J2Ski Holiday 2014

I got a bad feeling about the snow in europe next year. i think head out to colarado..... feb is best.

The hotel in Folgarida that we're going to stay in is called the Gran Baita. There's a photo of it here taken from Trip Advisor: It's not next to the slopes/lifts, unfortunately, but it's within walking distance of the village and the hotel run a shuttle bus to and from the lift. We will be arriving there on Sunday 2nd February 2014, and leaving on Sunday 9th February. The hotel has agreed prices with me for our rooms. The price includes half-board, with dining in the hotel's own restaurant, free use of the gym, sauna, wi-fi in the lobby, billiards room, lift, ski lockers, shuttle bus to the lift, and private parking. A double/twin room is 700 euros for 2 people, and a triple is 990 euros. We have to pay extra for flights and transfers, lift passes, ski/board hire, and lessons if we want them.

BA and Monarch flights are on sale already. BA return from Gatwick to Verona (VRN), the closest airport, is currently available at £107 including luggage.

There is a public shuttle bus between Folgarida and the airports of Milan Bergamo and Verona (VRN), and this season a return only costs 32 euros.
http://flyskishuttle.com/

It takes about 3 1/2 hours on the shuttle bus, because it stops in several places. A direct taxi between Verona airport and Folgarida, in good conditions, takes about 2 hours.

But this season there's only one bus per day on Sundays, so we may well end up hiring a mini-bus taxi to carry some members of the group.

Prices from Italiabus.it for a mini-bus taxi were 328 euros for an 8-seater between Verona aiport and Folgarida, which works out at 41 euros per person, single trip, if we fill the mini-bus.

There is also a somewhat convoluted train route between these airports (and Venice Marco Polo, and Innsbruck) and Folgarida. Plus, of course, there is always the option of hiring a car at the airport for a week and driving there and back.
I don't know which firm is the cheapest for car hire, but I looked at Rentalcars.com and the prices I got for a week's hire from Verona airport were £185 for a Fiat Punto, and £222 for a Volkswagen Golf. Snow chains are available but you have to pay extra for them.

Some people are going to drive all the way out there and back.

I am planning on getting there and back on the train, going on the Eurostar from St Pancras and using the Thello sleeper train between Paris and Verona, and then another couple of trains plus a bus/taxi to Folgarida. If I manage to buy the tickets early enough it might cost me £150 return in a 6 person couchette. By doing this I should be able to get 7 1/2 days of ski-ing :)

I looked at the price of ski hire with Skiset, for this season,and it looked cheap enough, after their discount. 'Blue' skis and boots were only 50 euros, and 'performance' skis and boots 77 euros.
http://folgarida.skiset.co.uk/

The area lift pass, which covers Folgarida, Madonna di Campiglio, Passo Tonale, and a couple of other places, costs 247 euros for an adult, 6 day, high season pass, this season. It covers 380 Km piste, which sounds very impressive, but unfortunately only 150 Km of that is lift and piste linked. It takes about 45 minutes to drive to Passo Tonale, and although there is a free ski bus there it goes from a village close by, Dimaro Ponte, not Folgarida. So if we decide to go to Passo Tonale on a day trip we'd have to get a taxi to that village.

The 150 Km of linked piste is at Folgarida (60 Km), Madonna di Campiglio (58 Km), Pinzolo (30 Km).

There seem to be several ski schools. The Azzurra ski school does adult group lessons from Monday to Thursday, with 2 hours in the morning on Monday to Wednesday and 4 hours on Thursday, making a total of 10 hours for which they charge 110 euros in high season.

http://www.scuolaitalianasciazzurra.it/folgarida/prices-eng.html
http://www.skirama.it/EN/Ski-pass-dolomites/

I have never been to Folgarida, but from reading the reviews and website descriptions, we think that it will be suitable for boarders, beginners,and intermediates. It's not as good for advanced and expert skiers as, say, St Anton, but there are some challenging pistes and off-piste areas.

And it does look very pretty! :)

The reason we're staying in a hotel in Folgarida, and not Madonna di Campiglio, is because the hotels in Folgarida are much cheaper! Folgarida is not a party town. It is apparently more suited to families.

We currently have 16 people who are committed to coming with us, and 8 more (not counting Ian W) who would like to come but have to wait to sort out issues with work/family etc.

Out of the 17 members of the group who came with us to Tignes in January, 16 would have liked to come to Folgarida, and 15 are still hoping to do so :)

Old Boarder is the first one of us to buy plane tickets out there for himself and his 2 kids. So we will have at least 3 boarders in the group :)

Jadavi definitely wants to come, but she's looking for a female room buddy to share with.

If there is anyone reading this that would like to come with us, would you please let me know, either by posting on here or by sending me a pm. Thanks :)

The total cost of the holiday will depend on several factors. This would probably be one of the cheaper scenarios:

Flight = £105
Return transfer = £30
Half-board hotel = 350 euros = ? £315
6 day area lift pass = 247 euros = ? £220
Performance ski and boot hire = 77 euros = £70
Total = £740

This is what J2Ski has to say about Madonna di Campiglio:

http://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Italy/Madonna_di_Campiglio.html

And this is what it says about Folgarida:

http://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Italy/Folgarida.html

£740!!!!!!

Thats a lot for somewhere that is not near the lifts and you have to get a shuttle bus to the town :shock:

Iceman wrote:£740!!!!!!

Thats a lot for somewhere that is not near the lifts and you have to get a shuttle bus to the town :shock:

What are you talking about Icy?

That is an all in price for half board in a decent hotel and including lift passes, ski hire and travel. The shuttle bus is dedicated to the hotel, so no hanging about and if you feel like walking you can.

I think it's a very good price for this quality of holiday. Organising a big group is not easy and I think Ally deserves a pat on the back for taking it on.

I didn't think you wanted to come anyway?

Stayed at the Gran Baita three years ago. Nice 3* hotel run by lovely people. Very good food when we were there. Italian guests that we kept in touch with returned the following year and commented on how many Eastern European staff and guests were there. It's only 400m from the gondola (too far in ski-boots) but the hotel shuttle bus takes 3 minutes and runs at your convenience. It also brings you back (between 3:30 and 5:30, I think). If the bus isn't waiting at the lift station it will be running other guests back to the hotel. It will be back in 5 minutes. The driver Simone is a really nice guy. We would have returned the next year too but it wasn't available for the dates we could travel so we stayed at the Hotel Renzi (100m from the gondola and still ran a shuttle-bus). That was nice too :)

I think £740 all in is a good deal. :thumbup:

Gaz C wrote: It's only 400m from the gondola (too far in ski-boots) but the hotel shuttle bus takes 3 minutes and runs at your convenience. ......
I think £740 all in is a good deal. :thumbup:

Thanks :)
I didn't know it was only 400m to the gondola. That's about the same distance as we walked from the Bonjour Bonjour chalet to the gondola in Tignes les Brevieres.

Which gondola is it close to? I think there are 2 in Folgarida.

Ally, the Gran Baita is in Folgarida 1300 and is about 400m from the gondola shown as 1 (Folgarida) on the piste map.
http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Folgarida/pistemap_full

The other gondola, 2 (Belvedere) serves Folgarida 1400 which is a 10-minute bus-ride away. Both gondolas go up to the same place (Malghet Aut) which is where you may have to queue (5-10 mins) at busy times for the 4-man chair-lift that takes you up Spolverino and away from the nursery slopes. From there you ski to the chair-lift that takes you up Monte Vigo where you then decide to head for Marilleva (nice skiing, hideous concrete buildings) or Madonna di Campiglio (super skiing, classy town). If you go to MdC you will need a full area lift-pass. Anyone wanting to do big mileage can buy a 6-day pass. People wanting to go for just one day can buy a one-day extension to their Folgarida/Marilleva pass at the kiosk at the
bottom of the Malghette piste 10, indicated by a brown square with the words 'SKI PASS' on the map.

There is some great skiing in MdC and you'll really get a sense of travelling if you ski the Groste or the Doss del Sabion. The home runs (black and blue) to 1300 are lovely. The red to 1400 is great too. Nice little bar about two thirds the way down that red. So nice we overstayed and missed the last lift back up :oops: . No problem there is a frequent free bus back to 1300. Hope this helps :D .

Iceman wrote:£740!!!!!!

Thats a lot for somewhere that is not near the lifts and you have to get a shuttle bus to the town :shock:

All in that's not A lot at all. 740 for everything is very good. Well done ally again I say. Trying to organise my own trip at the moment and know how difficult it can be. Ike I say for lift pass food transfers ski hire all In is good value. Not sure how you see this as expensive?!? We're u planning on coming then?