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Chamonix hot tips.....



 
 
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Old February 20th 05, 09:53 AM
John Ricketts
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Default Chamonix hot tips.....

This years's trip to Cham was interesting.... basically, a party of 10
travelling separately, some driving, some flying, some in S/C apartment
sat/sat some in a hotel wed/wed.

First, driving out, staying sat/sat in S/C apartment:
I drove out friday before the half term holiday, leaving Gloucester at
2-00pm. This would not have been my preferred option, but my eldest left the
same day on a school ski trip to the Wildschonau so I had little choice of
departure time.

The drive from Gloucester to Dover took 7.5hrs and was horrendous! The ferry
was delayed 2 hours (only one berth working at Calais) so arrived Calais at
03:30am. This meant that the drive across France (stopping only for
fuel/toilets - one driver - bad idea!) landed us in the thick of things on
the Autoroute Blanche. However, we still made Chamonix by 12:30pm so all
things considered the 9 hours was not too bad. We had intended to ski on the
saturday afternoon, and had packed accordingly. However, there is no
dictating the weather, and it was 10 degrees in Geneva, and 6 degrees in
Cham with heavy rain, and freezing level up at 2000m so we hit a restaurant
instead, and managed early entry to the apartment by 2-00pm.

Apartment this time was le Chamois Blanc, which is immediately opposite the
Chamonix Sud bus station. There is a ski-locker room underneath, which gives
you very easy access to the busses. The apartment was a lot quieter than the
Maeva one we had last year, but still had to use earplugs if you wanted to
sleep through the 4-00am snow-boarder parties outside! Biggest problem with
the apartment was the lack of any drying facilities for wet gear. Why don't
they give you a tumble dryer instead of a dishwasher?????

Because of the proximity to the bus stop, I only used the bus at the end of
the week when we where cruising Le Tour/Vallorcine. (And because it was
totally snow bound and eventually took me 1 hour to dig it out and get the
chains on.....just to get it out of the car-park!)

Cost for driving over was: 5 tanks full in total (say £250), £52 5*breakdown
cover, £25 extra on car insurance premium, £118 return on the ferry, and
about £100 total in tolls. (BTW....what IS the poing of having brilliant
toll roads that zap you across the country in no time at all......but from
one HUGE toll carpark jam to the next????) Apartment was about £600 for five
people, but was a little small. The return trip home was horrendous. We
stayed for a meal in Vallorcine on the last night, so had to return ski's on
the saturday morning before departure. The ski shop opened at 8:15am, and we
were on the road by 8:30am. It was snowing as we left, and the snow (which
became hail then eventually rain) seemed to follow us all the way back to
Blighty. The first 90 miles down the autoroute blanche took us 4 hours!
Traffic was horrible....took 13 hours almost non-stop back to Calais. Ferry
crossing was good, then only 3 hours back from Dover to Gloucester.

Second party: mid-week/midweek, Easyjet flights from Manchester/Bristol,
hirecar, 1/2 board Hotel Du Boet in Vallorcine. Flights £79/£65. Hotel £175
for the week. Fantastic old-world 1880's hunting lodge feel to the place,
very french (no english!) lovely spot. One train stop up from new Vallorcine
lift. This is THE place to go (even if telling you spoils it for me next
year ;-0)

The skiing: Sunday was totally closed in, with everywhere shut except Les
Houche. However, when we got there it was surprisingly quiet, and with good
snow and good visibility! Most people I reckon had looked out of the window
and not bothered. We had a good day skiing through the trees.

Monday we hit Flegere, which was only partly open, in mixed conditions. Snow
was perfect, and we explored the limited runs available round La Trappe,
Chavanne, and Everts (I think).

Tuesday improved, and a lot more open. Because of the good snow, for the
first time I had a chance to do the La Praz black run down to the base
station. It was in superb condition, with only a small amount of ice near
the bottom. However, it did not last long before the snow-boarders had
scraped it clean.

Wednesday the sun came out! Skied flegere/brevent, and again, had the chance
to try the Nants run down the Cham. This was fantastic, with not a single
stone showing! Again though, by closing time I guess it would be going thin
again. It did not seem to be a particularly difficult black, and I brought
the kids down it. They thoughoughly enjoyed it!

Thursday/friday; stunning weather. Drove to Vallorcine and took the new
gondola. Big carpark, NO QUEUES! and a lovely blue back down to base through
the trees. A nice lunch at the C de B refuge on the top (but use loos lower
down the mountain!!!) and all in all, 2 BRILLIANT days......

Next year, I will be taking the kids out of school, flying mid-week, and
staying in Vallorcine.....only another 350 days or so............

Wherever you go enjoy your sliding!

Regards,
John Ricketts


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