Where to go January 2012?

Northern Monkey

Hi folks,

I'm looking for some recommendations on where to go this year.

We are an intermediate group of 4 and historically have skied blues and reds with the very ocassional black thrown in (2 of the 4 would be better skiers). We normally would only have a couple of pints after dinner, so Apres Ski isn't a massive consideration but somewhere with a bot of a town to walk about a couple of evenings would be nice.

We have been to the following resorts, so would be looking somewhere different for this year:

Soldeu - Had great snow, so really enjoyed it.
La plagne -Really liked the slopes but not the resort
Tignes - Loved it here, but would like to try a few different resorts before going back.

We probably have a budget of €1,200-1,500 per person to include everything.

All suggestions welcome:D

westham87

Hi Northern Monkey,

What about trying the resort of Madesimo? I usually travel with activitybreaks.com and I have seen that they have a ski holiday there. I might look into it my self as it seems quite cheap - the reference of the one I am looking at is 21962.

You can get cheap ryanair flights to milan bergamo and it doesnt seem too far from there, plus the flights are pretty cheap. I think mine were about 90 euro when i went last year to the ski resort of montecampione - it is even better value but i dont think it has many black runs for your friends who are better skiers.

derv

i agree with you that tignes is really good! was there last year.
you would like livigno (italy) if you liked tignes. (i did anyway)

you won't get as much of a variety on runs as you did in tignes because of the link between val d'isere etc , but there is still loads to do there.

i would recommend it.
from memory, i think it was a good bit cheaper than tignes / la plagne / val d'isere.
flights are also very reasonable.

defo worth a look.

TheoBane

Well if you loved Tignes, i would Suggest going somewhere like 3V. That be quite good sking there, i say the best out of 3V from experience would be Val Thoren(which is the highest resort in europe so snow is definite). There's also Merbiel which is quite good and central in 3V.

The next area i say would be good is Avoriaz or Morzine, Once again your in another area that is massive ski and also a little bit of apre ski.

Those are my opion's, but my suggestion is to check all these placs's that the guys here suggest and narrow them all. Everyone else on the forums here have a good base of knowledge of ski resort's so you will get a big slection to pick from. Anyway, that's my contribution

Rew

I was in Merbiel last Jan/Feb. Great spot despite it not having snowed for a month when we were there. Id highly recommend it as there is 650 km of slopes so plent of varity. We did it half board all in for the lower end of you budget and stayed in a ski in/ski out hotel in Mottaret.

Mottaret is fairly quiet compared to Merbiel but has everything and brilliant access to lifts as well as a green run into Merbiel and all the lifts there. There was a good bus system if you get caught out by lifts closing. Merbiel/Mottaret are very central with easy access to Courchevel and Val Thorens.

Courchevel is very pricey and is full of very rich Russains who fly into an airport thats on the slopes (crazy to watch the planes coming in and out).

Val Thorens was nice, seemed to have everything bit quieter then the other towns.

fct

I'd really recommend Les 3 Vallees (Meribel, Les Menuires, Val Thorens) as well! Been in Les Menuires 6 years, and last year in Val Thorens.
Great area for intermediate+.
Lots of long runs and with 630km of slopes, you won't have to take the same slope twice in a week.

I also like Skiwelt in Austria.
Very affordable, short transfer times from the airports and an extensive area (280km). Though limited in altitude, shorter runs and not that many difficult runs.

am i bovvered

I also like Skiwelt in Austria.
Very affordable, short transfer times from the airports and an extensive area (280km). Though limited in altitude, shorter runs and not that many difficult runs.

Have you any recomendations who/where to fly with/into and where to stay.
Thanks

Fattes

SkiWelt; Innsbruck will get you there in about an hour.


Ellmau

Westendorf

Soll

In order of preference, Not hte biggest fan of Soll but its cheap and cheerfull

fct

am i bovvered wrote: »

Have you any recomendations who/where to fly with/into and where to stay.
Thanks

Both Innsbruck and Salzburg would be around an hour away.

I'd rate them more or less like Fattes, I'd go for:
Ellmau
Brixen Im Thale
Westendorf
Soll

Northern Monkey

Revisiting a slightly old thread... It looks like we are going to go to Val Thorens in the three valleys.

Has anyone stayed in the "hotel 3 vallees"? If so, what is it like? Seems to get good reviews on trip advisor, but I wouldn't mind getting a few opinions off boardsies.

Rew

Cant help you on the hotel specifically but in general with the 3 valleys make sure you get the full 3 valley lift pass. Figure out the buses and get a time table as its a great option for apres ski or if you get caught out on the closing times of the lifts. Le Rond Point is brilliant craic at night but its over in Meribel so you need to know how to get home after. Get out and ski as much of the 3 valleys as you can. Avoid eating/drinking in Courchevel its bloody expensive! There is a crazy bar over in Val T called La Folie Douce, its up on the slopes and well worth a visit!

There are loads of YouTube vids showing off the slopes as its a very popular area, ive a few in my channel from last Jan/Feb.

anymore

Consider Maryhoffen in Austria and you have all the resorts in the Zillertal valley open to you which gives you a great range of runs including the Hintertux glacier.

Northern Monkey

Rew wrote: »

Cant help you on the hotel specifically but in general with the 3 valleys make sure you get the full 3 valley lift pass. Figure out the buses and get a time table as its a great option for apres ski or if you get caught out on the closing times of the lifts. Le Rond Point is brilliant craic at night but its over in Meribel so you need to know how to get home after. Get out and ski as much of the 3 valleys as you can. Avoid eating/drinking in Courchevel its bloody expensive! There is a crazy bar over in Val T called La Folie Douce, its up on the slopes and well worth a visit!

There are loads of YouTube vids showing off the slopes as its a very popular area, ive a few in my channel from last Jan/Feb.

Thanks for that. I watched a few of your videos and it has made my mind up about getting a HD hero before we go!

Rew

Northern Monkey wrote: »

Thanks for that. I watched a few of your videos and it has made my mind up about getting a HD hero before we go!

Yeah they're well worth it. We were getting a half day out of a battery easily and a weeks worth of footage was about 50gb so either buy a couple of big cards or have a laptop to clear your card. At an absolute minimum you will need an 8gb card but TBH 16gb or a 32gb is the way to go.

A smart buy is the the HD Hero Naked, chest mount and bike mount. Bike mount goes on to the ski pole giving you those cool looking back shots. Chest mount gets your skis and arms in shot giving some perspective. The extra bits in the Helmet Hero pack aren't that useful, though I did use the vented helmet mount to rig up a mount for my ski boot and I've used it for MTBing with a cycle helmet. You can pick them up cheap though. I bought a spare battery from ebay for 1/3 of the price of the shops.

Good tip for the bike mount is to cut up some rubber (bicycle inner tube is perfect) to wrap around the pole then put the bike mount over that, its much more stable. A compact philips screwdriver is very very handy for tightening up the various mounts, esp the bike mount. I got the tripod mount recently and I have tiny tripod im bringing skiing this year. Ill put the camera down and ski up to it/at it/over it for some different shots.

Get used to the menus and the different video modes before you go. I mainly shot in mode 3 and 4 (720p 60fps and 960p 30fps). 60fps is very cool for doing slow motion shots with (have a look at my latest vid of one of my dogs in slow motion).

My friends was stolen along with his backpack halfway though the week so watch you gear, insurance covered it with a bit of a fight.

3 valleys is a fantastic spot you will have a great time!