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in /var/www/html/ski-forum/includes/xtrafunctions.php on line 3634 Trip Report - The Early Season Gamble Pays Off for the Val Thorens 26..., snowHeads ski forum
Day one, and our destination is Val Thorens for a week of unadulterated madness. Photos to follow, and perhaps even some video as a result of Gopro evidence catchers. But not using this poxy wifi. Please note this may be a ski website, but the focus is very definitely somewhere between lunch and dinner. Anyone can write about what pistes they've been down, so I will focus on the important bit. The food
The first madness was organising a trip for 28 people to another country. The next madness was inviting my mates along for the ride. Final madness was booking a trip in early December, which last week was looking like a massively bigger gamble than it appeared last January
An unholy 3:30am start had us (after a minor incident involving an escaped cat and me losing my temper a bit with the little sod) arrive at Luton airport at 4am for their second flight of the day. Nice.
We checked in with Easyjet, who seemed to have almost no idea whatsoever about any aspect of the booking, less idea about the baggage booked as part of the trip, and their staff looked, frankly, like they really couldn't be bothered with the whole thing. But they got us through.
We strolled on through an almost empty security where our first problem arose - the X-ray had somehow stolen the passport of one of the group. A quick fish around inside the machine and we were on our way. For reference, because it seems to be discussed on every other thread imaginable, the check-in staff didn't ask about ski boots, and security did not bat an eyelid at us taking them through hand luggage. So don't ask don't tell is clearly in full swing.
We hopped onto the plane to be told it was 1hr 20 to Geneva. Brilliant. Even quicker than expected. We left on time, and we were happy campers.
Our friends travelling from Gatwick were due to leave a bit later, so got a bit more lie in. They also got delayed 25 mins so they won't be arriving until later in the afternoon. I'm sure they'll have a good old whinge about getting the crap rooms, missing the cake, being late for the pub, and other such silliness. We will laugh at them. And then give them some of the cake we've kept back.
The big and impressive bit of the trip was walking out of arrivals to meet the Skiworld reps. There were about 10 of them, all in their fancy new blue uniforms. We were then taken to our bus, where we were all ready to wait the 90 minutes for the delayed Gatwick flight. Nope, we were presented with our 25 seater coach for just 12 of us to get to the resort. Not bad Skiworld. 1-0 to you already. Staff all very friendly and helpful, no signs of hangover or knackered bunnies from a very early start. Comment was made that some of the less useful bunnies have probably been culled as a result of the economy, cutting costs a bit and having nothing but useful productive staff. Certainly seems that way so far.
The other impressive bit about the coach was the very large trailer, capable of carrying at least 25 loads of suitcases and ski bags, our gear didn't even half fill it. Again a TO which has clearly done this before - get the amount of luggage you are expecting from each person, double it, add on a bit more, and you might just about have enough for a full bus of people.
Ski passes all sorted on the coach. Which is good and saves any stress on the first afternoon. Early season discount for the 3 Valleys, and it sounds like Meribel links are open from tomorrow, Menuires is open, and Courchevel is getting there. We'll have to see how many lifts are running tomorrow, but it looks set to be a great week already.
Everyone catches up on a few hours of sleep from getting up in the middle of the night. Everyone wakes up when we start the winding road up the mountain to Val Thorens. But there is snow on the ground, and the roads are clear, so good news so far. More snow as altitude increases. Even better.
We hit the resort to find the Balcons Apartments exactly where we had left them, clean and tidy with everything we need. All rooms are twins, and everyone dicks around for 2 hours trying to be in a chalet with their mates, find same sex roomshares, and generally create chaos while I sit in the lounge drinking beer.
Dinner is, as expected, a lot of food. I wasn't expecting it to be as quality as it was - really good soup, well cooked chicken and veg, and a good apple pudding thing. Lots and lots of wine was drunk. Some of us may have gone out and carried on drinking. 2 days, 8 hours sleep, plenty
DAY TWO
We wake up with hang overs. I don't know how that happened. The sun is shining, and the snow on the pistes is just about perfect. We hit various blues and greens around town to warm up, and we are soon into the rhythm again. We head up to the top of the hill to find one or two runs closed, they simply haven't been able to get the bashers over the whole resort since the snow arrived a few days ago. Should have even more open tomorrow, but didn't really affect us much at all.
My first go with new Gopro birthday present from Mrs Monium:
Those of you who have stuck with my lengthy and frankly at times dull trip reports will know that food is very important to me on ski trips. Lunch and dinner are just as important as skis and boots in my world. I couldn't live without either. We hit the Knife and Fork (the massive red knife and fork if you are looking for it) otherwise known as the Chalet du Thorens. Important note. Do not, under any circumstances, eat the manky filth they peddle upstairs at the panini counter. The waffles up there are ok, but nothing to write home about, and so far local reviews of the noodle bar are not great. After you have walked past all of that, go downstairs, and go to the bar and order a pizza. They're not the cheapest (12 euros for a Margherita)
however they are cooked absolutely fresh by someone who knows what they are doing. I am a bit of a pizza connoisseur, and these are good pizzas. Order the Pizza Du Thorens if you are hungrier than a bear that has been hibernating for winter. Massive amounts of food. The rest of the crowd turn up, and our group of 5 is soon a group of 15.
At this point it should also be noted that after you have ordered at the bar you need to go to the pizza window and give the man your ticket. Only after two of the guys had started eating did they tell us this. We put our tickets in, and 10 minutes later we were eating. They did tell us at the bar, in French, but we're not quite that good.
It also became apparent at this point that one of the group had lost his phone. Not good. A few calls later and it is blocked and replacement stuff on its way in the UK, but the lost numbers etc are a bit of a pain. We get home and start eating cake (yes, more food) and soon after we get a phone call - someone has evidently found it and called the number that had been ringing it this afternoon. The guys go off to pick up phone, give the finders a reward, and then it is snooze and dinner time. Yay. Edit - I wasn't aware of it at the time, but they turned up to collect the phone, tried to give the guy a few euros to say thanks, and he wouldn't take it! How bloody nice - going out of their way to get a phone back to someone, and not even taking the cash for a couple of beers. Faith in humanity restored.
In the afternoon we hit Orelles, which is a really good enjoyable way to spend an afternoon really. Blue and Red runs down, then a lift that goes over a really steep waterfall thingy, very nice. But soon time to get home for cake. Everyone a bit exhausted, and the last couple of runs were getting choppy and tired legs struggling a bit.
Tomorrow there is talk of L'Ours Blanc. I am properly excited, like a kid at Xmas. 11 months since we've been there, and tomorrow will be the day of my return. Come on Polar Bear. I'm ready for you and your Pizza Bolognese...
We take a ski guide hostage. After forcing her to get on a lift going to some place or other, we ended up somehow in Mottaret and heading down to Meribel. The snow at the top was brilliant, nice and soft, barely skied in many cases, and we cruised around having a great time. Then we headed into Meribel.
Now I've never been a huge fan of Meribel, every time I've ever been there it has been slightly less good than Courchevel and Val Thorens for various reasons. One of those reasons is the icy pistes coming in to town that are full of people, most of which have no idea what is going on around them. Today wasn't a big exception - the iciest of the pistes we have encountered so far, in some cases seriously boilerplate which put several of the guys on their backsides. Lots of others joined in with the backside skiing technique, and it didn't get much better as we got closer to down. There were also a bunch of rocks across the piste, more gravel kicking around than a cheap rockery. We decided to get out of there, they are definitely struggling with the limited snow and lower altitude, hopefully they can get that fixed when some more snow arrives. Bases need fixing now.
We also managed to trap The Dude in a bubble lift. We have video. Hilarious - the door would open just enough for him to put his head out. One litie rescue later and we have freed The Dude, much to our merriment. Like a trapped hamster - I think he was getting worried because at his age bladder control becomes a bit of an issue after 20 minutes or so, and he didn't want to wee himself in a bubble that he couldn't escape from.
More videos to follow of the actual skiing once we get Youtube uploads working properly.
Yesterdays optimism and excitement about L'Ours Blanc meant a trip to Reberty was on the cards. We headed back over the top to get there, and headed down the valley. A bit of confusion and a liftie that didn't actually know how to get there resulted in the group splitting in half and only a few of us headed down the right way and round the track to the restaurant, skis off, up the steps, across the balcony, into the entrance to be told that they were closed. No idea why one of the biggest restaurants in resort is closed while the rest of the resort is open is a mystery. Disappointing really, so we had to trek back up the path and go down into the town.
We ended up heading for the Skilt in the middle of town while others went somewhere else. After a bit of a poke at at the menu we decided to eat, once again the rest of the group made better choices than me - my croque was pretty average, while the burgers and other stuff that everyone else chose looked pretty good.
It was about 3 o'clock by the time we had finished lunch as a result of the detour, and everyone was ready to head back to Val Thorens. A couple of runs later and we had got to the Pluviometre blue which proved reliably enjoyable to get back to the chalet. Full scale afternoon snooze ensues, and time for dinner soon enough.
Plenty more wine, a spinach pastry thing, downing a chocolate mousse in one, and time for another relaxing evening with free booze helping things along nicely. Skiworld do another good job of dinner, I think they are about 5-1 up now - they only conceded a goal because their wifi isn't free and the download speed is absolute toilet. I've not seen any pornography for days, and can't upload my gopro videos and photos. I can barely get Snowheads (some consider that a good thing on holiday) - still, we've thus far failed to hit our wine limit, despite some dedicated commitment to the drinking, so I guess that makes it ok.
DAY FOUR to follow soon enough...
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sun 18-12-11 2:01; edited 7 times in total
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Wow thats a lot of ski info. Glad to hear Europes highest ski resort has plenty of snow though!
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?
Gogo, loving the trip report, am heading out soon!
More updates to come from Day Four, but it was a bit of a washout due to simply vast amounts of snow coming down right across the 3V. We got about an hour of good sunshine before lunch which was spectacular, but the rest of the day was very flat light and heavy snow throughout, and temperatures very low compared to the sunshine previously.
EDIT to add Day Four and Five, a bit more brief because I'm a bit tired now As above, more photos and video to follow, just to prove I'm not making it up, honest
We got up nice and early to get the best of the conditions, and it was a fairly good thing we did. We got out and over Mottaret into Courchevel - snow conditions good in Mottaret, but Courchevel right down to 1650 was in really good shape. We headed down through the resort to cruise through Indiens to the town. We headed up the bubble and did a few more runs before heading to 1850, however there weren't many lifts open for some reason - the pistes were in good condition, there was loads of snow, but you couldn't ski a lot of them because the lifts were closed.
The group had expanded to about 12 of us, but as we headed to the top of the Bel Air we split in two - some decided to go for chocolate rum and cake while others carried on. A new low in my skiing life, we then didn't stop for lunch. Disappointing frankly. We came back at a sensible time because the glorious sunshine powder day had turned into a load of very heavy snow, with poorer visibility and lots of tired legs. We came in for a decent snooze after only a couple of hours sleep, and I went to bed hungry. Luckily we had dinner to look forward to, which was good. We got some lamb shank thingy which was pretty good, and some other stuff to keep everyone well fed.
Day 5 was a bit of blue skies threatening to turn into loads of sunshine and fresh snow, but lower viz made it hard work at times. We went around Mottaret again and around a few of the nicer runs, sadly late in the day one of the group had poles stolen from outside the lift station. Left for 10 minutes and they were taken, some cheap nasty ones left in their place - a shame that even in ski resorts which are normally so safe there are scum out there.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Wed 14-12-11 18:01; edited 1 time in total
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Monium, sounds great. I must point this thread out to my son who is coming to Val T on Saturday.
Monium, sounds great. I must point this thread out to my son who is coming to Val T on Saturday.
You may wish to mention to your son that there is currently more snow coming down than in a Cliff Richard music video. Pretty much snowing all afternoon, now bucketing down again, though high winds expected tomorrow.
Still struggling to get videos online, but we were in knee deep powder this morning before the weather came in again.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Great reports Monium, a group of us are staying in val thorens from the 14th of jan for a week, as i was responsible for booking the place i was getting a bit worried about the lack of snow .... keep posting i'm feeling better allready.
After all it is free
After all it is free
No need to feel worried about lack of snow in VT, unless it somehow manages to be +10C for the last week of December. It's been snowing pretty much constantly for about 12 hours now, and is just keeping on going. There's a foot forecast on Friday, and that looks to be pretty accurate.
Suffice to say, we've been having some rather powdery fun. Looking forward to tomorrow
Mrs M.
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.
DAY SIX
We woke to serious amounts of cloud and really heavy snow. It had been snowing since we went to bed last night, and we were all hoping for sunshine this morning. Not quite. So we had a bit of a lie in.
At lunchtime there were a few heading out to see how it really was. And we were pleasantly surprised. There was a lot of snow still coming down, and whatever they had managed to piste last night was covered in loads of fresh snow from the daytime snowfall. We hit the Deux Lacs and on to the Moraine, for a good long cruise down. Visibility was ok, but the cloud at higher levels made life difficult.
Down in to the town to meet a few more of the group, and we headed up towards Orelles again - the pistes there had been in good shape a few days before, and once again it was good. Getting off the top of the lift was a bit of a nightmare, with high winds and snow blowing in hard, but once away from the ridge things got a bit more manageable. We cruised down the pistes with some of us taking the chance to get off piste within a few feet of the piste markers - avalanche warning still at 3 and risk increasing, so keeping it safe around pistes for now.
This also resulted in a good opportunity for some of us to get knee deep in powder, though that was possible on the pistes in places, and in some cases a whole lot deeper than that. I managed to run my skis over a nice big rock, luckily just a scratch on the base but I was expecting a lot worse. Footage to follow showing a few interesting attempts to cope with the fluffy stuff and skis disappearing into the snow.
Due to a terrible series of calculations, I somehow ended up not really eating much before we went out, and we skipped lunch altogether. This is going to have to change. I won't be able to cope if we don't have a big old one hour lunch tomorrow. I suspect I won't have many oppose my plan.
Off now for dinner, staff night off, so we've had some bread and cakes and things, but going to find some nice big dinner in town and maybe a beer or two.
Tomorrow is the last day of skiing, and it is still snowing hard. Should have photos and videos uploaded on Friday - early flight back from Geneva, let's hope the bus can get us to the plane on time through all this snow.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Excellent report! Thanks for posting...........particularly interesting for me as my 18 yr old daughter is a Skiworld Chalet Host in VT I also ate the soup, chicken thing and toffee apple pud a few weeks ago when she was practicing on us!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Your reports have got me in stitches, one of my mates is exactly the same ... plans the day around lunch here snack there etc. Keep up the good work, I can't wait untill the 14th of Jan comes around.
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.
DAY SEVEN
L'Ours Blanc. Time for the return. A phone call over breakfast established that they were open, and that they were definitely doing lunch. Phew. That was close - we nearly had to go home without a visit, which simply wouldn't have been acceptable.
The morning was spent trying to ski through really really heavy snow. Some of us had been sensible and equipped ourselves with wider skis and a plan for lunch. Good thing we headed out of Val Thorens to Les Menuires/Reberty because after a few hours of finding our way down through the powder (which in places was a foot deep on the piste, at various points up to the cannonwheels only a few feet from the piste) they started closing lifts due to high winds and snow.
Lunch was tough. With only one shot at it, I had a single dart with which to hit the best menu choice at L'Ours Blanc. I chose. The Pizza Bolognaise. A safe option. Until the meals arrived. I had done reasonably well, like hitting the 20, you know you are safe, but there is a chance that someone will hit a double or even triple 20. Sadly one of the group hit the triple 20 with a Lamb Steak that looked seriously good (and was absolutely vast, and only 14 euros!) and another member of the group managed the double 20 with the Pizza Verte, which came with a whole salad and cuts of meat on top of the pizza itself, and was described as "possibly the best food I've had in a mountain restaurant". Boo for safe bets, I nearly went for both but held back. I'll never forgive myself.
It then became apparent that we couldn't sit there eating all afternoon, and we had to go home. At that point it seems all the lifts home were closed and we had to go to the bus station in Les Menuires to get a lift home. At this point we discover that the floor of the ski shuttle bus is basically made of teflon, and trying to walk down the aisle with icy ski boots while the driver accelerated and changed gear badly leads to a number of the group ending up either on backsides, falling on random people, and swearing quite a lot. Lots of bruises ensue.
Back to town and a quick run down to the Plein Sud, up and then down past the Folie Douce to get home. No kidding, I don't think it stopped snowing really hard for a minute all day. It was cold. And it is snowing a load. Anyone coming in next week is in for a good time, if they can get here - rumours of closed roads into resort tomorrow due to sheer snowfall could be a problem.
sequoiaboard, we've checked with our snowbunnies, and none are 18, so either you don't know how old your daughter is, or she is not one of ours, but no doubt not far away - if it helps they all seem to be eating ok and not drinking too much, honest
Logging off now because our transfer leaves at 3:30am tomorrow. Time to pack up and try and sleep a bit.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:
I chose. The Pizza Bolognaise.
and that was your gourmet lunch day??
Enjoyed the report - hope your travel home is OK - biiiiiiiiiiiiiiig snow overnight.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
pam w wrote:
Quote:
I chose. The Pizza Bolognaise.
and that was your gourmet lunch day??
Enjoyed the report - hope your travel home is OK - biiiiiiiiiiiiiiig snow overnight.
Pam, I refer you back to my pizza connoisseurship at the top of the thread - a gourmet lunch that doesn't involve pizza is just pretentious nonsense.
I should have had the lamb. Simple as that. And maybe a pizza to go with it
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
glad to see you had a good time mate... especially as i work for skiworld in VT
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
would also like to add, that we are in the middle of the worst storm to hit VT in 21 years right now... 1.5 m of snow due in the next eight hours or so.... good times
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Great report Monium. A fun read
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?
Well kids, it was all going so well. Yet somehow I seem to be cursed where it comes to return travel from ski trips.
DAY SEVEN
Day seven started early. Like 3am early. The alarm went off and I honestly thought it was some kind of practical joke. I was tired, hungry, thirsty, and very warm because it was toasty in the chalet. I scraped myself out of bed, but we needed to get out early to make sure we got to the airport on time.
We headed up to the lounge and the snow was simply pouring down - I've never seen that quantity of snow coming in with winds like that. Ever. The night before someone had cleared the pavement outside the chalet of snow - it was now 8 inches deep, overnight, and we weren't done with the night yet!
We got our bags up and outside ready for the transfer bus, got the ski bags out of the ski room, and everyone stood and waited to make sure we wouldn't hold things up in this weather. And then the call came...
The bus wasn't there. It was running a bit late but was on its way. No problem - standard stuff really.
We stayed warm and waited for the bus - 10 minutes and it would be here. No time for a cup of tea or a bit of food, so we just waited it out. 20 minutes comes and goes.
15 minutes and it will be here. OK. We'll sit and wait. By now our 3:30 departure has turned into 4am. Fair enough, we've got contingency for that.
But still no sign of the bus. The other bus which was parked up has been loaded and left with the first load of passengers. Our bus had not shown up.
At 4:15 we decide to head back inside.
Some time around 4:30 news comes through that the bus is not coming - stories varied between it being stuck in the snow on a hairpin, to being stuck with passengers from a chalet lower down the town, to being broken down somewhere. I think most likely is a simple breakdown, but who knows. They had chains, they had no issues with control on the way down, so getting stuck seems unlikely, but with conditions was possible - though how the other bus got to us I don't know.
We all decide to get some sleep, and many of us try with little success to get an hour or two before the replacement bus gets to us (due in one hour, apparently)
At 7:45 the replacement bus tuns up. It had been delayed as a result of road closures due to avalanche blasting on the mountain. We load fast to give ourselves the best chance we can of catching any of the delayed flights that might still be on the cards.
What a surprise, despite there being only 42 people to get on the bus, which has 47 seats, we don't have enough space for luggage. One day, eventually, tour operators will learn that they need far more luggage for ski trips than comes on a standard coach of any description I've ever encountered - that means either less seats and more luggage space, or more unused seats for suitcases and ski bags, or just less people on transfer buses! We managed to get a few bags on the emergency exit stairs (not good) and got underway. We were grateful to be on the way off this windy, snowy mountain and heading home, and the coach was comfortable with plenty of leg room and a few spare seats to try and catch up on a bit of sleep.
Slight problem - we had quite definitely missed our flights from Geneva to Gatwick or Luton respectively. The check in closed some time around 8:30, we weren't out of VT by 8:30. SKi World at this point stepped up to the plate. A detour to Chambery had us on an alternative flight to Gatwick, the check in desks ready for our arrival, we hit Chambery at 11am for an 11:30 flight. Quick work by all involved, and we were through security and at the gate. Skiworld reps were helping everyone with bags, and clearly the plan was working. The flight was pushed back to 11:45, but running smoothly and with very few others on the plane we could relax, we were going back to the UK only a few hours later than planned, albeit to the wrong airport, it isn't far from Gatwick to Luton.
We had flown out of Luton, so had to get back to collect cars and get home. No problemo - all booked through the TO, so they had to get us back to Luton. Easy peasy. They had booked a coach to pick us up from Gatwick which would run us round the M25 and get us back to the cars and home in sensible time. Everyone was nice and happy. We were on our way home, and the weather and problems with the bus had not caused big problems for us really. They did suggest to us on the bus to the airport that we get a train from Gatwick to Luton - erm, no - not with ski bags, through the centre of London on a Friday night - no frickin way. So they had got the coach lined up to get us home, as is reasonable for a TO, which is why we book with them.
We got into Gatwick, and the bags duly popped out from the magic conveyor belt of bags. We called our coach driver who was all set to take us to Luton, who dropped a bit of a bombshell - he had no hours left to drive us anywhere, and was going home. Our lift just disappeared. No problem, we think, SKiworld will get us home soon enough.
At this point I need to add some context - we'd had a great week, everyone had a good time, the food was good, the staff were great, the snow was great, the accommodation just right for us, and the price very reasonable. But things at this point basically ruined a whole lot of hard work from several staff members who had done everything they could to make our holiday a real trip to remember. This trip would now be remembered for a very different reason...
We call Skiworld, who agree that they will have another coach with us shortly. Great. After several phone calls chasing up this coach, over the course of 1.5 hours, they try and convince us to get on the train. Why? No reason seems forthcoming - they seem to think that the best way for 11 of us to get back to Luton would be to carry a suitcase, boot bag, hand luggage, and ski bag, on a train through the centre of London to Luton and then find our way home. They want us to buy our own train tickets, and then at some point in the future we will send them receipts and they will refund us the money to get there. Erm, no dice. Sorry Skiworld, but that is a really shoddy, amateurish Friday afternoon attempt to get a customer off your back - your job, as a Tour Operator, is to get us home. Not for us to get ourselves home at significant inconvenience and cost and then have an argument with you about refunding the money.
Part of my job is dealing with difficult negotiations, and people who are failing to deliver what they have committed to deliver. But Skiworld were making this extremely difficult. I have never dealt with companies who were so adamant about doing something in a way that didn't make any sense to anyone involved. Wriggling all over the place. I couldn't understand why - there is a coach on the way, we'll get on it, we go to Luton as planned, and everyone is sorted. All too soon it becomes clear why they don't know where the coach is, what time it will get to Gatwick, or even where it is coming from.
By this time we have been at Gatwick for 2.5 hours since clearing baggage collection. Everyone is getting quite frankly furious at the lack of information and being stranded at Gatwick with no sign of coach or other transport from the TO. One of the main reasons I use a TO for these trips is to avoid these situations at all costs.
Skiworld's Operations Department are failing dismally to do anything other than try and force us into getting on a train. I offer very reasonably to avoid them spending nearly £300 on train fares, and just split the group across three taxis which would have cost a lot less than £100 each to get us from Gatwick to Luton, they just needed to ring up and pay the taxi firm. They refused. It was a lower cost option that would have been easier for us, but they wouldn't take it.
At 8:30am, when the initial discussion about us getting the train was brought up, we provided Skiworld with details of a taxi firm with a minibus ready and waiting to collect us from Gatwick - they were due to be picking us up from Luton anyway, and would happily detour. This was ignored by their operations team.
After 3 hours at Gatwick, we finally get hold of the coach company they have made arrangements with. They tell me that they were told that they were not needed, and have only just been told to get to Gatwick to collect us. They will be at least an hour.
Skiworld continue to try and push us to get on the train, even though a coach is on its way by this point, that presumably they've got to pay for whether we use it or not! All attempts at logic and reason have been lost - they are suggesting literally ridiculous suggestions, most of which breach their legal responsibility as a Tour Operator, they seem oblivious to this even when pointed out to them.
At this point I have a sense of humour failure. I have been up since 3am, and Skiworld are being dickheads. Sorry for being insulting, but they've lost all sight of what they need to do to resolve this. They offer to arrange minicabs, presumably in another bid to try and save some money, when we have a rank of taxis ready to go outside.
After 4 hours at Gatwick we get in touch with the driver of the coach, who is now heading for us. Except because of all the dicking around through the afternoon he now needs to take a 45 minute break on his tacho. He can't do that inside the airport, so we are left at the collection point for another 45 minutes until he can come and get us.
4 hours and 45 minutes of waiting later, we get on board the coach. By now it is rush hour, and we need to get round the M25. Instead of a quick run round at lunchtime, we are now heading into Friday night traffic from one side of the M25 to the other, and up the M1.
The coach was comfortable, the driver very helpful, explaining that he had been sent on another job because Skiworld couldn't make up their minds about whether we needed collecting or not (no idea why this would be, we had insisted on getting a vehicle to us at the earliest possibility) and we finally got sorted after a journey which was approximately twice the length it was supposed to be.
Amusingly, one of the group gets to Luton to find his car won't start. Instead of a minor inconvenience at 2pm on a Friday afternoon with the RAC to help, they then face a Friday evening with temperatures falling and rain coming down with a car that won't start, while they wait their turn as others in rush hour traffic have similar problems.
A sad end to the week. Skiworld have basically managed to let themselves down at the final hurdle - everything right up to our arrival at Gatwick had been so well done, they just managed to get it so completely wrong because they wouldn't just make a decision quickly and get a coach or taxis sorted quickly. Disappointing. As a group we would have been happy to return to the chalets, resort, and use Skiworld again - they got all the complicated stuff done, and failed with the simplest of things - once again one of our trips becomes very very stressful as a result of the return transfer.
I can't stress enough how good the staff in resort were to us, doing everything in their power to help even when there was very little they could do, and throughout we were impressed with the effort they put in despite this being their first week of the season there were no major hiccups at all - no mean feat when cooking for 26 hungry adults with various dietary requirements and other requests and questions about skiing, pistes, and changing conditions. I can however stress how utterly useless the team in the UK has proven to be when dealing with an extremely simple problem. I can only hope and pray that those flying out this weekend were on plan and everything went smoothly getting to resort - it certainly didn't seem to be a challenge that the UK team were coping with.
Edited to highlight all the positives from the week.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Sat 17-12-11 14:01; edited 1 time in total
5 horus waiting to get from Gatwick to Luton? As above - everything else they got right. But calling a spade a spade, a five year old could have rung up and got 11 people moved between two airports within 90 minutes of each other in a reasonable timeframe.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Monium, it's about 75 mins str8 thru on the train from LGW to LTN!
Ray Mears is laughing at you. Kitchener is disgusted. YOU ARE BRITISH MAN FOR GOD'S SAKE WHERE IS YOUR BACKBONE?
After all it is free
After all it is free
red 27 wrote:
Monium, it's about 75 mins str8 thru on the train from LGW to LTN!
Yes, and the service runs every 15 minutes on a Friday afternoon. Not an unreasonable suggestion from Skiworld, I would have thought in the circumstances.
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.
red 27 wrote:
Monium, it's about 75 mins str8 thru on the train from LGW to LTN!
Ray Mears is laughing at you. Kitchener is disgusted. YOU ARE BRITISH MAN FOR GOD'S SAKE WHERE IS YOUR BACKBONE?
It is also £25 per head, and then we had to send them receipts to get refunded. And I have no idea how far it is from Luton station to airport, so could turn up at the other end with no trolleys and who knows how far (it could have been 10 yards, but neither they nor I had a clue). After having spoken to them about 10 times this afternoon, I also doubt their ability to get 11 refunds paid out.
If I wanted to DIY my way home from a ski trip, I'd DIY the whole trip. I use a TO so that we don't have these problems, and if we do, they are obliged to fix them. They wanted to chuck us on a train for some inane reason, that's not what we signed up for.
I don't think my expectation not to sit in Gatwick for 5 hours waiting for a taxi, coach, or some other arranged transport to turn up was unreasonable.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
That's the sort of story which reminds me why I prefer to travel independently. And why I never take more baggage, when I fly, than I can easily handle myself. I have crossed both London and Paris on public transport, en route to go skiing, without a problem. People carry too much clart. (Says she who just drove out to the Alps with a car loaded with everything but the kitchen sink, including 6 weeks supply of nice British toilet rolls).
Sorry you had such a stressful trip back, Monium. Now go and join in the "Travel Difficulties" thread and see what happens to everyone coming out here tomorrow.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Pam, you're right - in the grand scheme of things, we got home safe, a few hours later than planned, and we could have been sleeping in Geneva airport tonight. I am sure there are others who have travelled independently or with other operators who are in a worse position.
I guess more than anything I am particularly frustrated about their determination to force us on to a train, when a taxi would have cost less and been easier for us (I still don't see the difference for them, except we had a means for them to easily pay for the taxis but they had no mechanism to pay for train tickets, perhaps that was the motivation?) and waiting until we'd already been an hour in Gatwick before even contacting the coach company that was covering for their first failed attempt at arranging a coach.
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.
Monium wrote:
By this time we have been at Gatwick for 2.5 hours since clearing baggage collection. Everyone is getting quite frankly furious at the lack of information and being stranded at Gatwick with no sign of coach or other transport from the TO.
Glad you had a nice holiday, and I'm sorry it has been ruined for you. I'm not sure I'd be that sympathetic if I were the TO though.
I imagine a different scenario. If I had been in your shoes, but stranded at Gatwick and waiting two hours for a coach that never came KNOWING that I could have just jumped on the train when I'd arrived and been HOME by then, I would be furious with the TO for holding me up.
Yes, you are of course right. How difficult can it be to find a coach in London in a recession at the drop of a hat. How rubbish were they. But, bigger picture, how much can you want to cut off your nose to spite your face? "I'm on a TO holiday, I'm going to throw my toys out of my pram if they won't wipe my nose."
Under such circumstances I'd have LOVED to choose the train over a coach round the M25 on a Friday afternoon with snow forecast. Best of all, somebody else was offering to pay for it. And again, are you really so poor that it was worth a four hour wait for a coach rather than run the infinitesimal risk of the TO forgetting to pay you £22.90 (less one third if your party of 11 had three gold card holders in it)? Crazy.
Your posting, anyway, has made me more - not less - likely to use Skiworld. That looks like great customer service to me under very difficult circumstances. Not only did they send you a coach at their expense, but if you were to get bored of waiting and wanted to stand it up they'd pay the train AS WELL! Agree they took some time to reach that point, but I see that choice as a plus, not a minus.
Edited slightly as I was described as a bit harsh. Hope that helps.
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Sat 17-12-11 14:45; edited 1 time in total
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
James the Last wrote:
Your posting, anyway, has made me more - not less - likely to use Skiworld. That looks like great customer service to me under very difficult circumstances.
Perfect - I share my experience, and you decide that is a company you want to deal with. Good news. The rest of the thread probably makes it very clear that we had a great holiday with Skiworld. I'm not here to damage Skiworld or try and stop others booking with them. I am sharing what we did all week, some info about the snow, where we had lunch, and how they handled a problem at the end of the trip, venting a bit at our frustration. If you like their approach, go ahead and book with them. After our experience we will be looking at other options for our big group trip next year, something that we might not have done if this had gone smoothly and they'd just sorted the travel that they committed to sort at 9am that morning.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Whilst I am all for pam w and travelling light, it is not easy if you have skis. I have a double bag in which I can get all my clothes and one ski boot!, so I have to take another bag (not large) with my helmet in my rucksack. In the past I have managed to negotiate public transport to get me home, but most taxis can't take skis and getting on a bus with that lot is at least amusing for the other passengers. The train is a nightmare as most of them don't seem to have anywhere long or high enough to put skis, so you end up blocking an aisle. If there are a group of 13 I hate to think what the carriage would look like, and emergency evacuation of the train could be a bit delayed (on a separate point, why can we travel at 124mph standing up on a train with no seat belts even if we sit down and loose luggage everywhere, whilst we have to sit belted in on a plane while it is taxiing at 5 mph?). I think James the Last is a bit harsh. Monium agreed the coach transfer to Luton with Skiworld and was then let down. Given the incompatibility of skis and trains expecting Skiworld to deliver a coach does not seem unreasonable. If Monium had not used a TO and booked the separate elements himself then the return journey may have been even more problematic.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I've edited the above to highlight my positive comments.
To clarify, I'm not here to pull a Pandora. Simple case of being left in an airport for several hours after 12 hours travelling with no information really pulls my chain. If I did it to my customers I'd be out of a job.
Skiworld couldn't help the fact that they arranged a useless coach company that sent a driver with no hours on the clock to get us home, they could have got the replacement coach (that they had already contacted that morning and knew were available, but went with the other firm first who sent a driver with no hours left, schoolboy error) and could have called them straight away. Instead it took them nearly 2 hours after the initial coach disappeared to make that call, because they were pushing us to get on the train for some reason, and hadn't told us that (in which case we could have gone and got the train, even with all those bags, but we were told dozens of times "the coach is on its way" with no actual ETA) so we sat it out. Every time we as a group made the decision to just go and get in a cab or on the train and fix the problem ourselves we were told it was definitely going to be just another 30/45/60 minutes, delete as appropriate.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
While not ideal, I can see Skiworld's point about the train option - and totally understand yours - they had a duty to get you to Luton by the most appropriate route possible. A single train with no changes from LGW to Luton would have got you all on your way faster and arriving at Luton earlier than any of the alternative solutions proposed and with fairly minimal lugging of ski gear (and avoiding rush hour) - maybe an offer to pay for a taxi at the station to get you to the airport at the other end - rather than having to wait for the airport bus would have sweetened the deal? Having said that, however, if I was the skiworld manager I would have jumped at the chance of your proposed minibus option.
I frequently travel to and from heathrow from south london by train, tube and/or bus and don't find it too much of a fag - it is well worth it to save the £40 cab fare, believe me! That said, you were all up at the crack of a sparrow's fart and with very little sleep I also get grumpy and stressed and very often fail to see the bigger picture (or anyone else's point of view for that matter!). I've always had great service with Skiworld and will continue to use them. Under the circumstances, I think they did well to get you back to the UK via Chambery after a very unfortunate start to what became a very difficult day for any operator in the higher resorts in France. You all got home safely after having a great holiday so try not to let it ruin your memories of a great week on the snow.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Anyway, moving on from the return travel stuff, which was frankly only a small part of a really good week away, and after a good night's sleep (and info coming back on others problems getting to and from resort) it is in perspective a bit more, I am now getting a few more videos uploaded. All were taken using a Gopro that I unpacked on the first day of the trip, so lots of learning involved, as well as sorting out helmet mounting properly and what works with these things and what doesn't.
So far I've learned to keep videos fairly short, and to avoid glancing over my shoulder so much Short videos mean I can stitch them together later if I need to, the downside is that we only caught a couple of wipeout vids because I hadn't filmed a particular run, but we got a reasonable proportion of them in the end between the couple of cameras on the trip.
One angle that I quite like because I can really see what I am actually doing with the skis is this one - a few times getting a bit snowploughed which I could feel I was doing, but wasn't my intention. I think some of that is powder technique, and some of it is slight weakness in my right knee after motorbike crashes and a couple of twists and knocks over the years (mostly skiing) and general lack of fitness meaning not enough strength to get my legs exactly where I want them against the resistance of the deeper snow.
Feedback appreciated on the skiing - I think this gives you a better idea of what I am doing than someone trying to keep me in shot from behind, but I will have a few of those. This is soft light snow, anywhere from ankle to knee deep on a fairly shallow incline. I know the video is too long, I was kind of hoping to drop a few short bits of this one into something longer to give a good view of the snow conditions, but editing video is a long way off yet.
Anyone know why my videos won't embed? Am I using the wrong link or something? Works in this post, doesn't work in earlier posts in this thread when I edit them?
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?
Video showing conditions on the last couple of days - the camera seems to be able to see far better than we could - felt like we could barely see our hand in front of our face at various points.
Main thing for me is to think about the shape of the turns you are making. From that video it looks like they are very sharp - Z shape, rather than S shape. This will trip you up when you get in to deeper snow. Try to be more patient with your skis and not force them to turn. If you pick up a bit of speed you can control this by holding the turn a little longer. Stand up tall on your skis at the start of the turn and press them against/in to the snow and make a smooth turn.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Sorry, should also have mentioned how much I've enjoyed your trip report.
Main thing for me is to think about the shape of the turns you are making. From that video it looks like they are very sharp - Z shape, rather than S shape. This will trip you up when you get in to deeper snow. Try to be more patient with your skis and not force them to turn. If you pick up a bit of speed you can control this by holding the turn a little longer. Stand up tall on your skis at the start of the turn and press them against/in to the snow and make a smooth turn.
Thanks Rob. You're right about the sharpness of the turns - at times I think I am forcing them to turn quickly to avoid picking up too much speed (it certainly felt that way). I think some of that is because I am not confident of putting in a nice wide S turn to slow down in deeper stuff, basically trying to scrub off speed a bit by pulling shorter Z turns. I think I just need to trust that it won't get too fast too quickly, and widen the turn out a bit and wait.
You've predicted the future on the deeper stuff - later in the week I tried a much shorter turn to come to a stop in deeper snow and managed to pretty much do a sideways roll much to the amusement of everyone else. No footage unfortunately.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
This is one of the times when instinct (control the speed by making a sharp turn) makes things worse not better. Much better, and the only way to do it in deep snow, is to keep the turn going almost to the point of heading back up the slope as the main method of speed control.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Quote:
I think some of that is because I am not confident of putting in a nice wide S turn to slow down in deeper stuff
Monium, thanks for posting that. that camera angle is v interesting. I think I have the opposite problem, when skiing off piste (maybe in deeper snow than that, with disappeared skis). I have so much experience of those falling over sideways moments when you try to scrub off speed that I do a ginormous great S shaped turn across half the mountain, thinking "don't panic, don't panic"coming to a more or less controlled stop, still standing up, but utterly unprepared for the next turn having lost all my momentum. An instructor I've had several lessons with locally would do his beautifully neat six turns, then stop and wave his stick up and down shouting "Up!""Up!" to try to get me rebounding, as I would typically sink lower and lower with each increasingly desperate turn. I shall have to organise some more lessons when the snow is so good - it's so great on the odd occasion when it works.
We always practice those turns on piste first to start with. I can't do them properly even then.
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.
pam w wrote:
that camera angle is v interesting. .
I really like that view, shows a lot of what is going on. I took some while off-piste last season and was interested to see just how hard the legs work to keep everything stable, even in fairly benign snow conditions (clips at 2m35s, 3m33s and 4m40s)
Monium, what kind of GoPro is it? The video quality is awesome... And I thought I'd seen alot of the GoPro footage. Also what quality is the YouTube upload/viewing option... It might be that I suppose (maybe other people skimp on the upload size or something?).
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Poster: A snowHead
