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Flaine



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 26th 08, 11:52 AM posted to uk.rec.motorcycles,rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Ace[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 77
Default Flaine

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?

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`
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  #2  
Old March 26th 08, 12:23 PM posted to uk.rec.motorcycles,rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Colin Irvine[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9
Default Flaine

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?


Highs - huge choice of wide and easy red and blue runs , good snow for
late season, Samoens is a nice village with friendly locals.

All the people we chatted to staying in Flaine itself were families
who really rated it as a family resort. Kids could have lunch with the
ski school meaning parents had all morning and lunchtime to ski off
somewhere. Lots of easy blues, ski in and out. And for better skiers,
I don't think I've ever seen so much off-piste availability.

Lows - Samoens not ski in or out, last part of tourmaline blue link
into Flaine narrow and very crowded, had a long trek from Flaine back
to Samoens one day when weather closed in to 20 ft visibility!

--
Colin Irvine
YZF1000R BOF#33 BONY#34 COFF#06 BHaLC#5
http://www.colinandpat.co.uk
  #3  
Old March 26th 08, 12:53 PM posted to uk.rec.motorcycles,rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Ace[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 77
Default Flaine

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?


Highs - huge choice of wide and easy red and blue runs , good snow for
late season, Samoens is a nice village with friendly locals.


Yeah, nice village - was on our shortlist to buy before we decided on
Engelberg.

All the people we chatted to staying in Flaine itself were families
who really rated it as a family resort. Kids could have lunch with the
ski school meaning parents had all morning and lunchtime to ski off
somewhere. Lots of easy blues, ski in and out. And for better skiers,
I don't think I've ever seen so much off-piste availability.


Indeed, it's the main reason we go back to much. But we've even more
where we are now :-)

Lows - Samoens not ski in or out,


But much better than it ued to be now they've got the new express
gondola from village height. The previous access was half-way up the
hill.

last part of tourmaline blue link
into Flaine narrow and very crowded,


They've put in a couple of alternative end-points this year, although
they're both below the worst part where the piste kinks back to the
right under the pylons.

had a long trek from Flaine back
to Samoens one day when weather closed in to 20 ft visibility!


You got back though, which is the main point. It's a fair drive round
in a taxi if you screw up completely.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`
  #4  
Old March 26th 08, 01:47 PM posted to uk.rec.motorcycles,rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Colin Irvine[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9
Default Flaine

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:53:03 +0100, Ace squeezed
out the following:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:23:49 +0000, in
, Colin Irvine
wrote:
Lows - Samoens not ski in or out,


But much better than it ued to be now they've got the new express
gondola from village height. The previous access was half-way up the
hill.


Oh yes. And tbf with a regular ski bus from the appartment and no
queues to speak of for the gondola it was more of a medium than a low.

had a long trek from Flaine back
to Samoens one day when weather closed in to 20 ft visibility!


You got back though, which is the main point. It's a fair drive round
in a taxi if you screw up completely.


Indeed. Thankfully we'd already done the return trip the day before so
knew what to look out for. I was hard pushed, however, to explain at
one point why the piste markers that emerged evey so often out of the
gloom had, with an increase in steepness, suddenly changed from blue
to black. Luckily Pat believed me that all the blacks were easy that
far down the slope!

--
Colin Irvine
  #5  
Old March 26th 08, 02:06 PM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Roger Moss[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 29
Default Flaine - mini-report


"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

  #6  
Old March 26th 08, 03:34 PM posted to uk.rec.motorcycles,rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Ace[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 77
Default Flaine

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:47:50 +0000, in
, Colin Irvine
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:53:03 +0100, Ace squeezed
out the following:

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


had a long trek from Flaine back
to Samoens one day when weather closed in to 20 ft visibility!


You got back though, which is the main point. It's a fair drive round
in a taxi if you screw up completely.


Indeed. Thankfully we'd already done the return trip the day before so
knew what to look out for. I was hard pushed, however, to explain at
one point why the piste markers that emerged evey so often out of the
gloom had, with an increase in steepness, suddenly changed from blue
to black. Luckily Pat believed me that all the blacks were easy that
far down the slope!


That'll have been you taking a wrong left turn off the Dahu blue onto
the bottom of the Marmottes black, then. Fortunately it's not at all
black at that point, more of a blue-ish red really. The blue run can
actually be a lot worse at the point where it dog-legs left back on
itself just before reaching the Gouilles lift, so you should tell Pat
that you were taking the easyier route down without too much untruth
:-)


  #7  
Old March 26th 08, 04:24 PM posted to uk.rec.motorcycles,rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Colin Irvine[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9
Default Flaine

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:34:49 +0100, Ace squeezed
out the following:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:47:50 +0000, in
, Colin Irvine
wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:53:03 +0100, Ace squeezed
out the following:

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


had a long trek from Flaine back
to Samoens one day when weather closed in to 20 ft visibility!

You got back though, which is the main point. It's a fair drive round
in a taxi if you screw up completely.


Indeed. Thankfully we'd already done the return trip the day before so
knew what to look out for. I was hard pushed, however, to explain at
one point why the piste markers that emerged evey so often out of the
gloom had, with an increase in steepness, suddenly changed from blue
to black. Luckily Pat believed me that all the blacks were easy that
far down the slope!


That'll have been you taking a wrong left turn off the Dahu blue onto
the bottom of the Marmottes black, then. Fortunately it's not at all
black at that point, more of a blue-ish red really.


Quite.

The blue run can
actually be a lot worse at the point where it dog-legs left back on
itself just before reaching the Gouilles lift, so you should tell Pat
that you were taking the easyier route down without too much untruth
:-)


Oh I showed her the next day (which was glorious sunshine) - and she
was convinced!

--
Colin Irvine
  #8  
Old March 30th 08, 10:19 PM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Mike Mather
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default Flaine - mini-report


"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.



  #9  
Old March 31st 08, 09:17 AM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Roger Moss[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 29
Default Flaine - mini-report


"Ace" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:19:53 +0100, "Mike Mather"
wrote:

Grand Massif/Flaine


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.


Really? Where are these then? Cos I didn't see any in the three weeks
I was there over xmas/new year.


Well, not sure about the others, but there's a large one incorporated into
the top station of the gondola from Les Carroz.

I applaud this move too, something they've been doing for years in Canada.

Re. Samoëns, it does suit a 'different' clientele, but does that rather
well - and has much easier road access than Flaine (particularly in
difficult conditions).

Bottm Line: the GM has something for everyone!


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

  #10  
Old March 31st 08, 09:16 PM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Mike Mather
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default Flaine - mini-report


"Ace" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:19:53 +0100, "Mike Mather"
wrote:

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.


Odd, that. It's not usually icy. Anyhow, you should just add this to
the list of reasons to use two planks instead of one.

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


And another


Yes, I won't start a debate on the merits of both, but I intend to start
learning on the dry slope over the Summer to keep my options open. The
conditions were perfect for a board last week, but watching my daughter
carve some effortless turns on a perfectly prepared Chariande run made me
even keener to try it.


A general European negative (read whinge) at the moment is the strengh of
the Euro (weakness of the £?).


Move abroad then. It's a UK problem, not a European one.


Agreed, If only it was that simple! On our return my first taste of the UK
was some 'fantastic' customer service at a motorway service station.

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?).


Not heard of that one, I must admit. Sounds like a good idea though.


When we stayed in Belle Plagne about 4 years ago, I bought a family ski pass
as above. To make it even better the lift pass office said we could use it
on the Saturday from 1400, so we had a bonus 3 hour session in the
afternoon. I found this on the LP website. The price is ?680 for 6 days,
with each additional child ?148.50,

"Families made up of 2 parents and 2 children aged between 6 and 17 qualify
for the family price if they buy 4 identical ski passes simultaneously
(valid for 6 days and more, same dates and ski aera). Other teenagers in the
same family aged between 14 and 17 years qualify for child price".


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.


Really? Where are these then? Cos I didn't see any in the three weeks
I was there over xmas/new year.


As Roger as added there is one on the top of the Les Carroz gondola which
was packed every day. I spent a week there is 2006 and didn't notice it
once, so I'm not sure if they are new additions. It is on your right as you
come out of the gondola.

There was another we used at the bottom of the Le Lac chair (vernant) to the
right of the lift pass booth. This was empty and looked brand new.
There are several others marked on the piste map in most of the major areas
(top of grand plattieres, Morrillon at the ski pass booth, Samoens by
Chariande 1, to mention a few) and though I didn't visit them to confirm
they are there, I assume they must be in place.

Mike



 




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