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New to the forum. Planning trip to Valtho in April. Any advice very welcome.
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead

Hi guys,

Me and a friend were talking recently and decided to start up a facebook group for all our friends who would like to ski over Easter in Valthorens. Intially I didnt think it would be many, but so far we have almost 20 on the group. Some have declined but others are undecided. When it comes down to it, I expect we will end up with a number of about 5-10 skiiers, all of which have been skiing before and are at different levels of intermediate skiing. Initially, just a couple of us were going to crash on a friend's floor who has a place out there, but with so many it is not possible/a chalet will be a more viable/comfortable option.

I have joined this forum for advice on the topic, as I am a reasonably experienced skiier, and have been to this resort a number of times, but always with my parents. I am not, however, experienced in booking/bargain hunting for a group of 20-23 years olds on a budget for a weeks skiing.

I feel the first thing to be able to accurately price a trip will be rough numbers to decide where to stay. Either a chalet or a hotel depending on the number of people. The flights can be sorted by individuals whenever(obviously the sooner the better for cost reasons), but the accommodation is the most important. I have found some flights on expedia which are reasonable. Is this a good route to go down when booking flights from the UK? Also, am I right in thinking the ski hire and ski pass prices will be static meaning I dont have to give them too much thought at this time?

Anyway, I dont want to make this post too long but will probably keep it going until I book the trip if I get some decent responses. It is always great to have other peoples ideas at any opportunity. Please feel free to make any comments on general musts for a first time trip planner, anything you may have missed out on in the past that was detrimental to your trip, and of course, any deals you come across that could help make the trip that little bit cheaper.

Nick
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

njb, Welcome to Snowheads. snowHead
Have you considered the trips being organised here listed under snowEvents. the SFaB and the EoSB?
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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?

Quote:

Also, am I right in thinking the ski hire and ski pass prices will be static meaning I dont have to give them too much thought at this time?


Yes.

Welcome to snowheads. snowHead

When you say "either a chalet or a hotel" do you mean a catered chalet? If so, difficult to do much until you have committed numbers willing to pay up. Don't land yourself with bills, if others promise to come then change their minds.

It'll be hard to book accommodation for other than a standard Sat/Sat (or possible Sun/Sun with some accomm) week. The flights are now expensive for Easter. Don't be tempted to buy cheap "odd period" flights unless you have sourced some accommodation which is available for those dates. You might get some good suggestions here.

Finally, the transfer can sometimes turn out to be one of the more expensive aspects of DIY trips, so if you decide to go down that route rather than using a tour operator, don't overlook that. Probably not far off 100 euros a head return. Car hire is often the cheapest way, but your ages might count against you there.

If you're on a tight budget, of course, self catering is the way to go.

Good luck. snowHead
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.

Welcome to snowHeads njb, snowHead

The toughest thing at the stage you're at is guestimating how many people will turn out to be definite v's how many flake along the way. With definite numbers, u can find the right sized accom and the price is obvious. Alternatively, choose some accom, declare that as the intended destination, give people a price and an ultimatum by which to commit their dosh. If you get more or less than it holds, just pick a new place that fits. If you have your heart set on it and only one or two empties by the deadline, it's up to you whether to take the chance of underwriting it yourself in the hope of filling them later.
Even then, nothing's ever guaranteed - there's a post in the solos v's groups forum at the moment where someone has booked a whole hotel in Dec for their regular group, everyone's paid deposits and still 8 people dropped out Shocked, leaving the organiser holding 8 empty beds that they are trying to fill cheaply.


As BMF_Skier mentioned, there will be a lot of snowHeads in Val Thorens over Easter.
You don't say which week you were planning to go but we're doing 2 events there back to back.
16th-23rd the SFaB
23rd-30th the EoSB

the SFaB isn't far from full already so if you're interested in that week, you'll need to move quicker.
The EoSB always fills up so there's no hard sell going on here but check the topics and if it suits you, we cover accom and liftpass and fill up a load of apartments that are all in the same hotel. So that takes the pressure off you to balance up the exact number of people with the right size apart etc. All your mates have to do is make their minds up and sign up before the trip's full and we'll just fit everyone in where appropriate Wink ... easy!
More about snowHeads bashes here.

As pam w, says, transfer costs can hurt on a DIY. Now, michelle organises a bus (known as the Lardy Bus) from Geneva on the Saturday for the group for these weeks so if she's willing (and she is quite nice generally) you might possibly go in on that which would cut your transfer costs down, whether you stay with the group or not.
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