D8UGF

Looking for some info on French ski resorts. If any of you have any ideas or experiences of certain resorts it would be most appreciated. Myself and three mates are looking to book for a week on or around the 25th of feb this year.
Two of us are pretty good intermediates, 1 almost expert, and 1 novice.

We have a budget of up to 450 pounds for accomodation and flights, our main contenders at the moment are: Alpes Duez, Les 2 Alpes and Meribel. Chamonix, Val D'isere are out as one of the guys has already been there recently.

If you have any comments on our three choices or any new ones I would appreciate it. Stuff like apres ski is quite important also transfer times/costs/availabilty from airport to resort too.

would also appreciate any advice about staying in places miles away from yhe town centre that are to be avoided.

Cheers

Dougie

Brendan Hughes

Pity the novice. ESF are crap at teaching.

D8UGF

hes not too bad, not a non skier, but wouldnt say hes intermediate yet so hopefully we should be able to get him up to speed quite quickly so ski schools not really an issue

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

www.lesgets.com

Nevetas

Meribel is very very nice, or if you can get into Switzerland Les Moses and Glacier 3000 is awsum.

albob

of the three, go for meribel - massive ski area, linked to several other resorts, runs to suit all grades. Alpe d'huez is an excellent resort, but forget les2 - narrow crowded runs, dismal nightlife...

alan

GrantyBoy

Chamonix and Val are very expensive when you get there. Depends what you're really after and if your boarders or skiers.
Best place I've been to was Les Arc 2 years ago as they had just opened the car between La Plange and Arc, so you had access to two resorts. You never had to do the same run twice. We stayed at Arc 1800 which was a good location, plus nice for the high altitude drinking. Good on and off piste.
If you go to Les Arc try and stay in Valandrey (cheaper) as this is just next to Arc 1800, you can get a chair up from Valandry and traverse to 1800 and have access to the whole resort from their. Plus the cable car to La Plange docks in Valandrey. You can also then enjoy the apre ski at 1800 and board/ski back down to Valandrey when the night is over, just try and dodge the piste bashers

http://www.lesarcs.com/?lang=en
www.ifyouski.com
www.igluski.com

Hope this helps an have a good one

mattstant

another vote for Meribel here and the best for night life

D8UGF

Lads, appreciate the views, most helpfull. I am a non-boarder! the other two guys are skiers/boarders and the novice is doing his bambie impersonation on skis at the moment

Goin to search through the links that I havent been on yet

cheers

Dougie

Account deleted by request

Espace Killy for me (Val D'isere or Tignes) , superb ski area, new lifts all over both resorts and excellent nightlife in Val. Been there last 4 years.

Les Deux Alpes is a small ski area, alpe d'huez is excellent skiing and a great resort but as said before not good nightlife.

Les Arcs is good but I hear is struggling for snow at the moment - if you go there look into getting the Snow Train form Waterloo, it arrives in Bourg St Maurice and you can get the fanicular up into Les Arces. You can also get an extra days skiing by doing this.

Enjoy.

chop

scoobydooooo

off to val d on friday , yippee ,,,,,,,, on the snow train , 14 of us , have a laugh .... you bet ,,,, a fantastic ski area ,,,, best in france by a long way , imho it kicks the sh** out of the 3 valleys by some distance !! even if you stay in meribel ,, val torens is a pain to get to , i know lazy ******* ! , and courchevel is too easy !! come on friday get some serious boarding done

Account deleted by request

Totally Agree

have a top time in val.

chop

workshy_fopp

Off to Tignes tomorrow 5.a.m start

but this rather nice chalet will make up for it

http://www.igluski.com/property_temp....cfm?pid=20410

Aquanaut

Have you thought of Les Arc? OK so it wasn't on your list but I've had a good number of years skiing there. It has a hugh ski area and is good for all abilities.

If you drive there, load the free french scamera database onto your satnav

http://www.alertegps.com/

106rallye

just got back from 16 days in France (mainly 3 valleys but Val D'isiere as well)

there is a serious need of some snow now, even though the start of the season was amazing compared to the last few years

out of your original choice of 3 I would say Meribel (I worked there last year)though you have to be careful where you stay as it is split up into quite a few areas eg Motteret, Morel, Village etc. If you want night life you want to be staying somewhere near the centre of town as taxis are expensive.

I can't comment on the other two choices as I have not been but I have heard much more mixed views on them, basically if you want the most choice in the evening for night life in France then its really only Val D'isere or Meribel

as an alternative St Anton in Austria is great though not so suited to boarders and is more difficult terrain

If you choose three valleys, Val or St Anton then let me know as I have worked in most of these resorts and can give you a lot more info about accomodation etc.

Andy

D8UGF

Great stuff lads,

As far as Les arc is concerned, we have a friend whos parents just came back from there last week and didnt give it much of a write up, I think they were echoing what u said Andy that it was needing a lot more snow.

I think Meribel is turning into the main contender, most likely Motteret, unfortunately the novice skier is actually restricting our budget as well as our skiing! that being said we would rather he was going than not.

Cant mention St Anton to my mate we were meant to be going there on 25th feb but it all fell threw and a few of them lost deposits!

Should be booking it in earnest this week so I will drop you a pm if you dont mind Andy when I get a couple of accomodation names and you can give me your opinion

Cheers

Dougie

Ps thanks for the pm Rammy

106rallye

No probs at all it all depends what you are looking for from a holiday but it doesn't have to be expensive if you get on well and don't mind 'cosy' living!
As an example I managed to stay about as central as it comes in Meribel for £80 for the week (based on 6 sharing) Motteret is a fair distance from the town centre there are busses for when the lifts shut but they stop at about 12am, after that there is only really a taxi where you are looking at about 20 - 30 euros! sometimes can blag it cheaper but it all adds up. Motteret is much better for ski access though and a lot of the places are ski in ski out, I have been offered a job out there so may be heading back out sooner than i thought! I will keep an eye out on my pm's anyway though but it may take me a while to reply so get the questions in asap!

Andy

D8UGF

Sound Andy cheers.

Although have just found a deal to Alpes Duez for £319 Bergers VVF residence, and the Jardins de la Balme appartments in Val DIsere for £334 if you have any comments on the Val D appartments.
This holiday searching is busting my head now! The really good skier who has ski'd Vald D a few times and wanted to try somewhere different has now said he wouldnt mind going back there! AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH

Dougie

Kevin Greeley

Last year we went through www.lastminute.com - 7 nights in the 3 valleys, catered chalet £299 (reduced from £600). Holiday provided by Inghams.

Just booked the same thing for this year. Going on the snowtrain to get almost 8 days skiing for the same price.

D8UGF

Thanks Kevin, been trawling through last minute as well, unfortunately I am in Scotland so its either Edinburgh or Glasgow so adds about 50-100 quid onto the price from say London/Man.

106rallye

The Val apartments look like they are in a Maeva owned building so you could always have a look and see if booking direct with them is cheaper (it isn't always though!) http://www.maeva.com thats who I stayed with in Meribel. They are basic but warm and clean and the ones I stayed in were in a great location. add in a Sleazy jet flight or two to an airport (not geneva) and a train ride and you may find that the biggest expense of your holiday is your lift pass (or drinking!) alternative is to fly and hire a car, very good if you are self catering as it is so much cheaper to get food in the towns down the mountain.

Val is a great resort but for a beginner it can be a bit annoying as there are no easy runs down to the main resort the easiest ones get very icy and mouguled by the end of the day

IMHO avoid ESF at all costs for lessons good alternatives are Mountain Masters in Val or New Generation and Magic in Motion in 3 Valleys

Andy

D8UGF

Gents, many tahnks for the opinions and advice, finally got booked into Courchevel ( I know it wasnt on the list!) Staying here:
http://www.skicourchevel.net/theapartment.htm

Got apartment, flights, and car hire for £280 each.

Cant wait!!!

106rallye

Cool! did a season in Courchevel a couple of years ago but in 1850. I think 1550 is the original village there though I may be wrong, much prettier than 1850 and less fur coats and stilletos!! Also has the added bonus that you can ski back easily whereas 1650 is a bit more complicated. If you are going to have lessons then use Magic in Motion, New Generation or if you are after advanced lessons look out for a guy called Euan Hill though he is usually fully booked!

As you have a car for the week then you will have no probs going out, 1850 is obviously the main choice but is super expensive, Russians tend to visit Piggys(can buy bottles of Brandy for €10,000!), then the Milk Bar or the cave, seasonaires tend to hit The Equipe The Jump, Tj's and Kalicos.

If you want to treat yourself go and have a vin chaude at the Bergerie or Chalet du Pierre but be careful what you order in these places it can soon add up!

As you have the car i would say visit le Praz see if you can get to the Pizzaria when there is some live music as it can be good there, also La Tania has the Ski Lodge - usually full of Auzzies so can be a good laugh!

As long as one of you doesn't mind driving home I would drive to Meribel early one morning and park up in one of the free car parks if you are lucky! then you can visit the Rond Point for apres and still get home after.

Let me know if there are any specifics you want to know? restaurants etc or ski areas I will be back in Meribel hopefully this weekend or early next week so I will see if I get time for a snow report when are you out?

Andy