Advice required for beginner

Hi,

As a beginner to skiing I was hoping some of you out there might be able to
give me some advice on the choice of resort.

I'm planning to go skiing in early April (3rd to 10th) with a friend who is
also a beginner. We were looking for a resort in France that would be good
for learning but not cost a fortune - don't see the point in paying 200 Euro
for a week's ski pass if we never leave the green runs!

Unfortunately, early April is the only time we can go so I reckon we'll have
to go pretty high to be sure of snow. So far looked at Les Deux Alpes and
Bonneval-sur-Arc with a preference for the latter as it seems more of a
typical village and is less expensive.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Frank

"Frank" wrote in message
...
Hi,

As a beginner to skiing I was hoping some of you out there might be able
to
give me some advice on the choice of resort.

I'm planning to go skiing in early April (3rd to 10th) with a friend who
is
also a beginner. We were looking for a resort in France that would be good
for learning but not cost a fortune - don't see the point in paying 200
Euro
for a week's ski pass if we never leave the green runs!

Unfortunately, early April is the only time we can go so I reckon we'll
have
to go pretty high to be sure of snow. So far looked at Les Deux Alpes and
Bonneval-sur-Arc with a preference for the latter as it seems more of a
typical village and is less expensive.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Frank


Can't help much on resorts, but do check out the learn-to-ski packages with
the travel companies. They usually offer all-inclusive "Learn to Ski" deals
(ski hire, tuition and restricted area ski-pass) at reduced cost. It maybe
that you have to buy a ski-pass for the last couple of days - for more
extensive skiing - but that should still be local pass only and so won't be
too expensive.

Think Val Thorens had a such an offer a few years ago and that has a glacier
and should be high enough to ensure snow.


--
Paul Schofield

Time flies like an arrow
Fruit flies like a banana

"Frank" wrote in
:

Hi,

As a beginner to skiing I was hoping some of you out there might be
able to give me some advice on the choice of resort.

I'm planning to go skiing in early April (3rd to 10th) with a friend
who is also a beginner. We were looking for a resort in France that
would be good for learning but not cost a fortune

I'd seriously consider Andorra for beginners.

Greg Hilton wrote:
"Frank" wrote in
:

Hi,

As a beginner to skiing I was hoping some of you out there might be
able to give me some advice on the choice of resort.

I'm planning to go skiing in early April (3rd to 10th) with a friend
who is also a beginner. We were looking for a resort in France that
would be good for learning but not cost a fortune

I'd seriously consider Andorra for beginners.

So would I, It's cheap and there's plenty of suitable terrain.


--
Chris *:-)

Downhill Good, Uphill BAD!

www.suffolkvikings.org.uk

Hi,

There is *no* need to book now - wait until mid-March. An advantage of
learning in April is that it's warmer, and as you will not be moving so much
it makes life more pleasant.

I'm not suggesting you come to Laax but resorts with higher runs will
generally have a good snow cover above 2,200m so you will find something
good. Wait and take advice from the group nearer the date, hotels will be
empty.
--
Simon Brown
www.hb9drv.ch

"Frank" wrote in message
...
Hi,

As a beginner to skiing I was hoping some of you out there might be able
to
give me some advice on the choice of resort.

I'm planning to go skiing in early April (3rd to 10th) with a friend who
is
also a beginner. We were looking for a resort in France that would be good
for learning but not cost a fortune - don't see the point in paying 200
Euro
for a week's ski pass if we never leave the green runs!

Unfortunately, early April is the only time we can go so I reckon we'll
have
to go pretty high to be sure of snow. So far looked at Les Deux Alpes and
Bonneval-sur-Arc with a preference for the latter as it seems more of a
typical village and is less expensive.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Frank

Think Val Thorens had a such an offer a few years ago and that has a glacier
and should be high enough to ensure snow.

As well as height 2300m - 3200m Val Thorens also has quite a number of easy
runs.


Michael Chare

"Simon Brown" wrote in message
...
Hi,

There is *no* need to book now - wait until mid-March. An advantage of
learning in April is that it's warmer, and as you will not be moving so
much
it makes life more pleasant.


I completely agree. By then you will know what kind of season it has been
and how low you can still find snow.

One possible resort is Les Contamines - even though it is not very high, its
proximity to Mont Blanc gives it good snow cover well into the spring -
though the snow will be, well, spring snow - not the easiest to learn in.

Also, Flaine would be a good choice. A little more expensive, but less so
than the big Tarentaise resorts - especially if you buy only a Flaine
(rather than Grand Massif) pass. You can always ski there until late April,
with the advantage that some of the nicest blue pistes accessible to (near-)
beginners are at the top of the resort, with good packed snow even in April

"Frank" wrote in message
...
Hi,

As a beginner to skiing I was hoping some of you out there might be able
to
give me some advice on the choice of resort.

I'm planning to go skiing in early April (3rd to 10th) with a friend who
is
also a beginner. We were looking for a resort in France that would be good
for learning but not cost a fortune - don't see the point in paying 200
Euro
for a week's ski pass if we never leave the green runs!

Unfortunately, early April is the only time we can go so I reckon we'll
have
to go pretty high to be sure of snow. So far looked at Les Deux Alpes and
Bonneval-sur-Arc with a preference for the latter as it seems more of a
typical village and is less expensive.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Frank


Hi
Just to make a few points about your query which have not been covered
elsewhere.

In my experience at the beginning of April you do not usually have to head
ultra high to get decent snow, having north facing slopes is just as
important plus a reasonable snow record for the resort.

With regards to Bonneval I have only skied there for a day so do not know it
well. It is very attractive and having high slopes should have decent snow
at this time. The main drawback if you are a beginner is that I do not know
of any British tour operators that go there. This could mean that there
would be no other English speaking beginners, leaving the lessons largely
conducted in French even if the instrutor does speak English. If you speak
good French ignore this point and look forward to going to a very attractive
resort.

Les Deux Alpes has excellent high skiing but as you say the lift pass is
fairly pricey as a result for the high lifts. The beginners slopes at the
bottom of the lift system are west facing and will deteriorate through the
day in the sun at this time of the year. The other main drawback IMO are the
queues which can be pretty bad to get up the mountain. I have not been at
Easter but I would have thought that they are worse than usual at this time
of the year. The village is not a beauty though the views up the mountain
are good. On the up side the snow at the top of the mountain should be
excellent and you can be guaranteed English speaking instruction.

To add in another suggestion for a French resort Montgenevre has an
attractive ski area, plenty of easy skiing, North facing slopes starting at
1800m. The lift pass for the Montgenevre area only as opposed to the full
Voie Lattee is reasonable. I have visited it on day trips several times in
April and have always found good skiing without much queuing, there is a
fair English speaking trade so instruction should not be a problem.

As has been pointed out many times before in this NG having a few lessons on
a dry slope before you go will speed up your learning and probably inrease
the enjoyment of your holiday.

Hope this helps

Bob

"Simon Brown" wrote in message
...
Hi,

There is *no* need to book now - wait until mid-March. An advantage of
learning in April is that it's warmer, and as you will not be moving so
much
it makes life more pleasant.

I'm not suggesting you come to Laax but resorts with higher runs will
generally have a good snow cover above 2,200m so you will find something
good. Wait and take advice from the group nearer the date, hotels will be
empty.
--
Simon Brown
www.hb9drv.ch

These dates are the Easter holidays I don't know what the hotels will be
like in Laax but in some of the highest French resorts many of the hotels
will be booked already, quieter resorts should be OK but flights will go up
in price neareer to booking.

Bob

Good point about flights, guess I'm spoilt living less than 1km from the
main gondola stations :-)

Easter Friday is April 9th, I was under the opinion it was two weeks later.

Very mild here, the wildlife is most confused, as am I ;-)
--
Simon Brown
www.hb9drv.ch

"Bob C" wrote in message
...

These dates are the Easter holidays I don't know what the hotels will be
like in Laax but in some of the highest French resorts many of the hotels
will be booked already, quieter resorts should be OK but flights will go
up
in price neareer to booking.