 Poster: A snowHead
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Having done most of the high altitude French resorts with the Family (wife and 2 boys aged 12 & 9) at Easter and no longer qualifying for free child places anymore I was thinking of driving to Nendaz this Easter and renting an apartment.
Does anybody have any views on it's suitability at this time of year. Any suggestions for appartments.
I am a bit concerned that it maybe to low? Hopefully last year's conditions cannot be repeated in 2012. Lucky I went to Tignes (Diva) Val Claret.
Wiil be going to the Melezes again in December 9th - 11th.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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APJ,
Been twice in April including this year. I think it is a great place. You can get far better value apartments where there is a bit of room than in the big French resorts. The main drawback is the Nendaz ski area tiself is poorly linked to the rest of the skiing and the links are partly south facing.
If you do what we did and use the Siviez branch of the ski school there is no problem, you can drive up to SIviez and ski the whole area from there.
PS Swiss prices are now high though there are quite good family discounts. but with the Swiss franc it will certainly no longer be much cheaper than the big French places which it was a few years back.
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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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APJ, I did Nendaz once at half-term and really enjoyed it. Just be aware that the skiing link to from the Verbier area might not be great or even skiable then. As far as I know they still aren't allowed to put snow making facilities on the route back and it also includes an itinerary slope, but you can miss that by taking the cable car down.
Don't be put off too much by that because if you drive, as I did the problem is solved. You have the local skiing in Nendaz to keep you amused for a while, then you can drive to Siviez to access the main Verbier skiing. When I went with my son we skied from Nendaz across to Verbier and back the first day but didn't bother again as some of it was almost mud rather than snow. Obviously you might get a big dump and it will be glorious but the car gives you the option to miss the route back.
It's also much quicker to get to the main Verbier skiing if you drive to Siviez and there's free parking there. You can be in the Verbier ski area before the people staying in Verbier. We drove up early to get there just before the lifts opened and the car park was deserted. Skiing back there were horrendous queues for the bus back to Nendaz, so we sailed past them in the car.
So summing up I'd say that with a car Nendaz is a great option, cheaper than Verbier but giving you good access to the area.
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Agree with all the above. Nendaz is a lovely place, perfect for a family.
We have an apartment there so are biased but it really has everything except the really good link to the 4v.
As has been said, 15 mins to Siviez sorts that and the big run down to Nendaz is one of the best ousted runs in the whole 4v.
You can also drive quite easily to Veysonnaz, maybe 25 mins, to the much under-rated Thyon side of the 4V. Much quieter than the Verbier side with some good skiing.
Quite often we drive over together, one of us drives back and the rest of the family ski back. It's better skiing back than out, IF the link is open in April.
Our apartment is piste side, ski in. PM me if you are interested - I'd give you a good deal - we're going to Samoens at Easter.
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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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Like all of the above posters, I am a huge fan of Nendaz (just as well as we have a place there!).
However to be balanced you should be aware that the Nendaz ski area can become quite isolated towards the end of the season due to the lack of snow making on the (sun facing) Prarion slope - look at a map of the 4-Vallees to see what I mean. This then necessitates driving (or taking the bus) to Siviez each day, which is fine provided you accept that this may be a fundamental part of the holiday and can be a chore. Last year I was in resort for the last week of March and was already finding the skiing slushy and rocky whereas the season before, there was tons of snow in the second week of April.
The strength of the Swiss Franc is also a bit of a pain in the ar$e but there are 2 large supermarkets in town so you can still shop for your apartment at high (but just about acceptable) prices while eating on the mountain has become very expensive and poor value.
The only advantages of the strong Swissie is that there should be fewer crowds on the slopes (- anecdotally I hear that even the Swiss have been booking holidays in Euroland as opposed to at home due to the strength of their currency) and the apartment owners have and possibly will further drop the prices of their accommodation to make them rentable.
Let us know if you have any other questions.
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1556garyt, Is the link going to be open next season over to Col Du Vez, we are going in February, and last season the link was closed, the bus around to Siviez (or rather back from) Siviez was a nightmare, so busy. I really like skiing back down CDV.
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APJ, If you're happy to self cater most of the time and don't require much in the way of apres ski then I would try to book an apartment independently in Siviez. There's not much in Siviez, one small supermarket, 2 or 3 restaurants, ?1 ski shop. But the skiing access from there is excellent into Verbier or the quieter Printze sector.
We went to Nendaz last Feb half term and the link was closed. OK so it was a bad year but I wouldn't rely on the link in April. Fortunately we had booked the kids into the Arc en Ciel ski school (excellent!) in Siviez as if we'd booked them in a Nendaz school we'd have been stuck in the Nendaz area every morning waiting for them.
Driving to Siviez each day is IMO a bit of a chore and that's why I'd try to stay in Siviez and then drive down to Nendaz after skiing for shops/activities whatever. I'd rather do it that way round I think. I really, really liked Nendaz but got a bit fed up with the to-ing and fro-ing to Siviez to ski.
The Nendaz-Siviez bus can be really, really packed at peak times, and also some of the bus routes stop over lunch time (2 hours or so) so that needs consideration if you need to come back early.
The car park at Siviez gets packed so you need to arrive early say by 9.00 ish or not much after or else you will have a (very) long yomp with your gear to the lifts as the police start directing people to park along the road further and further down the hill.
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Markymark29, Not sure where Col Du Vez is however if you mean the Plan du Fou itneraire (underneath the cable car etc) then it will of course depend on conditions. That whole area was closed for most of last season. I also enjoying skiing down there at the end of a good days skiing 
As you know, they want to introduce snow making on those slopes and Telenedaz stated in their 2009/10 Report.
| Quote: |
| A terme et en fonction de l’obtention des autorisations de construire, votre Conseil d’administration s’est fixé, vous le savez, comme priorité la rénovation de la liaison Haute-Nendaz/Siviez qui comprend l’enneigement de la piste de Prarion ainsi que le remplacement du télésiège de Siviez et du téléski de Plan-du-Fou par une télécabine. |
Accoding to Google Translate this means:
| Quote: |
Over time and depending on obtaining building permits, the Board administration has set, you know, as a priority the restoration of the link
Haute-Nendaz/Siviez including snow of the track and the Prarion replacement of the chairlift and ski Siviez Plan-du-Fou by cable car. |
Sarah, completely agree that Arc en Ceil is an excellent ski school although personally I would find Siviez just too small a resort to spend a full week in (although fair point about driving to Nendaz for shops/activities etc)...
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1556garyt, Meant Plan Du Fou!! Cheers
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Thanks for all the replies.
Still undecided that Nendaz will be okay for Easter though.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| APJ wrote: |
Thanks for all the replies.
Still undecided that Nendaz will be okay for Easter though. |
I would give a pretty big yes to that question.
Parlor who used to post regularly and lived in Verbier over several years always claimed April was the best month to ski Verbier.
Last year was the worst late season I can recall in most of the Northern alps with low seasonal falls followed by a spell of blisteringly hot weather. We stayed in Nendaz in April and whereas I would be lying if I said the skiing was the best April conditions I have encountered you could still ski most of the day on reasonable snow by using your intelligence as to which slopes the sun would hit when. The skiable area last April was smaller than usual but still acceptable. There were people being bussed in from a lot of other resorts.
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