Soldeu - feeling the recession!

bcirl03

Just back from a weeks skiing in Soldeu and it was very very quiet.

Didn’t queue for any lifts until Saturday when all the locals arrived. Slopes quiet with few if any skiers on them and the bars\nightclubs\restaurants where practically empty. Speaking with some of the local workers they have said the whole season has been like this.

Anyone else experience similar when away?

robinph

I guess there must be quite a few people having cancelled holidays then. I was expecting this season to almost get away with it though as a lot of people would have booked before the news went totally mental on ressecion talk and thought that it wouldn't be hitting the holidays market properly until the summer. Sure that I saw some report on the news the other week though where they were trying to say that all in package holdays sales for next summer did not seem to have been affected yet and sales were actually up on previousl years.

Q_Ball

I hope its as quiet in Arinsal in just over two weeks!

People need not see me fall on my arse, it's not a pretty sight... :pac:

olaola

I'm having the opposite experience, trying to get a good deal on a package for the 21st March... not a hope at the moment! And most of the flights from Dublin are sold out (for packages) on that date.

Maybe I'm looking too early!

Mitch Buchannon

I was in Chamonix for a week at the start of January and it was quiet. I've been there 5 times before and i'd never seen as quiet. Again, no ques for the lifts etc. Im heading back again in March for 2 weeks so I hope its the same.

prunudo

olaola wrote: »

I'm having the opposite experience, trying to get a good deal on a package for the 21st March... not a hope at the moment! And most of the flights from Dublin are sold out (for packages) on that date.

Maybe I'm looking too early!

for some reason, some irish tour operators have either cancelled or never had flights after the begining of March. There must not be enough demand for late season skiing.

Lucifer

All of the Irish flights stop around the 15th of March. We are going to Soldeu again (was there in Jan) on the 29th of March but can only go by flying with the UK companies. We are flying Aer Lingus to London Gatwick on Saturday the 28th and staying over for the night and flying out on Sunday morning. Its a bit of a pain but we did the same last year when we went in March. It works out at about a similar price as the UK companies seem a bit cheaper so when you add on the extra flight its not too bad. If you decide to do this, do not take travel insurance with the tour operator as it is only valid for UK residents so you should buy this online yourself.

olaola

Lucifer wrote: »

All of the Irish flights stop around the 15th of March. We are going to Soldeu again (was there in Jan) on the 29th of March but can only go by flying with the UK companies. We are flying Aer Lingus to London Gatwick on Saturday the 28th and staying over for the night and flying out on Sunday morning. Its a bit of a pain but we did the same last year when we went in March. It works out at about a similar price as the UK companies seem a bit cheaper so when you add on the extra flight its not too bad. If you decide to do this, do not take travel insurance with the tour operator as it is only valid for UK residents so you should buy this online yourself.

We're thinking of booking the package through a UK agent and then dumping the flight and flying straight there ourselves. For some reason most packages are cheaper WITH flights (Thomson esp). Flights to Salzberg wth EI are about 100 EUR return, with FR approx 50 return at the moment.

cocopop

we found Soldeu busy at the end of January...love the spot!


its a shame ppl are pulling out this year when its the best snow reported in over a decade!!

Sleepy

Sierra Nevada was very quiet this year too...

kazza23

Just back from a week in Andorra (skied in Arcalis). Loads of snow, fantastic conditions, but numbers definitely down on last year. Didn't queue once for the whole week.