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UCPA - trips to France - any views ?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I am tempted to book a UCPA trip in March. Seems unbeatable for value, accepting it's shared room, hostel accommodation and food. But, if you're there for just the skiing and are a single traveller, the fact that lift pass, ski hire and lessons are all included starts to appeal. All that for £600.

I've never heard of UCPA before - any one been with them, planning to go ? What are your thoughts / reviews ? Was thinking of Les Deux Alpes or Flaine. Perhaps not my first choice but flights / transfers seem to fit better.


Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 31-08-10 16:37; edited 1 time in total
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
used to go to Tignes val celaret centre at least twice a year before the kids came along and i bought in BSM

excellent fun
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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?
I've been to the UCPA in val claret twice, last easter I spent two weeks there. It's a really friendly atmosphere and I've never found it hard to find people to eat/ski/apres ski with. As long as you aren't bothered about fine dining the food actually is really good, lots of salad, soup, buffet style main courses and awesome ice cream! In Tignes its quite easy to get back to the centre for a hot lunch, especially if you do the half day lessons although you can get a packed lunch everyday if you want.

Not sure if you'd do the lessons but they are a really useful way to meet people to ski/board with during other times and we've always done some really interesting stuff including in the higher groups a really good mix of on piste/off piste.

I'm a fan and am going back to the UCPA in Flaine over New Year with a friend and will probably head to another one at some point in the season; if you don't mind taking your plates back after dinner, giving your room a bit of a hoover at the end of the week and aren't bothered about not being surrounded by 100% English people it's amazing value and you'll really enjoy it.

Have fun!
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damobloke1, I have heard reports that echo what VWLP, and cheztichot, say, so sounds like a good plan.

Its often commented on here that its not a good idea to put your e mail address - you may want to edit that out - think it encourages spam.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I did a training course in the Chamonix one once - food was slightly school dinner, but there were plenty of salads, cheeses, fruit etc if you didn't fancy the main dish.
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Doesn't really sounds cheap enough to me for the low standard of accommodation. You can get a TO deal with a single room for a similar amount.
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
queen bodecia, including pass and full time lessons/mountain guide?
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
queen bodecia, unless you get a once-in-a-lifetime deal I doubt it. The price includes full-board accommodation, lift pass, equipment and lessons and/or guiding. Where can you find similar through a TO?
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The standard of accommodation in Flaine is pretty good apparently. I've stayed there twice when it was the Lindars and then the Club Med hotel in the mid to late 1990's. They apparently still have ensuite rooms.
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My daughter and SiL stayed in flaine in their own double en suite room. Said it was excellent - decent size room with balcony overlooking the mountains. Their only complaint was some young Brit girls who got a bit noisy and drunk once or twice, and were a nuisance in the corridor. Teenagers. My two are both teachers, one of whom has taken kids on several ski trips. After the second incident they took them aside and had a bit of a word - friendly but firm! No more trouble after that, and they apologised.

They found the whole thing superb value. The food was good, though daughter eats wheat-free and did rather o/d on rice. SiL had also been on his own to ski, before they met, and to Chamonix in summer for climbing, etc etc. He is not someone who finds socialising with strangers terribly easy, especially foreign ones, but he always found someone to have a beer with etc etc.

They had all day tuition - they're pretty good skiers and said they would have preferred a bit more individual feedback but they thoroughly enjoyed being led round the whole of a big area, which they didn't know, by an expert skier. They were in the top group, in a week with rubbish snow, very thin and icy, so I don't think they did much off piste.

They went with Action Outdoors and their coach journey out there was shocking. One runaway driver and three separate breakdowns on three different coaches.

I can't imagine a better deal.
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but, going back to your previous thread, you'd still do a lot better going somewhere like Flaine the following week - will be a fair bit quieter after the French winter holidays are finished. The pistes in Flaine can be very busy. My daughter was there in February hols (teachers = no choice) and though they are both very experienced skiers they found the pistes unnervingly busy. the poor conditions didn't help - luck of the draw.
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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.
Hells Bells, that they do. Great place, stayed there last Easter. Rooms are either for two or for four, all en-suite, fairly modern and of a good standard, comparable to if not better than most of the two-bed rooms I've stayed at in 3* chalets across France/Austria.
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Last 4 TO trips I have booked have been under £750 for flights, transfers, half board hotel (with single room supplement), lift pass & ski carriage (or equipment hire). Does UCPA include flights and transfers? If so, I'm wrong and it is a fair bit cheaper. If not, I personally think a TO is better value for money given the standard of accommodation on offer. Admittedly I have no idea how much lessons cost but TOs normally have two days of guiding during the week at no extra cost (unless you pay extra for a bus trip to another resort).
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Thanks for the posts. Flaine would perhaps be the one I chose. Action Outdoors seem to have 2 hostels there. One is Les Lindars (former Club Med), the other is Flaine Altair.

Lindars is about £80 more for the week but Altair is supposed to have had a refurb last Summer. Has anyone been to the Altair hostel ? Is there much difference between the 3 different areas in Flaine (Foret, Forum, Altair ?)

I wouldn't get the coach from the UK. For same price I can get return flights, plus a bit extra for the transfer.

Just how much busier is it in the French holidays ? I've always avoided English holidays and taken the kids out of school. Now they're of an age when I can't justify them taking time off school, hence the single experience awaits. Mixing with other nationalities not a problem for me, travelled a lot and have a language degree. Just want a good week's skiing and find some company while I'm there !!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Queen Bodecia - which TOs have you been with for that price ? I can't find any that include lift pass. What time of year ?
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I think Les Lindars is bigger has a better bar area and a higher number of twin rooms. Altair may be more shared bathroom facilities too - whereas Lindars rooms are all en-suite for each quad or twin room. Lindars is also closer to the bars of the Forum area (White Pub, a couple of restaurants and 'nightclub') and virtually next to the lift thingy that takes you up to the dutch bar and the bowling alley in the Foret area. I'd go with the Lindars. I went there during the UK and french half term week (wasn't my choice) and slopes were busy but there were very few lift queues and the area is huge enough to accommodate the numbers so you'll be fine with just the staggered french half term breaks - which I think run from 14 Feb to 13 March next year.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
damobloke1, I usually stick to Crystal so I can fly from a local airport. Last 3 trips have been second week of March to Kitzbuhel, Courmayeur & La Thuile. For this forthcoming season I have booked Kitzbuhel again 5-12 March for £740 and a short break to Scheffau 4-8 January for £380, admittedly those prices take account of the 2 for 1 lift pass offer they had running at the time of booking. I have booked the lift pass but shared the cost with another of my ski buddies (we all book separately).

Generally speaking there's a fair choice around the £500-£600 mark and add the cost of lift pass and ski carriage on top of that. That's what I aim for.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
queen bodecia, I know you can get good deals like that last minute - and have benfitted a few times over the years from them in very low season - but as a single traveller I've found you still get stung for the single supplement right up to the last minute and also choice of ski area gets more limited the longer you leave it.
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sarep, apart from Kitzbuhel 2008 where I booked only a month before, I have booked at least 6 months in advance. I'm already fully booked and paid up for my 2011 trips. The trick is to find hotels with single rooms. Although the rooms can be small, normally there isn't much of a supplement. The hotel I stayed at in La Thuile last season were offering twin rooms for sole use with no supplement for non-peak weeks. That was the main reason for choosing it. Myself and one other girl in my group of ski buddies are both single and requirement our own rooms.

It does mean a bit of hunting around and there are quite a few resorts that are simply over-budget (St Anton, Ischgl, pretty much anywhere in France or Switzerland) but there's still usually a fair bit of choice.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I can vouch for the fact that after having stayed in 3 different UCPA's; Serre Chevalier, Les Arcs and Val d'Isere they are top notch. Food, socialising and lessons have been summarised well above. One thing to add is that they all seem to be in top locations either with easy access or directly opposite the lifts.

Plus the free guiding a Tour Operator offers isn't normally provided by proffessional mountain guides. The quality of the tuition and guiding is outstanding from all accounts, they will even take you to nearby resorts in their vans to find good conditions.

I'm currently eyeing up a trip for the first week of Janaury in the UCPA in Serre Chevalier. If I decide not to have guiding the cost will be €480 (£400) with a budet of about £150 for getting there. With instruction it is €525 (£434) and for off piste guiding it is €575 (£475). I'd challenge anyone to beat that.
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queen bodecia, as has been said, with UCPA you get a UIAGM mountain guide or proper instructor. not everyone wants this, but if you do it works out very economical.

my usual benchmark for this type of thing is Skiers Lodge in La Grave which charges EUR900-1000ish for half board and 6 full days of guiding. It is really very good value compared with a lot of things and when you take into account the quality of the skiing you will do. UCPA is the only thing I have seen which offers something similar for significantly less
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Arno, Christopher, OK fair dos. The guiding/instruction aspect is clearly their USP. Can't argue with that. Not my thing but I can see the appeal to people who would want that.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Quote:

One thing to add is that they all seem to be in top locations either with easy access or directly opposite the lifts.

Another important point. damobloke1, to answer your question, it will be quite a lot busier in the French holidays. Not unbearable - and it's not lift queues that are the problem in Flaine - they can get loads of people up the hill fast. That's the problem, particularly when conditions are such that off piste is not really tenable (and it's not advisable in Flaine without a guide anyway, because of the holes).

It'll be enjoyable the week you propose - but more enjoyable the following week! Simple as that. In the resort where we have an apartment there are practically no Brits and no tour operators - but the difference between the last week of the French holidays and the first week thereafter is huge. The lack of huge groups of kids makes a difference, for a start.
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I see there is only one French school 'zone' off that week - and it's not the Paris kids!
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queen bodecia, they've got more than the guiding as their USP. You can do trips to most centres without guiding/instruction being included and save between £80 and £160. Part of their appeal is the social aspect, with a great atmosphere in each of the centres I've been to.
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damobloke1 wrote:
Seems unbeatable for value.............. All that for £600.


I'm with queen b on this.

If that's your main criterium, no, it's not. The rest is comparing apples with pears.

You may not be able to scare up a deal now, but closer to fact, you will. Prolly get all that, and travel, for £600. It's the anticipaaaaaation that cracks people into paying more.

And if the ski guiding is the clincher, personally, no thanks. The first day, in an unfamilar area, yes. A whole week.................. Skullie .
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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.
damobloke1 wrote:
I see there is only one French school 'zone' off that week - and it's not the Paris kids!


No, the Paris holidays are the first two weeks this year, 13th Feb onwards.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
BCjohnny, you can choose instruction, guiding or neither. Guiding isn't simple fannying-around follow-me introduction to the pistes like reps sometimes do but proper fully-qualified instructors or UIAGM mountain guides (in glaciated terrain) taking people deep into the back country. Very useful for some people who want it. Hey, why am I trying to sell it to the cynics? Stay away, leave more places free for others who may appreciate it Smile
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:

Hey, why am I trying to sell it to the cynics?

indeed. a week of full guiding or instruction at UCPA doesn't compare with what a TO offers. Also, the food is better than some of the cheap dives TOs offer and the company far, far, superior. Not all Brits, for a start. And all young. No kids.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Sideshow_Bob, indeed.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
sideshow_bob

If you bothered to read my reply, you'd see the ONLY thing I was commenting on was cost, as that seemed to be the OP's main concern (and IIRC was the thrust of a previous post too). Hence highlighting the quote.

You're making assumptions about the guy wanting guided back country, when all he mentions are "lessons". Try reading his post as well. And, please, spare me the "pearls before swine" advice. wink

damobloke1. Late deal, Italy (or judging by others advice, Austria). The people are nicer, the beer's cheaper, and you get to pick where the snow is. You will get pretty much what you want for £600, travel included. But if you fancy the UCPA route, great, I'm sure you'll have a great time regardless.

Good luck.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Quote:

And all young. No kids.


Glad that I still fit into the young category - as a 41 yr old !! As has been said, they are flexible on the upper age limit.

I've looked at TOs for the same sort of deal. 3* hotels, 5-10 min bus ride from the slopes. £1000 all in. Lift passes tend to cost upwards of £180, ski + boot hire £100, lessons £150. Sure, late deals will throw up a few bargains. I've done TOs and DIY in the past. Each serves its own purpose. Can't say I've had a bad experience either way - although TOs can let themselves down with the chalet hosts - luck of the draw as some are good, some very indifferent to their guests (ie. just want to drink all night and ski - should leave that to the guests). Independent chalets have a vested interest to doing everything to the best of their ability. Had some good family deals with both.

I would clarify that budget isn't my sole criterion. I was commenting that it seemed good value without having to do loads of shopping around. I just thought I'd try something a bit different - so no doubt will book UCPA in Flaine for the 5th March (I shall be sharpening up my elbows to combat all those French kids pushing in while on their holidays).

Thanks for the reassurance from those that have used UCPA in the past. Thanks also to the others for their constructive advice too !
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