 Poster: A snowHead
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I haven't settled on a 'home' resort yet, so just wondering if anyone knows of any French resort season pass deals around at the moment (or that are likely to materialize)?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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paulio, at the risk of unleashing a ton of invective..... Espace Diamant season pass will be 382 euros if bought before 2 November. Anyone Tom Dick or Harry can buy one. Your nearest gateway to the domaine is probably Praz sur Arly, about an hour.
La Clusaz is closer but has less skiing and will charge you a lot more.
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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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Last year, you could buy your paradiski season pass from La Plagne cheaper than fro Les Arsc - like 600 vs 900 euros. a lot more expensive than the esapce diamant, but you pays your money and takes your choices
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I'll probably end up getting two different ones, so bang for buck is important. Diamant is an area I want to visit (as I've mentioned before)
I must confess though I'm thinking more along the lines of 'PdS and Grand Massif' rather than 'Diamant and Les Contamines', and realize there will be a price tag difference.
But money talks, and if I'm going to save thousands of pounds, then I can probably tolerate the occasional T-bar and few less kms. 
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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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pam w, Somebody driving up from the valley could also consider just getting the Val d'Arly pass, it was 285 last winter. If I was driving up from Annecy I would park in Crest Voland.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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For 285 I reckon I can have Semnoz AND Seythenex! What more could any man need eh?
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A season pass for Grand Massif won't be too far from €400 if bought before end of November.
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| marcellus wrote: |
| A season pass for Grand Massif won't be too far from €400 if bought before end of November. |
Now you're talking. Where from?
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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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I'd go with the local advice but from memory I think some of the bigger areas come with a lot of collateral benefits e.g. 1 day in each of lots of other different places. Also even though you think you might be out every weekend, life and poor snow etc will get in the way in which case the most local place shouldn't be overlooked you'll be more inclined to get out for a few hours if its only a short drive/few Euro in fuel.
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When I lived in Bourg St Maurice, there were season pass deals for locals around this time of year at Les Arcs/Paradiski (350/450 IIRC, I think we had a to show a copy of our lease or utility bill). Not sure of the details, but there was also several discounts for non-residents who owned (or were affiliated?) with a property or business in town.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| fatbob wrote: |
| I'd go with the local advice but from memory I think some of the bigger areas come with a lot of collateral benefits e.g. 1 day in each of lots of other different places. Also even though you think you might be out every weekend, life and poor snow etc will get in the way in which case the most local place shouldn't be overlooked you'll be more inclined to get out for a few hours if its only a short drive/few Euro in fuel. |
10-4. The local hills are both very low altitude, and very cheap. So they're much more opportunistic options than the likes of the GM, PdS, etc (which are only about an hour's drive further away anyway).
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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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paulio, IF you want to get around a bit have a look at this (it was called Holiski)
http://www.skialacarte.fr/en
If you want cheap passes for Paradiski (BUT remember it's about an hours drive from the lake!)
http://www.edenski.com/index.php?lang=en
But Grand Massif for 400 sounds a real bargain.
I vaguely recall someone talking about Day passes being given for a voucher from the supermarket till receipts in the season. Well worth keeping an out, what about work colleagues, is their a company 'sports and social club' or similar? FFS Shaun White snowboarding was written in Annecy wasn't it?
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Wed 14-09-11 15:46; edited 1 time in total
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
paulio, IF you want to get around a bit have a look at this (it was called Holiski)
http://www.skialacarte.fr/en
If you want cheap passes for Paradiski (BUT remember it's about an hours drive from the lake!)
www.edenski.com
But Grand Massif for 400 sounds a real bargain.
I vaguely recall someone talking about Day passes being given for a voucher from the supermarket till receipts in the season. Well worth keeping an out, what about work colleagues, is their a company 'sports and social club' or similar? FFS Shaun White snowboarding was written in Annecy wasn't it? |
Cheers man. Yeah, I'm looking into the work social club angle.
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You know it makes sense.
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| paulio wrote: |
| marcellus wrote: |
| A season pass for Grand Massif won't be too far from €400 if bought before end of November. |
Now you're talking. Where from? |
It's their standard price available to anyone if bought before the date.
http://www.grand-massif.com/hiver/pdf/tarifs-hiver-grandmassif-10-11.pdf
OK they've not published 2011/12 seasons prices yet and I got the cut off date wrong so it's mid December and last season €419, I'm pretty sure it was around that level for the previous 3/4 seasons too so no reason to think it would be much more for 2011/12.
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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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If based in Annecy then €300 for Le Grand Bornand is nice and convenient.
€200 for Valloire is the cheapest I've seen
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Poster: A snowHead
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Valloire's a bit of a trek. I like Valloire though. A lot. Hmm.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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paulio, will you be skiing mostly at weekends, and for one day at a time? If so, your drivetime:skitime ratio will become important. Sundays seem to be the most popular day for "locals" skiing, judging by the car park near our lift - Saturday is nice and quiet on the slopes but bedlam on the roads.
If the Val D'Arly pass includes the whole of Notre Dame de Bellecombe (not just the lower areas) I think it'd be a good bet, and certainly cheap at 282. But the Espace Diamant pass, 100 more, would give you access to quite a lot more of the most snow-sure part of the domain.
GM does indeed sound good value at 420-ish. It's obviously got more skiing (about 40% more?) than the Espace Diamant (though some of it is very low - I've skied in Flaine a few times and never yet been able to do the famous long blue down to the bottom, which sounds lovely when there's snow). Is Sixt lift-linked to the rest of the domain? the low parts of the ED are not as low as the lower parts of the GM but they can be dodgy, too, despite their favourable orientation (they were last year, but that was a bit exceptional).
For your first year out there, I think I'd be tempted to forget a season pass, go to a whole load of different places for a day, then decide which patch you like the best.
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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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paulio, if you have the PDS season pass then you get 3 days skiing in other places like GM, Megeve, Les Contamines and others free and then three days in some Swiss resorts at half price. We have only used the Swiss part once when we went to Verbier for a day.
We have friends in Flaine with GM season passes and they get the 3 days free in the Haute Savoie on that pass. Their pass always seems so much better value than our PDS - and we get no discount for buying early - but we do get 20% off for second home.
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paulio, what pam w said. Saturday is the day to ski, and you'll get hacked off with a long drive after a working week in very short order. And remember you can't do your wekly shop/anything much else on a Sunday. Pick somewhere close.
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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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| pam w wrote: |
| paulio, For your first year out there, I think I'd be tempted to forget a season pass, go to a whole load of different places for a day, then decide which patch you like the best. |
That sounds wise and just divine 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
I have been there in winter!
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Whereas I've only been to the parts which had enough snow to ski to at the time. January each time IIRC, but we were unlucky with snow. To be fair, on one occasion only went to Flaine because snow in Chamonix was so poor. It was fine at the very top of Flaine (soup at the bottom) but obviously there was no chance of exploring the lower reaches, which are no doubt very pleasant with good cover.
One advantage of a pass which covers a big area (Mont Blanc Evasion is another well worth considering), when you are driving, is you can pick and choose your destination.
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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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| Jivebaby wrote: |
Chamonix MBU around 800 until 15 October allows 8 days in Verbier and 3 days elsewhere in the Haute Savoie which isn't bad either. Just don't tell anyone!  |
Apparently, this price is only open to previous season pass holders (according to the CdMB email). But it's worth a shot - I'm sure they won't turn away a sale.
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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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Thanks for the advice everyone.
Grand Massif deal sounds sweet. I get where some of you are coming from RE: driving on Saturdays etc. but to look at it another way, we will also use my annual leave entitlement to go skiing. So let's say 3 full weeks, plus the occasional day off here and there and the Saturday/Sunday angle. Something like that GM pass would pay for itself pretty quickly.
It's true that Clusaz, Saisies, and a few other real local hills (low alt, tiny area, crap lift(s)) are available and are much closer, and we'll probably go to them as well here and there.
Mind you, Semnoz is the closest, for example, and that's a 20 minute drive.
I can get to Les Carroz in under an hour on a good run. Not a lot of difference there really.
In summary: all of you are right.
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paulio, that is what I do. I have loads of skiing on my doorstep and could even go for the Tirol Card and get all of the Tirol resorts (or at least most of them) for around 600 Euro. For example I'm only about 50 minutes from Innsbruck and Sölden et al are just an hour away.
But I have the Salzburgerland Superski Card as a) it is is only 535 Euro if bought before the cut-off date and b) and way more important, I have lots of friends in that area I ski with.
I have about an hour's drive to get to the Altenmarkt-Radstadt junction, but it is easy motorway driving and I can set off ahead of the weekend crowds. I find the journey home on a Sunday evening the worst as all the weekenders, plus the day skiers are going home. More often than not I stay in resort and get a nice meal somewhere and then drive home after everyone else has fought their way through the traffic jams. Just means I'm on soft drinks during the Apres stuff but that does not bother me at all.
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You know it makes sense.
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I wish I had lots of friends to ski with 
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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I feel much better now.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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| Jivebaby wrote: |
it's possible to have a members only group on Linkedin with no acess to non-group members. Any one else up for that?? (Should I start another thread?)  |
You can do that on Facebook as well, incidentally. I think it sounds like a nice idea.
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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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I belong to a Facebook group for planning skiing day trips - the organisation is closed and you have to be a member of a local group to be able to ask to join the skiing crowd within that group. I've not used it yet but have seen quite a few newbies to the area team up for day trips.
I can understand why people here do not want to have their info published in the open forums. Even doing it via the Après Ski section which is only visible to members, does not guarantee that the info remains secure from Jo Public.
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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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Samerberg Sue, To be fair I'm not that bothered and I can be traced easily via a who is search for my website. For most SH's with just a "handle" that would be extremely difficult, such as Paulio
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Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Thu 15-09-11 10:02; edited 1 time in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I can be traced pretty easily if you sniff around my posts a bit I reckon.
Or anyone is welcome to PM me, and I'll tell you!
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paulio, but ....
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| This user is ignoring you. |
would you reply 
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paulio, The GM season pass (1st issue) can be purchased online and collected from a ticket office of your choice (we used Les Carroz). I was a bit nervous how this might pan out but there they were ready for us. The website application was a bit confusing in that as I was ordering three passes I had to keep navigating in and out of the different pages to progress, sort of 2 steps forward, one step back, so I printed off all of the application and receipt in case it went t*ts up, but as I say all went OK. I'll see if I can find the thread I wrote about it.
Last year it worked out as 12 or 13 days skiing to cover the adult cost (as Marcellus stated). Kids pass was only 200E for the season where a week is usually 150E.
Here you go:
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=69987&highlight=
Last edited by After all it is free  on Thu 15-09-11 15:54; 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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Ta.
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| pam w wrote: |
One advantage of a pass which covers a big area (Mont Blanc Evasion is another well worth considering), when you are driving, is you can pick and choose your destination. |
It's a decent size area - 450km and then with the usual cheap (some possibly free but I can't remember) day passes in other areas on top. They do an early deal season pass but they also do one that is €433 from the 5th January, which may be of interest if you were considering spending Christmas and New Year with family back in the UK. I guess you can do a different area each year... what a great position to be in... (actually I have no idea how long you plan to live in Annecy of course)!
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FAQ
