 Poster: A snowHead
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So, my friends and I have pondered the idea of dressing up in our ski/board gear, shoving whatever we can into a rucksack, catching the earliest flight possible from Luton to Geneva, grabbing a transfer to the nearest good resort (Flaine?), hiring skis/boards, doing a day's skiing, and then reversing the journey, getting back into the UK at 10pm ish, and back home in bed for midnight.
Have we had a truly original idea, or has something like this been done? If so, let me know what you did! Cheers!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I would be shocked if no-one has done it before. The independent had an article about doing this exact thing back in 2004 (I guess they were not so concerned about carbon footprints back then!). Of course it's doable, the question is more why? For a fraction more you could fly sat morning, stay somewhere overnight and ski all day Sunday too, without needing to take any time off work.
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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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It's more just to see if we can do it. How much is a 'fraction'? I'm probably a bit old to stay at the youth hostel.
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It will be do-able but one of the main problems is that the hour change goes against you. Even with a 6:30 AM flight, you are already landing at 9:00ish. Hand luggage, so no carousel to negotiate. Single day car hire. Sandwiches en route. You're hiring skis at 11:00AM and on the lift.....
Chances of nothing making a mess of this schedule are 50/50. Every early flight I have taken from EJ has taken off late - Ryanair are better and often have earlier take-off slots. Queue at the car hire desk (Taxi might be more dependable).
Lot of effort for an afternoon on the slopes. Not to mention the cost per day or the environmental costs!
If you pick a Friday or a Monday, you could have 2.5 days which is 5 times more slope time.
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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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Cheers!
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It's a shame the night train to the Tarentaise doesn't run now.
It was possible to sleep your way down on Friday night, get first lift, ski till they closed and get the overnight back on Saturday.
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I'm fairly sure there are snowHeads who have done a 1 day trip, although I don't recall off-hand, who.
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| admin wrote: |
It's a shame the night train to the Tarentaise doesn't run now.
It was possible to sleep your way down on Friday night, get first lift, ski till they closed and get the overnight back on Saturday. |
Now that sounds like a more pleasurable way to do it!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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We tended to use it to give us 8 days skiing out of a week 
There is still a night train from Paris to Briancon (Serre Chevalier) but I've never used it so I don't know what the timings are like.
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I love Serre Che, but don't fancy a night time rush across Paris from Lyon to Nord (or is it the other way around).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
If you pick a Friday or a Monday, you could have 2.5 days which is 5 times more slope time
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Exactly. Unless you really don't have enough free time that you can't spare more than one day throughout the whole winter, you are unnecessarily constricting yourself immensely for no reason. Go for a long weekend and you get more skiing, cheaper per hour/day skiing costs, and you are not looking at clocks worried that an hour delay here or there is going to ruin everything.
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It's more just to see if we can do it.
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I don't really get the mentality. It's not really a "challenge", you are just lining up flights and hoping everything you have zero control over goes right. For most people the goal is how can I maximise time and quality of skiing with limited funds/time available which makes more sense to me.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Snowheads user holidayloverxx has written up what sounds like a very successful version of what you want to do using the train. Probably more expensive than flying but more convenient and less likely to go wrong, plus I would take Les Arcs over Flaine. Unless you're going to arrive in resort prior to lifts opening I would want to being skis and boots with me, you've got precious little time as it is, you don't want to be faffing in the hire shop
https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=34681
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| greengriff wrote: |
| I love Serre Che, but don't fancy a night time rush across Paris from Lyon to Nord (or is it the other way around). |
It's a few stops (3 maybe?) on the RER so without skis and luggage, where's the issue?
You can even buy a carnet of metro tickets on the Eurostar before you arrive in Paris.
Like I say, though, never done that one myself so the timings might not be so good.
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You know it makes sense.
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| boarder2020 wrote: |
| Quote: |
If you pick a Friday or a Monday, you could have 2.5 days which is 5 times more slope time
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Exactly. Unless you really don't have enough free time that you can't spare more than one day throughout the whole winter, you are unnecessarily constricting yourself immensely for no reason. Go for a long weekend and you get more skiing, cheaper per hour/day skiing costs, and you are not looking at clocks worried that an hour delay here or there is going to ruin everything.
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It's more just to see if we can do it.
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I don't really get the mentality. It's not really a "challenge", you are just lining up flights and hoping everything you have zero control over goes right. For most people the goal is how can I maximise time and quality of skiing with limited funds/time available which makes more sense to me. |
It's just meant to be something fun and different for us. It doesn't require too much in the way of deep analysis.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| rambotion wrote: |
Snowheads user holidayloverxx has written up what sounds like a very successful version of what you want to do using the train. Probably more expensive than flying but more convenient and less likely to go wrong, plus I would take Les Arcs over Flaine. Unless you're going to arrive in resort prior to lifts opening I would want to being skis and boots with me, you've got precious little time as it is, you don't want to be faffing in the hire shop
https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=34681 |
Marvellous, thank you!
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Poster: A snowHead
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We took 2 of our kids sledging in Avoriaz for a day trip about 16 years ago.
We lived in Essex at the time & flew Stansted - GVA real early, I had a Gold Hertz thing at the time which allowed for fast check in and out, and at the time the desk was in the Main Terminal, and the cars were 3 floors down in the main carpark, so this made picking up and dropping off hire cars much quicker than today.
We had an apartment in Avoriaz at the time, so all the ski gear and sledges were already there.
We left Avoriaz about 5PM and got a flight back around 8PM.
We had a lovely day, and the kids were so tired they slept pretty much the whole way back 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| admin wrote: |
| I'm fairly sure there are snowHeads who have done a 1 day trip, although I don't recall off-hand, who. |
I did it by eurostar to bourg....twice
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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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...why, did you fall asleep on the way home and go round again? 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| admin wrote: |
| I'm fairly sure there are snowHeads who have done a 1 day trip, although I don't recall off-hand, who. |
I did it by eurostar to bourg....twice |
Yeah I just read your report. Great work!
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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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they do lapland trips in a day & that's not far from Levi. So it can be done.
However, maybe you would be better off getting the last flight the day before
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| greengriff wrote: |
| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| admin wrote: |
| I'm fairly sure there are snowHeads who have done a 1 day trip, although I don't recall off-hand, who. |
I did it by eurostar to bourg....twice |
Yeah I just read your report. Great work! |
Just refreshed my memory..Great day!
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Yes-Mr P has done it from LGW to GVA. We do live 15 mins from gatwick airport which helped. There was (and hopefully will still be)-a 6.10am Easyjet flight to GVA, and a range of flights back-the latest was about 9.40pm. We were renting a place in Les Carroz at the time-same ski areas as Flaine, but closer to the airport-1 hour -so there is little point to head the additional 15 mins further up the road to get to Flaine. I think he managed to get on the slopes by just after 10am (but we had a car at the airport long stay at the time).
To maximise slope time-avoid a scheduled transfer-hire a car. If you have boots-take them, though I know with easyJet's new cabin baggage allowance, you may need to pay a little more to take them in the cabin.
You have plenty of time at the end of the ski day to have a bite to eat before heading off to the airport.
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With night skiing in Levi, 4 hour flight and 20 minute transfer I can see how that might work. A lot better than doing Tremblant for a weekend (from the UK). Was so tired on the drive in from Ottawa was close to hallucinating.
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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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Did an Easter weekend drive out to Les Gets and back a few years ago. Huge dump of snow on the Wednesday, decided to go on the Thursday, drove out Friday, skied Saturday and Sunday, drove home Monday. Had a wonderful 2 days skiing with empty slopes. Friends and colleagues thought we were crazy, we knew we were not.
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I don't know where any of the resorts are, but might the closest place to geneva be to head north to the Jura mountains?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I think Ray Zorro posted his experiences of a day trip but I can't find the thread.
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You know it makes sense.
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Sparklies also did it on the train with mini in tow IIRC...
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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"It's just meant to be something fun and different for us. It doesn't require too much in the way of deep analysis"
I like the idea. It's daft but doable and I've often thought about doing it, just for the hell of it. You could ski at Lelex/Crozet, which is only 20 minutes drive from Geneva airport. It's a great little ski area, with enough to keep you busy for a day, and you can ski "over the back" into Switzerland. It has great views of Geneva and its lake (as well as the airport - you can see the ski lift from the airport runway as you get off the plane) and lift passes are less than half the price of the bigger destinations (understandably so, of course).
p.s. I've just spotted that swskier recommend the Jura mountains, which is exactly where Lelex/Crozet is! 
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Fri 19-03-21 10:09; edited 1 time in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Klamm Franzer wrote: |
It will be do-able but one of the main problems is that the hour change goes against you. Even with a 6:30 AM flight, you are already landing at 9:00ish. Hand luggage, so no carousel to negotiate. Single day car hire. Sandwiches en route. You're hiring skis at 11:00AM and on the lift.....
Chances of nothing making a mess of this schedule are 50/50. Every early flight I have taken from EJ has taken off late - Ryanair are better and often have earlier take-off slots. Queue at the car hire desk (Taxi might be more dependable).
Lot of effort for an afternoon on the slopes. Not to mention the cost per day or the environmental costs!
If you pick a Friday or a Monday, you could have 2.5 days which is 5 times more slope time. |
Quite. Might as well do a challenge to see how many car tyres you can burn in 24 hours
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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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I'm guessing this is for another year? Logistics of negative tests, quarantine, no lifts running (?) would make it a pretty dull day at the moment!
As others have said, I'd go for a weekend, easily possible to get a 2 full days skiing in with an early work finish Friday and late flight home. Pre-kids used to ski pretty much every Easter for 3 days
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I did such a trip back in Jan 2016. Biggest fear was a delay going out which would have rendered it a pretty pointless trip. In the end Easyjet were brilliant and I had no travel problems. I hired a car to be sure of minimal delays and drove to Les Gets. Car park is beneath the lift pass office and main gondola and ski hire place just over the road. Alas it was a grotty weather day and I had about 5 hours of skiing in the rain. Was impressed with what I saw of Les Gets and that prompted me to go back for a long weekend a couple of years ago.
Worthwhile? Yes, if you really can't get any more time away and for the experience. Doesn't make much sense financially. Perhaps now harder to justify in our more climate change aware times? But the plane is going anyway and it was half empty that January morning I travelled. I would do it again, but I enjoy travelling and the buzz of going somewhere, so not the best person to make a balanced assessment.
The Eurostar day trips have always appealed, but seem to have become more expensive and less available in recent years.
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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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The Swiss Travel Centre used to do a day trip to Engelberg. The 6am Swiss flight from Heathrow to Zurich (it's the first of the day from London so fewer chances of delays), taxi-type transfer to Titlis and on the slopes around 10.30 local time. Return journey involved the last flight of the day from Zurich at 8.55pm. (I've used both flights many times and they are extremely reliable!)
More recently, another company (Snowtrex?) did a day trip to Maria Alm in Austria using early/late flights from Luton.
Always quite fancied it but never got around to it!
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@greengriff, I'd be heading for somewhere like Morillon or Praz De Lys for easy access if you used a hire car to and from airport. Really easy to park literally outside a ski hire shop and get straight on the piste/lift out of the shop. Easy return too prior to departure for Geneva.
Both within about 1 h of airport, but PDL has lower cost plus great food on piste and end of day in village. PDL just couldn't be easier to use for a day of skiing.
Environmentally, the plane's going anyway you'll only add the car trip. It's absolutely no different to 1 week there.
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A 6am start from Leicester to the 'Weardale Ski Club' Car Park area takes me about 4 hours by Car.
Ski/Board for 6 hours (10am ~ 4pm)
Then a 4 hour drive and I'm back home again by 8.00 pm... on the Same Day.
Local Accommodation in the Weardale area costs from about £50 per Night
https://www.skiweardale.com/
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Sun 18-07-21 7:47; edited 1 time in total
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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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The Crozet lift is even visible from the GVA tarmac. Apparently it is windy- my som has raced there and I think some people will travel to crozet for a race and back in a day.
Of course you could get the sleeper to Fort William or Aviemore. Or drive if you take shifts.
I've had a day trip to Yad Moss from Liverpool. The Mornington Crescent of Snowheads. How I miss Humpf- but Jack Dee is going fine and dandy.
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| Timmycb5 wrote: |
Quite. Might as well do a challenge to see how many car tyres you can burn in 24 hours |
Yeah that's right, because the 'plane definitely won't be flying unless I'm on it, will it!
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