 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Verbier should be open by then....normally partially opens mid to late November
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Another vote for Obergurgl - I went during the week before xmas a couple of years ago and practically all the runs were open.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
Does anyone know if any Tour Operators will be offering hotel accommodation for the 2 weeks
before Christmas (last year all we could find were chalet deals)
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
valleyboy, the volume of customers might not justify it, from a TO point of view, but if you contact hotels direct you could probably get some good deals.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
CaravanSkier: We've skied loads at that time of year - sometimes even earlier - and have never had a problem in finding decent snow. The secret is to book flights but not accommodation until you see where the best snow is. That date is very low season so accommodation will be in plentiful supply and easy to find.
Chances are that most places could well have fair snow cover by then - but you would not have a problem with somewhere that has a glacier as backup - eg Tignes, Saas Fee, Zermatt, Cervinia, Soelden or Hintertux; or a good snow record - eg St Anton, Obertauern, Ischgl.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
| Quote: |
Chances are that most places could well have fair snow cover by then
|
but that doesn't mean they'll have any lifts open. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I am finding it difficult to find both high accommodation, and lifts planned to be open. Those places where both are possible are not as cheap as I might have supposed, with several quotes coming back at around £9,000 per person for a catered chalet!
Lower down, where it may well be rainy and I don`t want to be even though there is easy access to lifts up to high skiing, there are some absolutely superb chalet deals, real luxury at basic prices.
Mountain addict I can not take a chance on accommodation, much as I would like to.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
I've skied the 3V a couple of times & Tignes the last few years and never had problems with lifts or Snow cover.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Take a look at the hotels with Inghams in Obergurgl - something like the Sportiv is £675 per person half board. This is adjacent to the Crystal which we stayed in years ago in their white week offer Inghams used to do. Nice location we had snow on our balcony and we actually went 2 weeks before Christmas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
Thank you nozawaonsen, husband has ruled out St Anton, must ask him why! 
The TO`s I contacted re Obergurgl claimed no where had enough availability for our group. The couple of hotels I contacted directly seemed expensive bear in mind we want some single rooms. But thank you NickyJ I am still investigating Obergurgl.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
CaravanSkier, The lower villages in Tignes would be an economical option, if the lower runs to the village are not open then the lifts up and down from the higher terrain will be, I know you say you don't want that (and in Les Boisses I have never had rain at that time of year, just shed loads of snow) but if you can't pay the higher prices for the higher villages then htats the trader off
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
AJQ, Stubai is in excellent shape, no worries (at all) on that front! Think it's actually Europe's largest glacier resort (?).
This is what 40cms of Stubaier (last) October pow looks like coming for your face:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Holidaylover don`t you just hate trade offs!
Thank you Pam I have asked some questions of Born Slippy but trip advisor reviews are not too reassuring!
I have found a couple of not ideal, but probably acceptable properties but I`m still looking.
What about the new areas of Flaine? I detest the old ugly centre but the newer hamlet looks ok. Any one got any thoughts? I have skied the area in the past so I know the skiing will suit, but will be likely to have snow, will it even be fully open? I have emailed the tourist office but have not had a reply yet.
I`ve also looked at Arc 1950 but am confused who to contact, as emails seem to bounce back.
Thanks again for all the info, its a real help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Clarky999, thanks for the reassuring info. It may well be worth another look then. From what I recall very few spoke English in those days and was a real test of what was my very basic German then but I got by, both skiing and language skills. Both were very early days for me then 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
AJQ, things have changed considerably in 30 years - you will find that most Austrians in the tourism business now speak better English than a lot of so-called native speakers!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
CaravanSkier, you might find this list of opening and closing dates for this season useful as a guide. The Grand Massif, including Flaine, wasn't due to open till 22/12 and IIRC it didn't - I was looking around because I had some very keen visitors for Christmas who arrived before Les Saisies was open. The only skiing we could find was a very limited area in Megeve.
Trip Advisor reports of the Balcons place look OK - overwhelming majority are good or better. There are comparatively few really large French self-catering places and even fewer in places pretty well guaranteed to have no rain the week before Christmas. As we have a real-life snowhead who has stayed there 3 times you should be able to get a really good feel for the pros and cons.
Life is full of trade-offs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
| Quote: |
I just Googled Reberty as I was confused about where/what it is. The first phrase I read described it as high and pretty, two boxes immediately ticked So thank you
|
Reberty is basically part of Les Menuries. It's just slightly further round and slightly higher. Les Menuires isn't the most attractive looking resort (concrete buildings everywhere). Reberty is the newer part and they've tried to make it look more like a nice alpine resort, which it does. I think Reberty goes up to 2000m
This season was great for early snow, we had deep fresh powder on the opening weekend and great coverage everywhere! Wherever you go, early to mid Dec is a bit of a gamble (any week is to an extent!). Look for height and aspect (north facing)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Quote: |
Look for height and aspect (north facing)
|
I would suggest that historical snow depths and terrain type may be more accurate e.g. Schladming is skiing on grass pasture, Val Thorens is skiing on stony ground. 30cm in Schladming is fine, 30 cm in VT is not.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Its so good of everyone to take the time to give me all this information. Thank you
|
|
|
|
|
|
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, sorry your not correct about the 22nd ......................well unless i was imagining it i was skiing rather nice powder on Tuesday December 18th in les carroz, and Flaine was fully open from the previous weekend and partialy open on 8th/9th december Les Carroz gondola was fully open from the 15th, and quite a few of the other lifts at the weekend of 15th / 16th. Whole of GM opened on Friday 21st.
The individual GM resort websites will have the dates of early opening plans i.e lescarroz.com and flaine.com
see this thread
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=92079&start=80
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
carroz, yes, sorry, faulty memory on my part. But I think if someone is planning accommodation now for the week before Christmas they would need to be 100% sure that the report was going to be officially fully open. When do opening dates for 2013/14 get published?
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
pam w, Not usually until September / October, but sometimes something appears on the flaine website earlier. All the much earlier opening info normally only appears a week before...depends on white stuff! so for planning not much use really. However Flaine nearly always opens a week (approx 15th) before the whole of the GM unless conditions are really bad, even in 2006/07 (i think) it was open the week before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Certainly looks like it
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
Wonderful looking snow in those photos 'sigh'
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| Quote: |
Wonderful looking snow in those photos 'sigh'
|
Indeed, but you could see equally truthful pictures of green meadows and soft refreshing rain. We arrived here on New Year's Eve 2006, with Les Saisies looking horrendous. Brown skidmarks of pistes, surrounded by acres of brown grass. Worst I've ever seen it (and I've been here till the end of season in April all but one of the last ten years).
It snowed overnight, and - hey presto! It all looked terrific.
Sometimes the problem is that though it's cold, it's very dry - then the resorts with big snowmaking can do well and the places where pistes are on pasture (such as Les Saisies) can keep things going OK. But sometimes it's just too warm - and then you do definitely need the altitude. Sometimes early snow is better in the east (ie Austria) but not always.
Good early snow will see some (not all, by any means) opening earlier than published.
But if you absolutely have to book now, and given your other requirements, including minimum chance of rain at accommodation level and wi-fi (which many privately-owned places may not have) you really have little choice but to aim for one of the most snow-sure places which in France, at any rate, means they are not going to be very pretty/traditional and if the weather is bad could be very bleak, cold and windy. I've not been to Obertauern or Obergurgl but google images suggests they are no more picturesque than Reberty. Less grim than parts of Tignes, maybe, but that's not much of a recommendation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
| pam w wrote: |
Indeed, but you could see equally truthful pictures of green meadows and soft refreshing rain. We arrived here on New Year's Eve 2006, with Les Saisies looking horrendous. Brown skidmarks of pistes, surrounded by acres of brown grass. Worst I've ever seen it (and I've been here till the end of season in April all but one of the last ten years). |
Of course that's right. The start of the 2006/07 season was especially poor (in the Western Alps at least IIRC), but there was still plenty of skiing to be had on the upper slopes. I was in Les Arcs for the the final two weeks of December and the pistes below 1700m relied heavily on man made snow, but there was lots of great on-piste skiing to be enjoyed. I've skied every year since 1979 including lots of trips in December and earlier. In that time I've never once had so little snow that skiing has been impossible. My advice would be to choose one of the higher resorts in whatever country you decide to ski in. That's not without potential downsides, but in general it will give you the best chance of snow if the season gets off to a poor start.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Have you thought of Japan? Go to Niseko / Rusutsu in Japan. Powder heaven!
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
awww. should make a trip down there some time. the snow is amazing.
i'm sure u'll have fun wherever you decide to go! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
We are certainly looking at Niseko for 2015 , will go back to SSV and LL next March though
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AJQ, Think carefully before going for Japan early season, January or February much better bets than December.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| yellowveggiez wrote: |
awww. should make a trip down there some time. the snow is amazing.
i'm sure u'll have fun wherever you decide to go! |
Ischgl has an excellent early season record, and while no the most attractive village around, most of it is still pretty nice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Any thoughts on Arc 1950?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| clarky999 wrote: |
| yellowveggiez wrote: |
awww. should make a trip down there some time. the snow is amazing.
i'm sure u'll have fun wherever you decide to go! |
Ischgl has an excellent early season record, and while no the most attractive village around, most of it is still pretty nice. |
And next season opens with a concert by Nickelback. Not a huge fan but could probably belt out a reasonable beer inspired "Are we having fun yet..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
so I guess the Stubai Glacier may not be that far behind 
