 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all, less than 29 days till my first ski trip of the season to Val Cenis 
However have option of a cheap week in mid March at a place called Flumet which i think is near Megeve.
What is it like, if it is low altitude does it have lifts linked to higher or do we have to get a bus or use our car to get higher.
Any reports greatfully recieved.
Tim B
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Timbobaggins, Flumet village, itself, is not very near the lifts - too far to walk, though I think there are buses. However, the Flumet lifts link up into the wider Espace Diamant, with 185 km of skiing. It is low altitude, but should be OK in mid March (usual caveats apply) and you can get higher. I wouldn't go to Flumet without a car. One of the main lifts up out of Flumet is a very steep and long drag - not for beginners. Flumet village itself is charming - really old, lots of character. Only a few miles from Megeve along the road, but a different world (and a fairly French speaking one - you won't find many Brits there). Along the valley in Praz sur Arly there's a new fast 6 man chair which will get you up the mountain a lot quicker than the Flumet lifts themselves - and there's plenty of free parking. 
See http://www.espacediamant.com/fr/espace-diamant-domaine.asp
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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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Pam w, thanks. We would have a car and with the cost at sub £300 for a week i think i may gamble. 
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Timbobaggins, i am a regular in flumet and as pam says a car (with snow chains) is necessary. The chair at flumet is slow but there are a couple of nice runs in the trees there and you also have the option to turn left and head to praz sur arly or right and notre dame de bellecombe and then saisies etc. If you leave from flumet it is worth driving up to evettes and the chair as opposed to the very steep, long and uncomfortable button at seigneurs.
We normally leave from Mont rond (the higher of the two stations) at notre dame de bellcombe so we have the option of saisies or back towards flumet.
But don't underestimate driving conditions which can be tricky if there is an overnight dump. We are just back from 10 days at xmas and drove to saisies every day which takes about 25 mins, but on our last day took 1hr 15 mins to get back as the snow fell.
Night life is very quiet with only two bars and a bar/resto and a pizzeria, but the locals are very friendly.
Driving time from geneva is about 75mins (come off at junction 20 sallanches not earlier as many satnavs suggest)
Megeve is pretty and interesting to visit to see fur coated/dog carrying supermarket shoppers and get ripped off for a beer.
Somewhere i posted a link which i don't have just now but the video shows the tour de france going from saisies down to flumet.
Feel free to pm me if you want any other info, i skied in march for four years and was lucky enough to have great conditions each time, best to plan get an early lift and finish mid afternoon.
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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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We normally leave from Mont rond (the higher of the two stations) at notre dame de bellcombe so we have the option of saisies or back towards flumet.
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Good idea. If you're getting in a car anyway, Mont Rond gives you more options - and the lower Val D'Arly runs may be getting a bit mushy (though having said that we skied through there on the day before their closing date last season and the snow was absolutely fantastic throughout). scotkiwi, did you use the new drag over from the top of Praz sur Arly to get back "par les cretes" to the top of Notre Dame? Having had big family party over Christmas we've not ventured over there yet. Possibly tomorrow, if the crowds disappear and the sun appears.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We covered very little ground this visit, eurotunnel delays and ski passes lost by the lift company meant first 3 days were lost so plan to put kids in ski school were scupperred, and i think we were all knackered, so there was a definite reluctance to get out their beds in the morning!
Flumet was washed away and so we only used a bit of NDB and saisies. Really liked the new chair at bisanne as we enjoy the blues and reds there which we can ski as a family and we no longer have to face a long button which tired,and of course sampled the new roller coaster ride at saisies... http://www.vimeo.com/8396241
I am back in 2 weeks with all adult, experienced skiers group, so my rucksack will be a fifth of its weight and don't need a roll call or equipment check 4 times a day  , so we should cover some ground then, and test all the new chairs.
We used glise passion this year for a couple of days and were very pleased with their instructors.
pam we must at some point say hello to each other on the slopes.
Timbobaggins, because we have season passes for espace diamnat, I haven't as yet skied megeve but I have heard it is very good, so if you want to spend a day or two there (it may be more accessible than saisies ) let me know and i will get you more info.
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We used glise passion this year for a couple of days and were very pleased with their instructors.
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we've always used Glisse Passion. This year I handpicked two instructors for my daughter in law and grand-daughter - both very nervous, the latter because she's a wimp and the former because her only previous foray onto the slopes, 10 years (and 3 kids) ago ended in an ACL reconstruction. They both had 1:1 lessons and my judgement is that the two instructors judged it perfectly - a great success all round.
scotkiwi, sorry your holiday was not a resounding success - hope the next one goes better. Let me now next time you're back and we'll definitely have to meet up for a coffee or similar. Did you or one of your party by any chance break a leg on a previous Espace Diamant trip? I remember meeting a scot on a lift somewhere who had had that unfortunate experience.
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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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re Flumet I am going there on the 24th with my 6 year old son who has never skied before. He's not the most confident of boys and i'm not doing ski school as I can't afford it. Sounds like all the lifts are drag lifts. Any advice where in that area to start him off. If all else fails i've got a friend in Courchavel which has a magic carpet perfect for beginners. I have got a car which should be kitted out with chains and snow tyres. Staying at the residence de Evette although i'm not sure where that is at the moment. Timbobaggins,
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 pod, welcome to Snowheads. Flumet and other areas at the bottom of the Val D'Arly are looking a bit sad at the moment, with quite a few runs closed. The fearsome Flumet drag - Seigneur, is also closed. It won't be open until there's a lot more snow, and there's none in the offing as far as anyone can tell.
That's not a great loss. This is it, pictured yesterday; I am standing where a skier would get off (they'd have the top a bit tidier if it was open ). If you fall off, you hike through the woods, on the right as you look down, and then go down a mogully black run to the bottom. And try again. 
The "Evettes" area, which might be where you are staying, is a lot better, with some nice nursery areas. It's going to get cold, so they'll be able to use the snow cannons, which should transform those lower slopes. I don't know those nursery areas down there, but I can tell you that the Evettes chair is very old, and slow, and gets somewhere which a beginner couldn't possibly cope with, so will be no use with your son.
If you have a car, you might like to drive up to Les Saisies. If you want to start your 6 year old off yourself (is that what you mean?) then the free little rope tow "Gobelins" at Bisanne 1500 would be the best bet. There's a longer free rope tow in the main village but it's much more intimidating for a nervous little one (longer, steeper, more crowded).
I think there might be a tiny "magic carpet" at the bottom in Praz sur Arly - did see a very sweet pair of 22 month old twins on there once, in little skis strapped to their wellies.
Will it just be the two of you?
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