skiing paddys weekend 2013 is it too late?

elainee

Hi thinking of organising ski holiday next year.never being skiing b4 im thinking of going on paddys weekend is all the snow gone at this stage? should we go earlier??
Looking to rent a ski schalet..maybe. where would u recommened for beginners?
Looking for somewhere which has alot of winter sports and things to do as parents and family will be going.
any info would b great!!

puzzle factory

there was a little bit of snow left on Carrauntoohil round march last year,youd wana be really fat or wear biker gear,cause theres the most dangerous ammount of rocks to be hoppin off on the way down..............

elainee

Hilarious! :mad: obiously im thinking about europe somewhere!

Spook_ie

goodness....you are planning early for 2013 !!!!! Best thing to do is to look at High Altitude resorts, ie Obergurgl, Obertauern etc - or you could look at going to Ruka in Finland (been there twice over Paddy's wk and the conditions were fab) all of these type of resorts are open till late April.

puzzle factory

elainee wrote: »

Hilarious! :mad: obiously im thinking about europe somewhere!

i should have know that,with ammount of fruit loops ive being eating lately,i should be able to read gods mind,never mind yours:)

elainee

Spook_ie wrote: »

goodness....you are planning early for 2013 !!!!! Best thing to do is to look at High Altitude resorts, ie Obergurgl, Obertauern etc - or you could look at going to Ruka in Finland (been there twice over Paddy's wk and the conditions were fab) all of these type of resorts are open till late April.

thanks a mill where is obergurgl and obertauern?
oh i have always wanted to go to finland! can i fly there from dublin?
whats ruka like? is there alot to do eg ski snowboard bob sleigh??

Spook_ie

We are just back from Obertauern and its in Austria - we flew to Salzburg, but you could also fly to Munich. Its a high altitude resort, have a look at www.obertauern.com and we stayed in the Steinadler Aparthotel which was fab, right beside the lifts so no ski bus.

Ruka was just amazing but sadly this year Ryanair stopped flying to Tampere, so the only way I think you can get there is to either fly Dublin - Helsinki - Kuusamo or go via the Uk either independently or through the likes of Crystal ski, Inghams etc (they fly out of Manchester or Gatwick if my memory serves me well) As a family destination you really cant beat Ruka, apart from the skiing, you can go dog sledding (dont get me started on that ! we all ended up with our own team of dogs.....hilarious), ice fishing, toboganning etc oh and believe it or not......the local tourist office organised for us to go into the wilderness and find Santa and Mrs Claus on their 'holidays'........another long story but equally hilarious. On the two occasions we went we stayed in the Maston Aitio cabins and Ruka Suite Appartments.

We also went to Flaine in France, and while the skiing was good, there was nothing else there for us, and for us we wouldnt return there........

elainee

thanks a mill spook ie u have bein really helpfull i think finland sounds excellent what is the night life like there? did u rent all ur gear when u got there or did u bring ur own? sorry for all the questions!!!

Spook_ie

Ask as much as you like !

As regards nightlife in Ruka, it mainly centered around the 'Yellow P' which backs onto the ski slope, and its a bar come restaurant, quite tame until 11pm and then its a madhouse ! they serve lovely reindeer stew ! dont knock it till you've tried it !!!! but I wouldnt be the best person to ask because the two times that we did go we went with two other families (each of us in our own cabins) so most evenings after dinner, we went to the closed ski slopes and toboganed to our hearts content with all the kids and then back to one of the cabins and we would have a glass of wine and toasted mashmallows on the fire.

We have some of our own equipment now, but we didnt have any when we went to Ruka the first time, so we hired all the ski's etc when we were there. I had bought two ski suits from TK Maxx for the kids (approx 30 euros each) and snowboots, both of us adults also bought salopettes (again approx 35 euros) from TK Maxx. Now, we had booked the dog sledding through a local office in Ruka called Artic Sarfaris, and when we arrived in Ruka we checked in with them and they gave us all thermal snow suits, boots and gloves to use for the week and that was included in the price of the dog sledding (mind you, it was expensive !) so we hadnt expected that, and they were lovely and toasty.

elainee

it sounds brilliant! i want to go now!!haha

Northern Monkey

Val Thorens is open until early May usually, so should have a good few runs open in March.

flikflak

The week you are looking at most resorts would still be open but for lower resorts this is snow dependant so look at somewhere high with a good record or with a glacier as part of the resort.

Get some of the tour ops brochures and have a look as this will give you a good sense of what different countries and resorts can offer.

pc7

I've been to Livigno and Val D'Isere at that time of year and both were full of snow. There is lots of availability out of Ireland, I'd hold till the week before and pick a resort then and book. Holidays with direct ski this weekend for 230 euros!

Overflow

I surprised nobody has said since you asked if it was better to go earlier, i would say yes, jan or feb would be best, conditions much better then and you would have more choice of resorts instead of looking just for high altitude resorts.