Who is going skiing and where 2014?

Who is going skiing and where 2014?

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a311

5,789 posts

176 months

Thursday 22nd August 2013
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awooga said:
Edited abbreviated version - where's good in Europe for long red runs?

Alas, I work offshore as a contractor so I can't make any decisions until the last safe moment a lot of the time. However, I have provisionally pencilled in for a week in Flaine with family and friends in March and another provisional week in Les Gets with a bunch of mates in January. Hopefully I can make one of them. This leaves me with a last minute week to sort out with the wife; I really like long red runs, bit of blacks etc, good blues, decent blacks as per good / advanced skier. Loved Morzine, but the runs weren't long enough, even in Avoriaz and the swiss side was really annoying and difficult to nav around. Les Gets was epic, but the reds, bar one, were just too short to enjoy properly. Love Flaine, but done it a fair whack of times and may well be there this year anyway. Done Tignes and liked it to an extent. May go back. Loved Courcheval and Val Thorens and this is still an option, staying possibly at VT or Les Menuires this time. Love Austrian ski attitude, but it really depends on the snow at the time due to its altitude, otherwise I suspect the ski welt would cover everything we need. Hate using bloody buses though and really like door to door skiing or as near as possible, hence the French knowledge above. Missus and I cover a lot of ground, so the bigger a place the better. She loved La Plagne; too many easy blues for me nowadays, but a huge area and a cracking area. I love the 3 valleys, but I've done it a few times now and hate meribel. Quite liked Alpe d-huez, but we went too late to enjoy the whole resort.

Anyway, time for thoughts and suggestions please folks!
When do you reckon your last minute week will be? As always my advice is if you can to wait and see where the best schnee is. Generally if you want long runs you need resorts with a decent vertical I’d have mentioned Val T, Tignes, Val d Isere, if you like a sense of travel, did you get over to the Les Arc side when you were in Le Plange? As per your Austrian resort generalisation I wouldn’t dismiss them out of hand and resorts such as Iscghl and St Anton are very snow sure. Ski Welt is pretty easy going, lack of challenging stuff but you do get the chance to travel around the Skiwelt.

Kitzbuhel I really like, particualry the Pass Thrun area you’re kind of going from left to right then back again rather than a circular route. Saalbach is def worth a look too. Iscghl is great and has a huge variety of pistes and a number of the sort of red runs you’re after. St Anton, probably my favourite resort but on piste offerings are odd. Most blues have sections that are a very dark blue to red and reds that would easily be black in other resorts and no black runs which I’d class as ‘true blacks’. The Stuben area (on the St A lift system) is great, usually very quiet a some long reds. You can also get over to Lech and Zurs which by the sounds of it would suit your ability more but they’re expensive if you’re going to stay there as a base. Unless you go off piste you need a taxi or bus to get to Lech and Zurs from St Anton but it’s totally worth it.

I’d very much recommend getting some off piste lessons, Piste to Powder in the St Anton area have a very good reputation. St Anton has a large variety of itinerary runs, some are pisted but not patrolled and other are left to their own devices.

Mr E

21,583 posts

258 months

Thursday 22nd August 2013
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Mr E said:
He'll probably be fine. I suspect the problem will be us wanting to go to bed when everyone else is up. I'll raise it with the group, see which way they jump.
We had a trial "leave the kiddy with the grandparents for a weekend" and it all seemed to go very well.
As a result, leaving sproggo with them for a week while we ski could be on, which makes life a good deal simpler...

I think we're looking at March due to other commitments in the group. As a result, I'd want to be high. Could be VT again (I really liked VT).

downthepub

1,373 posts

205 months

Thursday 22nd August 2013
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a311 said:
downthepub said:
Thinking about Europe again this year. Saalbach back in March, which was massively drunken and great fun. Some good skiing too! Only feedback from the chaps is "better food", so any advice on decent skiing/boaring with good food?
I’m taking your group didn’t find the food was good in Saalbach? Was this specific to your accommodation or out and about in the restaurants around Saalbach? If it was your accommodation I’d say you either need to spend more or look more closely at reviews and/or go off recomendations. If it’s the latter then granted Austrian cuisine isn’t for everyone, it could be described as stodgy, greasy etc for me when I’m skiing I just want to recharged my batteries and be full, plus I’m not a picky eater. Although I realise a big part of some peoples trips is eating out. On mountain I find generally the Italian resorts have a high standard of on mountain eateries but generally the nightlife is lacking. The mainstream French resorts on mountain I find are lousy and expensive and the beer is expensive. Kitzbuhel has some very nice eateries in the town, and the ski area for me is on a par with Saalbach. St Anton on mountain there are some nice places in the Stuben area for on mountain, the town is relatively up market but haven’t ate out much in the evening. Ischgl is a cracking ski area but quite upmarket, unless you source your accommodation independently it can be very expensive.

When it comes to selecting a ski resorts there are always compromises to be made. The so called Goldilocks resorts doesn’t really exisit and you may have to sacrifice good nightlife to and head to an Italian resort if eating out is important.
That's all useful stuff, thanks, appreciate the time to lay it out. Sure, I understand compromise is ever with us and especially with the staff that these places attract, then cuisine might not to be to the highest standard. In Saalbach we did eat once in the very traditional hotel, and whilst it was enjoyable I think I would have been like Billy Bunter returning home after a full 5 days of eating there! My chum with the food comment runs a well rated restaurant in town and so is well used to good grub...

Another question. Pesky questions. Gah. Where has best snow for longest in the Alps? Any decent skiing in April? I was spoilt in Canada by having acceptable snow over the complete mountain into March and April. In Austria, had one ace day up at the top of the mountain at Saalbach in mid March, but the lowest slopes were getting a bit stty and slushy. School holibobs for SWMBO, you see. irked

a311

5,789 posts

176 months

Friday 23rd August 2013
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downthepub said:
That's all useful stuff, thanks, appreciate the time to lay it out. Sure, I understand compromise is ever with us and especially with the staff that these places attract, then cuisine might not to be to the highest standard. In Saalbach we did eat once in the very traditional hotel, and whilst it was enjoyable I think I would have been like Billy Bunter returning home after a full 5 days of eating there! My chum with the food comment runs a well rated restaurant in town and so is well used to good grub...

Another question. Pesky questions. Gah. Where has best snow for longest in the Alps? Any decent skiing in April? I was spoilt in Canada by having acceptable snow over the complete mountain into March and April. In Austria, had one ace day up at the top of the mountain at Saalbach in mid March, but the lowest slopes were getting a bit stty and slushy. School holibobs for SWMBO, you see. irked
Hi mate, again best snow open question we've had a few good season now in Europe, If I had to book now I'd be looking at somewhere high and pref with a glacier for April. Tignes, L2A, Val T should be fine, Solden in Austria, Cervinia in Italy, Zermatt is awesome but Swiss resorts have became so expensive due to the weak pound. Well there are quite a few now that I've started typing.

I love slush-poor mans powder! I was in Canada late March this year, started off very summary like 20 od degrees, skiing in a t-shirt then back to the hotel hot tub to enjoy a beer and catch some rays-bliss! It then turned wintery again and got a few big dumps. Conversely I've skiied in Saalbach late April and into May but that would be an exception.

In summary, yes there's plenty of decent skiing till to be had in April, if you're not a fan of slush and moguls go high, or beeter still wait till closer to the time. Even in lower resorts you'd be OK just requires a bit more thinking-ski lower down on sun exposed slopes in the morning then head high or keep on the slopes which will be shaded in the afternoon.

//j17

4,471 posts

222 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
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Well one down. Solo Morzine trip with HOFNAR booked for 18th Jan - only 18 weeks away bounce

Now to start the cat-hurding process that is organising friends for Ischgl in March...

JD

2,769 posts

227 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
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//j17 said:
Well one down. Solo Morzine trip with HOFNAR booked for 18th Jan - only 18 weeks away bounce

Now to start the cat-hurding process that is organising friends for Ischgl in March...
Have you done one of these Hofnar trips before?

I am seriously considering something along those lines, trying to get at least 2 weeks in the snow, but will prove impossible to sort out with others!

MiniMan64

16,863 posts

189 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
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February half term, school trip, Courmayeur.

Yay.

a311

5,789 posts

176 months

Thursday 12th September 2013
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MiniMan64 said:
February half term, school trip, Courmayeur.

Yay.
Are you going with Interski by any chance? Worked quite a few weeks for them as an instructor and was in Courmayeur this season with them. Have you been before? Nice ski area, nice town good restaurants on this hill. Easy enough to get to Chamonox, Pila, Le Thulie and a few others but don’t suspect you’ll get the chance if it’s a school trip.

I’ve put myself down for a couple of weeks next season so who know may end up there too.

NorthDave

2,355 posts

231 months

Thursday 12th September 2013
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We've booked Easter for a week in St Foye with the families. We normally do a long weekend in January with the boys which I morph in to a week or ten days with my dad. Morzine has been good to us for this one previously. Just need one more to complete the hat trick!

Personally I love the smaller resorts nowadays. I feel like I spend all my time commuting in bigger resorts rather than actually skiing. I love the end of season slush when you only have a couple of runs available but you can absolutely own them - looking for bumps and jumps to have fun on.

Can't wait now! Very excited.

Going to go on a scouting mission in a week or two to eye up some of these resorts with a view to buying a rental. Currently got Bernex, Morzine / Les Gets, Chamonix, Sainte Foye in the radar (probably not the last as too small to spend a lot of time in). Anyone think of anywhere else I should be looking?

F1sh

262 posts

224 months

Thursday 12th September 2013
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JD, I've done a few trips with Daniel of Hofnar and lets just say each one was a complete blast. Super friendly and never any pressure if you dont want to do something. Morzine as per the reports has something for everyone, but I did feel that some of the prices in town last season were getting pretty high.

I'm just about to book a New Years trip with them.

F1sh

TomOSmith

165 posts

262 months

Thursday 12th September 2013
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//j17 said:
Now to start the cat-hurding process that is organising friends for Ischgl in March...
Hurded

mu0n

2,348 posts

132 months

Thursday 12th September 2013
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I'm going to Tignes in January. Any good?

a311

5,789 posts

176 months

Thursday 12th September 2013
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mu0n said:
I'm going to Tignes in January. Any good?
One of the best. Not many places can top it IMO. Probably not ideal/wasted o beginers.

MiniMan64

16,863 posts

189 months

Thursday 12th September 2013
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a311 said:
MiniMan64 said:
February half term, school trip, Courmayeur.

Yay.
Are you going with Interski by any chance? Worked quite a few weeks for them as an instructor and was in Courmayeur this season with them. Have you been before? Nice ski area, nice town good restaurants on this hill. Easy enough to get to Chamonox, Pila, Le Thulie and a few others but don’t suspect you’ll get the chance if it’s a school trip.

I’ve put myself down for a couple of weeks next season so who know may end up there too.
I thinks it's Interski yeah, I'm a bit out the loop at the moment but I'll be sorting out the schools Ski club at the local slope in the next month or so. Get some early lessons in. Never skied in Italy before but have done frequently in the Alps and Pyreenes. Despite the fact that Ill have to look after 20/30 kids I'm really looking forward to it.

a311

5,789 posts

176 months

Thursday 12th September 2013
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MiniMan64 said:
I thinks it's Interski yeah, I'm a bit out the loop at the moment but I'll be sorting out the schools Ski club at the local slope in the next month or so. Get some early lessons in. Never skied in Italy before but have done frequently in the Alps and Pyreenes. Despite the fact that Ill have to look after 20/30 kids I'm really looking forward to it.
It will be Interski, they have the market cornered in the Aosta valley. During the day all the kids will be off getting lessons so your time will be your own either to get lessons or free ski. I'd be 99.9% sure you'll be staying in the Telecabine 9what was one the gondola station. If you're prepared to bushwhack you can pretty much get down to the hotel but the kids will up/download in the gondla.

It's a nice area, one of the oldest so when it started out there will have been a lack of heavy plant machinery to sculpt the hill so it's on the steeper side. It's quite difficult to each absolute beginners or nervous ones as there's a lack of progression in terms of the runs on offer-you have the aptly named 'baby bowl' which is flat then the blues have some steeper pitches. The baby bowl is right up the mountain so the kids get to ride the chair lift etc and at east get to feel like they're on the mountain.

Depending on your ability you can easily ski it in a day but it's quiet with plenty of off piste and challenging black/bump runs.

5potTurbo

12,482 posts

167 months

Thursday 12th September 2013
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Does anyone know of a chalet to rent in La Clusaz, Les Gets, Morzine or Avoriaz - suitable for 5 adults, 4 children?
We're 2 couples, each with 2 children + 1 au pair.... Looking for 1 week from Sat 15Feb.
OR, a chalet that has 2-3 apartments in it that we could rent 2 of?

Thanks if anyone has a link, or knows an owner they can PM to me. thumbup

mu0n

2,348 posts

132 months

Thursday 12th September 2013
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a311 said:
One of the best. Not many places can top it IMO. Probably not ideal/wasted o beginers.
Thanks mate. I'm fairly experienced - can take on blacks no real issues.

However, will probably spend most of my time on blades. Rented them out last time and had such a good laugh on them. smile

//j17

4,471 posts

222 months

Friday 13th September 2013
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JD said:
Have you done one of these Hofnar trips before?

I am seriously considering something along those lines, trying to get at least 2 weeks in the snow, but will prove impossible to sort out with others!
Yep - Jan last year, and for more or less the same reasons you're lookingsmile

I can only echo what F1sh's said about HOFNAR and think about 1/3 of the people in my week/the week after were on their second or higher HOFNAR trip.

Want to ski first->last gondola, there will be others up for the same thing. Want a later start or earlier finish, just come up/head back when you're ready and Dan and co. will let you know where to meet/how to get back. Want to just do your own thing, everyone will leave you to it. Want to hit the apres ski hard and you probably won't be drinking alone - but neither are you likely to be alone if you want to stay in the chalet reading a book by the fire/in the hot tub.

If you're on a tight budget/trying a full day loop you're even welcome to raid the fridge to make a packed lunch.

//j17

4,471 posts

222 months

Friday 13th September 2013
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TomOSmith said:
//j17 said:
Now to start the cat-hurding process that is organising friends for Ischgl in March...
Hurded
Like you're the hardest person to persuade to go skiing Tom smile

JD

2,769 posts

227 months

Friday 13th September 2013
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//j17 said:
Yep - Jan last year, and for more or less the same reasons you're lookingsmile

I can only echo what F1sh's said about HOFNAR and think about 1/3 of the people in my week/the week after were on their second or higher HOFNAR trip.

Want to ski first->last gondola, there will be others up for the same thing. Want a later start or earlier finish, just come up/head back when you're ready and Dan and co. will let you know where to meet/how to get back. Want to just do your own thing, everyone will leave you to it. Want to hit the apres ski hard and you probably won't be drinking alone - but neither are you likely to be alone if you want to stay in the chalet reading a book by the fire/in the hot tub.

If you're on a tight budget/trying a full day loop you're even welcome to raid the fridge to make a packed lunch.
Awesome, thanks for that, (and F1sh earlier). What was the age range when you went? don't want to be the youngster of the group! at 27.