mkivsupra.net snowboard & ski trip 2008/9

[juanchan]

Ian and I have set aside Thursday evening for a bit of an online searching session to get some ballpark ideas/prices if you're free then?

 

Injuries is always a good subject, but mine never seem to leave me with decent scars

[Why T]

If you need a medic for the trip, im your man

[juanchan]

More the merrier dude!

[2JG]

Ian and I have set aside Thursday evening for a bit of an online searching session to get some ballpark ideas/prices if you're free then?

 

Injuries is always a good subject, but mine never seem to leave me with decent scars

 

Thursday is good for me

 

I don't have any scars either mate just a dislocated shoulder incident and torn ligaments in the ankle that have all healed.

 

EDIT: actually just remembered i have to work late on thursday i'll join in when i get home if it isn't too late

Edited May 20, 2008 by 2JG (see edit history)

[juanchan]

Thursday is good for me

 

I don't have any scars either mate just a dislocated shoulder incident and torn ligaments in the ankle that have all healed.

 

EDIT: actually just remembered i have to work late on thursday i'll join in when i get home if it isn't too late

 

Thursday it is then - I probably won't be home til gone 6, so I might not be online til after 7.

 

Ouch!! I've given myself whiplash after landing on my head on ice and badly sprained my wrists a lot when learning, but nothing that serious! Yet....

[Ian W]

Online just now guys

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Will post up a few places that we find.

 

Any suggestions as to airports to fly from?

[xanderroan]

hmm the group i used to go boarding with have kind of broken up over the last two years so I didn't get away at all this year (apart from one solo weekend to chamonix) so having just spotted this thread I could be really interested in tagging along.

 

I don't really want to commit until I sort myself out with a new job - when were you thinking to book, when do you think you'll need confirmation by?

[Ian W]

Probably looking to book quite soon (personally I'd like something confirmed).

 

Could always book yourself on when you get your job confirmed?

[juanchan]

Airport wise, London is the obvious choice as the majority of flights will be from Gatwick/Luton/Stansted, but I'm willing to travel to get to a more central airport (is Manchester central when we've got Scottish folk in the group?!).

 

Currently looking at France and things are expensive if we're to avoid accomodation with sofa beds and the like. The best sort of thing so far is along these lines....

 

http://www.igluski.com/propertyinfo.cfm?pid=2643&dep=LGW&suppliercode=879&nextSeason=1&name=Le_Montana_Apartments#prices

[juanchan]

Are there any preferences on catering?

 

I'm quite happy to help throw a bolognese/cheese fondue together of an evening between us, but I appreciate some people prefer to enjoy the free wine that comes with catered accomodation

[juanchan]

Anyone feeling flush and fancy going for the week of the 14th Feb instead... http://www.igluski.com/propertyinfo.cfm?pid=2296&dep=LGW&suppliercode=884&nextSeason=1&name=Hotel_Les_Grandes_Alpes

 

[2JG]

Anyone feeling flush and fancy going for the week of the 14th Feb instead... http://www.igluski.com/propertyinfo.cfm?pid=2296&dep=LGW&suppliercode=884&nextSeason=1&name=Hotel_Les_Grandes_Alpes

 

 

 

sorry i couldn't join in this evening, just got in from work

 

i don't really mind what we do for catering, i'll be honest now and admit that i'm useless in the kitchen, but am more than happy to help out

[Ian W]

 

sorry i couldn't join in this evening, just got in from work

 

i don't really mind what we do for catering, i'll be honest now and admit that i'm useless in the kitchen, but am more than happy to help out

 

Think Chan's found a few places we'd like to run by you Jeff (being the veteran in the group )

 

I may try and pop into a travel agents tomorrow too

[juanchan]

Apologies for the multiple posts

 

Ian and I have been having a look online to see what's available and at what price. The short answer is everything's expensive , but there are a few better deals to be found.

 

To give you guys an idea of what we've been looking at and the sort of price range, have a look at the links below. We've only really looked at France and touched on Austria this evening, and the best deals that are immediately available online are

 

If you guys could give us some feedback re prices/resorts/departure location/accomodation/catering etc it'd be appreciated. These are the sorts of places that I'd look for with my mates, so please say now if you'd prefer to stay in the Ritz with a hot french maid providing foot rubs all evening

 

Finkenberg, Austria. A lot cheaper than I thought was possible in Austria, although I've personally not heard of the resort (it's in Austria though so I'd guess it'll be snowy!)

 

Alpe D'huez. One of the best I've found all evening I'd say. Fully catered and near the resort centre, what more can you want? (Besides those foot rubs that is....)

 

Val Thorens. The Type C1 appartments don't sound too bad, and in my experience Val Thorens isn't to be ignored for this price.

 

Morzine. Mountain bikers paradise in the summer, but I don't know anyone who's been skiing there.

 

Les Deux Alpes. One of the bigger and better known resorts, good price. Only downside of this particular chalet is it's distance from the slopes, but if there's enough snow it says you can ski to a nearby piste.

 

That's the pick of the crop from tonights searching. From the very brief skim I had earlier, prices aren't currently much lower for Sweden.

 

Ian and I will try and ring round a few travel agents to get them doing some legwork for us and hopefully pull up a few good deals. I'll try and have a look through Scandinavian stuff at some point, but I don't know the resorts so that might take a bit longer.

 

All comments welcomed guys

[2JG]

Think Chan's found a few places we'd like to run by you Jeff (being the veteran in the group )

 

I may try and pop into a travel agents tomorrow too

 

lol, no worries, i'll log into msn now...

[xanderroan]

I know i haven't confirmed and have just jumped onto this thread, but I would highly recommend Val Thorens from past experience, even if it means you get slightly worse accomodation or pay a little more.

 

Les deux Alps - I never liked, it felt small & you need to get right up top to get any decent runs. The others highlighted I haven't been too.

 

I personally like going to the big multiple valley resorts, if you get the full pass you can make some nice day trips right across the resort, with that in mind Val Thorens, Courchevel, Meribel would be good for les 3 valleys - I think Meribel should be cheapest (Courchevel is where all the Russians stay and is pricey), Val Thorens I didn't stay in, but have boarded in the area.

 

The other big one is Paradiski- Les Arcs, La Plagne, Vallendry - I stayed in La Plagne for a week once, but to be honest that resort seems to have a shit load of traversing and it's a bit of a pain on a snowboard

 

I would be wary of smaller less well known resorts, you can arrive to find the piste area is very small & in case conditions are not good you want to find somewhere that has a good mix of high & low areas facing different directions.

 

The other place I love to go is just to hit Chamonix, you can pretty easily do this w/out paying through the nose for a package, book some low cost flights to geneva, book a chalet / apartment for the week, get a couple of hire cars and tour around the different piste areas - Chamonix has some very nice easily accessible off piste too.

[tDR]

I think out of that lot, val thorens looks best. I take it that's still Espace Killy?

 

RE: where to fly from, I think Manchester is a good place to go from geographically and also because there are flights to Chamberry - much closer to the resort area than Geneva so less of a painful transfer.

 

Cheers,

 

Brian.

[tDR]

Just thinking aloud here but perhaps we could hire a luxury minibus or some big ass cars for the week and drive over - think it's about a 9 hour drive to the resort once you come out the French end of the chunnel.

 

Just putting that idea out there as all the waiting around at airports + flight time + coach transfers nearly 3hrs long really do my head in - especially the transfer part as the seats on the coaches are so bloody close together I can't even get my legs in properly so most public transport is my idea of hell.

 

So..... ROADTRIP!!!

[Ian W]

So..... ROADTRIP!!!

 

That's actually not a bad idea!

 

Though may work out more pricy than flights as part of a package?

[juanchan]

I think out of that lot, val thorens looks best. I take it that's still Espace Killy?

 

RE: where to fly from, I think Manchester is a good place to go from geographically and also because there are flights to Chamberry - much closer to the resort area than Geneva so less of a painful transfer.

 

Cheers,

 

Brian.

 

VT is part of The Three Valleys, so ski-able pistes available rivals the Espace Killy (which is just Val d'Isere and Tignes I believe) easily.

 

Roadtrip could be an idea, especially if we shared the driving. I'm the same as you Brian - public transport leg room fills me with dread being 6'3". Something to ask the travel agents! Unless we book separate flights with say Easyjet who have lots of legroom?

[tDR]

Yeah say 4 of us to a big car should be plenty comfortable and fit all our crap in - big MPV's or similar. Cost shouldn't be too bad for a week either and the drive wouldn't be bad at a few hours wheel time each. Setting off late evening when it's dark would allow those not driving to sleep if they wanna, would allow us to progress a little quicker and would get us to the resort by noon the next day at the latest - around the right time to check in and hit the slopes for an afternoon session

 

I'm well up for doing it this way - just got a shiny new Tom Tom 930 Traffic too - just set it for the resort and off we go. The most Northern couple of Scots get the hire cars and pick people up at main route pick up points along the way.... just do the reverse on the way home.

 

So, can we get just accomodation in VT cheaply?

[juanchan]

Yeah say 4 of us to a big car should be plenty comfortable and fit all our crap in - big MPV's or similar. Cost shouldn't be too bad for a week either and the drive wouldn't be bad at a few hours wheel time each. Setting off late evening when it's dark would allow those not driving to sleep if they wanna, would allow us to progress a little quicker and would get us to the resort by noon the next day at the latest - around the right time to check in and hit the slopes for an afternoon session

 

I'm well up for doing it this way - just got a shiny new Tom Tom 930 Traffic too - just set it for the resort and off we go. The most Northern couple of Scots get the hire cars and pick people up at main route pick up points along the way.... just do the reverse on the way home.

 

So, can we get just accomodation in VT cheaply?

 

I'm guessing this isn't a new line of thought?!

 

If I get chance on Sunday/Monday to have a look at stuff in VT I will. Hopefully Jeff and Ian might have some results from travel agent visits today too.

 

Ian mentioned he might fly from Scotland to London area if we were flying. He could still be up for that if we're driving - it'd be a long enough road trip without having to traverse the entire length of the UK!

 

Will keep everyone posted with anything I find

[Ian W]

Ian mentioned he might fly from Scotland to London area if we were flying. He could still be up for that if we're driving - it'd be a long enough road trip without having to traverse the entire length of the UK!

 

Will keep everyone posted with anything I find

 

Righto, that's me back from the travel agents who were actually not the most helpful people in the world. "sorry, you're not booking today? humph!"

 

I got the below quote from Neilson through Thomas Cook and didn't think it was too bad for VT.

 

Regarding the road trip, excellent idea and I for one wouldn't mind hiring something from up here and picking up folks en route

 

Anyway, this is what I found:

 

Week in Temples Du Soleil Apartments on a SC basis, flying from Manchester on 17th Jan and returning on 24th Jan.

 

The price works out at £449 per person based on 8 people travelling.

 

This price is on a Self Catering basis and includes transfers, ski carriage and lift passes.

 

Unfortunately it doesn't look like the place has the best reviews but being a 2*+ it's always going to be basic.

 

She's gonna give me a ring back in a week or so to see what we think but in all honesty, the more I think about this road trip the more I'm liking the sound of it!!

 

So guys, comments on price / location etc?

 

Ian

 

EDIT:

 

Just did a quick search on Europcar for an MPV type thing to hire from the friday until the sunday.

 

Basically looking at £732.18 PER CAR including three additional drivers.

 

Found a Renault Espace through Auto Europe for £468.48 (though that didn't include any extra drivers)

 

Will keep looking, or feel free to check yourselves guys...

Edited May 23, 2008 by Ian W (see edit history)

[tDR]

I've booked a lot of cars lately... hang on and I'll find a price cos those sound on the high side.

[tDR]

We can get a 'large family' car through http://www.travelsupermarket.com/carhire £175 for the Friday at noon 'til the following Sunday at noon. Last time I ordered one of them I got a Mondeo Estate TDCI Titanium X which was a pleasure to drive with all the toys etc. and bags of room - I think anything in that size class would do us though especially if it's gonna be 4 per car max. If there's between 6 and 8 of us then that's 3 or 4 per car so £44 or £58 each respectively cost wise for the cars.

 

The fuel will cost a bit:

 

1,131 miles from my house to val thorens. That's 2 or 3 tanks of juice per car each way so say 5 total return per car at around £60 a tank = £300 in juice per car. (although it should be cheaper in france especially for diesel)

 

Total cost of each car including hire and fuel, additional drivers, is approx £500.

 

Divide that into 4 it's £125 each + accomodation

Divide that into 3 it's £167 each + accomodation

 

What do we think?

 

I know it's a long roadtrip especially for us Scottish folk but I've always fancied that kinda trip behind the wheel and won't mind doing a few stints each way if necessary