Ski Season 2019/2020

blue note · 28-01-2020 3:25pm

a148pro wrote: »

Blue note, I'd talk to my granny for hours about skiing. In fact, I'd talk to your granny for hours about skiing too.

Some long overdue snow coming in. And my legs are just starting to feel fresh again...

My granny was 10 years dead in February. I suspect that wouldn't stop you.

trashcan · 28-01-2020 4:33pm

crosbie wrote: »

Hey looking at Westendorf for long weekend in late Feb. Best way to get there? Train from Munich airport? Any recommendations on accommodation? Thanks

Have only gone by charter, usually to Salzburg. Lots of people seem to fly Munich, and you can go by train to Westendorf if not driving. Would need a taxi to the village from the train station. Usually stay in the Post Hotel, but couldn't get it this year as booked too late. Don't think you'd get it for Feb at this stage. Stayed in the Jakobwirt last week. There are a good few pensions/apartments if booking yourself, non charter. The House Angerer apartments are right on the nursery slope.

AdpRo · 28-01-2020 8:31pm

Doing a DIY to Soll with the family from 14th March - 21st March. I have flights and accommodation booked but nothing else! Looking for a bit of advice on the rest!

I've got a few quotes for the transfer from Munich and €420 rtn is the best but from what I can see you can get a train to Kufstein rtn for €70, seems a no brainer to go this way and get a taxi to Soll which should be €40 max?

I presume we are ok to wait until we get there to buy the ski pass?

I am looking at lessons for 2 kids, first time skiing (6 & 8) and 1 adult, who are the best schools with good English speakers for the kids, getting confused while looking on-line as not sure what is included in the price for the kids lessons, lessons only or lessons and ski pass?

On the gear, is it best to pre-book on-line or just wait until you get there? I'd imagine it's cheaper on-line, looking at Slope Fox there seems to be a good price difference between the 2 stores they show in Soll - Skicenter Stoll and Sport Gatt, the first one being much cheaper. Has anyone had any good / bad experience with them?

All advice greatly appreciated!

a148pro · 29-01-2020 12:38am

blue note wrote: »

My granny was 10 years dead in February. I suspect that wouldn't stop you.

It wouldn't, but no disrespect meant. Some things are more important than skiing.

a148pro · 29-01-2020 12:41am

Scarlet42 wrote: »

Just back from a week in Chamonix .. our third time there .. I always forget how stressful it can be going there with kids! having to lug your gear to the bus then from the bus to the slope.

While it was enjoyable, the skiing is just class, we had a few mishaps. On the first morning I went with my son (11) and the ski-school to La Tour on their bus .. when we got there he started to feel unwell, I took him to the nearest loo and left my skis not far from the bus stop, It took me about 30 mins to get him sorted and when I went back to get my skis they were gone! I had to return to Cham to report them stolen and pay 200 quid, got another pair and headed back to La Tour to meet him and my daughter.

On Friday my sister fell at Grand Montets and broke her leg, she is still in France at the moment in what seems to be the Fawlty Towers of a hospital .. a lady in the bed next to her was smoking during the night, when my sister called the nurses they didn't believe her and told her to be quiet .. also the food looks crazy!.. mashed peas and carrots with boiled eggs for dinner!!

On Friday morning a snowboarder crashed into my daughter (13) and knocked her flying during her lesson, thankfully she wasn't badly injured but it really knocked her confidence, she couldn't ski for the rest of the day and the following would only go onto a green slope, we then waited until about 4pm and the three of us had a nice blue to ourselves and she started to relax on the skis again.

I don't think we will be back to Chamonix, its so handy to be able fly to Geneva from Belfast .. and the flights cost us 90 euros for the 4 of us, just need to look at somewhere near to Geneva. Chamonix is also so expensive!

There is a great ski jump and Slalom course there which records a video of you and they then upload to your ski pass account, my son had a great time at these.

https://youtu.be/AM86ltzw4L8

anyone any good recommends for resorts near Geneva?

Sean

This sounds like the worse holiday ever

There's a resort called flaine which is supposed to be great with kids

I did a half day in la clusaz and liked it

Megeve also close and supposed to be nice

Each is about an hour from geneva

a148pro · 29-01-2020 12:43am

AdpRo wrote: »

Doing a DIY to Soll with the family from 14th March - 21st March. I have flights and accommodation booked but nothing else! Looking for a bit of advice on the rest!

I've got a few quotes for the transfer from Munich and €420 rtn is the best but from what I can see you can get a train to Kufstein rtn for €70, seems a no brainer to go this way and get a taxi to Soll which should be €40 max?

I presume we are ok to wait until we get there to buy the ski pass?

I am looking at lessons for 2 kids, first time skiing (6 & 8) and 1 adult, who are the best schools with good English speakers for the kids, getting confused while looking on-line as not sure what is included in the price for the kids lessons, lessons only or lessons and ski pass?

On the gear, is it best to pre-book on-line or just wait until you get there? I'd imagine it's cheaper on-line, looking at Slope Fox there seems to be a good price difference between the 2 stores they show in Soll - Skicenter Stoll and Sport Gatt, the first one being much cheaper. Has anyone had any good / bad experience with them?

All advice greatly appreciated!

I think rew may have been down this road recently and can advise?

Train taxi or car rental likely a significant saving over that transfer

Rew · 29-01-2020 7:39pm

AdpRo wrote: »

Doing a DIY to Soll with the family from 14th March - 21st March. I have flights and accommodation booked but nothing else! Looking for a bit of advice on the rest!

I've got a few quotes for the transfer from Munich and €420 rtn is the best but from what I can see you can get a train to Kufstein rtn for €70, seems a no brainer to go this way and get a taxi to Soll which should be €40 max?

I presume we are ok to wait until we get there to buy the ski pass?

I am looking at lessons for 2 kids, first time skiing (6 & 8) and 1 adult, who are the best schools with good English speakers for the kids, getting confused while looking on-line as not sure what is included in the price for the kids lessons, lessons only or lessons and ski pass?

On the gear, is it best to pre-book on-line or just wait until you get there? I'd imagine it's cheaper on-line, looking at Slope Fox there seems to be a good price difference between the 2 stores they show in Soll - Skicenter Stoll and Sport Gatt, the first one being much cheaper. Has anyone had any good / bad experience with them?

All advice greatly appreciated!

Yeah I’ve been to Söll 3 time’s and heading back with the family next week for the 2nd time.

Train is cheapest and taxi from there is 40 as you say with these guys https://www.taxi-soell.tirol/en/

Ive never done it but many do. If you haven’t try these guys for transfer https://www.tirol-taxi.at/

I’ve priced them before for about 300 return. Car rental is another option as it’s an easy drive.

Lessons I use the local ski school for my 3 (6, 5 and 3). Great instructors, perfect English (better than mine) and a roped off beginners area at the top of the lift. Mountain Mind is another local school that’s good for adults but the local shop is fine too.

https://www.skischule-soell.com/en/prices/prices.html

https://mountainmind.tirol/en/

I rent gear from snow and fun and I rent storage from the shop at the top of the gondella (it’s under the lift station when you walk around the side). They rent gear too but it’s more expensive. Snow and fun can do your ski passes too. Costs about 40 for the week and saves a lot of hassle when your dealing with kids. The same people have a big shop and storage at the bottom but it’s really worth doing it at the top as it’s far less busy. It’s always better to pre book online.

https://www.snowfun.biz/en/

There is another rental place half way between the village and the gondola station. I can’t see any advantage too using them tbh. But that’s where the tour companies rent gear from.

There are free buses to bring you up and down every day, can be a bit of a squeeze at peak times so not haveing to bring skis up and down on them is great. They go from all over the village inc outside snow and fun.

If your self catering check the super market times they close at 6 Saturday and only 1 opens for the basics for 2h on a Sunday morning. There are 2 super markets, both well stocked, 1 at each end of the town.

Sunday morning is hectic as everyone is getting gear, passes and trying to find their lessons. If you can get there early Saturday and do gear and passes it’s easier.

The better restaurants book up so plan ahead and book them for the week if you plan to eat out. There are pizza take always too. The Whiskey Mule and Bela Vita would be my top picks but there are others all nice. Maybe even book dinner for the sat night in advance. Nani’s is nice for lunch and breakfasts but is in the village not on the slopes. It’s all much the same (and good) on the slopes).

Shout if you have questions. There is a very active Facebook group called Söll, Austria Skiing Regulars. Söll is full of Irish ex-pats too, you will see Irish reg cars!

Dero · 03-02-2020 12:44pm

a148pro wrote: »

This sounds like the worse holiday ever

There's a resort called flaine which is supposed to be great with kids

I did a half day in la clusaz and liked it

Megeve also close and supposed to be nice

Each is about an hour from geneva

Yeah, I'm just back from a week in Flaine with my family (Wife & two teenagers). My daughter is 15 and having never been on skis before, absolutely loved it. The transfer from Geneva is under two hours.

This was a tester holiday for us. I've skied a few times before so I know I like it, so I chose Flaine because of its beginner-friendly reputation. the upshot of it is that we'll probably be going back there as a family next year.

Scarlet42 · 03-02-2020 12:51pm

Was it an expensive place to stay ... eating out and stuff ... and what about ski passes and hire?

Dero · 03-02-2020 1:05pm

Scarlet42 wrote: »

Was it an expensive place to stay ... eating out and stuff ... and what about ski passes and hire?

It was expensive because it is a ski resort, but I wouldn't say it was any more or less so than other resorts I've been to.

We were on a package deal with Crystal, so we got passes and equipment through them. I'd have to look up the standalone prices, but again, they're broadly in line with other French resorts I've been to.

Rowley Birkin QC · 07-02-2020 11:34am

As always happen, I'm 2 weeks out from Ski2020 and looking at new gear. Anything good / bad / indifferent to say about wintersport.tv?

blue note · 12-02-2020 12:05pm

Anyone affected by the french ski strikes? They're some nation for striking!

Skyfloater · 12-02-2020 7:13pm

blue note wrote: »

Anyone affected by the french ski strikes? They're some nation for striking!

Blue note, what's the story about strikes? Are there any scheduled strike days ahead, does this mean lifts not operating?

blue note · 14-02-2020 6:52pm

Skyfloater wrote: »

Blue note, what's the story about strikes? Are there any scheduled strike days ahead, does this mean lifts not operating?

https://www.thelocal.fr/20200214/these-are-the-french-ski-resorts-affected-by-unlimited-strike-action-in-february

Sorry, forgot to reply to you.

Timmaay · 17-02-2020 5:47pm

I'm getting the inch for a skiing holiday, but definitely won't be able to go until April. I know I'll have to go high up, and ideally with a Glacier, VDI is a strong option for me. I've no real interest in skiing in crap conditions however, how much of a risk is it booking in the next few weeks, or would I really wanna wait till a week or 2 out?

maddness · 17-02-2020 6:53pm

Timmaay wrote: »

I'm getting the inch for a skiing holiday, but definitely won't be able to go until April. I know I'll have to go high up, and ideally with a Glacier, VDI is a strong option for me. I've no real interest in skiing in crap conditions however, how much of a risk is it booking in the next few weeks, or would I really wanna wait till a week or 2 out?

Book your flight to Geneva and wait until last minute to book a resort.

a148pro · 18-02-2020 11:14pm

The thinking on this season is that it's been fine higher up, but below 1500m or so it's been really poor, temperatures really high, lots of rain, no real natural snow that hasn't melted.

So you'll be grand as long as you go high. Personally i'd go for a glacier too. Went to solden last year think it was mid april and glacier parts of the resort were much better than the others, even at 3 o'clock on a very hot day.

If you're flexible with work and dates you could probably hang on to book too, a late easter isn't that popular for skiing with Europeans so you should get accommodation without too much hassle

blue note · 19-02-2020 12:49pm

I'm excited about cervinia next week so stayed reading some trip advisor reviews to keep me going. Of course the negative comments stick out much more than positive! The runs seem to mainly be blue / red and I'm fine with that. A nice long red can be my ideal run. There also seems to be decent walks to the lifts which isn't ideal, but we'll live.

But there are loads of comments on the place being closed due to winds!!! Nothing I can do about that, but god I hope we get a calm four days next week! It'll be a disaster if that happens. We'd be stuck in our hotel room for the week of our honeymoon. I'd much rather be skiing!

irlirishkev · 20-02-2020 2:08pm

blue note wrote: »

I'm excited about cervinia next week so stayed reading some trip advisor reviews to keep me going. Of course the negative comments stick out much more than positive! The runs seem to mainly be blue / red and I'm fine with that. A nice long red can be my ideal run. There also seems to be decent walks to the lifts which isn't ideal, but we'll live.

But there are loads of comments on the place being closed due to winds!!! Nothing I can do about that, but god I hope we get a calm four days next week! It'll be a disaster if that happens. We'd be stuck in our hotel room for the week of our honeymoon. I'd much rather be skiing!

Stayed there a few years back and really enjoyed it. Yes the chance of (some) lifts closing is there, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Not a huge ski area but we did okay for a week. Nice town with some decent restaurants and bars.

We skiid into Switzerland (Zermatt) while there, in some of the strongest winds I'd ever enountered (one ski nearly took flight while I was putting it on at the top of the lift). Worth doing - but make sure your ski pass covers you or you'll be getting the longest draglift in the world back up the mountain (my wife found that out by accident!).

a148pro · 23-02-2020 12:07pm

We did warn you blue note!

Not sure which days you're going but had a quick look at forecast there and looks like you're in luck with lots of snow midweek with very cold temps and quite warm afterwards. So you'll have a bit of everything. Only ones day's strong winds on the forecast, and that's on the stormy / snowy day which you may want to stay off the mountain anyway. You should have a great trip.

Tell the Swedish girls in etoile I was asking for them.

a148pro · 23-02-2020 12:08pm

Now someone else post about skiing the feck, I'm having withdrawal symptoms here

Billy Mays · 23-02-2020 1:49pm

P!ssing rain in St Anton all day:mad:

a148pro · 23-02-2020 5:50pm

Feckety feck.

Still - and remind yourself of this - it could be worse, I'm stuck at home where it is not skiing, or raining, and all 3 of my kids are taking dumps simultaneously. Oh the joys.

Rew · 23-02-2020 9:18pm

Austria looks rough for the next 2 days :eek:

Heading for Hinterglemm in 2 weeks....

a148pro · 24-02-2020 5:15pm

Bucketloads of snow in the forecast next while, interesting to see how it plays out with warm temps over last while

maddness · 24-02-2020 9:46pm

Heading to Zell am See on the 7th and I’ve been worried about the lack of snow and high temperatures. I wonder if this weeks forecast snow will change things.

a148pro · 24-02-2020 11:41pm

Think kaprun is nearby madness, glacier and high, be grand

Plus it looks like there's going to be a lot of snow in next while

Meanwhile my monte rosa dreams not being brought any closer by that virus

Rowley Birkin QC · 27-02-2020 10:25am

Just back from Passo Tonale / Ponte De Legno. All runs open (41/41, 100km) and beautiful powder up at 3000m. It was snowing yesterday when we left.

gar · 27-02-2020 12:48pm

Rowley Birkin QC wrote: »

Just back from Passo Tonale / Ponte De Legno. All runs open (41/41, 100km) and beautiful powder up at 3000m. It was snowing yesterday when we left.

How was the mood and deal with transfers etc?
Assuming you went out of Linate?

Rowley Birkin QC · 27-02-2020 4:37pm

gar wrote: »

How was the mood and deal with transfers etc?
Assuming you went out of Linate?

Flew in and out of Bergamo. Rented a lovely A6 Quattro Avant and drive time was about 2 hours, very easy trip. Resort is great, there was snow everywhere but it was fantastic up above 2500m. 41/41 lifts open app week.

Night skiing on twice a week too which was pretty cool.

blue note · 01-03-2020 5:23pm

Just home from Andorra today. Conditions were fairly mixed, no natural snow before we went and unseasonably warm weather. So the snow was hard the first day to begin with but softened up throughout the day. Virtually no moguls too since the snow was not plentiful. That said, everything was open, so I wouldn't complain too much. Day 2 was perfect for most of the day. We had snow overnight, so it couldn't have been better that day. But then it got very slushy towards the end of the day. To give an idea of how cold it wasn't, there was a guy skiing in his boxers!

It's a grand sized ski area there though. Loads of nice reds and the couple of blacks I didn't weren't too bad at all. It would be nice if the lifts were a bit faster and bigger though. I'd only been in Austria before there and there's a noticeable infrastructure difference. Both for lifts and ski bars.

As regards the resort itself, I had heard Andorra was a bit crazy. But it was very nice. The food was great, everything was relatively cheap, and the duty free there is great!

I'm nit picking about the trip, but I'm delighted we got away. One thing which made me laugh was that the resort didn't open until 11 the last day due to winds. After that being my concern for cervinia I laughed at the reminder that it can happen anywhere! I'd pick Austria over Andorra, but would happily go back at the same time.

Centre Hit · 20-01-2022 3:59pm

Hi random banter,

Can I ask if you prefered Flaine or Les Carroz? We have flights booked to Geneva in 3 weeks and are having trouble getting accomodation! There is 1 spot in flaine and 1 in Les Carroz. We had tried les gets and morzine but no luck there. We're a group of 4 lads but at our age now, apres isn't as important as it used to be, that and Covid!

maddness · 24-01-2022 4:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118506393#Comment_118506393

I’d stay in Flaine if I was you. It’s an ugly purpose built town but higher up and mostly ski in ski out accommodation.

random_banter · 25-01-2022 2:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118506393#Comment_118506393

Hey there,

We were due to go to Les Carroz the week Ireland went into lockdown, so we never got to experience it. I think it would have suited our needs perfectly though - nice looking runs home, decent slopeside cafes, nice local restaurants and that cute alpine feel. The previous poster is correct in saying that Flaine is higher up, so it's going to have more snow on the ground in the streets if snow hasn't fallen recently. But it is pretty ugly. Les Carroz is more of a traditional looking, cosy village. We also went to Samoens, part of the same ski area, and it's lovely but you do need to get the gondola up to the main ski area. And the runs in the area weren't quite my cup of tea.

The Grand Massif area is very easy to make your way through, so if you're between places I wouldn't worry about it - it doesn't take long to travel around and explore the other areas. I spent a lot of time on the slopes in Morillion the first time I went, even though I was staying in Samoens.

Check out the Les Carroz webcams - lots of snow on the ground in the village today - https://www.lescarroz.com/en/webcams/

And Flaine: https://en.flaine.com/webcams

Centre Hit · 28-01-2022 9:56pm

Ended up getting a spot in Les Carroz but will be over in Flaine for sure!

Centre Hit · 28-01-2022 9:58pm

Many thanks for the info! Not long left til I go now, just gotta stay covid free for next week and a half...

GAAcailin · 31-01-2022 10:59am

Just back (on Sat 29th) from a week in Flaine. Hadn't snowed heavily since 10th Jan but there was plenty; we were back and forth between the different ski areas so doesn't make much difference - great ski area

OffalyMedic · 01-02-2022 7:18pm

Hey everyone,

Going to book a ski holiday for this Christmas/ New Year. When is the best time to book.

have been to tignes once and loved it will probably go back but is there any other recommendations?

thanks

Ski Season 2019/2020

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