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Also, where were you going to spend just £2.2k on a week in half term?
I think the cheapest was Arabba, thanks to a last minute deal, and free ski passes for under 9s. But that still included lessons for the kids and a days guiding off piste for me. Unbelievable looking back.
We also skied St Anton 3 times I think, and Canezei one year. Can't remember where else. Never more than £700 each including flights, transfers, taxis to the airport, food, beer, skipasses, souvenirs, lunch in the Hutte, accomm9dation, ski carriage etc
Just realised I'm partly lying. We did Gressoney when covid hit and that was nearly 3 grand all in 🙁 blew the budget
Helps to be flexible about destination airport. Who knew you could ski Sella Ronda via Frankfurt... or that Nuremberg was great for St Anton!
I skied SLC earlier this year; Snowbird, especially the top bowls, my favourite. As noted already, lift passes were eye watering reflecting the fact that the lifts are run for a profit rather than a more community approach generally seen in Europe. It is worth exploring the season pass offers which allow skiing at more than one resort. What you spend on lift passes you save on long lunches and too much apres ski. If I went again I would consider buying skis as hiring was much more expensive than Europe, so if you can something teed up within the US i would encourage it.
Snowbasin. Just before the olympics. Acres of untracked fresh snow and nobody there.
Powder Mountain- did just what it said on the tin.
Alta- old hard snow but some lovely double blacks
'Bird - ditto, but allowed to use the board.
Canyons was great, but not much snow.
And some other place I can't recall.
Them a week in Moab on Poison Spider, Portal, Slickrock, Porcy
Then a couple of days at the Creek doing Supercrack of the Desert etc.
Then back to Snowbird for a couple of days.
Best holiday ever
So much wanted to go back for a return visit with the kids, but Covid.
Could probably blow the £550 budget each day at the current exchange rate, never mind in a week 🙂
I don’t think we are far over £1k pp at new year. CBA to count it all up right now but a quick tally comes up thereabouts.
Driving, tunnel, self cater, take skis & boots for all four of us. Cheap used for the kids off FB market place, but they use that on the dry slope most weeks.
Could probably blow the £550 budget each day at the current exchange rate, never mind in a week
I once calculated how much a ski holiday costs worked out as per hour on the slopes. I nearly cried.
Re boots if there is one thing to buy it's boots, uncomfortable hire boots can ruin the experience. With growing kids we've replaced boots most years, I buy (hardly) used boots off eBay for peanuts, with mondopoint it's pretty easy to get the right size it's foot length in mm (add 5-10mm for socks / comfort) the only thing to watch is width though it's usually possible to find out from manufactures websites. Sometimes it doesn't work out but easy to sell back on if you bought cheap. We know which brands do / don't work for us now. Never bothered with skis mainly as it adds transport costs, though I did own some easy to carry blades for a couple of seasons.
@i_like_food - Not sure where you are in the country, but there's a place near me (outer Cambridge) called SkiExchange, they do rentals for people to take with them, they are also bloody good boot fitters, as people have said boots make a difference. I'd look to rent boots from there and skis are less important in the early days, would mean flying with them, but it's doable.
I think my affliction for French resorts has seen me spend more in general (@thegenrealist), but I pretty much only manage a week a year, so like to treat myself to ski in ski out and decent resorts. I did a trip to a low resort in Austria once and vowed to never again return there!
@tuboflard a week, 24th Dec to 31st Dec. Hope to ski for 4 days in that stretch. Shame resorts don't open at night, could make the most of the jetlag!
@stwhannah there's a secondhand gear shop on Jackson, but landing late on Xmas eve means it'll be shut. Good call for getting my brother to go though 👍
@toby1 Hereford. Nothing like that round here I think, will have a look though.
@thegeneralist please never describe that trip to Utah again. It's very triggering 😉
please never describe that trip to Utah again. It’s very triggering 😉
Agreed, agreed.
But it was weird how you could find the best crack climbing on earth, the best mtb on earth and [ arguably] the best powder skiing on earth in the same place in the same trip.
Good job the white water kayaking there is shit 🙂
And the bouldering was mince too 😉
Meh, the food was not great in Utah, everything had added sugar - the bread, the butter, even the jam wsa sweeter than normal.
I just ordered a set of the Nidecker Supermatic bindings. Heading the Canada for Christmas so I'll pop my review up on the site in the new year. Anyone gone down the step in route already? Burton or Nidecker? I opted for the Nideckers because I really like my current boots and didn't want to have to get new Burton boots.
Meh, the food was not great in Utah, everything had added sugar – the bread, the butter, even the jam wsa sweeter than normal.
Compared to where, Nu Zuland?
Sacrilege!
I thought the food in Utah ( well, Moab at least) was brilliant compared to nevada and California.
First time in Cali I genuinely thought I was going to fade as I simply couldn't find enough non-rank food to keep me going.
Moab OTOH had lovely bakeries and cafes serving amazing breakfast and delis doing brilliant veggie sandwiches. Evening meals with excellent beer ( unbelievable but true) and great food.
Food on the ski hills was same old 'merkan shit so maybe it was just Moab that was special....?
i_like_food Brighton has skiing until 9pm several nights a week.
@i_like_food If you were planning on skiing at Jackson Hole on those dates unless you’ve already bought your passes then they’ve already sold out on 28, 29 and 30 December. You could possibly get a few days in at Grand Targhee instead (never been and has a bit of a reputation as being a bit foggy apparently) but should be quieter than JH.
@blackhat I don’t think he’s doing Utah and it’s about a 6 hour drive from JH to SLC.
My bad, conflated the two US mini-threads.
Grand Targhee is worth a day trip from JH for crowd free powder.
Anyone got any kids ski pants they would like to off-load?
14 yr old girl, but not pink!
Would prefer to get some used ones rather than buy more cheap new stuff. Tried Snowheads, nothing. The classified ads there seem quite quiet?
maybe it was just Moab that was special
We stayed in a suburb of SLC and skiied the Cottonwood Canyons. We had excellent stir fry at Snowbird, but all the other resorts were very much of a muchness. I was more referring to the food we bought in the local supermarkets, TBH. Food was so "meh" and the snow so good that Mrs NBT overdid things in terms of activity and didn't eat enough so had an energy crash, wiped out her immune system and ended up with bronchial pneumonia. That was not a fun few months 🙁
It may be something about being on unfamiliar territory but there is something peculiarly bland yet bad about a lot of the food we encountered in the US this year. A special mention for the large tub of candy floss.
Anyone else packing....
Been a while. Kids have grown again so think I need some new stuff, and to get rid of some of the 10 year old stuff!
Anyone got any kids ski pants they would like to off-load?
14 yr old girl,
Have PMd you. I've git shit loads of boots sallies poles and skis which I need to sell
. The classified ads there seem quite quiet?
That'll be because they don't work. I just tried to post a whole stack of ski stuff but it said I couldn't upload a picture as I didn't own the add ^##^#_>*
You can post pics hosted elsewhere on snowheads ads, but uploading pics with the ad is for site subscribers
I think I are a site subscriber.
As in paying? I'm sure that Graham said Snowheads and super-Snowheads could upload. I must admit i don't post many ads or even pay at all very much, i just help out by zapping spam merchants from time to time.
Sorry, I'm a ****wit. Never even saw the word "snowheads". I tried to post on the classifieds here. I'm so stoopid.
Thanks, TheGeneralist, we are now sorted for Ski Pants..
We are packing though..
🙂
We're off to Kaprun on Christmas eve, returning on NYE, looking forward to using the new lift linking the Maiskogel with the Kitzsteinhorn glacier avoiding the need for a bus. Only minor glitch being border controls being on strike while we're travelling both ways...
Not a bad season opener here in Aberdeenshire. Skied every day since last Friday, mostly in shin-deep powder (with no base to speak of). It's hero snow, right up to the point you hit a big clump of buried heather and it all stops. Quite a giggle!
in shin-deep powder (with no base to speak of). It’s hero snow, right up to the point you hit a big clump of buried heather and it all stops.
😬
My first foray of the season at the weekend will tick many firsts as a new California resident - I’m off to Heavenly, Lake Tahoe! 🙂
Big storms over the last week so whilst I won’t be riding fresh powder there should be Plenty of base down.
Have a season pass for Kirkwood (closest mountian) Northstar and Heavenly.
Hoping to get lots of riding in this year , family commitments aside. Can’t wait!
Even accounting for inflation, is everyone finding next year's prices insanely high?
We're sorting out our usual 2 weeks in cervinia. Historically we could have our pick of very reasonably priced accomodation even leaving booking until a few weeks before going.
Looking this year and we've managed to bag a very basic hotel for about £500 each for the first week in April and that was pretty much the only thing we could get unless you wanted to spend an eye watering amount. Just had another look on Trivago and the cheapest place on there is £330 per night for an awful location.
I've been looking for a cheeky week sometime in Jan or Feb. Just a package for convenience and I'm only seeing crap resorts in 2 star apartments for £1100+ for a week. That's flying from Scotland.
Hoping prices drop in the next few weeks!
Was hoping to join up with a group who I usually ski with. They had already booked as group. To stay in the same hotel as them in Tignes in early March it was going to cost £1700, and that excluded the lift pass - admittedly the price was hiked by a £500 single room supplement. Anyway, with the total cost for a week going over the two grand mark, I decided I'm sadly not going to join the group this year and hope I can find someone to share a room with for next year. If I do go this year, it will be a last minute deal on my own, which takes away much of the pleasure of skiing with friends and enjoying the apres ski.
Skiing as a single is hideously expensive. The last time I did it I got a last minute place with a Skivolution (company in Courchevel run by Dave Beatty) at a reduced rate. If you say you are prepared to share the room then you don't pay the supplement. If there is another single, same sex traveller then you'll share with a stranger and if not then you get the room to yourself. The lessons were included in the cost of the chalet so I had people to ski with. Very fortunate as the group took me under their wing and I skied with them outside of the lessons too. It was a great trip.
You could try club med ....
Snowheads organise several trips where solo skiiers are accomodated with other suitable persons and they're usually big enough that there will always be a good mix of people both socially and in terms of skiing ability. If you're young enough then UCPA (book via Action Outdoors in the UK) is also worth a look
Booked alpe d huez for february half term, french schools.
Prices are up. Flat is 1200, probably 900 3 years ago.
Just got back from an early season week in Tignes. We drove again and whilst lift prices etc have all gone up from last year we tried to keep costs down by cooking in the Appartment every night (8 of us sharing!) It worked out pretty well actually!
It does worry me more and more that Winter trips in Europe are increasingly becoming the reserve of the wealthy few ... there's been a stark drop in diversity I think over the past few years ... and the Pandemic seems to have exacerbated it!
For solo travellers in Europe - have a look at 'Cold Fusion' based in the Chamonix Valley - they cater specifically for people travelling alone - although you will probably have to share a room with someone else. 'Mark Warner' used to offer something similar, but I'm not sure if they do anymore - many of the UK winter tour operators in Europe have apparently struggled to retain/recruit people eligible to work in the EU ...
what was the snow like Digby?
Just back from a week skiing in Oz/Vaujany/Alpe D'Huez.
Amazing snow. Blue skies. Empty slopes. Not too expensive. Solider Jnr progressed really well and we managed some family skiing too.
Worst part of the trip was the 2 hour delay each way on the Channel Tunnel. Hateful experience at the best of times, but the travel was worth it.
Looking to book again in March but will wait until nearer the time to check the late snow conditions.
what was the snow like Digby?
It was really good - although I think some areas have now been impacted by the more recent milder temps & rain in some places - which is a real shame as it was shaping up to be a pretty decent start to the season!
We were the same. Consistent snow and minus 2 degrees until the day we left when it hit 8 degrees and rainy. Christmas week looks soggy and melty! I do wonder about the future of European skiing in 20 years below 2,000 metres.
Car packed, tunnel at 9:30 Boxing Day. Hopefully a smooth journey and some reasonable snow in the 3V. Kids (and me) quite excited!🤣
Biblical rain in the PDS has caused a huge landside that's washed away the ground one of the lift towers is built on in Chatel 😱
Chantel, That looks like a tricky fix. The fact the whole pylon and foundation are hanging off one arm and the cable hasn’t let go shows how over engineered the whole lot is.
Well, the New Year did not get off to the expected start. Flaine and the Grand Massif have taken the unprecendent action of closing the resort to day tickets until 6th Jan then they are going to review it on a day by day basis. As we were due to go out on 7th Jan and there is no snow forecast this week we've moved the Chunnel booking and I will try and hand back the week of leave.
Luckily we think we've managed to get the accommodation for the start of March so we'll try again then.
Gutted
I’m heading to Flaine on 6 Jan 😳. Just hoping there’s enough to keep the lower runs open (I believe they’re even trucking in snow now) and then Sunday and Monday comes good with a bit of new snow. No options to cancel without losing the lot though and a group of 7 so will just have to suck it up and hope for the best.
Fingers crossed for @tuboflard and @nbt
Our new plans may fall through if work insist I take the leave as planned but hopefully they will be understanding about it.