Vail vs Courchevel?

In message , Jonathan Gogan
writes

You will also find Courchevel, at least the 1850 part, eye
wateringly expensive.

Ah.
But you can see as many 'mature' ladies in fur coats and sunspecs
carring obliatory little dog/rabbits as you can stand GRATIS/FREE
no charge!

Actually skiing while carrying the little dogs?
--
Sue ]

"Sue" wrote in message
...
In message , Jonathan Gogan
writes

You will also find Courchevel, at least the 1850 part, eye
wateringly expensive.

Ah.
But you can see as many 'mature' ladies in fur coats and sunspecs
carring obliatory little dog/rabbits as you can stand GRATIS/FREE
no charge!

Actually skiing while carrying the little dogs?

My first day in Courchevel five years back and we took the elevator to
the apartment (myself and 5 yr old daughter). In gets 'mature' lady,
complete with black and white mink (obligatory rat in arms). My daughter
pipes up, loudly (in French) "It's the witch from 101 Dalmatians!".
Cruella herself couldn't have done better with the resultant sneer.

Pete
www.grasski.org

In message , PG
writes

Actually skiing while carrying the little dogs?

My first day in Courchevel five years back and we took the elevator to
the apartment (myself and 5 yr old daughter). In gets 'mature' lady,
complete with black and white mink (obligatory rat in arms). My daughter
pipes up, loudly (in French) "It's the witch from 101 Dalmatians!".
Cruella herself couldn't have done better with the resultant sneer.

Have you seen the post about the rat-on-rope in Paris, dragged through
multi-lane traffic by its owner, a vehicle rolled over the dog and
squashed it but Madame didn't notice, walked on, still towing the
now-flat dog?
I saw that n e a r l y happen with a snowboard beginner on the Val
d'Isere nursery slope, he had his back to the dog and couldn't have seen
it but he fell over, inches before he reached it.
Pity.
--
Sue ];(

"InMyTree" wrote in message
...
Courchevel is part of a huge ski area.. you can ski Val Thorens which goes
up to over 3000m.. so you're going to get good snow conditions in mid
January, no doubt about it.. however, I've skiied about 6 resorts in
Italy,
Switzerland and France and none of them really compared to my north
american
ski experience..

'petty, did you ever try the italian Sella Massif (Canazei/Val
Gardena/Arabba/.....................................)?
They have skisafaries there, where you a start a new place every day for a
fortnight.

In k, Ivan Rafn typed:
"InMyTree" wrote in
message ...
Courchevel is part of a huge ski area.. you can ski Val Thorens
which goes up to over 3000m.. so you're going to get good snow
conditions in mid January, no doubt about it.. however, I've skiied
about 6 resorts in Italy, Switzerland and France and none of them
really compared to my north american ski experience..

'petty, did you ever try the italian Sella Massif (Canazei/Val
Gardena/Arabba/.....................................)?
They have skisafaries there, where you a start a new place every day
for a fortnight.

Or just go round the sella ronda an ski a different resort each day.


--
Chris *:-)

Downhill Good, Uphill BAD!

www.suffolkvikings.org.uk

But last winter we had good early snow over much of the Alps which gave
pretty good skiing for much of the season but in bright sunshine.This was
quite unusual in Europe in my experience - normally if you can ski it you
can't see it.,

However, we have quite enough people who live this side of the Atlantic
filling up our pistes. So unless you want to try out your skills in a
foreign language (that's English by the way - there's loads of them in
Courchevel) ordering foreign food and paying for it in Euros (worth about
the same as dollars but you can tell the denominations apart), you will
probably find less to complain about on your side.

Paul

"Karl with a K" wrote in message
news:cGhhdHBoaWw=.a12b0de49a7297890047b26f87f1d538 @1063374798.cotse.net...
OswCar wrote:

Hi,
We are a group of 8 persons that are planning to go to ski next 17th
of January for a week.
We have been in Vail, so we decided to go to Courchevel to visit a new
place for us, but after reading some posts that talks about the icy
and lack of snow in Courchevel, we now have doubts about going there.
The ski and after ski in Vail is excellent and we don't want to be in
Courchevel thinking about how good was Vail. If you were us, Would
you try Vail again or you would choose Courchevel?

Are the snow conditions for mid january in Courchevel as good as Vail?

Would you go to some other resort?

We are intermediate skiers.

Thanks.

Generally, the conditions in Colorado in January are very reliable due
to the higher altitude. Europe varies widely by the altitude. Two years
ago, at the beginning of February, conditions were horrible even up to
2000 meters. You will also find that many of the areas in Europe are
far more chaotic in terms of lift-line ettiquette, etc. In my opinion,
if you are not in a position to take advantage of the challenging
terrain, then the extra travel time and cultural difficulties are
probably not worth the hassle.

There is a time and place to try adventures, but you have to ask
yourself if it is time.

I don't spend much time at Vail, Jackson, Taos and BC are my favorite
places but I do have to say that I spent a day over at Blue Sky Basin
at Vail and I cannot imagine a better place for intermediate/advanced
groomed run skiers.

I used to live in Courchevel and can say that it is definately worth a look.
It is much different than the North American ski resorts in general. You
will find that the European style of long lunches and lots of socializing
are a priority there, although in saying that the skiing can be pretty good
(if the snow is there for you). The one thing that they do have lots of
there is sunshine. I think the season that I spent in Courchevel was the
worst goggle tan that I ever had.

I haven't skied at Vail as of yet, so am unable to answer you there. I
currently live in Whistler and can vouch that it is a good spot for most
levels of skiers. It has tons of intermediate terrain and the apres ski is
not bad. I would say that the apres ski in Whistler is significantly better
than Courchevel. (At least when I was there 6 years ago).

Have fun wherever you go, however if you are thinking of coming to Whistler
don't hesitate to look us up. We sell holidays here and would happily sort
something out for you.

Have fun skiing whereever you go.

Matt
www.vipmountainholidays.com



"OswCar" wrote in message
om...
Hi,
We are a group of 8 persons that are planning to go to ski next 17th
of January for a week.
We have been in Vail, so we decided to go to Courchevel to visit a new
place for us, but after reading some posts that talks about the icy
and lack of snow in Courchevel, we now have doubts about going there.
The ski and after ski in Vail is excellent and we don't want to be in
Courchevel thinking about how good was Vail. If you were us, Would
you try Vail again or you would choose Courchevel?

Are the snow conditions for mid january in Courchevel as good as Vail?

Would you go to some other resort?

We are intermediate skiers.

Thanks.