The STW Ski and Snowboard thread: 2021-2022 Season

La plagne at half term is hell!

The lift queues are horrendous .

At least last week you could (mainly) go two to a lift/bubble to avoid others though the queues were still a bit of a mini scrum at times. As soon as it gets busy, all the distancing is abandoned.

There seemed to be more people speeding/buzzing on the easier stuff this year as well. A couple of highish profile fatalities in the past fortnight or so – at Flaine and La Rosiere both ‘family oriented’ resorts.

I’m expecting the queues to be bad and I don’t mind them. I’m not that fussed about getting Covid again as I only got over it a few weeks ago and thankfully no lasting issues.

Any tips for which lifts don’t get too crowded? I know the main ones to avoid. Cheers

covid update : so now 3 out of the 5 of us that went to morzine have developed covid. Mild symptoms so far…..

Are the French border control making any checks at Swiss/French border? Flying to Geneva tomorrow and booked on a shared transfer to Morzine

Are the French border control making any checks at Swiss/French border? Flying to Geneva tomorrow and booked on a shared transfer to Morzine

They didnt when we went through last thursday and again last monday

I drove from France to Geneva airport and back yesterday morning to drop my wife off and didn’t get stopped or checked at all.

Got my covid QR code scanned today on one of the lifts in ADH.

covid update : so now 3 out of the 5 of us that went to morzine have developed covid. Mild symptoms so far…..

Fingers crossed you all get off lightly with it.

another Covid update – we all got pinged by track and trace yesterday. Of the 8 that went to Montegenvre, 2 have tested positive.
Wouldn’t be surprised if they caught it in the chaos of the Turin airport passport queue

Anyone hopeful that France might reduce the entry restrictions on testing before entry? I can’t see it myself.

Me neither. I looked at their rules for amber countries and they still require it.

News from Brussels:

EU countries have agreed to make it easier for anyone with an EU Covid-19 certificate to travel within the bloc without having to face any further restrictions such as tests or quarantine.

That would mean those with an EU Covid certificate, which proves vaccination, recovery or a negative test would be allowed to travel freely within the EU or Schengen zone without the need for extra tests or quarantine, even if they were coming from a country with high Covid infection rates.

The recommendation is set to come into force on February 1st, but it is non-binding so individual EU countries would be free to impose whatever travel restrictions they wish if they feel the need.

Above stolen from snowheads. Not quite sure if it makes any difference to us except possibly making transitions through 2 shengen countries easier.

This will be the first time I’ve visited there in Feb half term. I expect lift queues to be a pain right??

I once went at Belgian/Dutch half term. (it was definitely not UK half term as I actively avoid that and I dont think it was French).
The Plagne-Bellecote bowl is to be avoided at peak times – first thing, last thing and just after lunch.
Unfortunately you need to go through it to link the map up, so pick your areas each day to minimise the number of times you go there.

So excited, booked la Tania for early march! Self drive, airBnB, No snow since march 2020, I can not wait!

What @ajaydoubleyou said (although I was there UK February half term) queues were 30-40 minutes. I HATE queuing and have to go during half terms ffs

Any suggestions where I should head tomorrow night for 2 days?

I’m in ADH at the moment and don’t want to go any further from Calais as I’m driving home Sunday.

I’ve resigned myself to the fact I won’t be seeing any powder as I can’t drive 10hrs east to Austria.

I’ve been wanting to try La Clusaz for a while so might head there or……?

Phil5556. Serre Che? Just over the col from you. Montgenevre not too much further in from Serre Che. Obvs La Grave but suspect conditions are not prime there and a Guide would ideal.

Serre Chevalier and Montgenèvre are in the wrong direction, really.

Lots of small ski areas close to Grenoble though, if you checks the map. Any of them would be fine for a couple of days. I’ve never been myself but Villard Correncon looks like it has a few lifts

https://www.villardcorrencon.com/fr/

Espace Villard de Lans Correncon
+33 4 76 94 50 50
https://maps.app.goo.gl/LGpJJiLeQAZbW58y6

More chance of being able to find nice stuff in a smaller, less busy resort, especially if you can join a group of even hire a guide

I had an awful day in Montgenevre a couple of years ago and vowed never to go again 🤣

I do fancy Serre Che at some point but it is an hour or so further down the road.

I had definitely thought about trying somewhere smaller that you wouldn’t usually go to for a holiday, I’ll check that out cheers nbt.

La (Les/Le?) Contamines is also on the possible list.

Chamrousse is even closer to you then Villard de Lans

https://goo.gl/maps/1asSZW1zQWfuCqMc6

https://en.chamrousse.com/hiver

Cheers that looks interesting.

Let us know where you end up and what it’s like. Chamrousse has popped up a couple of times for me now on suggested destinations…

I booked Zell-am-See at half term for a mixture of skiing and non-skiing.

Me – done loads
Older kids – super keen, sports mad, progressing to parallel; a couple of their mates will be there too
Younger kid – gonna get him off the nursery slope as he’s done a few hours on a previous trip aged 4
Mrs – not fussed, lacking confidence but she can ski so I’ll probably send her out with an instructor to get confidence (and unwanted attention)

It’ll be our first full week having done a couple of days in Seefeld and three days in Garmisch back before Covid.

so I’ll probably send her out with an instructor to get confidence (and unwanted attention)

Stereotype Instructor to Mrs Scuttler: ‘Open ze legs…’ 😀

@phil556: Go to les7laux rather than Chamrousse. It’s much better. Chamrousse can feel a bit like the municipal ski station of Grenoble. I live in the area. Park at Le Pleynet or Prapoutel coming from ADH.

Villard Correncon is also a great area: feels a bit more southern, more trees and a diffeernt feel to Les7Laux which is much more ‘crystalline high mountain massif’. More technical skiing at les7Laux than Villard Correncon

Too late, only just seen this and parked up now at Chamrousse.
I still have Saturday though 🙂
Are these places going to be mobbed on a Saturday being so close to Grenoble?

@phil5556, if you do fancy moving then Denfinella over on snowheads is road tripping around Grenoble and live reporting so you can see what he thinks of different areas

https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=4919184#4919184

They do, but anywhere is busy at weekends. I guess if you are in the big resorts, the pistes can be quieter on Saturdays due to changeovers, but then the roads up and down are hell.

Again, I would say Les7laux (the 7 lakes) gets less mobbed/ is less problematical than chamrousse. This is partly due to their being 3 entry points, with 1 of them being a long way round by car. Chamrousse also gets mobbed due to the ski de fond area which is just below.

Maybe that’s the plan for you, ski Chamrousse today then head over to 7laux.
Let me know how you get on: I’m planning a wee ski tour near les 7 laux on Sat.

Just noticed, it’s the belle etoile ski mountaineering race this weekend. Which passes around/ through les7laux area.

I’ve skied on the pistes at 7laux when this race has been on, and not been overly affected. Apart from inadvertently chopping across their skinning track prior to the race when I did a bit off piste.

It can be great to watch part of it as well. The route changes all the time: so not guaranteed you will be easily able to get somewhere good to watch if not on touring kit.

skimo race

skitour news

Nice article (translated from Süddeutsche Zeitung) on Ryding’s victory

https://www-sueddeutsche-de.translate.goog/sport/ski-alpin-kitzbuehel-slalom-ryding-brite-1.5513064?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui

Plus a Guardian interview https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jan/29/skier-dave-ryding-winter-olympics-alpine-world-cup

scuttler – thanks for those articles. I’ve been a fan of Dave for many years and it’s great to know how much he’s thought of on the circuit.

Let us know where you end up and what it’s like. Chamrousse has popped up a couple of times for me now on suggested destinations…

I actually had a really good fun day there, it was just what I needed – a relaxed day cruising about on my board. I didn’t do the Col De Casserouse (?) because it was pretty windy at the top and I assumed I would just find ice & moguls, I bet it’s great with some powder or at least some softer snow.

It was great for a day, maybe 2, but not sure I’d want to spend a week there. Potentially lots of fun to be had on the easily accessible off piste, but alas it was a solid tracked out mess (like everywhere this week!)

I went to Les Contamines yesterday which tbh was a bit of a mistake, again solid pistes and just a bit bland. I won’t rush back.

Just booked for the first week of March, Jesus is it just me or are prices sky high this year? I assume some recoupe of missed opportunity is required, but I feel like I’m paying for the holiday I didn’t have last year (and yes I appreciate I could just not go).

Toby1, Lots of roll over bookings from previous seasons and high demand = High Prices.
Plus inflation+1, everyone is adding on a bit to make up for last few seasons, I think.
Plus additional costs for cleaning, staff are now mostly now all EU on minimum wage not UK people happy to work for skiing..
Perfect storm really.

TheDTs, agreed, I’m still ridiculously excited, I barely slept last night. Les Menuiers here we come, woo!!

Indeed, mates just messaged to say they were nearly at La Tania, going to be inundated with Whstsapp photos of them enjoying the snow which fell this evening all week. Heading out on 9th. Can’t stop checking weather reports when supposed to be working, got skis all waxed and tuned, flights, hire car, accom – Check. Just want to get out there!

It’s been dumping snow for days in our part of Austria. Still an empty week in our place 19th to 26th March if anyone fancies it? 1hr from Salzburg. We haven’t put our prices up, maybe I’m missing a trick! €1000/week for a 90m2 3 bedroom apartment.

I took this from our balcony a couple of weeks ago

https://www.apartmentamade.com

colp = that looks amazing.

Anyone know what the deal is with driving through different European countries at the moment?

We’re going to Samoens in April and thinking of getting the Rotterdam – Hull over night ferry home, but unsure about covid tests if we’re driving out of France and through Belgium/Luxembourg/Netherlands…

@ads678 we just did Hull – Rotterdam – Belgium – Luxembourg – France. I came back Calais to Dover though so didn’t look at what might be needed for the reverse.

We did a LFT at Hull before boarding and filled in the Dutch quarantine exemption form & the French one at home and printed copies and kept them available on phone too. Then just drove down with no issues, was as easy as it’s ever been with no border checks once out of the port. The only time we got checked for anything covid related was before boarding the ferry (and in restaurants & lifts). I think things might be different if you’re planning to stop in another country rather than just transit.

An added unexpected benefit if you take that route is there are virtually no tolls, I think we paid less than €5.

I also nipped in to Switzerland to drop off my wife at Geneva airport and as ever just drive straight through.

We’ve booked again in March and will be coming back to Hull too on that trip.