Half Term - is it really THAT bad?

A snowHead

We have always skied in January, so cold and variable weather but empty slopes. We are hoping to go on 1th Jan week. HOWEVER we may HAVE to go half term and want to do a bit of research?

Would teh big resorts be terrible? would we be better off in less known villages that link into BIG resorts (thinking Vaujany, Brides le bains etc) or can big resorts cope as they simply have more space and can swallow up more skiers or would smaller resorts be better as less busy/but less good skiing Puzzled

I really resent paying TWICE as much for TWICE as busy a holiday, BUT is it that bad? I know eeryone says avoid, but if you have no choice.......??

A snowHead

You don't have to go to France, I like skiing there but avoid it at half term. The last 3 half terms I've been to Zermatt (09) - fairly busy but fine, Laax (10) - quiet and St Anton (11) - busy but fine. It doesn't have to be that expensive either, I got nice SC accommodation at each for a decent price. Although Switzerland probably isn't an option unless the exch rate changes.

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Hi,

If you have no choice, then I would definitely pick to ski at half term, over not skiing at all. But, if you are used to January skiing, then you will be dissapointed with the queues, busy pistes and prices.

Big resorts however small the place you stay will be busy so it might be worth looking at some of the smaller, less known and more local resorts. But, even then it won't compare with the quiet pistes of January. Get onto the lift for 9am, break early, ski over the (relatively) quieter lunch hour, have a break in the afternoon and then stay on the slopes till late.

If it's school holidays that you are tied to, and not the half term, I would recommend Christmas or Easter. They are both a bit busier than January but still relatively quiet and accom prices are much cheaper than half term.

This year, with Christmas falling at the weekend, you might be able to get away with the week before Christmas or the week after New Year depending on what school dates you are tied to. If possible go for one of these as they'll be the eqivilant of Jan skiing both price and lack-of-queues wise.

Happy planning!
Heather

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Cant do Christmas as Husband is working away until 7th Jan, which stops the New year week either. Maybe easter? but 1st week april could be dodgy

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Maybe 1st week of april and go somewhere with a glacier just incase? Local reports are saying that this winter will be good for snow but bit early to tell yet in my opinion!

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Been at Easter holidays, the last 5 years, L2A. Even this year there was still plenty of skiing, previous years there has been no problem at all. As long as you go somewhere with high skiing.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

As Snow and Sunshine, I'd definitely look to go in the first Easter week rather than half-term week. For the French resorts the whole of the 4 week holiday period, but in particular the UK half-term week, are exceptionally busy and to be avoided if at all possible.

Of course, it is all weather dependent, and you're running a bit of a risk whatever you choose to do. But there's definitely some good deals out there, and so long as the season isn't as bad as it was last year in some parts of the Alps, some pretty damn good skiing still to be had later in the season.

A couple of years ago we went in the first week of Easter to La Thuile. We got lucky with the snow in that it dumped on the day of arrival, but after that we had a week of glorious sunshine and superb conditions. Added to that, apart from the first day which was quite busy, the slopes were practically deserted.

After all it is free

Crunchie13, depends to a large extent on how good the snow is. If the snow's universally great, half term is fine as the crowds get spread out.

Otherwise it can get quite busy.

Not as bad as it was 20 years ago however, thanks to improved uplift.

Depends also where you are going.

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FraserP, that's also a very good point, some of the transfers from the airport to resort and back can be horrific. Last season in Les Arcs the typical coach transfer time was just over 2 hours down to Chambery, and a little under 3 hours to Geneva. For the half term week (and a couple of other weekends during the Frenchie's holidays) you could at least double that; a mate of mine was stuck on a coach with some very non-plussed guests from Geneva for over 7 hours before they arrived in resort.

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I'd agree with the posts above recommending Easter over half term. If you have to go at half term, probably somewhere other than France would be advisable - could get plenty of advice about Austrian (and other) resorts here.

If you want to go to France, I'd go somewhere big. My son worked in Val D'Isere for a season and said the lift system was good enough to cope well, especially if you knew how to avoid the bottlenecks. Our apartment is in a small and little known resort with few English people and it's absolutely rammed at half term (I have only been there at half term once in 10 seasons, when we needed to be there to accommodate other family members who were new to the game, and needed a lot of support. Otherwise we lend our apartment to friends who have to stick to school holidays, or swap weeks with some of our neighbours.

For me, the chaos on the roads is the worst aspect. If you follow the advice above, start early, take an early break, then ski through lunchtime, you'll get the best of it. We packed up when the afternoon ski classes started to seriously clog up the lift queues.

snow reports

Crunchie13, I've skied the last few years in Austria at half term and not seen a lift queue at all. I've chosen a resort that doesn't have UK tour operators going to it, therefore doesn't get many English visitors. However it's not a big resort, so if you're after mileage then it wouldn't suit.

Try Spain - the Spanish don't do half term so you don't get an influx of locals, I suspect the Tour Ops will still up the price for half term - but the resorts won't be mobbed.

You know it makes sense.

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

A snowHead

I'd only go at half term if I were choosing a lower lying resort. If you need to go in school holidays the Easter Holidays are a lot cheaper than half term, the slopes are less busy and the snow conditions can be very good.

A snowHead

Packages are expensive at half term as is accommodation in French resorts. Personal experience is that DIYing to Austria is pretty reasonable providing you can get the travel at a reasonable price.
Early April is often excellent and you don't usually need glaciers to have some superb skiing a bit of height and north facing slopes help though. Last year was the worst year I can ever remember for late season skiing and I have skied for nearly 30 years and I still got some reasonable skiing in the second week of april. Not brilliant but better than one january trip to Tignes which is meant to be one of the most snow sure resorts in Europe.

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Go Easter, quieter, cheaper. Mayrhofen 2nd week of April this year was a little restrictive cos of lack of snow. Was frustrating as we had a good dump mid week but nothing reopened that had closed. That said we had good fun with kids and the glacier at Hintertux was in fantastic condition. That's the worst conditions we've skied in at Easter, and it was fine.

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1/2 term in France should offer better value than many years as it does not clash with Paris but only Grenoble/Lyon/Brittany etc - making for lower prices, easier travel, less crowded ski school/slopes etc. Still one I'd avoid given the choice though ... !

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Help!!

Half Term - is it really THAT bad?

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