Spring skiing: Best alpine resorts?

Bugger!

Two kids now at different schools = 2 different Feb half tem weeks = can
only go week commencing 5 april!

We have never done Spring skiing before and are uncertain of where to look.

Any advice as to best places to think about going? All intemediate skiers
(for age group 11-50!) looking for more skiing than sunning!

pk

p.k. wrote:
Bugger!

Two kids now at different schools = 2 different Feb half tem weeks = can
only go week commencing 5 april!

We have never done Spring skiing before and are uncertain of where to look.

Any advice as to best places to think about going? All intemediate skiers
(for age group 11-50!) looking for more skiing than sunning!

pk




Most of the high ski resorts offer good skiing at that time of year. We
have had good April skiing in: Courcheval, La Plagne, Les Menuires, Les
Arcs, Val D'Isere, Verbier and Zermat. The skiing has been OK in
Whistler and doable in Banff. Kitzbuel was a bit thin. All these are
good resorts for intermediates. Sun burn is a serious problem in April,
so be careful.

John

John Elgy wrote:

Most of the high ski resorts offer good skiing at that time of year.
We have had good April skiing in: Courcheval, La Plagne, Les
Menuires, Les Arcs, Val D'Isere, Verbier and Zermat. The skiing has
been OK in Whistler and doable in Banff. Kitzbuel was a bit thin. All
these are good resorts for intermediates. Sun burn is a serious
problem in April, so be careful.

John

Thanks for the reassurance..... I'm getting the picture that the "End of the
skiing season in the British brochures" is more to do with the "British"
than the end of anything!

We are looking at club med in Val d'Isere - having geared ourselves up to
pay February Prices April @ Val looks a bargain!

pk

Thanks for the reassurance..... I'm getting the picture that the "End of
the
skiing season in the British brochures" is more to do with the "British"
than the end of anything!

We are looking at club med in Val d'Isere - having geared ourselves up to
pay February Prices April @ Val looks a bargain!

You'll love it. Early April is one of the best times to ski - empty slopes,
and warm long days - enjoy those beers in the sunshine after the lifts have
closed! Pack plenty of T-shirts but bring also the winter stuff in case of
bad weather

The downside: the snow is certainly not the light stuff you are used to in
February, you'll either love it or loathe it. Rock solid until mid-morning,
then more and more slushy as the day goes on - so you'll feel it in your
muscles after the first day... Some of the lower slopes and return runs to
the resort tend to become obstacle courses more fit for cows than for skiers
(look out for the marmottes!), but up top it's wonderful.

Your comment about Britsh brochures is valid also for most other "tourists",
be they from Paris, Amsterdam or Stockholm. The locals know the season
continues to the first or second weekend in May.

--

On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 21:47:47 +0000 (UTC), "p.k."
wrote:

Bugger!

Two kids now at different schools = 2 different Feb half tem weeks = can
only go week commencing 5 april!

We have never done Spring skiing before and are uncertain of where to look.

Any advice as to best places to think about going? All intemediate skiers
(for age group 11-50!) looking for more skiing than sunning!

Others have mentioned the 'high' resorts, and my personal preference
_from them_ would be Tignes, but that would be second choice overall,
with Flaine riding high at the top of my list. I've skied late season
there in each of the last six seasons, sometimes doing a repping stint
of up to three weeks, and have never been disappointed.

Sure, the snow isn't _always_ light and fluffy, but early-mid April is
one of the most likely times to get fresh powder in Flaine (IME) and
if not there's a vast range of pisted runs to choose from. Certainly
it's about the most likely resort to get dumped on if there's any snow
around and it has a well-deserved reputation for hanging onto its snow
very late indeed.

This year, they were still skiing into May. I bowed out the third
weekend of April, which was absolutely superb, with loads of fresh
snow. They even opened up the Gers bowl[1], which was nice :-)

[1] Which I have to say is probably the best off-piste area in the
Alpes.

--
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.

p.k. wrote:

: Thanks for the reassurance..... I'm getting the picture that the "End of the
: skiing season in the British brochures" is more to do with the "British"
: than the end of anything!

The end of the season is partly governed by "when Easter falls" and also
by the uncertainty about late skiing. In the past few years April tends to have
been one of the best months at places like Val D'Isere (and the resports
have closed with stacks os snow!) - but it needs some luck!

This year I was in Les Arcs about mid-MARCH and it was so enormously sunny
and hot it looked like April would be totally hopeless - the weather then
swing right around, new snow arrived and it was (I gather) very good.

Brian McIlwrath wrote:
p.k. wrote:

: Thanks for the reassurance..... I'm getting the picture that the "End of the
: skiing season in the British brochures" is more to do with the "British"
: than the end of anything!

The end of the season is partly governed by "when Easter falls" and also
by the uncertainty about late skiing. In the past few years April tends to have
been one of the best months at places like Val D'Isere (and the resports
have closed with stacks os snow!) - but it needs some luck!

This year I was in Les Arcs about mid-MARCH and it was so enormously sunny
and hot it looked like April would be totally hopeless - the weather then
swing right around, new snow arrived and it was (I gather) very good.


I can confirm that the last week in March 2005 was good in Les Arcs.

John

" " wrote:
:
: This year I was in Les Arcs about mid-MARCH and it was so enormously sunny
: and hot it looked like April would be totally hopeless - the weather then
: swing right around, new snow arrived and it was (I gather) very good.

: I can confirm that the last week in March 2005 was good in Les Arcs.

Whereas at the end of probably the preceeding week when I was there (13th
to 20th March) it had got so hot and very sunny that the snow was visibly
melting - even though I was staying pretty low at Vallandry the chalet staff
had heard that the WHOLE resort was planning to close two weeks early on
9th April unless it improved!

Just shows how much luck plays a part in late March/April skiing!

In message , Ace
writes

Sure, the snow isn't _always_ light and fluffy, but early-mid April is
one of the most likely times to get fresh powder in Flaine (IME) and
if not there's a vast range of pisted runs to choose from. Certainly
it's about the most likely resort to get dumped on if there's any snow
around and it has a well-deserved reputation for hanging onto its snow
very late indeed.

This year, they were still skiing into May. I bowed out the third
weekend of April, which was absolutely superb, with loads of fresh
snow. They even opened up the Gers bowl[1], which was nice :-)


A cold snap in mid-April is a fairly regular feature of Western European
weather that's worth exploiting if you have a choice of dates. The w/c
5th April's likely to be warmer than the week after.

--
Sue ]

MadCow wrote in news:4wqZDSFySysCFw34
@mashtub.demon.co.uk:

The w/c
5th April's likely to be warmer than the week after.

Are you sure?

--
Adrian