All Advice Welcome

Hi,

My girlfriend and I are planning to go to Europe on Feb 20th for a week. My girlfriend is a complete newbie and I haven't boarded for about 10 years. She will be undertaking two taster coarses at Chill factor, one for skiing and one for boarding to make her mind up before we go. I am definitely planning to board again, of a fashion anyway!

There is plenty of advice about good beginner resorts, clothing etc on the net and I'm quietly confident that I can piece all that together myself.

However, I cannot find much info on :-

a) whether its best to go for a chalet, hotel or self catering accommodation. Catered chalets sound appealing but I've no idea what the standard is like and if it will work out cheaper for food and drink.

or

b) How is best to book lessons and hire eqipment. I will probably be booking the holiday through Igluski as their website is the best and cheapest, but I don't think i can book the lessons and boots and boards through them.

All advice is welcome.

P.S. If anyone can recommend some very long fitting snowboard pants that would be great. I'm 6ft 5" tall, so will need some in the region of a 36" inside leg. Yes, I am a freak!

Thanks

What is your budget like? I'd be tempted to go for a half decent catered chalet...

We'll probably be booking within the last couple of weeks with a budget of about £500 to £600 each inc. lift passes, lessons and hire.

But if the chalet is worth the extra we'd pay it.

I have never tried boarding, but if the board hire and lessons cost anything like the same as those for ski-ing, I would say that was a pretty tight budget.

Lift passes are usually around £150, group lessons for 6 days at least £100, and ski and boot hire/board hire around £80. Which adds up to around £330. The only way I can think of reducing this cost is to go with one of the major tour operators who offer learn to ski/board packages which you might get for around £250 each.

So you'd only be left with around £250 for the accommodation, flights and transfers, which is possible but I think only if you went self-catering or got a last minute deal in a hotel or chalet.

I have booked a last minute deal in the past, and what I did was to get all the major tour operators' brochures so that I could see what I was getting for the price, in case the special deal was miles from the lifts or something.

Anyway, best of luck with picking a resort and finding a good deal. There are plenty around if you can find one. The 20th Feb is the week after half-term so it shouldn't be too crowded, but you might run the risk of not being able to book lessons if you go last minute and don't book them through a tour operator. I have seen this happen to other people, but only at half-term.

Ally

I much prefer to go to catered chalet. Don't think you'd get it on that budget to include your lift passes though. I've always found that if you weigh up what you pay nowadays for food, then the extra is worth it and you know that all you need is beer money and lunch. As for lessons, it really depends on where you go. I've found some really good ski schools in various places, with English speaking instructors and usually just found them with google searches. Most of the TO's when you go to book have extra packages for ski hire and ski school though. Let us know when you pick a resort and then someone might be able to give more advice. Hope it all works out!

Give these a go http://www.rocketski.com/ - you can have as much or as little as you want in the way of passes/lessons/kit etc. Also try Crystal/Thomson as they have 2 for 1 offers on lift passes in some resorts plus they do learn to ski/board packages.

Happy hunting!

TheBear wrote:a) whether its best to go for a chalet, hotel or self catering accommodation. Catered chalets sound appealing but I've no idea what the standard is like and if it will work out cheaper for food and drink.

I think this completely depends on your persona. I've done all three and I don't think I'd do s/c again, firstly because I prefer not to cater on holiday but, most importantly for me, there's no interaction with other people. I prefer chalets because the banter and stories of the day are a great part of the holiday. Personally, I pick 30+ chalets so it's big enough that you're not in each other's pockets but small enough that you can remember everyone's name! It's also nice to come back to a freshly baked cake :D. The standards have been very good in all the chalets I've stayed in.

TheBear wrote:b) How is best to book lessons and hire eqipment. I will probably be booking the holiday through Igluski as their website is the best and cheapest, but I don't think i can book the lessons and boots and boards through them.

I'd book lessons through the operator if you can as you're more likely to end up with an English group. Iglu are the agents and will book the holiday for you with a company that will more than likely offer lessons.

Book hire direct on the internet, it's much, much cheaper.

TheBear wrote:

P.S. If anyone can recommend some very long fitting snowboard pants that would be great. I'm 6ft 5" tall, so will need some in the region of a 36" inside leg. Yes, I am a freak!

It's a long shot - but have you looked in TKMAXX who often have quite a bit of reasonably priced decent snow clothing?