First skiing hol advice needed
 

We intend to have our first skiing holiday this winter but don't know where
to start. We would like some advice on where to go and when. We are a family
of 4 (2 teenagers) and would have to go either over New Year or during
school Easter hols. I have loads of questions to ask but want to get the hol
sorted first. Any advice?

Jan

"wallace" wrote in message ...
We intend to have our first skiing holiday this winter but don't know where
to start. We would like some advice on where to go and when. We are a family
of 4 (2 teenagers) and would have to go either over New Year or during
school Easter hols. I have loads of questions to ask but want to get the hol
sorted first. Any advice?

Jan

Don't waste money going to a big resort like Val d'Isere, 3 valleys,
Chamonix etc - as you'll be paying high lift pass prices for slopes
you'll never see.

Get a good travel brochure (but not Crystal) and find a resort with no
more than say 50 km of runs. Look for ones with high ratings for
beginners and lots of easy (blue & green) runs. Ideally you want a
resort with easy access to the gentle slopes - and certainly not one
where you're expected to ski down a black run to get back to the
resort.

I'd recommend somewhere in Andorra - the ski schools have good
reputations and it's a lot cheaper than France / Austria etc.

Also check out resort reports on www.ifyouski.com. Oh and I reckon a
catered chalet is by far the best way to go....

Good luck.

What is wrong with Crystal???? We always use them and they are far better
than Inghams, Thompson etc especially for catered chalets.
"Roger" wrote in message
...
"wallace" wrote in message
...
We intend to have our first skiing holiday this winter but don't know
where
to start. We would like some advice on where to go and when. We are a
family
of 4 (2 teenagers) and would have to go either over New Year or during
school Easter hols. I have loads of questions to ask but want to get the
hol
sorted first. Any advice?

Jan

Don't waste money going to a big resort like Val d'Isere, 3 valleys,
Chamonix etc - as you'll be paying high lift pass prices for slopes
you'll never see.

Get a good travel brochure (but not Crystal) and find a resort with no
more than say 50 km of runs. Look for ones with high ratings for
beginners and lots of easy (blue & green) runs. Ideally you want a
resort with easy access to the gentle slopes - and certainly not one
where you're expected to ski down a black run to get back to the
resort.

I'd recommend somewhere in Andorra - the ski schools have good
reputations and it's a lot cheaper than France / Austria etc.

Also check out resort reports on www.ifyouski.com. Oh and I reckon a
catered chalet is by far the best way to go....

Good luck.

I'd agree with most of what Roger says. Certainly a catered chalet is IMHO
the best way to go, having done chalets for a few years we'd not do hotels
again. The big resorts are great but are likely to be wasted on 1st timers,
and as he says, they can be bloody expensive. Cannot say about Andorra as
I've not been but Italy is worth a look - Claviere, or Serre Chevalier (In
France close by), or perhaps Sause D'Oulx, but that can be full of Brits on
cheap packages and school trips. Also look out the Italian Dolomites.

Check out Equity Total Ski - they have quite a few smaller and cheaper
resorts and if you're beginners their prices include kit hire, tuition and
lift pass. Their initial price looks a bit steep, but there are no add-ons,
so overall the prices are competitive - they're on 01273 298298, or on the
web. We've been skiing for 10years and in the early days we found them
pretty good. You can always phone and talk to somebody who's been there and
understands what you are looking for. I cannot say about Crystal, but 1st
Choice has been consistently crap, the prices are Ok but the accommodation
and food is always dreadful - don't even think about it. On the other hand
we had a truly 1st class week in a chalet with Airtours last February and
cannot recommend them high enough.

Rob




"wallace" wrote in message
...
We intend to have our first skiing holiday this winter but don't know
where
to start. We would like some advice on where to go and when. We are a
family
of 4 (2 teenagers) and would have to go either over New Year or during
school Easter hols. I have loads of questions to ask but want to get the
hol
sorted first. Any advice?

Jan

ash wrote:
What is wrong with Crystal???? We always use them and they are far better
than Inghams, Thompson etc especially for catered chalets.
Crystal used to have a reputation as being at the lower quality end of
the market in terms of accomodation and service. My own personal
experience backed this up. This may or may not have been the case across
the board but many people steered clear of them after bad experiences.

Over the past few seasons it seems as though Crystal have caught up with
the other main stream operators. I can't speak from personal experience
as I haven't been on a package trip for a long time, but from the
comments of others (such as yourself) there seems to be little to choose
between the big operators and Crystal's poor reputation is more a
historical hangover than anything else.

If you do have problems with Crystal (or anyone else) I'd suggest you do
it yourself. It's more fun, it doesn't have to cost more (and can indeed
be cheeper) and you can be far more flexible with your plans.

"Rob White" wrote in message
...
| I'd agree with most of what Roger says. Certainly a catered chalet is
IMHO
| the best way to go, having done chalets for a few years we'd not do
hotels
| again.

Chalets v. hotels??? Don't forget the third alternative, and IMO
(unsurprisingly!) the best of the lot.

Self-catering......

Pete

http://bsm.alpesprovence.net - SNOWeSCAPE

Unless you're the mother who wants a break from the oven :-)

Take a break - find a small local hotel and put your feet up. IMHO the small
local hotels are what it's all part of. www.seehof-laax.ch -
http://www.poestlilaax.ch/ are two examples from my neck of the mountains.

Simon Brown
www.hb9drv.ch

----- Original Message -----
From: "PG"

Self-catering......

I've stayed in a self-catering apartment and seen some others. If you want
to stay in a broom cupboard with a kitchenette and a shower then that's O,
but your on top of each other and theres notihng to do in the evening. At
least with a chalet you have space (OK) company (normally OK), somebody to
cook (normally OK) and clean (very OK). You can sort out all your own
arrangements and go independent, but a) why bother if somebody else will do
it for you and b) why take the risk of cocking up as a 1st time skier not
really knowing where to go or what you need. I'm no great lover of package
deals but if you've not skiied before I'd go on one to a catered chalet, in
a decent but not top-notch resort. If I were you I'd see what else you post
brings out, and see who recommends what resorts and tour operators.

Rob
"Simon Brown" wrote in message
...
Unless you're the mother who wants a break from the oven :-)

Take a break - find a small local hotel and put your feet up. IMHO the
small
local hotels are what it's all part of. www.seehof-laax.ch -
http://www.poestlilaax.ch/ are two examples from my neck of the mountains.

Simon Brown
www.hb9drv.ch

----- Original Message -----
From: "PG"

Self-catering......

"Rob White" wrote in message
...
| I've stayed in a self-catering apartment and seen some others. If you
want
| to stay in a broom cupboard with a kitchenette and a shower then
that's O,
| but your on top of each other and theres notihng to do in the evening.
At
| least with a chalet you have space (OK) company (normally OK),
somebody to
| cook (normally OK) and clean (very OK). You can sort out all your own
| arrangements and go independent, but a) why bother if somebody else
will do
| it for you and b) why take the risk of cocking up as a 1st time skier
not
| really knowing where to go or what you need. I'm no great lover of
package
| deals but if you've not skiied before I'd go on one to a catered
chalet, in
| a decent but not top-notch resort. If I were you I'd see what else
you post
| brings out, and see who recommends what resorts and tour operators.

Sorry but although some apartments are not exactly spacious, there's
plenty of very reasonably priced, very roomy places to rent in some
wonderful locations. By way of example, the month of Jan in our place
costs around £300 per week all in and sleeps 8... 3 double bedrooms, one
with private balcony, huge lounge, dining area, kitchen/breakfast room,
garage, walk in private ski room. 98 sq.m. in all.

Nothing to do? Don't follow you. That depends on where the accommodation
is, not what it is. Unless having something to do means getting drunk
with fellow chalet guests of a night!

Of course if you like 'British' cuisine :o( and being surrounding by
Brits :o( then a chalet's fine! Each to his/her own.
Simon's suggestion of a small hotel is fair enough, at least you
actually feel you're in a foreign country! Unless it's British run of
course.

A previous post mentioned that going to a large resort might be wasted
on a group of beginners - (ie you wouldn't be able to ski the majority
of the domain) but it is possible to get reduced rate lift passes for
small parts of a domain, such as in Les Arcs - and some have a small
number of completely free runs for absolute beginners to try out before
venturing further afield. (Also, with a couple of teenagers, there'll be
more to keep them occupied)...

Take a couple of dry slope or snowdome lessons first, if you can... it
makes the first few days somewhat less painful!

Pete
http://bsm.alpesprovence.net - SNOWeSCAPE

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 15:35:19 +0100, "wallace"
wrote:

We intend to have our first skiing holiday this winter but don't know where
to start. We would like some advice on where to go and when. We are a family
of 4 (2 teenagers) and would have to go either over New Year or during
school Easter hols. I have loads of questions to ask but want to get the hol
sorted first. Any advice?

Use google groups to look for the many threads with similar titles on
here. Even in the last month or so, I believe.

http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?&s...g .google.com

for example, this thread covered a lot of useful advice, so go and
read it there.

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.