On Sat, 22 Feb 2014 16:36:28 +0000, PipL wrote:

On Sat, 22 Feb 2014 12:12:22 +0000, Michael Chare
mUNDERSCOREnews@chareDOTorgDOTuk wrote:

The Trockener Steg/ Theodulus pass area at Zermatt may well be open late
as it is mostly a glacier.

Actually, though Zermatt isn't really a beginner's resort, I'd say that area
is not bad for raw beginners if they stick to the draglift area, and there's
the area above Riffleberg for progression, though I definitely would not
recommend skiing down to it from Gornegrat. Having said that, it's a long ride
from the village to get there, and a long ride down if they're not up to the
tracks down, whereas somewhere like Flaine or, as someone said, and probably
better, Val Thorens, has good beginner areas that are vastly more convenient
to get to.

Not sure what Flaine's late-season snow is like, but it's supposed to hold it
well when it gets its cover.

Yes, Colin suggested Flaine would probably be a safer/more sensible
bet - or as Michael says above, Val Thorens probably better still.
Never actually skiied in either place so its hard to judge, but harder
still to argue with their sensibe advice.

I had considered Zermatt - but the hassle for a beginner to get to the
top made me discount it.

As it stands, I think we are drifting towards leaving it till next
season. Teachers may have long summer holidays, but at least in
Scotland, their winter ski options are pretty limited by their fixed
holiday periods - which either fall into "bit early for comfort", "bit
late for decent snow" or "to short a time for a beginner to get the
chance of a decent run at it"....

But thanks for the advice and suggestions.

Rod