"Roger Moss" wrote in message
...

"Ace" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:23:49 +0000, in
, Colin Irvine
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:52:17 +0100, Ace squeezed
out the following:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:00:06 +0000, in
, Colin Irvine
wrote:

Shamelessly borrowing the thread, we can see why you rate Flaine.
We'll definitely be going back, quite likely staying in Samoens again.

x-posting for interest

Glad you enjoyed. Care to share the highs and lows?


With pleasu

We were in the Grand Massif last week, too, but based in Les Carroz - a
first for us, as we too normally choose Samoëns.
Doing it differently certainly allowed us to see/ski things in a fresh
light, and we got to know the areas above Les Carroz and Morillon far
better than previously. There's some great terrain here, particularly the
tree-lined runs which allowed us to continue in conditions which would
have ruled out anywhere more open due to near total white-out. Yes, it
snowed alright...

We also had a lot of fun on the boarder-cross section be discovered beside
one of the reds (either Cupoire or Truffe) served by the Gron chair-lift.
:- Add the terrain above Samoëns and you begin to see that there's a lot
of mileage to be had even before you factor-in Flaine itself.

When we did head across our first trip was a leisurely affair, to say the
least, picking our way through mist and falling snow - not to mention a
sea of falling skiers getting to grips with unfamiliar conditions. Funny
how even somewhere you think you know really well suddenly feels totally
alien at times like these.

When things cleared, though, it was business as usual, with a series of
easy cruises over to the lift up to Les Grandes Platières. Not
surprisingly, Les Cascades remained closed during our stay, but the
present falling temperatures may well allow it to be re-opened. Sadly, the
Lindars Nord chair was also closed, but we did discover a small corner
we'd previously missed much lower down. Célestine is so tucked away, and
so close to the village that we didn't expect much in the way of
surprises, but it turned out to be a real find, snaking its way down
through the trees. If you've ever wondered what the attraction of the
smaller, family ski areas which don't make it into the big tour-op
brochures, then this will give you a brief insight. Magic.

As for Flaine itself, well, I've tried hard to love the Breuer
architecture and so far haven't managed it. But sometimes it's people who
create the real spirit of a place, and being here has come to feel almost
like coming home. After a searingly glacial ride into the winds on the
Grands Vans 8-seater, we headed back towards 'our' side of the mountain,
via a series of blasts which got us there well ahead of time. It's quite a
return run.

The final couple of days clamped down visibility again, as more fresh snow
piled in. Being based where we were meant we not only carried on
regardless, but had a real blast on the deep, fresh powder. Towards the
end of the stay we were also able to ski all the way down to the car park
at the end of the day with now slush problems.

It's always the coming home that's the tough bit...

RM
www.mountainpassions.com - an Online Magazine with Altitude

I've just come back from a week in Samoens with the family. It was our
second week in the Grands Massif following a week in Les Carroz in early
March 2006. Incidently, I was in Les Carroz for a day, a couple of weeks
back
with friends, and had one of my worst days ever. It was raining up to 2000m
with pretty much every lift above that closed due to high winds. Not good!
Last week could not have been more different with pretty much perfect
conditions for the whole week and it has reaffirmed the GM as one of my
favourite areas.

I would second all of the comments in this these threads and add the
following;

Plus points,

We have either been very lucky, or the GM does get better snowfall than a
lot of other resorts. The amounts of snow that dropped were well above what
was forecasted. Could this be due to it's location on the eastern edge of
the alps, getting first shot at the moisture as it comes in from the West?
To back this up, we had a day out to Verbier on Thursday and it appeared
significantly less snow had fallen there in the previous week. For anybody
interested, Verbier is about a two and half hour drive through Chamonix and
over the Col du Montets. Some stunning scenery on route, and you can stop
off in Cham on your way back....

The off-piste tracks-out quite slowly. I commented on some of the fairly
easy to access slopes being relatively untracked after a couple of days. In
Tignes/Val D, they would be tracked-out by 1000. Again as a previous poster
has said, the ease of access to some very good (as safe as off-piste can be)
'family off-piste' is a major plus point.

The tree-lined areas above Les Carroz are quite stunning when loaded with
snow. They make some fantastic photo opportunities. These are also excellent
beginner areas, particularly as they go back to the gondola, so you can even
learn without going onto chairlifts.

The panorama of the Mont Blanc range is fantastic on a clear day from
several vantage points.

Negatives;

Samoens is a nice traditional village but pretty much shuts at 1930, so
other than a few restaurants there is little to do. We self-catered though,
so this was not much of an issue. Don't go if you want apres-ski, there
appeared to be one Irish pub and a place near the centre that served vin
chaud in the street.

Whilst well connected, the lift system is quite old. The majority of the
chairs are slow with less that half of them detachables.

As previously posted some of the home runs are busy and there was quite a
few fallers on these, particularly where they funnel into narrow channels or
paths.
On the Morillon/Samoens link 'itinaire liaison', there is a 30m
very narrow tunnel that is paved with ice. Watching me get spat out the
other
side on my snowboard, kept the kids going for the week. I was going to wait
with my camera to catch the spills, but thought better of it.
A lot of the links are quite flat, particularly when going over to Les
Carroz (Arete et al), so as a snowboarder these became a bit tedious even
though
the views off the top out towards the Jura and MB are stunning.

A general European negative (read whinge) at the moment is the strengh of
the Euro (weakness of the £?). The lift passes for a family of 4 were nearly
£600. There is no family pass option like there was in La Plagne a couple of
years back (do they still do the family of 4, for the price of two adults
and one child?).
Eating on the mountain at lunchtime was also expensive, but bravo for the GM
management who have put in heated picnic rooms across the area.

Overall though I would recommend the GM area for skiers/boarders of any
level and will certainly be returning.