Half Term : Really. How Busy Is It? (Please be nice)

A snowHead

pam w, more like poor finances kept them away. I understand some people have lost jobs and wot not - Arab dictators have been very badly hit as have non-hot newsreader-ettes over 43 (ie all of them)

The Flying Snowplough, it took me 15 years to forget La Plagne too and even now, once in while, I awake screaming in a cold sweat - arrgghhhhh the buildings, arrghhhhh the queues AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH

A snowHead

Just back from Wengen and despite half-term and the hotels seeming full and some fresh snow, hardly had to queue at all providing we were up the hill by 0900.

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I didn't think St Anton was too bad, I hadn't been there before and didn't really know what to expect.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Just back from PdS (Champoussin) it was definitely quieter than last year, the car park in our building was half empty and likewise in several others. Hideous queues in Avoriaz (and I had a, er, spirited discussion with a Frenchman who apparently didn't know what "Ralentir" means) but really no queues to peak of on the Swiss side, even at Mossettes the longest we waited was 5 minutes.

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pam w, quiet was the impression we got in les carroz as well , apartment (er thats generous...box like studio like the one we rented!) next door was empty, as was across the corridor. Parking was easy as loads of space. Bit of a scrum for gondola first thing, but lifties filled the cabins! and got rather cross if you didn't do what you were told!!

However one digusting thing i noticed at half term was teenagers spitting from chair lifts on people skiing below...ugh

I thought Samoens was extremely busy this half-term - and many conversations I heard in various queues and cafes in the other linked resorts seemed to suggest others were of this opinion too.
We skied to Les Carroz, Morillon and Flaine and all seemed to be copying much better.

We did find a sneaky lift that got us up to Samoens 1600 before the other lifts had opened so were often the first down some runs - however once the hoards arrived, ski-schools set off, ski-schools returned to base and just after lunch the popular slopes were fairly hideous and unfortunately dificult to avoid.

Tempted by Flaine for another year's HT but may now look at Easter breaks instead.

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I was in Obertauern for half term. Only on one day when strong winds closed all the uplift on one side of the mountain, did we ever queue for more than a few minutes for a lift. Most of the time the wait on lifts was almost zero (e.g.an average of 2-3 people deep)

Price-wise we didn't pay any premium for going at half time versus any other week in Feb. We drove, and petrol/tolls costs no more at HT, and the crossing is pretty cheap. We did a very nice 4* self-catering (http://www.winter-sonne.at/) for under £600 a head (accommodation, petrol, crossing, tolls). 400m from the lifts and and off-piste ski-to-door

At one point we were going to fly rather drive. Using Easyjet or Ryanair, which get very expensive at HT, I've found the best way is to use German Wings and fly Stansted to Stuttgart or Munich. This does leave a 3-5 hour drive/minibus the other end, but very affordable HT flights were available.

HT is really expensive if you go with a UK tour operator to a tourist heavy french resort. But if you DIY and avoid avoid the big French resorts, then you're fine.

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Having just come back from Val d’Isere, we had one 10 minute queue first thing Monday morning at the lift at bottom of the slopes (the Solaise express for those in the know). Subsequent mornings we had about a 5 minute queue at the first lift wherever that was first thing. For the rest of each day I’d say we had a 2-3 minute queue at most. Sometimes we almost got straight on.

You need to ski intelligently - or at least plan your ski day like so if you really want to avoid queues. Do things like get the first lift or if you like a lie in / are lazy then wait until after ski school have departed. Ski long and have a late lunch or conversely, especially if you start earlier then have lunch early too. That will mean you have about an hour of no queues and empty slopes whilst everyone is having lunch or returning to the resort if they’ve been on morning lessons.

If you can, then do a Sunday to Sunday trip. Your last Saturday will again be on empty slopes (certainly in France it seems to be). I’m a reasonable skier but no Bode Miller and I managed to ski from the top of the Grand Motte to the bottom of Sache in Tignes Le Breviere in 45 minutes on Saturday afternoon. That involved 4 lifts too, none of which are fast (those who know Tignes will know that Grand Huit and Aiguile Percee are particularly mind numbing). I went straight onto the lift at each stop and found almost no-one on the slopes.

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We went to Termignon this year at HT, and had hardly any queues all week (apart from when ski-shool set off at 10am) and we frequently had the piste to ourselves. The tricky drag lifts to the top did occasionally get clogged up with the ski schools but no more than 5-10 minute queue and the pistes hardly every felt busy. Further down the valley in Lanslebourg or Lanslevillard it was busier but nothing like St. Gervais last year (same week) or Val Thorens the year before, where 20 minute queues were the norm and sometimes as much as 40 minutes. I suspect the conditions had something to do with it, but from speaking to people who'd been there before it never seems to get too busy in Termignon even at HT.

The drive home though was a different matter, 18 hours door to door (West London) but we made about 5 stops. Two hour queue to get through Chunnel even with flexi plus tickets (Peak Retreats). But the real delays were due to the Peage's. Paying 70 quid each way to use the road is bad enough but then having 2-3 hours added to the journey while they take your money is a bit rich.

You know it makes sense.

I've just come back from Tignes and found that the queue to be avoided at all costs was the one for the hot roast chickens in Sherpa Smile

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

>>> Anecdotal evidence from checkin-queue-chatter suggests no queues in Cervinia, Serre Chevalier or Claviere either.

Dodgy info - there were serious queues in Serre Chevalier all week at resort level. However, generally ok higher up.

Much of the problem seems to be caused by the ski school. With lessons all starting/finishing at the same time it's not surprising that there are problems at resort level. A variety of lesson lengths, start times and pick up/drop off points would reduce the queues, but I guess that would leave instructors with the odd slots during the day when they weren't earning anything.

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Half Term : Really. How Busy Is It? (Please be nice)

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