You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Just coming to the end of our week in Warth. Its been really quiet here. Went over to Lech today - busy and slushy. Warth has been great, good snow (although no fresh) they get so much there is still plenty of cover and it has stayed cold enough to avoid the freeze-thaw. First time here but will definitely return
That was at 900 upwards
Everywhere could do with more snow. Locals resorts Will shut in a few days.
Was okay-ish in Passo Tonale last week. No powder, hard pack, crusty, but wasn't all grass at least. Above tree line so probably helps.
Getting fed up of the post trip lurgy though. Nasty cough-tastic cold (maybe) this time, COVID last trip, may have been COVID previous one (just when it all kicked off). All been horrible. Package deals are bad especially. Too many sick people and families in the same hotel, sharing flights and transfers.
Just coming to the end of our week in Warth. Its been really quiet here. Went over to Lech today – busy and slushy. Warth has been great, good snow (although no fresh) they get so much there is still plenty of cover and it has stayed cold enough to avoid the freeze-thaw. First time here but will definitely return
Spent a few days there not long after they put the link in from Lech (I was staying in Zug). Really liked it for intermediate cruising around. Can imagine it being quiet as out on a limb as a resort. Might even think about it for Christmas as usually gets lots of snow as say. Where were staying @matt_ss_xc?
@thegeneralist just to prove I made it back to my feet! Daughters camera work needs practice though 😂
It’s really pretty dire snow wise here now. Feels like the last week of the season conditions. Lots of grass showing.
🤩
Anyone in or near Saalbach? Headed out on Sunday, wondered what conditions were like!?
I've always detested snow mobiles, noisy stinking things too often driven by inconsidereate dicks. Now there's an alternative:
https://moonbikes.com/fr/moonbike
Quiet, no fumes, remains to be seen the clientel they attract.
27 days without rain/snow in SW France.
That looks like a right laugh, way more dangerous than skiing and snowboarding though
Just finished (or Finnished) a week in Levi, in arctic Finland. A small resort by alpine standards and nothing hard, but snow in good condition, typically just below freezing (usually it's -10° or lower) not one rock on the piste no queues. A bit windy which meant most of the lifts closed for a day, but no queues on the open ones, and floodlights to 7pm every day. Plus a 20 min transfer from the airport.
Just back from a week in Portes du Soleil. Morzine and Les Gets have pretty poor snow at the moment (Zore is closed and mostly mud!) but we were staying in Essert Romand; we booked fairly late so ski lessons for the small person were full up in Morzine and we ended up booking lessons in St Jean d'Aulps.
...and it was surprisingly good over there! It's on the same ski pass if you get the full PdS pass, it's a 15-minute drive away and I think because it's less popular it was much quieter. And there was decent enough snow. It's not a massive ski area, so I pootled around over there while he was having lessons in the morning, we drove back to Essert Romand for a quick lunch then headed to Morzine / Les Gets for the afternoons, but the best snow was definitely at St Jean.
With a bit more snow cover, it looks like there's some decent back country to explore too. Another time.
Hoping that this weekend's snow forecast brings enough to 'repair' the pistes.
A white out at present. The promised 60cm is happening. Although we had to wait till mid january for the resort to open it's been continuous good skiing since. Western Pyrénées
Well my (14yr old) son has just broken his bloody arm/wrist playing rugby at school. Scoring a try though!!
Gets cast off and wire out 17th March, then he'll get a splint for a bit longer, we go away on 31st/1st April. He still wants to ski if possible. Obviously docs will say no, but the pros manage it.....
I'm not saying yes or no yet* and will see how he feels closer to the time as he might change his mind when we're there anyway. Anyone got any recommendations on braces or guards to have a look at?
*His mum is more on the no side atm...
but the pros manage it…..
Some pros will also be willing live with a life long disablement if it means a win...
Speak to a doctor who skis (or who plays sport) for a proper opinion, they'll likely give you parameters where skiing is possible. Mrs Dubs has a few knee issues and her consultant gave her a list of "definitely don't do this" + "avoid this" + "this should be fine" when she's been carrying an injury or waiting for surgery
Five weeks, be fine if he doesn't fall on it. What are the odds of a 14-year-old skier getting through a week without falling?
TBF, he's very good and rarely falls......which obviously means he'd fall on the first day and rebreak it!!
Like I said, I'm not saying we'll allow it yet. Will speak to the docs and see what they say before anything.
He's absolutley gutted though, was properly welling up when he realised he wouldn't be able to ski. We we're only talking about it a few days before saying we we're both really looking forward to it this year after last years holiday ending early and a bit shit (weather). Then thinking we weren't going this year, as my younger sister has terminal cancer and we were not sure how she'd be. Then booking something with my other sister and family, as my younger sister is doing 'ok' at the moment and is planning a trip to Rome at the same time....
I know he won't be skiing, we'll just have to find some other things to do as well.
Not à lot of snow in Alpes d huez. OK above 2000meters. Very good above. A little bit of snow fell yestersay.
Well my (14yr old) son has just broken his bloody arm/wrist
Some years ago I broke my wrist 5 weeks before going on a bike holiday. I ended up getting the cast cut off on the Friday morning, rode back home, loaded the car and drove down to the Alps. Rode hard ever day for 2 weeks (in a brace) with no problems - so it can be done. I was mid 30's at the time, so your lad should heal better.
(but yes - he'll want to avoid falling on it. Good job he's a skier rather than a snowboarder as all bets would be off there)
Five weeks, be fine if he doesn’t fall on it. What are the odds of a 14-year-old skier getting through a week without falling?
As Jon says, helluva lot better than a boarder getting through a run without falling.
Or at least that's what my missus said as she skiid my son down the Grand Couloir at Courchevel at 14 weeks.
( I did the walk of shame back up the ridge)
Anyone here skied Killington in Vermont, thinking of a trip at Easter, it's about a 3 hr drive for me. I've had a couple of short breaks so far this winter in Vermont and Quebec and while skiing is fun its way off a top Alpine resort. Lots of man made snow, ice and wind. Piste map for Killington shows more promise though./
Some of my east coast USA colleagues say it’s been a poor year for snow despite localised lakes mega dumps, but these are upstate NY reports, not Vermont.
I’m just coming to the end of a week in Saalbach. Been above 10 degrees in town some days. Snow forecast for tonight and runs will definitely close if that doesn’t happen. We’ve managed to ski every day but only because of the great cannon infrastructure. Slushy as hell post 12pm
Last day was indeed a powder day! Saalbach region got quite a few cms on Saturday and it was still falling when we left. Should be better for those headed out this weekend.
Some much welcome relief for me…
My wife’s family have been bickering about booking Easter skiing and in the end we seem to have signed up for a week in Saalbach at Easter. Be amazed if there’s any snow left. Tempted to take my bike. There seems to be a week or to of cold weather coming up so you never know…
Last time we were there, there was so much snow the lifts closed and we couldn’t get out of the town because of avalanches!
Early April is often some of the best conditions in my experience, we've got the Easter weekend chalked in for going sliding before silly season kicks in on the bikes.
Friends in the Pyrenees posted up their "best day of the season" on Instabook today. It looked far better than over the last month, that's for sure. More snow forecast down this way on Monday.
We have been very lucky, pre-covid, to be able to get away once or twice a year. Still remember the feb/march 2020 discussions about how it might still be ok. Seems ridiculous now! Especially when you think about the “patient zero” hysteria about Austrian ski resorts….
Was always saalbach/hinterglem at Christmas or obergurgl at Easter. The latter being higher and near to a glacier for guaranteed snow. We’ve been really lucky with hinterglem - only one bad year and a few days of muddy scraping. The webcams look great tonight so maybe we’ll get away with it again…. A few more nights in the Goabstall!
So we have the channel tunnel booked for Monday lunchtime, a camper van and no set plan on where to go.
The idea is to land in resort Tuesday night, ready for Wednesday morning.
Looking at the forecasts where would you head? Excited about some fresh powder, not so excited about the mountain being closed whilst they try and deal with too much snow!
I've go 4 days off, wed to Sat. Might head up to Scotland from Hampshire. Stay at parents wed night, head up early Thurs morning, back Friday night to parents. Home sat.
Just keeping an eye on winterhighland to see where to go.
So we have the channel tunnel booked for Monday lunchtime, a camper van and no set plan on where to go.
The idea is to land in resort Tuesday night, ready for Wednesday morning.
Looking at the forecasts where would you head? Excited about some fresh powder, not so excited about the mountain being closed whilst they try and deal with too much snow!
I’d still aim high @phil5556, somewhere like Plagne Villages which has a dedicated camper van parking plot (assuming you’re staying in it). The forecasts are all looking like snow of some quantity in the coming week but agreement on the freezing level is a bit all over the place. But above 1800m to 2000m should be a safe enough bet.
Bear in mind any snow is falling on refrozen crud and hard pack so watch out for tempting pow with bullet proof just under the surface!
We were considering that area, splitting time between Les Arcs/Plagne, Sainte Foy & La Rosière.
And 3 Vals is just down the road too.
Up until the current forecasts we were considering heading to somewhere in the Pyrenees as it seems that’s where the snow has been and I’ve never been so would’ve been an interesting change.
Arrived in Morillon today and got out for a couple of runs at 2pm-ish. There's still skiing to village level, which is surprising given that it wasn't officially open when we were last here in January, when the last major snow fell. They took time opening bit by bit, and that seems to have paid off with pistes being better than i expected after the hammering they would have taken through half term. The pisteurs certainly know how to get the best from limited resources! The pistes themselves are far better than i expected, there's a LOT of man made snow around, even in places where the snow cannons aren't in evidence, but there's skiing to be had and that's good. The digital read out on the Chariande Express lift at Samoens 1600 (we went up from Vercland) read 18°, though it didn't feel that warm: maybe 10 or 12. Wasn't nearly that warm up at Tete des Saix, 2100m.
I'm glad we got out on arrival day, but i don't think we'll be hurrying out for first lift tomorrow: maybe 10, 10.30ish....
While most of the UK is back in the grip of a snowy, icy, winter. The Grand Massif is in a 'high'. Lots of snow came down last night high up the mountain, but mostly rain low down at village height.
We've called it 'a day' early, due to the temps being warm and constant rain, bad visibility and skiing on 'wet concrete. Somehow my season pass fell out of my zipped arm pocket. Some lovely lifty let me use the next lift and I squeezed through a gap on the last lift back to base. Again some honest kind person had handed the pass in to the ticket office, (pass found lying on the floor from the first gondola trip up).
Currently staying up in Val Thorens. Good fun powder day yesterday with half price tickets and the high lifts shut. Had a great day 😎
It’s still snowing now but it’s only just snow, much lower down and I think it’ll be rain. Was going to go out for a play but no half price tickets today so having a chill day. Tomorrow is looking promising, due to stop snowing late morning and the sun might even come out.
Had 2 days in Les Arcs before moving here.
[img] 
[/img]
Not looking forward to digging the van out 🙈
Got back from three days of challenging conditions* in Flaine yesterday.
Tidy little resort, but conditions meant we couldn’t really see much of it so would probably head back again for a longer go in the hope of better weather.
Anybody heading out in a week or so should have a great time.
*Not much snow on Thursday, too much snow/sleet zero vis on Friday and Saturday.
A bit of fresh snow down to 800 in Austria.
Some crazy high temperatures forecast for the coming week but then temperatures are dropping again hopefully for Easter
hopefully for Easter
🤞
Looking at the webcams in L2A, they've had loads of snow down to village level over the last few days and it's bluebird out there, looks perfect, but could be really warm as well.
I'm there first week in April so hoping for a couple more dumps by then. Not really bothered what the conditions are like as long as theres still snow. I just need a holiday!
It my first time in France as a vegetarian as well! So I imaging i'll be eating lots of margarita pizza and chips......Obvs cheese, but fondue/raclette is usually 2 person minimum, I'll maybe have to choose a different person each night to share with.....
Obvs cheese, but fondue/raclette
Hate to break this to you, but most of the cheese they use in fondue isn't vegetarian. Raclette definitely isn't.
Hate to break this to you, but most of the cheese they use in fondue isn’t vegetarian. Raclette definitely isn’t.
TBF I'm not a full on vegetarian. I've just had/chose to stop eating meat for medical reasons. A few other things have been cut down on or cut out of my diet, but cheese isn't going to be one of them!!
A few days late posting but had a good day at Weardale on Saturday. Enough snow and lots of people out. Got a bit thin in the afternoon but my first skiing for 3 years and visibility was good. Good day out all round.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52752019589_58527b6c31_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52752019589_58527b6c31_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
The last few days in the Grand Massif has brought out some 'idiot' scary, fast skiers.
These people don't seem to care about the safety code of piste skiing. Dangerous in popping off piste and then popping back on without looking, standing in the middle of the piste usually below a dip and just plain speeding around on busy pistes, many with children in ski school. It's been particularly bad on this trip since we had fresh snow on Tuesday.
I did have a particularly horrible incident with a young skier desperate to push into a 2 man chair lift queue, then the 'lifty' shouted at me to take my backpack off before getting on the chair, amazingly I wasn't wearing one :O)
Ski or snowboard in control please and be aware of others. It's called being considerate.
Ski or snowboard in control please and be aware of others. It’s called being considerate.
Maybe I’ve been lucky but haven’t seen any of this on this trip. One slightly agitated lady after she was cut up by a struggling snow plougher, apart from that just a lot of people having a great time.
We’re just on the way back North through France, just south of Dijon at the moment.
First day was Weds 8th.
Les Arcs for 2 days. Snowed overnight as we arrived and the first day, bit wet but helped to top the pistes up. 2nd wday good on piste up high but soft & wet lower down. Left because rain forecast.
3 Days in Val Thorens / 3 Vals (would have been 4 but storm day). First day snowing all day, top lifts not open but powder everywhere, half price ticket 😁. 2nd day storm day, chilled out mostly in the van. 3rd day morning cloudy, clearing for the afternoon, still plenty of fresh snow to be found. 4th day went over to Courcheval for a cruise, spring conditions low down.
2 days in Sainte Foy - epic, poured with rain for an hour after we arrived before turning to snow for the night and next day. Best powder I’ve seen for years & great accessible off piste. 2nd day bluebird - perfect 😎 Avalanche risk high so didn’t stray too far. Will definitely be back. Also zero queues and awesome hot dogs from the mountain restaurant.
1 day in La Rosiere, nice cruisy day. Went to La Thuile on the worst & longest drag lift ever. Thuile appeared to be a mostly flat plateau, didn’t stay long.
2 days in Le Corbier. Wished we’d gone back to VT. Spring seems to have given way to summer! Pistes were in awful shape and it was HOT. Finished today after tartiflette at the top.
All in an awesome trip, we did well at following the snow and making the best of the conditions. The dog came with us for the first time and he loved playing in the snow. The camper did great, only casually being the radio aerial from the weight of snow sitting on it 😞
If I was on my way to France now I’d probably go to Val T and not consider anywhere else unless there’s some snow forecast (there might be some due late this week?)
Off to La Plagne on 31st. The ever optimistic Snowforcast predicts a bit of new snow but I have never seen as much fall as they predict.
Still as mentioned earlier, as long as there is enough to ski on, that’s fine. We aren’t going at Easter expecting mid winter conditions but there is always hope!
It was raining in Morillon this morning, so maybe this turned to snow at the top.
We're heading home now after enjoying most of the weather that phil556 had.
The storm last week was amazing. Everyone was talking about it the next day, as it's quite rare at the end of winter/start of spring.
@TheDTs enjoy 🙂 I’ve read that the pistes in La Plagne have been holding up OK so hopefully they’ll still be good, especially if they get a bit of a top up.
Can we stop talking about rain etc.
I’m going out to PdS on first of April and I’m quite happy in denial.
The amount of rain forecast you might as well be in the nile.
igm
Full Member
Can we stop talking about rain etc.I’m going out to PdS on first of April and I’m quite happy in denial.
😬
Anyone else heading out for Easter? Looks like a fair bit of snow could arrive end of this week. Wooohooo!
Headed to La Plagne. Keep high (out the rain)
Yeah, cervinia on Saturday. Nice big dump of snow over this week then blue skies next week. Joy.
Not sure we will be back with a tan if the forecast is to believed but I’ll take that over fresh snow.
Last minute sub into a ski holiday at Les Arcs this coming week. It looks like there'll be some fresh snow in time for it too... fingers crossed!
Yeah, cervinia on Saturday. Nice big dump of snow over this week then blue skies next week. Joy.
Not jealous at all 🤬 🙂
Paradiski next week, Haute Maurienne, based at Val Cenis, the next.
The Paradiski holiday was last minute from Sunweb, for £320 each including the Paradiski liftpass.
Haute Maurienne we booked on the 1st day after last season ended. The lift passes were discounted at 60% off.
A book early and a book late combo makes the drive from Scotland worth it... I hope....
Bargaintastic Trout! Were you staying? B&B for that I would expect?
Loading the van in the morning with bikes and getting the Hull ferry tomorrow evening, then driving down to Austria.
12 days of boarding & biking!
Phenomenal conditions out here in Cervinia. Wall to wall sunshine and fantastic piste conditions. Off piste is a bit tracked out but we've found some decent untouched bits
PdS - not good below 1400m, but above is lovely. Spring snow in places, fresh and fantastic in others.
And empty. Nobody here.
Anyone on the hive mind of stw ever skied the grand sablat in alp d'huez? Im trying to find info about how you get back into resort/town and what condition is the glacier in? Seem to have lost all my maps so need to wait till im over tjere to buy one but trying to find some info now
Ffati, Try Snowheads.
Zermatt today. Good high up, struggling lower down despite being at a similar altitude to Cervinia. Lots of green and brown with the pistes only just hanging in. The 10k run back down to Cervinia village was an absolute joy today
La thuile this week- cold, excellent snow above 1600m, staying in good condition all day on the Italian side, the south facing stuff over in La Rosiere softening a bit in the sunshine. Brilliant condition for Easter- having a great time.
Sorry for late reply. Booked with Sunweb. Self drive, self catering. The accommodation and liftpass was cheaper than a liftpass alone! Nice apartment too.
La Plagne and Les Arcs is excellent at the moment. Knee deep freshies on the Glacier on Monday. Still little pockets of fluff to be found.
Result, we have agreed to extend our accommodation for an extra night. We get to ski Sat and drive back Sunday. Both days should be quieter for skiing and driving. Win win. Weather looking favourable too.
Plenty of snow cover Val Thorens and above (2300m) staying firm well into late afternoon.
Home run to St Martin (1450m) still open but very much Spring conditions going slushy lunchtime.
Snow forecast tomorrow then 3 days of sunshine to explore 3 valleys.
@fooman, looking over at Courchevel & La Tania from Champagne (La Plagne) yesterday conditions looked much better than they were at NY!
Heavy snow in Plagne Soleil this morning. 🤣⛷️❄️
Off to get the big skis out again👍
Dumping in Cervinia today. Zero visibility up top but should make for a great day tomorrow
My teenage kids have had their first taste of skiing this week with their school. They’ve had a blast unsurprisingly.
Mrs L and I haven’t been for 20 years due to insufficient funds so I’m out of the loop for the best value way of doing a family week in the Alps.
If we were looking for next year where’s the best place to start looking? Complete packages or build your own?
We’d all need some lessons and ski hire.
Cheers
igm
Full Member
Can we stop talking about rain etc.I’m going out to PdS on first of April and I’m quite happy in denial.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">
oh ye of little faith. Snow overnight when we arrived and the same the next night, couple of days of freeze-thaw corduroy, and today 4 inches of powder on top on the piste. Still coming down, sun tomorrow.</span>
If we were looking for next year where’s the best place to start looking? Complete packages or build your own?
If you want the hassle free way I've been plenty of times with Crystal and always had great holidays. If you book at the right time when they have offers on you can often get deals or lift passes or ski hire. Our January trip we got BOGOF lift pass. It's the only time I ever book package holidays to anywhere.
Also done it by booking everything separately and flying or driving, you can often find deals especially if you are flexible with dates (although I suspect you're not if you're taking kids). Don't underestimate the cost of transfers if you're booking separately - they're not cheap.
Drive is the best way of saving £ ime
I’ve been driving to the alps for 15+ years and it’s very expensive even when you split costs. Ferry or tunnel is expensive now. Fuel is high. Tolls etc.
4 of us flew from Edinburgh to Milan this week. £600 for the 4 of us including all bags. £200 for car hire. Not a chance we could’ve driven here for £800
Depends where you live I guess.
We take everything, skis & boots for all of us, no hire costs, cheap used kit for the kids of eBay/Snowheads, a few prepared meals, shop in the valley on the way up, if you self catered and bought everything in resort or ate out every night that would be expensive. We book with Peakretreats which comes with flexi plus Euro tunnel. We also added an extra day on this week which is great. It works for us.
We’ve driven to Morzine in the summer a few times so the drive isn’t a massive turn-off and paying for the tolls the following month through a TAG does help with costs.
Hadn’t really thought about self-catering as it’s not what I’ve ever done on a ski holiday but it’s food for thought.
I’m completely out of the loop about which resorts are good. We’d only need 1 medium size location as the kids are beginners and we haven’t been for so long. A bit of variety is nice but we probably wouldn’t need access to huge areas.
I guess a small apartment in an 80s concrete block is the cheapest option.
100% self drive. It costs a little more in time, but gives you other options. We drive out from Scotland, so likelihood is your drive will be shorter.
We have to make it back to home in 36 hours next sat/sun to be back at work on Monday...
First up, think when you want to go. It is cheaper outwith school holidays, but this might not be an issue. It is for is as we are both teachers.
Before we had kids we would drive out and visit a different resort every day, which means we have skied at most resorts across the French Alps.
My advice would be to pick a smaller resort if using Ski School. They will start and finish at a set place, usually for a morning (pick this if you have a choice) or an afternoon. This means that you simply cannot cover the ground of a Mega Resort, and will not get value from the lift pass. A Paradiski liftpass for a week costs 345 euro!
Next week we are in Val Cenis in the Haute Maurienne. We bought our skipasses for this year last April the day after the season ended, netting a 60% discount. 89 euro for an Adult and 74 euro for a Child. You still get 125km of ski runs, and up to 2800m of altitude. As an added bonus you get a day at 4 other resorts in the same valley. Even if you ski school in the morning, you can jump in the car (self drive bonus!) and scoot 30mins to La Norma, Bonneval sur Arc, Valfrejus or Aussois.
Aussois is a wee nugget of a resort. It only has 4 chairlifts, and is south facing, but we picked it from all the places we had skied for our first family ski trips when my boys were 7 and 4. Cheap, slopeside accommodation, where we could open the door and get to ski school easily.
DO NOT choose a resort where you HAVE to get a bus from where you stay to the skiing. This is a joy-killer.
My target for a week skiing, door to door, self drive, with lessons for the kids, for a family of 4 used ro be £2000. We don't need to hire gear though.
I think you could easily beat that by booking last-minute with Sunweb. They have a deal currently for 4 people, self catering in St Francois de Longchamp for £99 per person and that includes the liftpass! Insane.
Last year we got a week for the 4 of us for £536 in Valfrejus, self catering, including the liftpasses!
Lessons will likely be in the region of £150 per person for 6 mornings.
Self cater to keep down costs. Either scooter back to your apartment for a baguette based lunch, or take a sarnie with you. Eating out will gobble your budget...
We have used Sunweb a few times, and tend to book about 6 weeks before we travel, as I reckon this is the sweet spot for lowest price/ availability.
Thanks wrestler of trouts, you have given us much to think about (and hope!).
I may have more questions when I’ve processed this bottle of wine I’ve just drunk 😂
I reckon on around £180 per person per ski day, all in (airport parking, eating out, eating in, kit hire, transfers, the works) based on three years analysis of Austria at Feb half term.