Who is going skiing and where 2014?

[jock mcsporran]

Has anyone driven to Avoriaz from the Swiss side? Any issues with the route? Traffic better or worse than coming in from the French side?

We're thinking about taking the Hull-Rotterdam ferry instead of the tunnel and coming down through Germany. Route timing only shows about an hour difference compared with Calais-Avoriaz but it would save us a fair bit on the drive to Dover and a good night sleep.

[Gruffy]

I'm in Chamonix at the moment putting the finishing touches to our apartment for the coming winter. The plan was to rent it out but Mrs Gruffy seems intent on spending lots of time there ourselves (the hardship!). I'll post some pics later in the week. Mates rates for PHers.

[timlongs]

Asterix said:

Thought I'd bump this baby as you all should really be thinking of where you're planning to go this season.

We already have La Plagne booked for early Jan 2015. I chose there as it would be wife friendly (total noob) and after she tried a few more times at Ski Dubai culminating with a bksed knee, she has decided that skiing really isn't her thing. She tried so hard in Alpbach and she tried so hard again, She's awesome but I don't think she'll want to try again and I can only respect that.

We'll do this one together but I think after that I'll be flying solo again.

Message me if you want some discount on ski rental, I work for a rental company out in that part of the world

[Amateurish]

jock mcsporran said:

Has anyone driven to Avoriaz from the Swiss side? Any issues with the route? Traffic better or worse than coming in from the French side?

We're thinking about taking the Hull-Rotterdam ferry instead of the tunnel and coming down through Germany. Route timing only shows about an hour difference compared with Calais-Avoriaz but it would save us a fair bit on the drive to Dover and a good night sleep.

Just to point out - you can't drive to Avoriaz from Switzerland. There is only one route by car and that is from Morzine in France. You can *ski* from the Swiss side though.

I have driven to Morzine using the Swiss route once (via Basel and Bern) and it was significantly busier than the French route via Dijon and Troyes (a route I have driven many times).

[Asterix]

timlongs said:

Asterix said:

Thought I'd bump this baby as you all should really be thinking of where you're planning to go this season.

We already have La Plagne booked for early Jan 2015. I chose there as it would be wife friendly (total noob) and after she tried a few more times at Ski Dubai culminating with a bksed knee, she has decided that skiing really isn't her thing. She tried so hard in Alpbach and she tried so hard again, She's awesome but I don't think she'll want to try again and I can only respect that.

We'll do this one together but I think after that I'll be flying solo again.

Message me if you want some discount on ski rental, I work for a rental company out in that part of the world

Will do mate.

The chalet have an agreement with a company and they bring everything to the chalet for fitting etc... do your lot do the same?

[Merp]

My year pass was renewed yesterday and the glacier should be open on October 1st.
I've seen photos of people skiing there already, as there is 100cm of snow at the top still.
We went a few weeks ago as they currently have an "ice grotto" cave bored out.

Im aiming to ski atleast 10times to pay my season pass off, before heading back home at Christmas.
In February its out second wedding anniversary, so were looking to Travel to Vancouver to visit some friends, I have no clue about skiing in Canada, from what ive read Whistler is the place to go.

[Leithen]

Merp said:

In February its out second wedding anniversary, so were looking to Travel to Vancouver to visit some friends, I have no clue about skiing in Canada, from what ive read Whistler is the place to go.

Whistler is certainly the most popular, but head further inland and there are huge choices. A lot depends on what kind of holiday you want - extreme/easy skiing, nightlife/family etc etc

[LDM]

We are off to Flaine again in 2015.

Architecture not to everyone's taste although I happen to like it plus I like to be near the slopes.

[pidsy]

new thread for this year anyone?

i need ideas for the new year.

[PurpleTurtle]

got a first kid on the way in mid-Feb, I expect my annual January boy's Alpine Jolly might have to take a back seat this year. I'll watch the new thread with interest though!

[Harry Flashman]

Heh. Getting booked up and feeling smug. After spending the whole of last season in the Alps, I needed plenty of skiing to console myself that I cannot do another ski season.

So:

Booked:

Christmas
- Kirkwood, California
- Deer Valley and Snowbird, Utah. Park City if it's open!
- Squaw Valley, California

Jan
- weekend in Whistler (I'm in Vancouver/Seattle for work, so rude not to

End Jan
- work long weekend trip (probably Megeve)

March
- client trip, long weekend Chmaonix


Yet to book:

Feb
- a week somewhere in Austria or France (probably the former to avoid French half term hell)

- 2 x long weekends to visit Morzine again, and long weekend with a mate at his parents' place in Chatel.

This is looking good, folks! Ordered my new skis, picking them up from the manufacturer in Salt Lake City, Utah, this December...

Edited by Harry Flashman on Monday 8th September 16:19

[897sma]

I've rented a chalet in Morillon (Grand Massif) for the season, doing 2 weeks at Christmas, a week in Feb, a week in March, and 3 days every weekend, except for the first week of Easter when we're in St Anton with friends.

Flights all booked last Friday and I can't fking wait. It's the first time we've ever done anything like this and I'm like a kid at Christmas.

6.30pm out on a Friday and 21.45 back on Mondays. Leaving the car at Geneva Airport between visits as it's cheaper and quicker than hiring.

[PurpleTurtle]

897sma said:

I've rented a chalet in Morillon (Grand Massif) for the season, doing 2 weeks at Christmas, a week in Feb, a week in March, and 3 days every weekend, except for the first week of Easter when we're in St Anton with friends.

Flights all booked last Friday and I can't fking wait. It's the first time we've ever done anything like this and I'm like a kid at Christmas.

6.30pm out on a Friday and 21.45 back on Mondays. Leaving the car at Geneva Airport between visits as it's cheaper and quicker than hiring.

May I ask what's the going rate for a chalet like that? I've often considered the same as I've got three distinct groups of mates that ski, but getting all in the same place/time is nigh on impossible with various work/kid commitments. I've often wondered if I could make the numbers work to do a lot of skiing across the season *relatively* cheaply.

[anonymous-user]

PurpleTurtle said:

May I ask what's the going rate for a chalet like that? I've often considered the same as I've got three distinct groups of mates that ski, but getting all in the same place/time is nigh on impossible with various work/kid commitments. I've often wondered if I could make the numbers work to do a lot of skiing across the season *relatively* cheaply.

I ended up renting a place in Verbier for the whole 12 months. Cheaper than most I looked at for the season. This is my 3rd year.

[897sma]

PurpleTurtle said:

May I ask what's the going rate for a chalet like that? I've often considered the same as I've got three distinct groups of mates that ski, but getting all in the same place/time is nigh on impossible with various work/kid commitments. I've often wondered if I could make the numbers work to do a lot of skiing across the season *relatively* cheaply.

£8k for a 3 bed detached traditional chalet 1km from the village centre, we gave up the two Feb half term weeks at this price which saved us £3k. If there's only two of you or you don't mind being snug there's plenty of 1 bed or studio type things for £3-4k all over the french resorts. Lift pass for the season is around 450 Euros so equivalent to a couple of weeks and we also get days to use in other resorts. Flights are around £100 each return and parking at Geneva is about £8 a day so if you're there nearly as much as you aren't it's much cheaper to leave the car there. Also other things like not having to take ANY luggage when we go or arranging transfers makes weekend visits much easier.

[LDM]

I would love to do a whole season at some point!

[Harry Flashman]

LDM said:

I would love to do a whole season at some point!

It is amazing. Ski 6 days a week for four months, and you progress very quickly indeed. Unlike isolated weeks, where you spend the first day getting your legs back and much of the week hungover, a season just sees constant, relentless progression. Especially when you are driving every day, so off the sauce for the most part as well.

Went out there as an advanced intermediate, far more balls than ability. Came back able to ski absolutely any terrain apart from proper big-mountain freeride lunacy (and I'll be practicing some of that in Kirkwood and Revelstoke this season with the help of a helicopter!). My actual technique is unrecognisable compared to what I went out with. I remember very clearly going down a particular off-piste couloir/spine run in my second week and struggling down it very gingerly. I did it almost 4 months later and was a taking liberties with the terrain, jumping off things, generally having a whale of a time..

I cannot stress this enough - if you want to change your skiing beyond recognition, try and get a season. Even a month would be worth it: it's the constant daily progression that really works. And you will ski all terrain, in all conditions - invaluable.

PS. It's big fun too.

Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 9th September 13:36

[CAPP0]

When I got a transfer back out of Morzine last season (complete with pic of HF's snow-covered Defender ), we shared the minibus with an English girl who, with her bf, had rented an apartment in the town for the season. She lived in the UK and was full-time employed but based at home, much like my good self, and decided that she could just as easily work from Morzine as Surrey. I can't recall where thy found their accommodation from but I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows?

[897sma]

There are a few places which specialise in season rentals, if you go on snowheads you'll find my post (in the chalets section same username) where a few replied, although I eventually found mine in the solutions room on chalets direct. I was also offered a nice little place in morzine by a guy on here when I posted earlier in the year although it was just a little small for odd times we'd have all the family with us.

It makes a BIG difference in price if you can skip the peak weeks like Xmas & half term as most places struggle to rent outside these weeks anyway. Don't be frightened to haggle hard as there are more places than customers and the guarantee of long term rent is a valuable bargaining tool. Most places I spoke to were ok with payments in stages, ie a 25% deposit then 25% when you move in and the balance over Jan-Mar, although I paid upfront to get a slightly better rate.

[CAPP0]

Thanks, I'll have a look. It's possibly pie in the sky this year but not impossible, or maybe for the following year - I'd like to research and see whether it would all work or not.