 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi. Me and my friend are going ski ing together for the first time. I have been skiing 4 times and am an average skier: Reds but happier on a tougher , longer blue. But my friend at the age of 50 has never been before. It's our 50th treat to ourselves with the husbands blessings. Where would be a good place for an absolute beginner and one who has skied before so we can actually have fun seperately and together? I don't want to spoil a good friendship and I want her to have a great time, but I would like to still have some fun skiing too. Thought we could do sep ski school in the mornings and then go off together in the afternoons. We don't need a glamorous nightlife -just nice bars /restos -and please we are not rich, so Klosters is not an option!
We are going in late Jan/early Feb w/out kids so can travel in term time. I have been to La Rosiere, La Plagne, Tignes and Saas Fee. Def not S Fee for me. Think Tignes is a bit challenging. Any reccs re La Plagne? I thought La Ros might be fun, but it is quite small...Help!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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tinabf, Hmm. Interesting question. Realistically you won't be able to ski together that much, but you'll want to do a bit with your friend. If she has ski school every morning (which would make sense) then she might be too tired to do much in the afternoon anyway.
Is she fairly athletic and fit? What other exercise does she do? That makes a big difference.
I suggest you have a look at this http://www.simonbutlerskiing.com/
I've never used them, but I've heard good things about them (some people on Snowheads have been there a lot) and the resort is very nice. It's also rather expensive, if you go out to the smart restaurants and eat big lunches on the mountain but you don't need to do either of those things. It's very beautiful (Mont Blanc right in your face) and the slopes are encouraging and well groomed. The town centre is car-free, attractive, with some entertaining if ridiculously pricey window shopping and lots of lovely cake and coffee shops etc. It's not full of teenage hooligans and people who can't do a ski holiday without being drunk every night.
Because the tuition is arranged by the chalet, it's "seamless" - it could be a lot of work for you, with a complete beginner friend, if you have to sort her out all he time.
You need to go by the first week of February at the latest, or you'll hit the French school holidays, which are well worth missing.
Prices don't include flights but you can get cheap transfers from Geneva - which is a big plus.
Oh - forgot to ask - are you up for sharing a room? If not, it'll cost you.
One (big) advantage of that set up is that you would both have a group of similar standard to ski with, outside lessons.
That's not a super cheap option - though it's not super expensive either, given that it includes tuition. But I'm sure people will come up with other ideas.
If you wanted to rent a small apartment with two bedrooms and cater for yourselves, it would be a lot cheaper - but some options would leave you, as the experienced person, with a lot to do. I know from experience that getting a complete beginner kitted out, and to the ski school meeting place at the right time, keeping their morale up and soothing their aches and pains can be a full time job. 
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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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serre chevalier. nice hot springs complex as well. reasonably prcied. good range of skiing
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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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serre chevalier. nice hot springs complex as well. reasonably prcied. good range of skiing
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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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You might want to look at somewhere where there are lots of nice on-slope places to eat and drink with easy access for pedestrians (just in case your friend doesn't get on with the skiing). That way you can still get up the mountains and maybe ski from place to place at a leisurely pace.
Megeve comes to mind and it needn't be expensive - there are lots of reasonable priced places to stay. Slopes are great too.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Think Tignes is a bit challenging
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I respectfully disagree 
My very first ski trip was to Tignes and I was 49½ at the time.
I had terrific instruction from Evolution 2 and by the end of the week I was able to get up to the tranquil valley on the Val D'Isere side of Toviere where there are miles of easy greens and blues.
Not saying that it is a clear choice for your requirement by any means but don't automatically rule it out.
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tinabf, Serre Chevalier could well be an option, there are certainly accessible, gentle runs that you may be able to ski together after your friend has had tuition to a reasonably competent level. I'd recommend Monetier as a base, personally. I learned there (SC), but one does need to progress reasonably well to take full advantage of the area. There are plenty of longish blue pistes to get the feel of travelling, but some do have their "tricky" elements.
La Ros probably meets your need to be honest and, while your friend is having tuition, you could always nip over to La Thuile - not really limiting IMHO (assuming the link is open, of course).
If you can put up with the long transfer, Livigno offers some varied skiing plus very accessible learning slopes right behind the town. I was there several years ago and we had a 1st week skier with us who was able to ski out with us towards the end of the week (blues and very undemanding reds) - just a question of identifying them beforehand. If your friend doesn't take to skiing well, or at all, the town does offer some distraction not perhaps offered by La Ros. Serre Chevalier also offers alternative.
Finally, Folgarida/Marilleva in Italy (staying in Folgarida): Quietish resort, really good, intermediate skiing (looking like a good start to the snow this year). The first station, top of the gondola has, what I believe, is one of the better beginner areas that I have seen, with some nice bar/restaurants to relax in after ski school. It's nice and open and has the feeling of offering progression as confidence builds. From there, the resort offers some fairly easy, accessible terrain that would certainly allow you to ski together without going too far. There is also a longish, gentle, wide blue back to the resort. Folgarida.co.uk, who advertise here, offer hotel holidays there with an all-inclusive package (F + T, HB, lift pass, equipment hire). For non-school weeks they were running a free tuition offer. Well worth it IMHO.
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Sorry, I should have mentioned - of the four suggestions above, Folgarida probably offers the least alternatives if your friend doesn't take to skiing at all.
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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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tinabf, as you've been to La Rosiere before you'll know how good it is for beginners, I wonder how much you've seen of the entire ski area because there's over 160kms of pistes which is comparable with somewhere like Chamonix. I've always found that beginners have made good progress, we've had guests who arrived never having skied and by the end of the week were delighted to have skied to La Thuile and back. Another plus point is that ski schools in the village are well used to English clients and have a high proportion of English speakers and even some English instructors. For an idea of costs, have alook at www.morealps.com it's my son's company , he has 4 chalets in the village and includes ski-hosting and transfers in his package.
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