Snowboarding; locations and price!

I know this is done lots but I need some helping hand. Looking to go snowboarding for a week 22nd January. We have done Serre Chevalier (hideous snow was horrific so spent more time in the bar), Les Deux Alpes (was good a while back now so can’t remember much) then we’ve been to Winter Park, Colorado for the last 3 years as it was so well priced versus Europe. So looking at this year?? I’m intermediate, Mr MC is advanced and we are both boarders. Where do you recommend? I was lookin at Tignes? There seem to be some reasonable deals £580 all in except lift pass (which is on 2 for 1). Do we book or will prices come down? Or will they go up?? Then we can wait until closer to the time and see where there is good snow?
Suggestions/recommendations are welcomed .. oh and someone where there isn’t lots of drag lifts.. just hate them!!!

One final thing .. .no slagging g**s on trays versus 2 planker wa**ers this is what this thread is about ..we are all cool. 😆

Chamonix FTW

Bump there are normally lots of suggestions…..any more??

I’m going to Tignes 22nd Jan. Staying HB in Les Brevieres (right down the bottom). Its cheap and more like a HB hostel, but atmosphere is very friendly and food is good. Bar and club are cool too with like minded people.
229 euros for a week
http://www.chaletchardons.com/

Get the coach for £130
http://www.skibusuk.com/

Tignes is excellent for boarding, so you wont be bored 🙂

just got back from 3 days in tignes, off piste powder every day and 2 out of 3 days was clear skies, bliss, the glacier is mega
whole thing was a bit of a bargain at £175 all in ( thats everything except beer, and I do mean everything!)
off to Les Arcs in 8 weeks, that too is a very pretty spot with acres of off piste and some lush tree runs

Mayrhofen(Zillertal valley and Hintertux Galcier) or the Ski Welt (Soll, Hopfgarten, Ellmau, Westerdorf)

Both in Austria.. the food and beer price is not ridiculus similar to the UK.

alternate is Niederau, 5 min taxi ride from Ski Welt do 2 days in Niederau/Auffach) then catch a taxi(20euros for 5 of us) to Hopfgarten for rest of week (If you go with Inghams do a bus on Thursday/Friday)
Niederau is steep on the reds and blacks.. but it is small. Auffach bigger and fun.. but average.
Ski Welt area is MASSIVE. I love boarding over there.

Oooo Tignes is looking promising. So there are a few deals put there now, will it get much cheaper or should we book soon?

Les Arcs is a good spot as well, worth a look.

have a look on http://www.snowtrex.com unbelievably cheap,around £130 give or take for 7 nights with ski pass,loads of different locations too,i went to chamrousse which was pretty good with quiet slopes.

Just got a week , full board catered chalet in La plagne (next to Les Alpes) for £400. Deals out there to be had !!

Flights will get more expensive, but you might get cheaper accomodation if you hang fire.

I’ve stayed with Pleisure in Courchevel for the past 3 years and can recommend them, especially chalet coq noir.

Tignes and Val D’Isere Is a fantastic Ski/Boarding area. Lots of pistes and lots of off piste. Pretty much something for everyone from lower intermediate to experts, probably not ideal for complete beginners.

Tignes Les Brevieres will be very expensive to eat out, very nice though and a nice lunch spot.

Bazzer

+1 for Tignes if you’ve never been. I’ve been twice and the ski area is amazing, make sure you get passes that include the whole Espace Killy. Plenty of Pistes to keep you busy but where you’ll really benefit as boarders is the off piste.

Best days skiing of my life was from Tignes to Val off-piste through a gulley. If you ask a guide where it is I’m sure they’ll know it – it’s the route where you have to unclip your skis/board, drop them down a hole about 2 metres high and then use a rope to slide yourself down another hole!

Brilliant!

Alternatively for France look at Chamonix/Argentiere (same ski area – great for off-piste again but you’ll need to use the free buses to go between the various areas of the resort), Alpe D’Huez and I’ve always wanted to hit the 3 Vallees but have never been.
Compared to these (Tignes included, speculating on 3 Vallees) I thought Les Deux Alpes was crap so you should really enjoy them!

chalet coq noir? ????? Ermmm I will give that a miss ta!

stay Banff Alberta, then you can hit Sunshine, Lake louise and Kickinghorse{may need a car to hit all of them}

off to alpe d’huez for the second week of jan, never been there before but the group we should be riding with each day went last year so planning on letting them lead the way 🙂

think we’re going to book with cystalski or whatever its called tonight and get a hotel room, flights and transfer in a package.. then ‘cos its january its 2 for 1 on lift passes…

can’t wait!

OO that Snowtrex site looks promising, c9tln have you used them before? Are they decent? We’ve normally been with Crystal every other time. But do we think the package deals are going to get any cheaper if they don’t fill them? Should I wait for a good snow report? OR find something now bargainatious (where it’s high, ie Tignes) and just go ahead and book?

Tempted with someone else in the States though …. trying to see if I can justify it as it isn’t super cheap like when we first went in about 2006 (£800 for everything 1 week in Winter Park!!!).

(Mr MC posting just to confuse things)

gcaster you must mean the vallee perdu, a gulley that is a river walk in the summer and you use ropes to get down rocky sections? I rode Val nearly 10 years ago and from vague memories its my favourite french resort.

what are the lift lines like in regular season (going end of jan)? My abiding memory of france is long (like 30+mins at the base on weekends) lift lines with loads of aggressive locals barging in and stamping over your kit. We’ve ridden Winter Park on the single busiest day (presidents day) and the busiest week (spring break) and at worst it was 10 minutes at the base lift, with lots of “no, after you”. Its the combination of the attitude and snow that has taken us back to the US the last 3 years. Is the rest of Europe as bad as france?

i’ve used them a couple of times,can highly recommend,think i last paid around £120 to chamrousse which includes a weeks ski pass,you can usually get a cheap flight too,there’s about 3 choices of airports as well to chamrousse with a short drive,if i remember rightly i got one for £70 ish to grenoble so can’t go wrong for those prices.

just a few examples from website-

1,200 hotels, pensions and apartments for the perfect skiing holiday!
Germany 4 Nights in St. Englmar from £72
France 7 Nights in La Joue du Loup & lift pass from £81
Czech Republic 4 Nights in Železná Ruda (Bohemian Forest) from £90
Austria 7 Nights in Zell am Ziller (Ziller Valley) from £99
Italy 7 Nights in Santa Caterina & lift pass from £162
Slovakia 7 Nights in Jasná (Lower Tatras) & lift pass from £172
Switzerland 5 Nights in Davos & lift pass from £235
Andorra 7 Nights in Canillo & lift pass from £271
Spain 7 Nights in Sierra Nevada & lift pass from £625
France

Chamrousse
Les Domaines de l’Arselleºººº
7 nights incl. lift pass
from £90
France

Vaujany
Les Valmonts de Vaujanyºººº
7 nights incl. lift pass
from £181
Austria

Ischgl
Apart Flianaºººº
7 nights incl. lift pass
from £253
Italy

Livigno
Apartment Valle Chiaraººº
7 nights incl. lift pass
from £244

Tignes/Val D is excellent for boarding…. it’s a hugh area and I think it’s great. I have been twice and would defo go back, so many different things to board there… it has it all and some. (Although the town and nightlife not the best)

The gully mentioned by someone above is called the Piste Perdu ( the hidden Piste) I had the good fortune to get first tracks down it one morning… Possibly the best run of my life.

Base lift lines are always bad out of any resort.

Don’t under estimate the benefit of being able to get to that lift line after a short walk form your digs.

And the possiblitiy of being able to board back to your front door!!

In winter park did you have to get a bus to the bottom of the hill? I did when I was there… pain in the bum if you ask me.

Margain Walker who was your £400 La Plagne deal with then?
We did have to get a bus however it was about 5 minutes it was literally across the road the slopes, however THAT road was the I90!!!! Returning was easy sit in Starbucks then bimble over so we never had to hang around for long. I loved Winter Park though and would happily move there!!!! But just thought maybe we should try somewhere else this year and go back to Europe (we are becoming boarding snobs 😉

A lot of those snowtrak deals are self catering which if you want SC is awesome price! I like the fully catered chalet or half board if we are going. That’s the only thing about America it’s normally hotel only and you don’t get that tea and cake as you come off the slopes, hae to find the local starbucks instead.

can also recommend- skiblackbear for catered chalets in morzine.

Never been to Chamonix – If not, it’s an absolute must. Grand Montets is one of my favourite hills in the world, not just the alpes.

HTH.

I hope I’m not being special but I can’t find SkiBlackBear only things that relate to Canada!! Chamonix could be interesting is it good for boarders? Haven’t looked at prices there.

http://www.chaletsdirect.com/morzine/blackbear.htm

La Rosiere is a nice place in France close Les Arcs. Great for int riders + easily links to La Thuile which has lots of advanced free ride terrain.

+1 for Valdisere

Is this the gully

That could well be the one although I remember it being quite a bit narrower than that (it was 3 years ago though). Was certainly a challenge on skis when you’re trying to turn small and not leave the group behind.

As for Chamonix you’d probably love it as boarders. The off piste is is immense and as mentioned above the Grand Montets in Argentiere (10 minute bus ride from Cham) is brilliant.

Queue wise in France I don’t think I’ve ever waited anything near that long (bar Cham) but lift queues can certainly take a good 10 minutes at times and a little longer at weekends. Tignes/Val isn’t bad ‘cos you’re straight on the chairlifts up the mountain but in Cham the whole resort has to take a cable car up to the ski-area which is at best a nightmare!

If you’re still deciding where to go in January I’m off to Flaine 1-9th and will report back on snow conditions/resort etc. Out of interest, anyone else there then? I’ve been told the skiing/boarding is meant to be a little bit on the special side for the better riders, is this right?

The real issue for France skiing / boarding at the moment is the awful exchange rate for the Euro, making everything very expensive. We were paying £80 for lunch (simple stuff, pasta/beer/coke) at Val Thorens last year. For whatever reason Italian Alps are cheaper IMHO, just need to pick the right resort for your skill levels. 😯

Munge chick

la plagne 1800 with igluski – 2nd week of jan.

Flaine has a good ski area, with some really good off piste areas, but the ‘town’ is absolutely horrible. looks/feels like communist russia, not much in the way of restaurants/bars.

I’d go back to flaine again though, but wouldnt expect much in the way of apres ski.

Chamrousse would prob be a bit limiting for more than 2 days for the experienced. ( I love it, but live an hour away). However there are lots more resorts like it near grenoble. A road trip touring around for a week or more would be great. And alpe d huez etc are still close. Sept Laux v good for boarders. Small resorts much cheaper and less crowded. Rather than everyone moaning about price. Change tack! Contact me if you want some alternative ideas.

Off for my 2nd day of touring for this season on Thurs!

I know I shouldnt have read this thread. Browsing in lunch break and have booked for Kaprun 26th March. Hope its OK for snowboarding

I wouldnt recommend La Plagne for boarding. Skiing is good there, but the pistes arent the best for boards – can be shallow and narrow. Next door in Les Arcs is far better IMO. Mind you if you have a good deal, anywhere will be good fun!

Tignes is a great place to board. Unfortunately the closest I’m likely to get this year will be a return trip to the Bolton Alps (presuming we get snow this winter!)

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Me getting air![/url] by simondbarnes[/url], on Flickr

Booked a holiday to Tignes in Feb been to Chamonix and quite a few other resorts in France, loved Chamonix 🙂 First time to Tignes and sounds like its going to be good from this tread.

Off to Chamonix again in January – must be the 5th year running I reckon.

Runs Whistler a close second as the best place I’ve ever ridden.

simonbarnes –

was that up rivvy last year -just off georges lane.??