In message
Excess wrote:

On Jan 28, 4:25*pm, LittleRob wrote:
Has anyone got any experience of skiing in Argentiere? Specifically, we
are thinking about trying to get a second week skiing later in the
season (April):

1. What is the drive like from the UK (I'm assuming we'd use the tunnel)

2. What is the condition of the roads in the resort?

3. What are the blue runs like as we'll be with the kids (8 & 5)

Rob

I am a big fan of Argentiere myself but would agree that Les Houches
would be far better for you with the kids. Alternatively you could
base yourself in Argentiere and ski in Le Tour which has some really
nice easy run and is well suited to children. If you have a car this
is easy enough (snow chains are only compulsory in France on some
mountain roads when there is snow on the road - very unlikely you
would need them for going there early April but you never know as they
can still get snow in early May overthere). Early April should be fine
for Le Tour or Les Houches although late April may not be as good from
a snow point of view.
Drive is easy from the UK as all motorway.
More info including Eurotunnel packages on http://www.peakretreats.co.uk/ski/argentiere.htm
http://www.peakretreats.co.uk/ski/les-houches.htm


Perhaps the most serious road conditions I encountered in Argentiere was
about two years ago in the second week of April. We woke up on the
morning of our last day to encounter about 0.5 metre of fresh snow on
the roads. The drive out was on roads that had not been cleared of snow
all the way down past Chamonix. I had an interesting four wheel
slide myself on one of the bends, but managed to correct it before
going over the edge. Indeed the snow level was as low as Geneva. Along
the way we encountered many accidents, particularly on the autoroute. I
think many local drivers had already changed over from winter to summer
tyres.

Given that from a base in Argentiere you can easily cross over the Col
de Monte pass into Le Buet, Vallorcine and on into Switzerland for some
alternative skiing, and that the snow conditions can be encountered
regularly throughout the winter season I think carrying chains is a good
idea.

Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
" || _`\,_ |__\ \ | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"