 Poster: A snowHead
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Im going skiing in france this winter, and im going the week after christmas, so from 29. dec to 5. jan.
Where would be the best place to go - considering it seems to be a very popular week and id rather go somewhere not too crowded.
really dont care about apres ski/atmosphere etc. im going for the skiing
Also should i be worrying about snow levels/conditions? or is it late enough for snow to have fallen by then?
any help would be appreciated, thanks 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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BobbieShamrock, best advice would be to go high early in the season, Tignes, Val T etc. Anywhere with a glacier will be a bit more snow sure. The downside is everybody will have the same thought. It's a punt as to how much snow will have fallen, some years heaps, other years not so much.
The week after is traditionally very quiet and heaps cheaper. If you can o then and maybe even do a last minute booking you can save money and choose your resort based on where has the best snow. 
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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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Personally I’ll probably be skiing in Flaine and Les Contamines those days (day trips). Decent skiing, and never seen either crowded. (Non peak times I’d head to Portes de Soleil and La Clusaz, but they do get crowded). Not great après etc though. For a week maybe Flaine with a pass for the whole Grand Massif, as it’s bigger, and also higher so better chance of good snow.
I’m sure people can recommend other resorts I don’t know about – I’m limited to where the local ‘ski-bus’ service runs.
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BobbieShamrock, welcome to Snowheads. If you are stuck with that week, it's difficult. It tends to be cold and dark - so it's nicer to be somewhere down lower, with a bit of a warmer atmosphere and some tree-lined runs, but it's also a bit early in the season, so you certainly can't guarantee snow - and even up high it can be rocky and thin if there's been little precipitation.
One answer is to go somewhere with a great range of altitude and aspect available, so you can choose between lower, tree-lined runs and higher areas. Somewhere like La Plagne, maybe, though there are lots of others.
Another good idea is to do ski lessons, because instructors will have priority on lifts and you'll spend less time waiting around. any of the big resorts will give you a wide choice of ski schools, including the specialist ones with guaranteed small groups.
New Year is extremely popular in France - I go to a small resort with practically no Brits and it's still heaving at New Year - the week after, as Rogg says, is a different world!
Les Contamines could indeed be a good bet - I've never skied there at New Year but generally it's not crowded. I've certainly seen Flaine very, very, crowded especially when the snow elsewhere in the area isn't good and so everyone is concentrated up in the Flaine bowl.
It's a lottery!
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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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Thanks for the advice the week after would be great but the children have school so thats not an option. Could try Les Contamines, never heard of it though, is there a lot of variety or is it quite a small resort?
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Les Contamines-Hautluce is fairly small - it lists 125km of pistes. Decent variety, and a ski cross course you can play on! Good piste map here: http://www.lescontamines.com/documents/plan-domaine-alpin-contamines-hauteluce-b.pdf The town/resort itself is definitely small, and very French. Some very pretty towns and villages around though if you have a car to explore.
It is part of a larger area - Evasion Mont Blanc - which apparently has 450km of pistes, but it's not linked as well as places like Portes de Soleil etc.
http://www.bergfex.com/megeve/panorama/
I've done a few days there (Les Contamines) and only covered less than 1/3 of the pistes, but than part of that was a very snowy day mostly spent drinking, and part was refusing to explore further than a couple of excellent pistes we loved... (Coins and Nant Rouge - and they were virtually empty apart from my group!)
I agree with the suggestions above though, unless you want surety of price etc (which you may with kids) then booking last minute depending on where the snow is might be best.
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Oooh, thanks altis, I hadn't seen that before. The large maps showing all the resorts are excellent!
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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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| Quote: |
the week after would be great but the children have school so thats not an option
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How about the week before - christmas is much less crowded than New Year IME.
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Serre Chevalier.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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les contamines looks great! doesn't seem to be too many black runs and we're going with a very very experienced family but im sure they'd put up with it if there werent any crowds 
i thought about the week before, but id rather spend christmas at home to be honest.
Serre chevalier - never heard of that either (shows how much i know about skiing...) but ill look it up!
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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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altis, thanks! the little 'fact files' are really useful! bit confusing considering i dont speak french... but im sure ill get my head round it 
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Major problem is that week is around Russian new year, so they take over France. Definitely avoid Courchevel!
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You know it makes sense.
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hehe i will thanks, too expensive for me anyway!
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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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As nobody has stated the obvious I will, Val d'Isere.
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Poster: A snowHead
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val d'isere's linked to tignes, isn't it? but yeah, its an option, it'll probably be either tignes/val d'isere or serre chevalier (less contamines would've been great for me, but not so great for the family we're going with, will probably try that next year).
thanks for all the help guys!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We are going to VDI on 5th Jan, earliest we've ever been, but confident the glacier will see us right...
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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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If you are skiing with children, I'd recommend La Rosiere for that week.
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After 2 years of going away at New Year we've shifted to Christmas week. It's a lot quieter on the slopes and a lot cheaper to go away that week, usually a good couple of hundred pounds per head than New Year. It can get a bit hectic before going away doing Santa duties while packing for a holiday, but we more than make up for it with not having to do a Christmas dinner (as we always seemed to host the family!) and not having the expense of everything that goes with Christmas at home.
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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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BobbieShamrock, Like I said up top, Tignes is a good bet. The village is 2000m to 2100m, there's pretty easy access to the glacier on the Grande Motte at about 3500m and also seems to be a bit of a snow trap. Like PamW says you can get a bit shut down by the weather, but that can happen anywhere and you always have the option of heading to les Boisses or over the top to La Daille for a bit of tree lined.
Serre chevalier has great terrain, but is much further south and is much lower at about 1200m - 1350m at resort level, which to my mind makes it a good bit less snow sure, so for early season......... On the upside, loads of lovely trees, great scenery, nice village. I've had a couple of great holidays there, and will definitely go back, but I've also been rained on really heavily too. I do tend to book last minute and follow the deals, snow conditions and forecasts. If you can do that and be a bit flexible you should really have Serre Che on the list.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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We went to Les Arcs over Christmas last year and the snow was ridiculous (they'd had 3m before we arrived) but, I'm pretty sure that was the case with most of the Rhone-Alps last December. We are booked again for this Christmas (it's cheaper and quieter than the following week) but surely it can't snow that much again 
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I have done Christmas/New Year in Les Arcs for the last 7 or so years and though the New Year Week is one of the peak weeks of the season I haven't found it too bad. The lift queues are about 10 minutes on the busy lifts, but there are ways to avoid these. There has always been snow and I have never found it too cold.
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It never ceases to amaze me all the ill-informed talk of early season / low altitude / snow surety / "it's dark and cold"  blah blah. If newbies wander on here and listen to all the nervous talk, they'll all end up in some high altitude carbuncle and freeze their wotsits off for a week. Fact is, if the "low altitude" resort are bare at New Year (historically unlikely) then the nearby glacier areas get totally mobbed anyway.
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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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It IS dark. Denying that early season is dark is to deny the laws of the universe. I have mostly holidayed in fairly low altitude resorts, because I prefer them, and have, indeed, had some poor snow, notably in Chamonix, Bad Kleinkirchheim and Alpbach in the first week of January. Ironically each time it was actually a bit warm, rather than too cold, so what little snow there was was very slushy. Just as slushy as I've experienced in April when the days are, whatever Mr Swiller believes longer (laws of physics) and warmer and the snow deeper (average figures.....).
Weather is a gamble wherever and whenever you go but long term snow cover statistics will show that snow cover at the turn of the year is sparse, on average, compared to a couple of months later. The centre of gravity of the holiday ski season, when people are keen to get out at, or before, Christmas, is out of kilter with the climate in most alpine destinations. Hence all the daft references to early March being "late in the season) and resorts closing their lifts when there's often more snow than there was in December.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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pam w, that is bonkers. It may be darker and it may get dark earlier (yes, I went to school) but it isn't dark. Dark is that thing that happens at night. Yes, if you're fogged in it'll be decidedly gloomy but if the sun's out it's very not-dark.
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snow cover at the turn of the year is sparse
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another bonkers statement. I agree entirely that the depth builds up over the season and that often the epic conditions can be found when everyone has packed up and gone home (and the lifts have closed), but "sparse" is not a situation I recognise at Christmas/New Year. It gives completely the wrong impression to anyone who hasn't been out at that time and is looking for some accurate (look it up) info. Before New Year, the FIS hold World Cup Downhills that finish at resort level in Val D'Isere, Val Gardena and Bormio - they wouldn't schedule such events if it were too dark and the snow too sparse.
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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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[quote="Bode Swiller"]
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Before New Year, the FIS hold World Cup Downhills that finish at resort level in Val D'Isere, Val Gardena and Bormio - they wouldn't schedule such events if it were too dark and the snow too sparse. |
To be fair I wouldn't use FIS races as a criterion in deciding whether a resort is skiable having seen some of the icy death ribbons they are quite happy to lay out of a phalanx of cannons. ...and arguably the FIS don't want races during periods when it actually snows as it has a tendency to disrupt their schedules and mess up their nicely injected courses.
Every skier knows it's rare that Xmas/NY will be the most epic conditions of the season but when you've got holiday anyway why waste it playing kerplunk and watching the Sound of Music.
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fatbob, I'm with you on that but my point was more about doing 80mph in the "dark".
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You know it makes sense.
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pam w, Dark?? Well it may be above the Artic circle, but in France the sun often shines. So much so in fact that I have to wear tinted goggles to prevent snow blindness. It does get dark a bit earlier, but then the lifts close before 18:00 anyway. Remember that the French ski resorts are only at about a lattitude of 45 degrees as opposed to the 53 degrees of the UK.
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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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| pam w wrote: |
| It IS dark. Denying that early season is dark is to deny the laws of the universe. |
If you were talking about BC, where it is pretty dark by 4pm mid-winter, I'd agree-ish. But the Alps ...
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Poster: A snowHead
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It's all relative. Mid-winter is mid-winter, whatever the latitude.
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the lifts close before 18:00 anyway
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I'll say they do; some will close as early as 1600 in midwinter and it's proper dark well before 1800.
The terrain also makes a huge difference. That's one way where higher altitude places can win out - on our south facing hill at 1550m we have a great deal more sun than down in the valley, with steep sided mountains both sides. In mid-winter some places in deep valleys only get a few hours sun each day.
As for FIS races, I recall a number of cancellations for lack of snow, early in the season, in recent years (? including men's Super G in Kitzbuhel early this year,and some races in Val D'Isere in 2011 - the list is long). It's simply bonkers, as the saying goes, to dispute the contention that it's darker (always) and less snowy (on average) in late December than in March.
I entirely agree that skiing at Christmas and New Year is infinitely preferable to flopping on a sofa watching the TV having eaten and drunk too much. However, a great many families can only afford one holiday a year. I see no reason for not telling them (if they ask) that there is, statistically, less likelihood of good snow than there is later in the season. Everyone seems to agree on that, so where's the problem? In March there is likely to be more snow, the skiing days are longer, the prices cheaper and (after the school holidays end) the pistes far less busy. For anyone interested in off-piste, in particular, late December is generally too early.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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pam w, most lifts in Les Arcs shut after 16:00 even over Christmas. I even recall getting the very slow chantel lift shortly before 17:00 and getting off it much later. It was getting dark as I got to Arc 1600 at about 18:00. Please do not give the false impression that it is dark in December and January. You still need to wear eye protection and sun cream.
But I do agree about the thinner snow cover most years early in the season and I really love skiing in March or April. To me late season is the end of April and March is mid season.
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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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Must say I never wear sun cream in early January. Certainly gets pretty gloomy in the valleys in Jan (Also often a lot colder lower with temp inversions).
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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pam w, The OP asked:
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| late december/early january skiing. where's best?? |
He didn't ask to be moved by several months.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Jnr like the present thing too. Normally gets a few smaller presents from us while out on holiday, then he normally has a stack of presents from us and various family members when we get home. We do the "have to tell Santa in advance of our arrangements" thing to keep it sounding real, although we don't really need to do that any more.
There's usually a good range of Christmasy activities in resort. Les 2 Alpes was pretty good a couple of years back, it was a bit more low key in Cervinia, we went to midnight mass while there. The only thing I really understood were the words bambino, apartheid and Nelson Mandella, but it was good to experience anyway.
We also have the annual text session with family "merry christmas, enjoy your christmas lunch, we've had a panini and a crepe."
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We've done a Christmas week in Vaujany, a New Year Week in Zell am See and another New Year in Vaujany. Each of those years were late starters for snow, but we did ski everyday in glorious sunshine and had great holidays, after all you have to make the best of it if thats the only time you can go? It does get dark earlier than spring, but whenever we have been the lifts close 4-4.30pm. The week in Zell was packed, queues for the lifts 15-20 mins, but we were fairly inexperienced then so only stuck to the main lifts/runs, I'm sure we could have ventured further if brave enough!
The coldest we experienced was La Rosiere at the end of January, I have never felt cold like it!!
We are going this New Year, as the holidays work well for my family with no-one missing school or college and will be the last ski holiday as a family for a long time! (at least the last we pay for)!
Personally I prefer Austria and am looking at where to go, we may end up in France as there seems to be more high altitude choice, but the cost to go is higher. any suggestions for Austria welcome
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Hi
May I start of by saying that the higher you are the snow sure you are is not the case. Having lived in the Portes du Soleil area before moving back to the UK, I had to keep explaining to people its not height but geographical posistion. Higher resorts need much more snow to cover the slopes, they have more rocks and so on and need a least a meter. Lower resorts ie Portes du Soleil there slopes are on pasture land , here to have a good base you need 30 cm ,
Also if you pick a high resort expect it to be very cold as Dec/ Jan are your coldest months. A resort with tree runs will help with sheltering from the cold, any resort over 1800m will have less tree runs.
I hope this helps, I would'nt stress about resorts, go where it suits you and your skiing abilty , price ect... though I will say 29 dec - 5th Jan is a very busy week, if you could go the week after you could find yourself skiing pistes on your own, my fav time from around the 10th Jan - 25th Jan.
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FAQ
