The Cap is still AWOL. He will of course eventually be declared MIA, but not just yet as there are rumours of shadowy figures in the backwaters and less savoury parts of the internet (twitter / X)
So, as prompted by a thread asking about travel plans via train, who's going this year and what have you got planned? How did last season go?
For us, last season was EXCELLENT. 23/24 was a wipe-out after a tumble on Day 7 of a SIX WEEK trip resulted in a fractured / dislocated shoulder for Mrs NBT, so we were concerned about her return to skiing (though her return was never itself in doubt - just whether it wold go well or not). 12 months later we went back out to have another go, and booked a three week trip to a ski-in / out apartment in the Grand Massif, so that we had no pressure - with 3 weeks it's not a huge issue to take a day off if you feel tired or nervous. As it turned out, Mrs NBT initial nerves were quickly pacified and we skiied every day. It went so well that we went back out to the GM for two weeks in March, though that time we stayed over in Morillon rather than up in Flaine.
This season we've got two * 2-week trips planned, to the Tarentaise, at each end of the season - New Year & Easter, so we get the joy of skiing with friends and their kids.
No new gear this year, I did buy Wed'ze Patrol 95s for both of us for the 23/24 season but Mrs NBT didn't get on with hers so I picked up some second hand Kastle DX85 skis and she loved them - the narrower waist gave her a lot of confidence
so, what are you plans and how did last season go?
Finally got family but in for a ski trip this year after probably 20 years off. Good God! it's expensive these days. Need to do some home work on making savings. I assume Easter requires high resorts these days if you want to guarantee snow?
I assume Easter requires high resorts these days if you want to guarantee snow?
More so than ever, but when you do get high the snow is usually good., I did easter '23 in Tignes and it was great - excellent snow (including some fresh) and no queues to speak of, though we didn't go down to Les Boisses as it was getting very soupy
Few pics from 24/25
First time back on skis and loving it already
The sun shineth on the righteous
New skis! matchy matchy
I have a vide that I'd love to share but it's a bit big, I'll see what I can do...
*Thanks @nbt for stepping in and starting this, glad your wife got straight back into skiing, clearly a pro!
Jan 25 - Tignes
Stayed in Le Lavachet with my mate which was a great area, but seemed to be mainly seasonaires, not much bookable accommodation. Would go back though.
Skiing wise, we mainly had good weather with one day being an exception, it snowed, but it was sticky snow, I felt like I didn't know how to ski and bailed on the day. Other than that we went from end-to-end of the piste map, covered it all. There were some long days, really knackering. I fell apart on the way home and spent a few days with a horrendous cold when I got back (not Covid, or at least not a variant my tests could pick up).
Kit-wise, I've been after some new goggles for a while, I randomly googled them one evening in August and the ones I wanted seemed to be on JohnLewis, major discount and poor description (didn't even mention the second set of lenses), I took a gamble and got the Line Miner Pro's for about half price.
Jan 26 - La Rosiere
After trying a smaller resort (Grand Massif) with my wife in 24, she was up for a smaller one again in 26, so trying somewhere new out. Booked a Ski train package so no airports or flights which always annoy me anyway and she loves a train. We also hire skis so kit is mainly clothing and boots. Hotel seems central to the main village, so hoping for easyish access to the slopes in the mornings. Will enjoy crossing a border while out on the snow too. Now it's just a case of obsessing over the details and piste map until the end of Jan!
Wed'ze Patrol 95s for both of us for the 23/24 season but Mrs NBT didn't get on with hers so I picked up some second hand Kastle DX85 skis and she loved them - the narrower waist gave her a lot of confidence
I seem to recall saying pretty much exactly that when you bought them!
I love my 175s, and I gave Mrs NBT's pair of 165s to a friend: he's bigger and heavier than me but not as good a skiier (NOTE that does not in any way imply I'm a good skiier), and he LOVES them
After a brilliant Christmas week in Les Arcs last year, the ransos family is up for an Easter trip. I've seen a good deal at Hotel du Golf in Arcs 1800, just wondering if Easter conditions are likely to be good there?
Christmas day 2024:
have a vide that I'd love to share but it's a bit big, I'll see what I can do...
Sound on for this one, see if you can identify what's going on
Lovely step turns there in the semi lumpy powder, as usual it's steeper than it looks. I don't know what nbt is going on about 🤣
Arcs 1800, just wondering if Easter conditions are likely to be good there
SHould be ok, we've done early April at the Cachette in 1600 - it was getting a little soft and mushy on the approach to the hotel, but there was plenty of depth (admittedly it was a few years ago). HOwever you do have easy access to the Arc 200 bowl and conditions up there should be excellent
Les Arcs will be fine at Easter. We go to Les Coches at La Plagne which is at 1400m, and while 2025 was very thin at the bottom, the wider Paradiski area was superb. In fact, so good, we booked for Easter 2026 in August. We will look to book a 2nd week somewhere else.
Thanks both.
24/25 was a big season for us - a week in Val d’Isere in early December, snagged a short notice good deal for a week in Zermatt in early January and topped it off with nearly three weeks skiing the resorts around Slat Lake City.
25/26 will be quieter after that lot - a repeat visit to Val d’Isere in early December and Christmas week in Courchevel as I refuse to host family members this year. Going to watch the snow thereafter to see if a sneaky week can be had later in the season.
We went to Corbier this year, it was immense.
We were planning a year off next year but our 18 year old daughter has landed a ski rep job with Crystal based in Andorra so it would be rude to not go and visit…
Sounds like some good trips in the planning.
Last season was a mixed bag for me, a long weekend in January in Chamonix but only on skis, another long weekend in March in Avoriaz but only on a snowboard and then a full week in La Plagne with another family over Easter. Coverage in every trip was great, though Easter was proper spring skiing conditions with a sweet spot for a few hours each day and then slush skiing thereafter. But it was lovely to ski in bluebird conditions every day.
This year it’s a bit different, got a full week backcountry snowboarding in Grimentz with Stevo from Whiteroom booked which will mean me dusting off my rusty off piste skills and avi gear. Then another week at Easter, probably to Valloire. And finally a weekend right at the end of April somewhere to just get a few last turns in. It’s without doubt my favourite time of the year and I’d happily forego pretty much every other kind of holiday if I could just do trips like this.
Looks like Jan and March for us, 10 days Jan and 2 weeks in March if the accommodation works out. Grand Massif as usual. Just bought some new State of Elevenate salopettes from Vinted, 3 layer goretex for £47. More importantly, they go over my ACL brace which my previous ones didn't do. Rookie mistake, I tried them on when I bought them - lovely fit then went on holiday, put the knee brace on and they wouldn't go over it !
Mini 10 lining up his first double black. From last season in Colorado.
Will no doubt be skiing X-C locally when/if there's good snow and skinning around the Tarentaise early and late season. Will follow the thread as reading above there will be several of us in resorts around Bourg St Maurice at Easter. Might be the occasion to buy my first lift pass since errrr, several years. Or skin up from Peisey and say hello to those in Les Arcs, or skin up Ste Foy.
Skis? No change. I'm about half way through maintaining Junior's work skis, if I ski piste it'll be either on 20-year-old 165 Dynastar Omeglas 64 or park 'n pipe K2s if there's some fresh.
So I mainly look forward to gasping for air slogging up hill on X-C or rando. It ain't getting any easier with the years:
Morning all, questions for the hive mind if I may. Having returned to skiing after a long break, I'm wondering if the time has come to buy my own boots? We're going to Les Arcs next Easter and I'm a once a year red run cruiser sort of person, with that in mind:
1. Should I just carry on hiring boots and skis?
2. If not, how much do I need to spend?
3. Where and when should I buy them? I live in Bristol.
Thanks.
Boots have evolved quite a lot. Grip Walk is now the dominant sole standard and there are all sorts of angles/flexes/comfort levels. Junior teaches in Technica ski touring boots that are compatible with both pin binding and grip walk and offer a level of control close to an alpine boot with all-day, all-season comfort levels. So I suggest hiring and trying different boot styles for a day or two each as you would with hire skis. Some resorts have good shops with sensible prices some don't. I buy almost everything in resort because there's an excellent shop but that's not always the case.
@Ransos - I'm a boot owner ski hirer. I hated hire boots, by comparison my own boots have been amazing. There are some decent boot fitters around, Solutions4feet and Skixchange, go in with a mind to being told what fits you, not picking the boot and an open wallet. I think we spent about £450 each about 10 years ago o_O now, both our boots are still in decent condition and will likely last as long as we do. As a note having bought from one of these the other has re-fitted our boots a couple of times (my wife has fussy feet and I eventually got a hot spot on one foot that needed a boot re-mould) with either minimal or no charge, so the level of service is excellent.
Other options are of course available for less, but I am of the mind to do something well if you are going to do it at all. So buy right and buy once.
There's probably a more local Bristol fitter, so hopefully someone will come along with a recommendation soon enough.
It's a bit of a lottery, my other half had boot fitting done at a reputable shop in Uxbridge. They turned out to be too big and he's never got on with them. I bought mine on line and they have been fine. If I was only going once a year I would probably stick with renting them as if you don't get on with them you can take them back and change them.
Before anyone says I should have gone to a boot fitter I will point out that I have size 2 feet and finding an adult boot in that size extremely hard to do.....so when I found them on the net I bought them.
Caveat to my post above.
If you have an abnormal foot posture - pes planus or cavus then you will likely need a boot fitter. My foot posture is fairly neutral, they are just small.
On the where to go at Easter thing - high can be good, but mobility and local knowledge are big things too.
School holidays tie us to Easter or half term still.
So we’re booked. Les Gets once again. Low, and at Easter.
But Easter is a bit earlier this year, and we drive over so bobbing up to Les Lindarets is easy, and we know the resort / area so chasing good snow / right time of day is second nature.
And I quite like spring snow on a board.
St Anton at Easter last year was meh. I could see how it might be great with good snow, but it wasn’t that different to typical Les Gets Easter when we went last year. And the “know where to be when” thing was not second nature. We kept going from icy to slushy far too fast.
Might just be one trip this season, though the older (university) child is considering a reading week cheapy with friends and has the offer of a free apartment.
Any ideas what the 3 Valleys will be like in the last week of the linked season? 11-18 April? I always seem to recall that Meribel is the boney bit, at almost any time I have been before.
I know Val Thorens runs until May, but I don't want to shell out for a full 3V pass if links are likely to be down. My working assumption is that the main links between resorts will be well maintained.
Any ideas what the 3 Valleys will be like in the last week of the linked season? 11-18 April?
I've been out for the Snowheads End Of Season Bash a while ago, flew out on 18th april. VT and Orelle were great, Les Menuires acceptable. I personally didn't get over to the other valleys that time, i didn't think the snow would be good enough, though there were several outings over to Courchevel and back
A couple of years later we did a late season week in Meribel, flew about 4th April. No snow at all in the village, just two pistes open to the lifts up either side. Had to get the bus to and from the lifts each day. Up high was great though, and we covered the full area. Mottaret was fine for getting across
Have pulled the trigger on two weeks in Norway (Jan/Feb), travelling on the train from Oslo to Bergen 5 and 6 nights respectively in Gelio and Voss. It's not going to be cheap, but will be good to see something other than the alps this year.
Might do another late season trip to somewhere high if we have time & money left 🙂
Keep your eyes peeled for Geraint Thomas, peeps
I've booked a skiing holiday for January, which is something I've never done before
Is he going to be in lycra on a road bike? I'm not sure most of us would recognise him otherwise 😉
Re boot/ski buy/rent. Buy boots, rent skis. Having bought a pair through Colin I would second the recommendation of Solutions4feet and having only recently discovered Ski Exchange when purchasing skis I would certainly consider giving them a shot at fitting me for boots should I need another pair. Mrs BH used Profeet in West London and was very pleased with the service. Also as noted above, any decent fitter will spend more time than you might expect simply looking at and feeling your feet before deciding which maker is most likely to have a boot shape sympathetic to your shape, rather than you deciding you want the spangly red ones. Ski hire has got relatively more expensive in recent years, but hiring does give you the flexibility to swap should you not get on with the skis, have picked the wrong size or the conditions change.
Last year was a mixed bag - Jan got canned at the last minute after Mrs M had a bit of a scare with the big C (all ok now!), Easter went ahead as planned in Tignes Le Lac, and while it was hot - like 21 degrees! - conditions weren't too bad as long as you picked which bits of the mountain to be on at the right time of day.
This year ... haven't booked Jan yet, but the boy and I will be back in Tignes again at Easter - only his ski hire and lessons left to book.
Can anyone recommend some softshell ski trousers?
My 15+ years old Rab ones are more duct tape than trousers nowadays!
I find insulated salopettes far too warm unless it's silly cold and I've got some of those.
My Decathlon ones (wedze 500 i think) have been great and I haven't managed to slice them up with my edges yet.
Wife swears by her Sweaty Betty ones
Any ideas what the 3 Valleys will be like in the last week of the linked season? 11-18 April?
I've been a few times in April, this year too much snow and they had to closed the entire 3 Valleys! Hopefully this won't happen this season as I'm going again next year.
Usually stay in Les Menuires as IMHO the best connected and still reasonable home run conditions in April, normally we get out first lift and conditions will be icy, and finish before 3pm as it can be hard work on the soft slopes. Meribel / Courchevel I'd avoid as they are often pretty brown and grim at resort level. Val Thorens obviously best, Orelle ok early on but faces the sun so gets soft pretty quick.
Hopefully they'll fix the Cime Caron cable car this season (after they went too fast and rammed it into the cable car station) which makes the highest runs in VT more accessible.
I did 3V at that time this year
Val Thorens was great with full cover everywhere
Les Menuires was great with patchy cover approaching the village
Meribel was struggling. Lots of bare stuff, very heavy snow
Courcheval was fantastic with full cover everywhere
Any thoughts on Pas de la Casa for a long weekend in Jan? It's over 2000m so should have snow and as it's a 'mates' weekend the lively Apres isn't exactly an issue.
Usual haunts in France were coming in pretty expensive so thought we would cast the net a bit wider and Pas looks a decent option.
Transfer is quite long for a long weekend - it's 4 hours from Toulouse, and I think roughly the same from Barcelona.
Snow should not be an issue really in January, no need to go that high
We've had a couple of Pyrenean seasons that haven't got underway till about 18 January in recent years. Or there has been enough snow for New Year then the resorts have shut till mid January. Some years it's been so mild that hardly any artificial snow has been made. Junior made the decision earlier this year to move to the Tarentaise for the whole season rather than just finishing there.
Even 35 years ago when I lived in Barcelona we drove up to pas de la Case in mid January, took one look at the stoney ice pistes and went for a walk instead.
It's a lot of hassle for a weekend.
hmm, maybe I need to turn that upside-down - where's good for a long weekend in mid-jan without breaking the bank (£800pp ish).
Doesn't need to be a huge ski area, but don't fancy faffing about with busses. One French option was Les Arcs, not been there in a very long time.
(£800pp ish).
For what - flights, transfers, rabbit hutch accommodation? Or do you need lift passes and 4 star luxury included in that?
Les Arcs again is not the shortest transfer, probably looking at 2.5 to 3 hours from Geneva
Look at short transfers for a weekend. From Turin, it's easy enough to drive up to Pila / La Thuile / Courmayeur, the latter being one of my favourite resorts and all of which are perfectly suited for a weekend. Add in also the Monterosa.
The Portes de Soleil (mozine, avoriaz etc) are much closer to Geneva, as is the Grand Massif (Flaine, Samoens, Morillon)
Or look at Innsbruck and drive or even get the train to a resort like Alpbach, Gerlos, Mayrhofen
First point then would be to look at flights and work out what time you would arrive / depart from each airport (i'm assuming you;lre flying) and from there look at how long the transfer is for each resort, what time you'd need to depart to get the return flight and so on...
In the usual “recommend what you know” have you checked prices at Hotel L’Oustalet, Chamonix- for many years our go to for a mid-January weekend?. Friendly 3* B&B, centre of town, very flexible on length of stay and arrival times. And you’re an hour and a bit from Geneva, using Alpy Bus for the transfer.
where's good for a long weekend in mid-jan without breaking the bank (£800pp ish).
St Anton Defo. Done a few 4 ski day weekends there with only two days holiday.
I arranged a long weekend lads trip this season gone to Morzine Avoriaz, stopping at Hotel du Lac in Montriond. Nice short transfer to squeeze out time on snow, easy access to snow sure area via Ardent and really nice hotel with a great breakfast and restaurant.
Only downside (if it is a downside) is that the hotel is in the middle of nowhere, so if you want nightlife you’ve got to go to Morzine. The hotel will run you down though and Uber is easy enough to get back. And the hotel bar is great anyway for relaxed drinks. All in I think it worked out about that price for flights, accommodation and transfers, and the hotel will sort out your lift passes in advance so with us landing at 9am in GVA we were on the snow by about 1pm.
