 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi everybody
Has anyone stayed in either of these UCPA centres? How do they compare? We stayed in UCPA Serre Chevalier last year, and fancy giving the Espace Killy a go this season.
What are the pros and cons between the two? Location, room size, extra costs like wi-fi, anything anyone else can think of.
Thanks
PJ
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Knew the chief instructor at Tignes; it's right opposite a bus stop in Val Claret very close to the lifts, G Motte etc. never stayed there but eveybody said they were having a very good time when we joined them in the large bar. Has a world of it's own in this ski station, which is slightly remote and over 4200 feet if you have height sleep problems, can be very cold and bleak at night in the storm season but you will be too occupied to worry about that.
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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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well over....
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Is that a bit like the YHA?
it seems like quite a good deal price-wise. If I can throw in some free flights from Avios, then it should be a bargain holiday.
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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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feef, Like a Value for money Club Med aimed at the young, giving a complete holiday if you want to join all activities.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Its fab, we are going to Tignes UCPA in Jan 5th-12th
Action Outdoors are pretty good and you get discount with the code EP2011
we went to Cham with them before.
Anyone know how long it takes to walk from UCPA Tignes to Tignes Le Lac bars etc.
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Aimed at the young? Hmm.. at 38 I'm not exactly young 
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bezthespaniard, Distance to bars etc VC 30 seconds, to Lac get the bus early evening or walk either across lake or around road about 15 or 30 minutes, take some good grippy snow boots and warm clothes if you intend late night trips.
Last edited by After all it is free  on Wed 29-08-12 20:09; edited 1 time in total
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
at 38 I'm not exactly young
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young enough for UCPA. They're terrific value though I gather from previous Snowheads threads on the subject that some of the more advanced groups - e.g. doing the off piste in Chamonix - are seriously gnarly. I'm far too old but my son in law has done several holidays with them, the last one with my daughter, before they were married. They rated the centre in flaine very highly (they had a double room - not all centres do them). My SiL also did a summer activity programme in Chamonix - ice climbing etc, which he enjoyed very much. Great tuition and all specialist gear provided.
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Last year we a found a really broad age range in Serre Chevalier. There was a big group of French students in their early twenties, but I'd say the majority of people there were thirty-somethings.
We're looking at going early January too, and I am a bit worried about VC being a bit bleak that time of year which is why we're considering Val d'Isere. I think the hostels are of a similar standard, but I'm not sure.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I might have to look into that in more detail then. A week's offpiste in Chamonix sounds perfect
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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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yeah, I've been poking about the ActionOutdoors website for the last few minutes. I think I can see myself booking one of the off-piste weeks in Chamonix the first week in March (there's currently avios seats available too)
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
the first week in March
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peak week - French school hols, but maybe that won't matter once you're miles from the beaten track!
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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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eversolazy, hey what was Serre Che like? Thinking of booking a week here in late Jan.
Any tips on the centre or resort would be cool. Do you know if the pool will be warm enough to go into in Jan? How much is it for the wifi? Any particularly good runs to check out on day 1?
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Poster: A snowHead
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
the first week in March
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peak week - French school hols, but maybe that won't matter once you're miles from the beaten track! |
I was in Avoriaz first week in March this year and it wasn't too bad, but we were avoiding the main pistes. The only real reason I was thinking then was to have a reasonable break between my trip in December and my second one. I suppose mid Feb would still be an option, but then that leaves so much of the season unskied that I know I'd be wanting to get away again 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Mid feb is peak holiday season too.
France is divided in 3 holiday regions. Avoid the Paris period.
Last 2 weeks of march are best weeks of the season: lots of snow, longer daylight hours, not too warm yet, and empty slopes.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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feef, That's because last year, the first 2 weeks in march were not French school hidatsa! This year they are.
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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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kat.ryb The SC hostel was great. You've got to bare in mind it's a hostel though. Ha ha, I was just about to recommend reading the great review of the UCPA in Val Thorens to get a good idea of the whole experience, but I see you wrote it!
Anyway, Serre Chevalier sounds very similar. The location's spot on, in front of a chair lift, at the bottom of the piste (think it's the casse de boeuf). Our dormitory was for six, three of us and three friendly French lads. They were very civilised, although a French guy in our class was put in a room with group who were a bit more lively and was kept up until the early hours every night. Take ear plugs, and maybe an extension lead (not many power sockets).
You have to ask for the heating in the pool to be switched on, but I imagine it would be warm enough to use. The only people we saw in it were the instructors when they all skied/boarded/mountain bike into it. The Serre Chevalier resorts are all well linked by a (free with lift pass I think?) bus. I'd be tempted to head over to the spa in Monetier, it looks lush.
I think the wifi was free, although it did drop out quite a lot and was only really available in the bar/refectory.
I can't recommend any particular runs, terrible run/map memory. The pistes were good though, really varied. There'd been no fresh snow for a while when we went, but on the whole they seemed to be holding up well.
Outside the hostel, Villeneuve seemed very quiet. The bars we tried were nice, but nothing lively. Saying that, we barely had the energy to drag ourselves to the UCPA bar most nights, so dancing till dawn was never really on the cards!
Hope that helps, if you've got any more questions let me know.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| kat.ryb wrote: |
| feef, That's because last year, the first 2 weeks in march were not French school hidatsa! This year they are. |
They were for Zone B departements: (North east France (Picardy, Nord-Pas de Calais, Champagne), Alsace, Franche-Comté and Burgundy, the Centre region, Limousin and Poitou Charentes, Upper Normandy (the Rouen area) and Provence, the southern Alps & the Riviera) which ran from Saturday 25th February 2012 to Sunday 11th March 2012.
Zone A (Brittany, lower Normandy, Pays de la Loire, Lorraine, Rhône Alpes, Auvergne, Languedoc, Midi-Pyrenees) was from Saturday 11th February 2012 to Sunday 26th February 2012
and Zone C (Greater Paris, Aquitaine) was from Saturday 18th February 2012 to Sunday 4th March 2012
For the 2013 season it's,
Zone A :Saturday 23rd February 2013 to Sunday 10th March 2013
Zone B : Saturday 16th February 2013 to Sunday 3rd March 2013 and
Zone C: Saturday 2nd March 2013 to Sunday 17th March 2013
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Has ANYBODY been Val d'Isere or Tignes?? 
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I did Val d'isere and Val thorens this year but have not done Tignes, I would rate the Val d UCPA better from a social and food aspect but was not ski in/out.
this year was the first time with UCPA for me, at 46 I had to be economical with the truth on the booking form! though the 37 yr old french girl was gutted that the instructor thought she was older than me!
If you are the sort that likes their own space and privacy and like to keep themselves to themselves, UCPA is NOT for you
If you are more into skiing than luxury accommodation, are sociable, don't mind sharing a 6 person bunk room (not always single sex), enjoy meeting others, are a single skier not wanting a single room supplement, etc etc then UCPA is fantastic value for money and socially.
Without transport to the resort my offpiste week in Val T cost about £570 which included the following
Hire of brand new offpiste skis
ski pass (Val T area only but did not really need any more)
Boot hire if I needed
23hrs of offpiste guiding and avalanche rescue training
use of offpiste packs (shovel, tranceiver, probe etc)
FULL board accomodation (packed lunch or go back to hotel )
Probably the best week of skiing I've had, I just did the experts class in Val d'Isere but James that shared the room was on the offpiste course and loved it.
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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: |
Last 2 weeks of march are best weeks of the season
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I'd strongly agree with that - over the last ten years conditions have varied, but on average, yes, they are the best weeks.
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tangowaggon, just how not ski in/out is the Val d'Isere hostel? The AO site says it's a bus ride from the lifts, which will be a bit of a hard sell for the group I'm going with. Also, how were the piste lessons? We did the off piste course last year and which was definitely more guiding than instruction. It certainly highlighted the deficiencies in my technique, which is why I've decided to opt for the regular lessons this year and get it sorted!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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eversolazy, not much of Val d'Isere is ski-in ski-out. Val d'Isere has a very good free bus service joining the lift bases and the bottoms of the pistes with the main road through town. UCPA Val d'Isere is on the main road and is very close to bus stops in both directions. Between about 8am and 8pm buses pass the UCPA every few minutes; timetables are irrelevant as the buses are so frequent. As the time approaches midnight the timetable becomes useful.
UCPA Val d'Isere is a short walk from the Morris Pub, a very popular bar that frequently has live music. Just a little further is the rest of the town centre.
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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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Went to both several times (a bit of a UCPA addict here for any sports) and both are tops.
Tignes one is located right by the Val Claret open car park opposite the stadium.
Val d'Isere one is up the main road by one of the shuttle stop. 5 minutes walk from te piste. You can ski it in if they do not clear the road.
Both excellent. And both are one grade up from the Serre Che/le Monetier one, which to me has a real mountain feel.
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tangowaggon, Your 'review' sells it to me as a solo-traveller. I might wait and see if anyone else gets their finger out this season and actually decided to go skiing with me, otherwise, UCPA looks like it's a very good answer.
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You know it makes sense.
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Reading this with some interest as am quite tempted to sneak in an early trip to get skills back up. Is mid December too early to book an off-piste course? I have limited off-piste experience having only ever done some sort of alternate route to Aiguille du Midi 2 days after a decent sized dump.
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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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Also, which one of these is closer to the lifts? Did Argentiere this year and hated, yes hated the waiting for a bus/ tram walking after a long day of skiing.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Rishie, eversolazy, in my experience both Val D'Isere and Tignes are less than 5 mins walk to the piste. Val D'Isere entrance is a 2-3 minute walk onto the top end of the nursery slope and you can either jump on the button lift for an easy ski down to the Olympic and Solaise lifts or it is a short pole across to both. Otherwise you can get a bus straight up to the new Laisenant chair or the Le Fornet cable or to Solaise in the other direction. The bus stop is right next to the Centre.
Tignes centre is on the lower level of Val Claret opposite the car park so you simply have to walk through the car park to pick up the rope drag (assuming it is working) to pick up any of the lifts from Val Claret. At the end of the day you can ski back into the back of the centre along a very narrow track which can be a tad tricky but is always good fun - or you just get the rope drag back again.
Val D'Isere has more of a community feel. Has larger rooms sharing between 3-6. Night life in Val is very lively and the Centre is a very easy walk to all the bars and clubs. Tignes rooms tend to be smaller and generally have bunks for 4. Val Claret is quiet night-life wise in comparison to Val and it is a fair trek to get down to Le Lac where things are a little livlier.
I've stayed in both and prefer Val D'Isere but that is more because I like the town so much rather than anything else. The skiing is great whichever you go to.
feef, Age range is 18-40 so you'll be fine. If you are considering Chamonix, book early - the Argentierre centre is closed for refurbishment this season so Chamonix will be very popular. Don't forget you have to get buses to lifts from the centre in Cham, although you do benefit from being right in the centre of town.
Rishie, mid-December may be a bit early for an off-piste course depending but even last year Val D'Isere had good snow cover by then. Have a chat with the guys at Action-Outdoors to see what they recommend.
Use discount code SP2010 for £10 off the bill (and for everyone in your group). Also, if you are going to any of the ski shows, have a look out for the Action Outdoors stand - they usually do some good early season deals at the shows.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Scampi Dellahanti, thanks for your response. I think I'll chat with the people and see where we go from there.
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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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eversolazy, cheers for that - good info about Serre Che
Rishie,
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Is mid December too early to book an off-piste course?
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Yes, check out the Action Outdoors website - the off-piste courses don't start until a bit later. In fact, I think the first week offered for anything is the last week in Dec.
eversolazy
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We're looking at going early January too, and I am a bit worried about VC being a bit bleak that time of year which is why we're considering Val d'Isere. I think the hostels are of a similar standard, but I'm not sure.
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Val T has just been refurbed / had a whole new wing put on tho
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The Val T one is way down the hill though, not the best location...
| Scampi Dellahanti wrote: |
the Argentierre centre is closed for refurbishment this season so Chamonix will be very popular. Don't forget you have to get buses to lifts from the centre in Cham, although you do benefit from being right in the centre of town.
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Good news! I had a great time there, but apparently it's the worst equipped/furnished one at the moment.
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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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| Quote: |
The Val T one is way down the hill though, not the best location...
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That depends. It is ACE for skiing in and out from. It is pretty good for having a few beers in town after skiing but before tea. Not so ideal for walking up for beers AFTER dinner! Nor is it so good for walking up to the transfer.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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kat.ryb, yup, no off piste until Xmas week. But a couple of centre are showing earlier starts. Need to book this. Will get on the phone tomorrow.
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kat.ryb, yup, no off piste until Xmas week. But a couple of centre are showing earlier starts. Need to book this. Will get on the phone tomorrow.
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Thanks all. Decisions decisions. I love this time of year!
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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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A lot of people seem to use the Action Outdoors site but actually I never used it and book directly with UCPA for myself via telephone. The site is alod in english on ucpa.co.uk. When I go in group I contact them directly on the groupes email adress. They always spoke decent english and never experienced any problems. I never really got why they had an agent in the UK. Why should I pay an agent knowing UCPA is basically an association, thus not a private company chasing the profits at all costs ? And on top of that they can give you the very last discount AO might not have yet loaded to their site.
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volklwaffen, very true, although the Action-Outdoors package also guarantees and includes the first Saturday night's accommodation (incl dinner) which needs to be requested from the UCPA site as an extra cost if you need it. You can sometimes get earlier availability on some centres via the UK site too as A-O advertise their allocation as soon as they can after it has been confirmed by the UCPA HQ - in some years that has been a good few weeks before space was released on the French site.
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