Skiing / Boarding - Whos going where and when?

[badapple]

Parakitamol said:

Getting worried about this lack of snow... has anyone been to La Plagne during a poor snow year for an idea of how it fares?

Thanks
A

this is from a guy in la plagne taken 3jan, looks good!

Wild night here in La Plagne with high winds gusting to 60mph and lots of lovely SNOW ! It's finally arrived and forecast is for another 40cms or so to fall throughout today. Tomorrow is forecast to have a little sunshine and its gonna be a big powder day out there and it's the saisonnaires day off (there is a god!) So, if you wanna make fresh tracks, you will need to be up bright and early. Much of the upper mountyain is closed today due to high winds and high (level 4)avalanche risk; best skiing and visibility is to be found in the sector above Montalbert and in the forests above Monchavin and Les Coches.

[ParaKitamoL]

badapple said:

Parakitamol said:

Getting worried about this lack of snow... has anyone been to La Plagne during a poor snow year for an idea of how it fares?

Thanks
A

this is from a guy in la plagne taken 3jan, looks good!

Wild night here in La Plagne with high winds gusting to 60mph and lots of lovely SNOW ! It's finally arrived and forecast is for another 40cms or so to fall throughout today. Tomorrow is forecast to have a little sunshine and its gonna be a big powder day out there and it's the saisonnaires day off (there is a god!) So, if you wanna make fresh tracks, you will need to be up bright and early. Much of the upper mountyain is closed today due to high winds and high (level 4)avalanche risk; best skiing and visibility is to be found in the sector above Montalbert and in the forests above Monchavin and Les Coches.

Thanks Applepip.... I am now officially a happy bunny..... I might even do a cartwheel!

[Merritt]

Zermatt, Switzerland very soon indeed

Can't wait...

especially as the snow conditions currently look like THIS

Steve

[speed8]

Any updates on Chamonix snow??? I'm off there in a week The snowline seems quite high for this time of year

[tricky69]

3 valleys end of Feb.... Loads of snow there at the moment, lets hope it keeps dumping down !

[badapple]

speed8 said:

Any updates on Chamonix snow??? I'm off there in a week The snowline seems quite high for this time of year

Last snowed: 03/01/2007
Lifts open: 23 out of 47
Snow Depths
Lower slopes: 30 cm
Upper slopes: 120 cm
New snow at bottom 20 cm
Piste Information
On piste: Powder
Off piste: Powder
Resort runs: Powder

[speed8]

badapple said:

speed8 said:

Any updates on Chamonix snow??? I'm off there in a week The snowline seems quite high for this time of year

Last snowed: 03/01/2007
Lifts open: 23 out of 47
Snow Depths
Lower slopes: 30 cm
Upper slopes: 120 cm
New snow at bottom 20 cm
Piste Information
On piste: Powder
Off piste: Powder
Resort runs: Powder

Cheers... kepping my fingers crossed for a dump next week

[Sharief]

I'm off to Morillon in February with the school. I've never been skiing on snow before, and they've put me into the advanced group. :|

Oh well, should be funny.

[Gruffy]

Just returned from Les Arcs and similar story. It actually rained on New Years Day (all day) but it dumped 40cm that night it's been really good since then. Bit icy down below ~1900m but lots of lovely powder above ~2100m. Apparently the 3 Valleys had even better conditions.

[M400 NBL]

Can anyone recommend a decent but fairly cheap travel insurance company.

Ideally annual cover which includes a minimum of 10 days wintersports in Canada and 21 days cover in the West Indies this summer.

So far £80 or so seems to be the lowest, and well over £100 the highest.

When I say decent, I don't want the cheapest that will not payout, or if there clauses are unreasonable for a winter holiday. I'd prefer to pay a it more for a reputable insurer, yet not get ripped off.

Thanks in advance.

[ParaKitamoL]

I recently took out the Egg yearly travel insurance for my trip to Oz & it also includes Winter sports which was important as I usually take 2 or 3 weeks for boarding. IIRC it was around £60/ £70. Good level of cover too.

[M400 NBL]

Thanks. I will check it out now.

[RobDickinson]

Sadly I think we've had more snow in NZ in December than Europe had ...

[madbadger]

M400 NBL said:

Did anyone notice that lift passes have rocketed in price. It seems £180 is the norm these days for a 6 day pass. I'm sure they were around £120 for the 5 years prior that I boarded in France and Italy.

That's a big increase.

I'm off boarding somewhere cheap and Alpine in the second week of March. Not booked yet. I'd been reckoning on around £120 for the pass.

I suppose they have to pay for all the snowblowers somehow.

[Phil Dicky]

Just back from Flaine and to be honest they are struggling a bit at the mo...not much snow, grass/rocks/dirt showing through, icy, not easy at all.
Still back to Chamonix end of Feb, should be better thgen

[xxplod]

Just got back from a week in Zermatt. Absolutely fantastic. Brilliant resort, perfect conditions all week. Highly recommend it. Pleasingly chav free.

ETA: Expensive lift pass though at £180 for the 6 days but you can ski in to Cervinia.

Edited by xxplod on Sunday 14th January 20:52

[madbadger]

Phil Dicky said:

Just back from Flaine and to be honest they are struggling a bit at the mo...not much snow, grass/rocks/dirt showing through, icy, not easy at all.
Still back to Chamonix end of Feb, should be better thgen

Not good news Sounds like the Cairngorms.

How much was the lift pass?

[jolly]

Lift pass in Meribel was 150 Euros. Dont know what that is in £ and it was a 3 Valley 6 day pass aswell. Ski and boot hire was the crippler @ 175 Euros!

[madbadger]

jolly said:

Lift pass in Meribel was 150 Euros. Dont know what that is in £ and it was a 3 Valley 6 day pass aswell. Ski and boot hire was the crippler @ 175 Euros!

That's a spot over £100

My board has paid for itself about three times over in terms of hire costs.

[Phil Dicky]

madbadger said:

Phil Dicky said:

Just back from Flaine and to be honest they are struggling a bit at the mo...not much snow, grass/rocks/dirt showing through, icy, not easy at all.
Still back to Chamonix end of Feb, should be better thgen

Not good news Sounds like the Cairngorms.

How much was the lift pass?

37 Euros for Le Grande Massive, slightly less if booking for a few days..we never bothered as some pistes were shut at varying days.. Plus we had the kids in ski school so couldn't go to far.