 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm really keen on going to Valmorel, but there's limited information on this resort here in the UK, so I'd appreciate hearing from those of you who've been there in relation to snow fall & how crowded the resort is from mid Jan to early Feb.
Basically, I really want to avoid the crowds but want there to be enough snow to ski at the lower levels. I'd prefer to go in mid Jan (w/c 12/01/13) as it will be the quietest then, but am worried that there might not be enough snow, as from looking at historical snow records (on myweather2.com), I can see that some years have as little as 20cm on the lower slopes. Is this enough for the majority of runs to be open?
The weeks get progressively more expensive and I guess the resort is expected to get busier up until the w/c 02/02/13. I would prefer to go then but am worried that it will be really busy. Will this be the case even though french school holidays don't start until w/c 16/02/13?
I know it is obscenely early to be planning 2013 already, but I need to for work reasons and from looking at prices this season, I've found that Valmorel packages don't come down in price in Jan and even sell out. So I thought I might as well book something. Also, I'm not too worried about any differences in prices within the dates I've mentioned and am pretty sure I want to go to Valmorel as I think it would be ideal for me having just one week under my belt.
Thanks in advance for your help!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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musywhite, I don't know Valmorel and it comes up only very rarely on Snowheads. But I'm sure that, like other French resorts, though it will tend to get progressively busier, crowds will only be a problem once the French holidays start.
Statistically, I suppose you are more likely to have good snow a bit later, though this year of course the Christmas/New Year snow was stupendous.
It is indeed very early to plan - you could identify your week, and then wait till later to book. There are absolutely loads of resorts suitable for a second week skier - loads and loads. The key factor is finding really good ski lessons. Are you on your own?
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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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Thanks for the quick reply.
No, it's me and my husband and we're both of a similar level. I am thinking its best that we get some lessons in and would prefer private ones so we can develop quicker. However, the prices of private lessons seems to vary a lot. Can you say roughly how how per hour is reasonable so I can judge if they will be affordable? Otherwise, it'll have to be group lessons again - our first week was obergurgl and our instructor was fine although he spoke limited english.
An alternative is to do a full day at a UK snowdome so we can get parallel skiing decently. If we do this, is is reasonable to assume we can go without lessons once we get out there?
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If we do this, is is reasonable to assume we can go without lessons once we get out there?
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of course you can! Depends what you're aiming at. You'll find a lot of people on snowheads are keen to ski better and are generally much more likely to keep taking lessons than the average holiday skier. If you are keen to become a good skier then you'd really be better off having lessons. Apart from anything else, in an unfamiliar ski area it helps to have an instructor who will know exactly where to take you, at your level. It can be quite intimidating on your own, not knowing whether you might find you've bitten off more than you can chew.
The cost of private lessons varies quite a bit (as does the quality of instructors). In our French resort a 2 hour private lesson costs 84 euros in the French school holidays and 52 the rest of the year (a huge difference - much bigger than last year - I think it reflects elasticity of demand...  ).
A compromise between private and group lessons, probably a good compromise at your level, is to do a course but with one of the specialist British ski schools which have small groups. More expensive, but you will almost certainly make faster progress, especially if you are somebody who likes really quite detailed technical explanations of what you're doing, and why.
I don't think Valmorel has one of those. A resort which does, and is very suitable for your ski level (and lots of higher levels too) is Les Gets - have a look at the website of the BASS in Les Gets. http://www.britishskischool.com/les_gets/courses.htm
An 8 hour "approaching parallel" course at £150 sounds a good bet.
But there are lots of other alternatives of both resort and ski school.
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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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I've been to Valmorel a few times with the kids, usually in mid-Jan. Never any problem with lessons or snow to be honest - they have a good ski school (ESF) and plenty of snowmaking. The skiing is mostly easy cruisy stuff. I liked the place a lot.
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Hi, I'm new to Snowheads so apols if comments too late. Have been to Valmorel many times, often the first and last weeks of the season, and have usually been able to ski so Jan should be fine.
Outside of school holidays, you'll find it a good place to improve skiing as it is a surprisingly big area with few queues. Agree that it helps to have some lessons just to boost confidence & get to know the area which is wonderful. Can give you the name of a particularly nice (female) ESF instructor who taught my son from tiny - now 17 & fearless so she did a great job.
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Valmorel ESF is good, me and my family have had ski school and private lessons there in the beginner days and it is a respected resort for that........outside of Feb half term when the quality suffers alarmingly in the afternoon English lessons.
Had/has a lovely self contained learning area for beginners in a small bowl although not sure if this has changed now the Club Med have a place there.........the benefits of this should be a few lift upgrades in resort, but hope they kept this area as it was great as had no through traffic from better skiers
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Went back in Jan this year for the first time in nearly 20 years. There has been considerable investment in the resort hardware, ok its not the 3V but plenty of fast chairs in addition to a few old and creaky ones, and very diligent grooming. The snowfall this year is epic so the resort looked very flattered but there would be no reason to imagine why they would not be very good at preparing and maintaining the ski areas, runs back to resort mainly treelined which always helps. Drags exist too but are mostly very avoidable if you are not a fan.
We are all pretty experienced skiers and loved the fact that it did not get tracked out as soon as the lifts opened, however the terrain looked very well suited to intermediates, kids and easy cruising. Can see why Club Med have chosen it for their new flagship.
We didn't test the ski school but comments from those who did were positive enough.
A big plus went to the excellent standard of restaurants on and off the mountain, really good value for money, you could easily pay the same and get considerably less and poorer quality in more 'prestigious' places. And we were treated as valued customers and met some quirky french locals, and despite being purpose built it has a very 'approachable' vibe about it.
Its one of the shorter transfers from most airports, its user friendly (not big) so there is minimal time wasting - we were on a cheeky weekend. I'd say its a bit under rated in the Brit market and for lots of groups it has a lot to offer!
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