"David Off" wrote in message
...
Steve wrote:
I doubt you would find anywhere on the planet to ski in October for
a
week. There may be something on the glacier in Tignes, apart from
that
there are snow domes in Milton Keynes and Tamworth.


In France, the glaciers at Tignes, l'Alpe d'Huez and les Deux Alpes
are
scheduled to be open, it is the Toussain holiday, last year it snowed
and the skiing was quite good at l'Alpe d'Huez. PG could tell you
more
about l2A as he spent the week there as a cub reporter.


Les Deux Alpes, October half-term. First part of the week it's the 3 day
'Mondial du Surf' exhibition, a sweet-smelling haze hangs over the
resort, and baggy-trousered kids shout and scream until 4 in the morning
for no apparent reason. Not sure how much snowboarding they actually
manage to fit in. Calling in at the boulangerie at 7 on the way to the
lift there's always a queue of silent red-eyed zombies who are only up
at the hour cos they haven't slept yet. The smog lifts during the two
days of relative peace between exhibitions, then it's the more sedate
skiers' turn, with the 'Mondial du Ski'. There's always a risk of bad
weather at this time of year - only the glacier is open so it's not
unusual for the Jandri lift to be closed for a couple of days or so
during the week. I've been lucky the last three years.

Over the entire week the lifts get going at 7.30, and by then the queues
(of club/national team skiers race training) are already large. If you
can afford a private instructor you can jump the queues, to the disgust
of the 'experts'. Runs have been marked out right across the glacier, so
there's not much choice of pistes. And you won't find any really testing
runs at L2A, just the one small black.

It's a lively resort, but outside of skiing/boarding and drinking
there's not much else to do, other activities are mostly shut down
inter-season (the resort closes again at the end of the week). The
Surf/Ski exhibition mainly consists of a huge marquee full of the main
brands (clothing/ski/snowboard equipment) at discounted prices. Fashion
shows. A few lesser-known stars are dragged in to sign autographs. The
occasional competition both on snow up on the glacier and skateboarding
down in the resort, accompanied by the compulsory deafening hip-hop. At
least I think it's hip-hop, can't really tell the difference, sure
someone will put me right. You can try out the new season's gear, free,
on the glacier.

Les Deux Alpes instructors?

Charlotte Swift, excellent with beginners and intermediates, one teenage
kid I took who'd hated every lesson (skiing or anything else) he'd ever
had, actually wanted more. www.easiski.com

Anne Millet of 'Ski Privilege', former French World Cup team member,
good English (worked in States for a number of years), ideal for
intermediates and above, tough taskmaster (or should that be mistress),
great with kids though. http://anne.millet.free.fr

Dave Morris, runs SnowPro with Pete Hughes, never skied with him myself
but have heard excellent reports. Piste weeks, carving weeks, bumps,
lessons for beginners. www.snowpro.co.uk

Jeremy Edward's European Ski School, English instructors. Jeremy also
runs the Le Cret Hotel and Secret Bar - a lively and popular après ski
haunt, mainly Brits. Good deals on summer skiing accommodation (when
there's snow, that is)...
www.europeanskischool.co.uk

Pete