La Rosiere to La Thuile by hook or by crook

A snowHead

Hi folks, back again after a summer of scuba diving and fishing, and now looking forwards to skiing Very Happy

Have already booked a chalet in La Rosiere. Obviously we can ski into Italy ( La Thuile )

My question is, my wife does not ski along with another member of our 12 strong group.

If we remaining 10 ski into La Thuile (Italy) is there a way by bus or lift that non skiers could get there to join us for lunch.

If so how long does it take and how much would it be.

All the resorts we have done to date my good lady and friend have managed to get a bus or lift to othr resorts to join us for lunch, so it would be nice if they could make it into Italy. Blush

A snowHead

Timbobaggins, it's not possible to get from La Rosière to La Thuile by road except in summer. The road miraculously becomes part of a ski run in winter. The lift links between the two resorts involve chair lifts and two very long pomas, not possible without skis or snowboard.

I would think the only other resorts to get to from La Ros by road would be within the Tarentaise valley on the French side. To drive from La Ros to La Thuile in winter would probably take a couple of hours up to Chamonix, through the tunnel and down through Courmayeur.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Timbobaggins, it's not possible to do that in any sensible way, unless you consider chartering a helicopter to be a sensible option.

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Timbobaggins, not possible. As QB said, there is no way to do it. It would be a very long way by road. I have a feeling that we were warned not to miss the last ski lift back, and if we did to find a room in Italy for the night. I think 3-4 hours was mentioned as the time it would take?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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bertie bassett, I hope the non-skiers are not nervous passengers. Our La Ros taxi-driver was a complete maniac.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Timbobaggins, there is at least one restaurant on the La Ros side which is served by a pedestrian friendly chairlift, with a marked walk back down again.

After all it is free

Cheers all, looks like i will be going all Italian without my wife!!!

Mind you it might be the incentive i need to get her back on ski's

Mind you i think there is more chance of me competing in the mens downhill at Wengen than that Laughing

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Sainte Foy is also quite near la rosiere. Maybe you could do a day trip there?

Is there any chance you could persuade your wife to start skiing again? La rosiere has a few easy blues and is a good resort for a less confident skiier. Evolution 2 ski school are supposed to be good. my son skiied in la rosiere in his second week of skiing and there were plenty of runs he could do. The link to la thuile involves a couple of red runs so your wife would probably not want to do that.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Timbobaggins, taking her to La Thuile from La Rosiere and back is not a good way to get your wife back on skis. The drag lift is terrible, and very very long.

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The journey to and from La Thuile/La Ros is not for a "just back on skis" skier, in my view. It can be bitterly cold and windy and intimidating up there, and involves a notoriously lengthy and unpleasant drag and a connecting red run which would be marked black were it not for it being an essential link.

You know it makes sense.

Frosty the Snowman, there was a red that was utterly grim when I did it. It probably depends on the conditions a fair bit but my recollection is "narrow, very bumpy, quite icy". Don't say it's "tosh" it's just how I remember it. We might not even be describing the same one!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

and the drag might be gentle if you're a consultant in pie consumption but it lifted my waif-like niece clean off her feet for quite a long distance. Fortunately she was quite a gymnast, and a plucky little thing, and hung on - or we'd all have been back to the beginning.

A snowHead

Not that I am disagreeing with anyone, but the petite 6 year old girl and 10 year old autistic boy (he struggles to concentrate for the duration of this drag) I regularly ski with have never experienced any problem on the drag in question.....

But your non-skiing missus still ain't gonna be joining you for lunch..........

A snowHead

paulio, FTS is quite right, the sole connecting red piste is a lovely run, although there are a couple of turns where potective netting barriers are deployed and I have known nervous skiers to become distracted but it's the only north facing piste in La Rosiere and the snow is always in excellent condition. I've never known it to be icy but it does get a fair amount of use and small moguls can develop although it's always bashed every evening. So it can depend when you ski it but the bumps can easily be avoided by skiing closer to the edge, this also has the advantage of staying clear of nervous skiers.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

My group found it intimidating and difficult.

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The Voice of Reason, it was a few years ago that happened - and they've probably modified the drag. A lot of the fiercer drags have been tamed so as not to present too much challenge to the 21st century skiers. wink

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

paulio, your group's skiing ability is probably a factor.

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Your vested interest in the resort is probably also a factor.

The OP is talking about someone who is an ex skier, and currently a non skier. My group were bog standard average recreational skiers, and some of them found it a little tougher than they would have liked. So as a comparison point it's perfectly valid.

c.f. "simply be a fearless skier and hug the netting next to the sheer drop" which is the kind of thing only a dumbass would say.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

paulio, having a chalet in the resort does enable me to ski there more frequently than the average skier, it also enables me to contradict opinions about the reosrt that are absolutely useless. I was responding to your post in response to FTS's comments who knows the resort very well and has sufficient experience to be able to judge the degree of difficulty of the piste. Your comments tell me you do not.

After all it is free

paulio, the difference is because I am a mint skier wink

I have always found the snow good on there as it is north facing BUT we have always done it in the morning on the way to La Thuile. On reflection it could well be a different kettle o fish in the afternoon....as are many slopes. I love its sharp bends and its high speed run out.

I like the red run down from the Fort to the drag lifts and it is no steeper than red runs off the other side. What I do find scary is the 3 man chair back to the Fort with the drop off the right hand side!

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I did it the other way round (based in La Thuile, visiting La Ros). We got that infinitely long drag lift nearly at last orders and skied it at close of play. And it was very bumpy (not proper moguls, just offputting clumped up heaps of mashed potato), fairly crowded, and a bit scary, irrespective of what the La Roisiere Marketing Board (above) might be saying.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

We skiied the red piste in question in the mornings and the conditions were fairly good. However I remember it required concentration on my part due to

1. was quite crowded so not much room to turn
2. the narrow bit with orange barrier at the side at the top
3. having to go for it and ski straight down from about half way as from what I remember the drag is slightly uphill at the bottom.

I managed ok on good snow but would not have enjoyed it if it had had moguls on. Probably best to stay the la rosiere side if you want to ski both resorts as I think the route to la rosiere was easier than the route to la thuile and I prefer to do the harder skiing first thing and have an easy run back when I'm tired.

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You know it makes sense.

Timbobaggins,

the ski to and from la Rosiere isn't hard at all. When I visited in 2008/09 my son who was just 7 and his little friends skied to and fro with no particular problems- apart from the slow and bitterly cold drag lift. It isn't a hard drag- it is just very very windy- which is a problem for small kids- but not adults. The pistes themselves are not hard.

However if th egroup you ski with is very much faster than Mrs Timbo then perhaps this would make for a problem. She could have some lessons- perhaps if she did it with an instructor/ a group at more of her own pace rather than with your mates she would be more confident.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Urm, thanks all for tips and pointers and i particularly loved the dust up in the middle of this thread. As Harry Hill would say "FIIIIIGHT"

Anyway Mrs Baggins ski'd twice in her life, both times at Les Menuires. I would say she reached the standard of bad begginer, never got past a snowplough. Also because she has dodgy feet, she suffers really badly in ski boots. We tried everything trust me, i could have had two weeks skiing for what we paid out for boots footbeds ect ect.

So there is zero chance of putting her on skiis, i have tried her snowboarding, but she didn't like that either.

So it looks like she will be stuck in La Ros whilst we go all Italian!!!!

Its a shame coz she has never been to Italy.

Can you do La Thuile and back in a morning. Say leave resort at La Ros at 0900, blast over to La Thuile, do a few runs, have a beer and blast back to La Ros for lunch.
We have a strong ski group who laugh in the face of reds Twisted Evil

A snowHead

Yes you can do la rosiere to la thuile and back in a morning. We left our children at ski school at 9:30 and managed to get back at 12:30ish no problems. We didn't get right down to the la thuile village but to the top of the first lift. You could spend one morning doing the san bernando area and another doing the runs above la thuile. When we went (new yr 2009) the snow was deeper on the Italian side. However try to pick a day with clear skies to go over there as the first time we went over we couldn't see much at all and ended up coming straight back to la rosiere. There is also a nice long red (with black running nearby) below the main part of la rosiere. It goes down to a nice cafe (lovely smell of woodsmoke). We had a waffle and hot choc there.

Are you staying in the main village or les eucharts?

Did you buy mrs b her own ski boots and still have probs? I never got on with hire ones but have had my own boots for 10 yrs or more and not had problems since.

A snowHead

Mrs B got bought the lot, i think most of it was a confidence thing, everytime she got near to someone or edge of piste she would throw herself over Puzzled

We are staying at La Balcons in Ros, i think its ski in and out, Sister-in-Law booked it so not sure, I just go with the flow Cool

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I think les balcons is in les Eucharts which is the new area of la rosiere. The main part of the resort is a short walk through woodland. Les Eucharts has a supermarket, restaurant or two, bowling (I think) and a nice creperie. We preferred it to the main resort as les eucharts was fairly quiet and hardly any traffic. We stayed at cimes blanches appts just up the hill from les balcons. Cimes blanches has a nice pool/spa area..maybe mrs b could have a treatment there or two if they have any non resident options.

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Timbobaggins, 9am from the Front de Neige
7 mins for La Roches Noir lift
5 mins down to the Fort chair
8 minutes up the chair
4 mins down to the Clarines 1 drag
9 minutes on the drag
1 minute ski off left and accross the border

35 minutes should get you into the Col area. If the wind is mild there is lots to play on in this area. If not head for La Thuile and the nice reds and tough black of the woods.

On the way back, from the top of Belvedere, allow the same time back to the Front de Neige, add another 35 if from La Thuile town.

This is based on a small group with toe down

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Timbobaggins, Balcons looks mint, but is in Les Eucherts. Add on 10 minutes to get to Italy but deduct 3 minutes to get back. You will have to catch the roc noir drag up to the roc noir summit. This is a better option than the slow Landeliers lift which then involves a pole along the top.

You'll need to Register first of course.

And hope it isn't windy, I was almost blown off the Roc Noir drag.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Hells Bells, ooh I shall have to make sure I try it at christmas Laughing

After all it is free

Frosty the Snowman, it became particularly scary when the lift stopped for 5 minutes because someone else had obviously fallen off . No shelter at either side, and I couldn't see a yard in front of me. It got rid of the hangover from the previous nights vodka drinking session with the ski instructors though.
I thought you weren't going back to La Ros again wink

Frosty the Snowman,

Blimey do you time all your runs that precise, cheers for info though Very Happy

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Timbobaggins, oh yes wink

Hells Bells, I though we had out grown it BUT the accomodation, the price, the folks we are travelling with and a few other factors drew us back. Am actually quite excited now.

Help!!

La Rosiere to La Thuile by hook or by crook

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