J2Ski Holiday 2014

In light of the recent comments on N it would appear as non favourable, in that case Tony would you suggest a resort that you would go to & if it was the one chosen would you be up for it, in principle at least.

AllyG wrote: This is a quick summary of the situation at the moment:

Ian W - wants January or maybe March
Nelly - can't do January but presumably OK for Feb and March
Me - March a bit doubtful about whether I can manage it or not
Snapzzz - prefers last week in Jan or early Feb but could probably manage Jan, Feb or March (as long as we hurry up and organize it before he books his family holidays)
Icy - wants March
Tony H - Thinks it's too early to consider 2014
Old Andy - said he'd love to come if he could manage it
Bandit - possibly might be considering it - I don't really know
Dids - would like to come 'one day'
Old Boarder - wants Feb or March
Felthorpe - doesn't seem to mind which month
Daved - wants last 2 weeks of Jan or 1st week of Feb
Far Queue - wants January or March
Bedrock Barney + 1 - wants late Feb or early March
Tonypants - not March
Joe Colin - wants January or February
Brooksy - doesn't want school holidays and prefers the cheaper holiday dates if possible

Have I left anyone out, or accidentally included anyone I shouldn't have?

Tony H - I've amended your entry now - sorry I must have misunderstood what you said :oops:

I don't somehow think we'll be going to Niederau :D

This thread, at the moment, is just to discuss possible dates and resorts for 2014.

The way I envisage it is that we can enjoy ourselves during the summer with these discussions and start the serious voting somewhere around November. And then, if I can find another chalet owner/TO that will hold a chalet for us for a month, we can start accepting bookings at the beginning of January and go on until the beginning of February (thus covering the period when we are away on our first J2Ski holiday to Tignes on the 13th January).

And after the beginning of February hopefully we will be able to continue booking the chalet, but without exclusive use, as we are doing now with the Bonjour chalet in Les Brevieres :D

As can be seen from the list of J2Skiers and who wants which dates, we're not going to be able to include everyone who is interested, as some can't go in January and some can't go in March etc. etc. We are intending to go with the majority vote - firstly for the date and then for the resort.

I think it's fun, and quite interesting, hearing about which resorts people favour, and why. Once we've got a list of potential resorts we can draw up a short list and then vote on it.

never been there but how about Les Clusaz/Grand Bornand ...220knm piste and a reasonable priced lift pass with the reputation of having an affordable cost of living or even Verchais where I have stayed ...on the Grand Massif and 20mins drive to the Porte du Solaille

daved wrote:never been there but how about Les Clusaz/Grand Bornand ...220knm piste and a reasonable priced lift pass with the reputation of having an affordable cost of living or even Verchais where I have stayed ...on the Grand Massif and 20mins drive to the Porte du Solaille

Thanks Daved :D

La Clusaz and Verchaix were both places I'd never heard of until now, which just shows how useful this sort of thread is at introducing me to new villages and ski areas - it's like window shopping :D

Now that I've looked them up, it seems that Verchaix is close to Morillon (and Samoens), but you need to get a ski bus (or drive) to Morillon to connect with the ski area. Maybe we should just put the Grand Massif down as a ski area choice.

La Clusaz is much higher up, at 1100m (Verchaix is only 788m), and has its own ski area as well as connecting up with the rest of the Grand Bornard. J2ski says it is possibly one of the prettiest ski resort villages in France, and they've given it 4 stars for experts, 5 stars for intermediates, 4 stars for beginners, and 4 stars for snowboarders, AND it's only a 1 hour drive away from Geneva. Has anyone skied there?

http://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/France/La_Clusaz.html

La Clusaz does look quite promising to me - thanks Daved :D

Edited to correct the altitude of La Clusaz (after Snapzzz very kindly pointed out the error of my ways)

La Clusaz is on my list for Feb 2013 but Ally i believe the village is at 1100m not 1800. so i wont be booking until last minute.

Snapzzz wrote:La Clusaz is on my list for Feb 2013 but Ally i believe the village is at 1100m not 1800. so i wont be booking until last minute.

Thanks Snapzzz :D

I was totally taken in by what the La Clusaz tourist board website said, which was this:

La Clusaz and Manigod are located on the north-west flank of the Aravis massif. This favourable position gives them a combined average snowfall of more than 6 metres at an altitude of 1,860 metres.

You're quite right - La Clusaz village IS at 1100m - but that doesn't sound too bad to me. However, maybe I need to check out its snow record, and wait for some replies from J2Skiers who have been there.

AllyG wrote:

Snapzzz wrote:La Clusaz is on my list for Feb 2013 but Ally i believe the village is at 1100m not 1800. so i wont be booking until last minute.

Thanks Snapzzz :D

I was totally taken in by what the La Clusaz tourist board website said, which was this:

La Clusaz and Manigod are located on the north-west flank of the Aravis massif. This favourable position gives them a combined average snowfall of more than 6 metres at an altitude of 1,860 metres.

You're quite right - La Clusaz village IS at 1100m - but that doesn't sound too bad to me. However, maybe I need to check out its snow record, and wait for some replies from J2Skiers who have been there.

It does look a nice resort and Crystal (hate them now though) are doing free lift passes all season there.

Thanks for the offer of ski guide for the group, but, I am busy that week.

Anyway, I agree that Niederau is totally unsuitable, it's a rubbish resort. You will never catch me there.

There is no colour about the place:


The ski rental is garbage:


No snow cover:


Too much inbreeding:


Another bad snow day:


Rubbish architecture:



The ski instructors can't keep their skis, (or their pants), on:


The drunks keep leaving their kit behind:


The wimmin have more style than the guys, and that is just unacceptable:


The place is just too crowded:


And finally, the area is just too flat for experienced skiers:


Nope, as I said, you won't catch me.....