Who’s going skiing and where 2019
Discussion
Back onto my skis today after about 4 weeks absence. Conditions were lovely this morning across the Grand Massif area.
Very, very quiet at 0900. No lift queues, blue skies and very few people about. Got a little busier later in the morning, but still comparatively empty.
There had been a light dusting of snow overnight. Snow conditions were great higher up. Lower down snow was a bit soft but, as very few people were on the slopes, it was still nice conditions.
Very, very quiet at 0900. No lift queues, blue skies and very few people about. Got a little busier later in the morning, but still comparatively empty.
There had been a light dusting of snow overnight. Snow conditions were great higher up. Lower down snow was a bit soft but, as very few people were on the slopes, it was still nice conditions.
j_4m said:
I flew out but get panic attacks on planes sometimes, this was one of those times despite taking diazepam so I skipped the flight home. It would have been £300+ to get the Eurostar back but it was only £130 to use public transport and the ferry, less the 65 Euros I saved by not getting a transfer to Geneva. I only paid £60 for my flights in the first place.
Interesting. What was your route home?The_Doc said:
I've been to Morzine every week out of the 52 in a year. It is a proper village rather then a resort, but you are right, from late April to June and again from mid September to mid December things are quiet. The interseason.
But not dead, and in fact there's still lots to do in the interseason. The restaurants open in rotation through the week (a list of nights posted on the tourism centre door) there are shops and bars open and the tradesmen are VERY busy doing jobs. We do our upkeep and DIY, the roads are quiet, you can get to Geneva Airport in 50 mins!
The mountain and village is very beautiful without people, personally I adore November in MZN, sometimes it snows and the trees are burnt orange and you have the place to yourself.
We enjoy summer holidays in Morzine/les Gets in summer just as much as winter.But not dead, and in fact there's still lots to do in the interseason. The restaurants open in rotation through the week (a list of nights posted on the tourism centre door) there are shops and bars open and the tradesmen are VERY busy doing jobs. We do our upkeep and DIY, the roads are quiet, you can get to Geneva Airport in 50 mins!
The mountain and village is very beautiful without people, personally I adore November in MZN, sometimes it snows and the trees are burnt orange and you have the place to yourself.
Yes loads going on. The lifts are open for mountain biking, not every lift but enough to avoid huffing a puffing up hill on a downhill rig. The downhilling is some of the best in Europe if not the best. Plenty of other flavours of cycling as well.
Plenty of summer events, local fetes, Belle dimanche over towards chatel, mountain bike events, crankworx has done its three years at Les gets but the downhill world cup is coming back, (world champs in a few years time), free lounge music festival in les gets in early August. Decent outdoor pool in Morzine, local lakes for swimming, canoeing paddle boarding, etc etc.
Not so many mountain restaurants open but enough in the towns to go at.
The local tourist offices are putting in a lot of effort to make the area a summer destination as much as a winter one.
Look beyond Morzine and les Gets if you want your chalet euros to go further.
Oh and as long as the Chaudane is open then all's good.
Wingo.
A friend was doing the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt this weekend. They had to abort the final day as there was too much snow. There's a fantastic picture of the guide digging them out of the front door of the hut - from the inside - which was piled 4 foot high with overnight snow.
Amateurish said:
Interesting. What was your route home?
Moutier Salins > ChamberyChambery > Paris Gare de Lyon
Paris Gare de Nord > Calais Frethun
Calias Frethun > Calais Ville
The train journey to Frethun is pretty nice, I had a long enough stop in Paris to get lunch. Frethun is quite far from the port however and there's no bus, taxi would be about 30 Euros to the port or the train to Calais Ville is 2 Euros. There's no way I'd do it again though, next time I'll book the Eurostar in advance.
Whoozit said:
A friend was doing the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt this weekend. They had to abort the final day as there was too much snow. There's a fantastic picture of the guide digging them out of the front door of the hut - from the inside - which was piled 4 foot high with overnight snow.
Just got back from Obergurgl - so much snow Wed/Thurs the town was actually cut off and no skiing resort-wide on Friday as the choppers weren't able to fly. Three days of sunshine up to that point. 
//j17 said:
flight147z said:
DeejRC said:
Am I the only person who enjoys the hard pack icy skiing?
I like itYes, fresh tracks in powder look nice but for most people this seems to mean "Cut in to the off piste next to a piste and go in a dead straight line untill you rejoin the piste". Christ, what's the point in that? If you're going to use that fresh powder at least make some proper jump turns!
j_4m said:
Moutier Salins > Chambery
Chambery > Paris Gare de Lyon
Paris Gare de Nord > Calais Frethun
Calias Frethun > Calais Ville
The train journey to Frethun is pretty nice, I had a long enough stop in Paris to get lunch. Frethun is quite far from the port however and there's no bus, taxi would be about 30 Euros to the port or the train to Calais Ville is 2 Euros. There's no way I'd do it again though, next time I'll book the Eurostar in advance.
Chambery > Paris Gare de Lyon
Paris Gare de Nord > Calais Frethun
Calias Frethun > Calais Ville
The train journey to Frethun is pretty nice, I had a long enough stop in Paris to get lunch. Frethun is quite far from the port however and there's no bus, taxi would be about 30 Euros to the port or the train to Calais Ville is 2 Euros. There's no way I'd do it again though, next time I'll book the Eurostar in advance.
You may have dodged a bullet with the 5 hour queues at Paris for the Eurostar!
popeyewhite said:
Just got back from Obergurgl - so much snow Wed/Thurs the town was actually cut off and no skiing resort-wide on Friday as the choppers weren't able to fly. Three days of sunshine up to that point.
Yes, we're having some heavy late-season snow.I was in the US on business last week but apparently there was about 1m of fresh snow in the Engadin last Thursday. We've had about 20cm today and it looks like it will continue snowing until Thursday. I'm holding Friday morning free so I can go skiing before starting work late. Saturday / Sunday then look like quite heavy snow.
It's warm so in the valley it's soft / melting but it's below freezing above the tree-line so the skiing should be good.
On the Corviglia side of the valley the lifts have closed but on the Corvatsch side lifts close end of April.
//j17 said:
housen said:
my instinct is to head as high as possible ?
Getting out for first lift, skiing hard, then accepting almost everything will be getting a bit porridge by 3pm so stopping for a long, late lunch is the order of the day at the time of year.not sure about porridge
jonny996 said:
If you got up early they were ok, I got family of 4 & car for the week for £525.
I thought as much. We're a family of 4 off to LaRosiere in Feb half term. I was only half hearted searching, as still waiting for my desired apartment/hotel to release prices for 2020, and need to be sure they will accept Sun-Sun booking so I can avoid horrendous Saturday traffic. I've got the option of booking BA using Avios anyway, but would rather a preferable cash fare and save my points. Half considering driving (avoiding any Saturday 10am-8pm arrival), and also interested in the Eurostar ski train to BstM but I understand that is very pricey for half term dates (not released until June I believe?).Another great day on the skis here in the Engadin.
After a week of light drizzle (in town) and snow a bit further up today started with blue skies. It was about -10 degrees on the slopes so the conditions were firm with a dusting of loose snow which never really got soft. Only at the bottom of the slope was there ice / polished piste - the rest could hold an edge quite comfortably. I was actually hoping that it would soften up so we could get some of those sort moguls towards the end of the day but no such luck.
It was remarkably empty (see photo below - 2 skiers on this piste late morning). I was expecting it to get busier given so many areas are now closed and the weather was good but it seems that few people were taking the opportunity for a late season ski.
Tomorrow is more snow but we're on the last few weeks. The highest slopes stay open until 5 May.
After a week of light drizzle (in town) and snow a bit further up today started with blue skies. It was about -10 degrees on the slopes so the conditions were firm with a dusting of loose snow which never really got soft. Only at the bottom of the slope was there ice / polished piste - the rest could hold an edge quite comfortably. I was actually hoping that it would soften up so we could get some of those sort moguls towards the end of the day but no such luck.
It was remarkably empty (see photo below - 2 skiers on this piste late morning). I was expecting it to get busier given so many areas are now closed and the weather was good but it seems that few people were taking the opportunity for a late season ski.
Tomorrow is more snow but we're on the last few weeks. The highest slopes stay open until 5 May.
chandrew said:
It was remarkably empty (see photo below - 2 skiers on this piste late morning). I was expecting it to get busier given so many areas are now closed and the weather was good but it seems that few people were taking the opportunity for a late season ski.
Your area is at a higher altitude, but I was still very surprised to see so few people on the slopes in the Grand Massif today, considering it was the second to last Saturday of the season.Empty slopes and nice conditions meant super skiing. A little icy perhaps in the early morning, but still lots of grip available. We had a really nice ski today.
Bit of an aside to the thread topic, but I had a great experience today and thought it was worth mentioning in case it sparks an interest for anyone else who might be in the mountains in April.
I'm not really into mountain biking but my sons were keen so we hired 4 electric "fat bikes" together with a guide. These bikes have really wide tyres and low pressure which make them excellent across varied terrain. And because they are 'e-bikes', they can go uphill with little effort. So not for the purist, but in terms of getting a family of 4 who don't really cycle up to some beautiful locations, they were superb.
We cycled miles on a variety of trials, across a dry river bed, up to the top of one of the hills before a brilliant downhill run.
We are going again on Saturday - next time we are going in a gondola up from Les Carroz for the first lift, so we can come downhill on the snow with the guide, before the skiers go out.
Worth seeking out if you fancy something different from skiing for a few hours.
I'm not really into mountain biking but my sons were keen so we hired 4 electric "fat bikes" together with a guide. These bikes have really wide tyres and low pressure which make them excellent across varied terrain. And because they are 'e-bikes', they can go uphill with little effort. So not for the purist, but in terms of getting a family of 4 who don't really cycle up to some beautiful locations, they were superb.
We cycled miles on a variety of trials, across a dry river bed, up to the top of one of the hills before a brilliant downhill run.
We are going again on Saturday - next time we are going in a gondola up from Les Carroz for the first lift, so we can come downhill on the snow with the guide, before the skiers go out.
Worth seeking out if you fancy something different from skiing for a few hours.
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