthwhile! turns out they had fantastic powder, guided by Pelle (owner of skiers lodge) and had 3 uplifts for 360 euros/head. With hindsight we were all v jealous!
4th days skiing: different guide, Joe Valone, and conditions are deemed to be getting softer at La Grave, so we will ski La Meije. A full on day, nice snow in couloir Banane and couloir l'Ours although I am a bit hazy as to where else we went, all types of conditions from frozen lumps to breakable crust and corn snow and always a tough return through the trees and bumps back to midstation. At the end of the day we skied back down to La Grave where it was really slushy at the bottom.
I had a taxi at 5.00 am the next morning to Barrage du Chambon, from where I was picked up by Bensbus back to Grenoble airport. At 5 am the outside temp was 5 degrees C and I think the next day, Saturday the 20th, the col du Lautaret was closed by avalanche due to the high temps.
My impressions of Skiers lodge:
Atmosphere: laid back and friendly. It's all about the skiing, and the guides were all keen despite the plain conditions. They will definitely make the effort to find the best available skiing even if it means travelling quite a distance
Accommodation: basic is the word, expect bunk beds and sharing rooms but the water was hot although a bit brown!
Food: Satisfied me, although some said last year's chef was better..
Other guests: predominantly male, 1 female out of about 25. When full the hotel takes about 30-35 guests I think. Many people were regular visitors and many solo skiers like myself.
Cost: 60-70 euros per day for half board shared room. 90 euros per day for guided skiing average 5 in the group, including minibus travel but not lift passes.
Definitely going back next season but is there anywhere else like this offering accomodation and guiding??
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Somewhere in BC there is a similar set up but with cat skiing. Forget the name, but it si featured in Claim.
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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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inspark, the other alternative is stay at the Edelweiss where the accomodation is a lot better and get your guiding with www.snowlegend.com
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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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clarky999, monashee powdercats?
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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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milnerhome, that's the one - looks amazing!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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clarky999, certainly does, their building a new guest lodge for 2011 to provide more space.
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inspark, nice review. Shame you didn't get better conditions. But you've confirmed La Grave at the top of my list of to do's...
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BobinCH, likewise, the week guiding package is tempting.
inspark (or anyone else), I presume they split the groups according to ability? I can't see it referenced anywhere. And do they take groups of mixed skiers/boarders?
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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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Accommodation AND guiding I don't know about, but quite a few resorts have guiding companies who will put you into groups and there is no reason you can't arrange the two separately.
BobinCH, yes, you have to try it sometime - it does get skied out but there is skiing as tough as you want it - up to the most extreme.
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Dr John, snowball, for me it will be a weekend but I'm sure that is long enough to have some fun. I was recommended a guide called Didi from Snowlegend. With no knowledge of the place and limited time I'm going to give him a try... Was also told not to leave La Grave too late in the season as that rules out some of the long itineraries which need snow low down for the exit. Roll on next season...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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BobinCH, the runs to the road always require a little bit of luck for them to be a good ski (as opposed to ending with a fight through avalanche rubble) all the way. there is plenty to fill a weekend even if you can't ski to the road. and end of season has lots of benefits - the usual spring versus winter ones plus La Grave itself actually gets some direct sunlight which is nice 
inspark, i always take skierslodge as a benchmark and it is very hard to find somewhere which will get you as much good skiing for a similar price. i have seen cat-skiing mentioned in this thread. IME, you are lucky if you get the same vertical in a day cat-skiing as one top-to-bottom run at LG. the terrain is also unlikely to be comparable (not many places are comparable TBH). you probably will get better powder though
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La Grave is really *speical*.
Never stayed at skiers lodge myself - but have drunk several beers in the K2 bar below it.
For guided ski weeks I doubt you will find a better experience anywhere.
I think its clear to anyone who has spent time in La Grave that Skiers Lodge is a quality set up.
(Pelle Lang seems to be the honorary king of the village - and some of Europes best ski guides work for him & also Snowlegend).
There might only be one lift - but it would honestly take more than a whole season to ski everything you can access from it.
First skied at LG back in 2003. And every single visit end up discovering new terrain and becoming even more aware of the vast possibilities.
The whole mountain is very rarely all in condition at any one time. Usually the huge vertical means variable conditions will be encountered on every run.
Typical descent's might involve deep powder at the top, a little hardpack in the middle section, then some giant soft moguls in the trees at the end.
Earlier in the winter the road runs and trees might be good.
Later in the winter the glaciers fill in properly and the higher runs (such as the mythical Pan De Rideau and Enferchotes) come into play.
La Grave is somewhere that every 'serious' skier should have on their wish list.
Just make sure you get fit before you go!
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You know it makes sense.
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Haggis_Trap,
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Just make sure you get fit before you go!
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Never a truer word said. I was in good shape when I did a camp with Didi at Snowlegend and woke up every night with my body aching like it only has after a marathon and my mind racing at the thought of which terrifying terrain I was going to be thrown down the following day.
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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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BobinCH, Didi is great, he's actually not a qualified guide But who cares with his skills and experience. Ex World cup mogul skier, top class speed skier, World class freeheeler and World class boarder, I am pretty sure he has been a freeheel world champion and has boarded at the Verbier extremes. You couldn't meet a nicer more relaxed dude, judging by the stuff who have got up to this season he'll be right up your street.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Arno wrote: |
inspark, i always take skierslodge as a benchmark and it is very hard to find somewhere which will get you as much good skiing for a similar price. |
Yes, I was very impressed. And, speaking as somebody with no friends or family (cue violins) who want to ski like this it is a great setup as the majority of people there were solo skiers. The group balance was very good and they even ran a group of 2 for some less confident skiers rather than let them struggle. I do prefer to have accomodation and guiding from the same base for a better atmosphere. I have heard mention of http://www.pistetopowder.com/ based in St Anton who provide a similar service but I don't know if they have accomodation - anyone have experience?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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inspark, glad you enjoyed it. LG is now an annual fixture for me - I actually went twice this year. Did Skiers' Lodge for the first time this year and was impressed. Have often done Edelweiss also - guiding is not quite so integral there but I've mostly been there with SCGB (or a couple of trips with pre-arranged private guides), accommodation is a bit better, food similar.
I had a week with PisteToPowder a year ago and was very impressed. They're a lot more gung-ho than SCGB and push you hard - definite focus on fun and pushing the boundaries. They do run several groups and will move people around to match up ability levels - it's worth contacting them beforehand to check if there are others of similar standard around to make up appropriate groups. When I was with them there was a fair mixture of odd-day ad hocs and regulars coming for a full or half week. You can sign up for individual days or for full week (but no discount for full week). They don't do accommodation though, so I did find myself a bit on my own in the evenings after the apres-ski session wound down, although did join in with some of the others in the group for dinner a few evenings - I'd got a BnB through the Tourist Office website. If you like touring, you should really also check out their Lyngen Lodge operation in northern Norway - fantastic location, scenery and can get quite challenging in the right conditions.
If you want an integrated package to St Anton, you could try www.snoworks.co.uk . Their backcountry courses combine half instruction and half guiding. Top group's normally not bad, SCGB purple to P/G level - Phil is a truly inspirational instructor, but I'm not quite so convinced about the guiding there (they have to take guides from the Arlberg ski school). They also do weeks in Gressoney - it's a bit of pot luck with snow conditions, but there they can use their own great guides.
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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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inspark, worth checking out offpisteskiing's trips. did one called steep vanoise a couple of years ago which was great and in the same ballpark price wise to SkiersLodge; a few others on here did it this year and looked like they enjoyed themselves. there is a little more potential for instruction because he is an insructor rather than a guide. the fact that he is not a guide certainly does not seem restrictive in terms of where you go, no doubt down to his excellent knowledge of the areas you visit
here are a couple of trip reports which will give you a flavour:
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=62950
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=50078
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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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[quote="Arno"]inspark, worth checking out offpisteskiing's trips.
Great info thanks, they look great , definitely look into those for next season.
Thanks also to GrahamN for the St anton feedback - never been there and I really want to, so that sounds like the best setup
Spend the whole summer planning now.....
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FAQ
April. It really is worth going for a week though.
