need help planning a ski/road trip!!

skidaddle wrote:Ok - you asked for it -

MAYRHOFEN!!!

Great ski area, great ski-school(s), great nightlife.

And it has a camp-site a few kms down the valley.

There you go, we have a winner!

Hes right you know. And there is an outdoor pool. Brrrrrr

camping in england on a cold summer night can sometimes be barasic even with heating. Are you sure you will be able to take the cold? camping in the harsh winter, in snow. You are very brave (ok I know I am a big girls blouse,) but it is going to be bitterly cold. Also do you really think after one week on a school ski trip that you will be able to teach someone else to ski? I was quite surprised how little the ski school was. i think it only worked out at 138 euros for 6 days tuition.

The only place I have been was Soll in Austria but that was many many moons ago, but it had great varied nightlife then and the ski area was varied and had something for everyone. Like has already been said it might work out cheaper and more comfortable to get a self catering chalet between you. If you time it right you could get a good deal with easyjet.

karen72 wrote:camping in england on a cold summer night can sometimes be barasic even with heating. Are you sure you will be able to take the cold? camping in the harsh winter, in snow. You are very brave (ok I know I am a big girls blouse,) but it is going to be bitterly cold. Also do you really think after one week on a school ski trip that you will be able to teach someone else to ski? I was quite surprised how little the ski school was. i think it only worked out at 138 euros for 6 days tuition.

The only place I have been was Soll in Austria but that was many many moons ago, but it had great varied nightlife then and the ski area was varied and had something for everyone. Like has already been said it might work out cheaper and more comfortable to get a self catering chalet between you. If you time it right you could get a good deal with easyjet.

I think you would freeze, camping in winter. I agree with every-one else, I think a package deal would be better and cheaper. Also we all get wet boots, gloves thermals etc, you really need some-where to hang them and dry out.
I have seen a camp site in Seefeld but all the camper vans in it have been
the huge, plush winnebago type vans with all mod cons including heating and showers.
Our first ever holiday to Austria was an all inclusive package, including transfers, flights, full board inc drinks, a weeks tuition and hire of boards and boots, a weeks ski pass. All for £450 each.

i have just done a quick check on directski and flying from gatwick to salzburg on 10th Jan staying in a pension in a room for 2 (obvisouly you would need 2 rooms) for one week in Soll would be £300 each, then you would have your ski hire, ski pass, any tuition to add on top.

anyway without knowing what your budget, where you want to fly from, or go to etc, this is just a very rough estimate to give you a different option

When I worked in N-, there were a couple of Tasmanians, working in the ski hire, they kipped in a camper van for the whole winter. They did OK, apart from hot & cold dripping noses.

Camping.
I assume that the driving reason for using a camper is cost. There are quite a lot of hidden costs to this. Try:

Ferry £? £100?
Fuel £150
Oil £10
Wear & Tear £150
Insurance extension to cover Europe £? £60?
Breakdown Insurance £115
Adding a driver to your insurance £110 per driver
Tolls, Vignette £? £20?
Continental requirements, bulb set, yellow vests, headlamp diverters, triangle, first aid kit, snow chains, et al £30?
Did I forget anything? Costs of meals on route, type of thing.

Add up the true cost.Above totals £745. Say £700, if you get better costs. That is £175 pp. Add camp site costs of £12 per night. For a week, £20 pp. That is £195.

Flying
Then start from the other end. It looks as though a small resort would be OK for all of you. (Cheaper lift passes)

From your location, where can you fly to cheaply?
Where can you get transport to from the arrival airport?
To avoid high day costs, avoid France. The day costs will surpass all your other planned low costing.

If you plan now, you ought to be able to fly to the Alps for £60/£70 return.
Typically train fares + postbus would be £50/£60, return.

So you are in the resort for £110/£130. Say £120.
In N-, it is posible to stay in a modern high standard apartment, where the cost is 14 Euros per night, £82/week, + local taxes, one euro per day, and cleaning charge, total £97 per week/person.

So you are in resort, flight, transfer + apartment, for under £200.

Like for like, the cost is the same, except that you have saved two days, have proper accomodation, drying & bathroom facilities. Also, saved a heap of wear and tear on yourselves. Those two days saved can be spent skiing.

I understand that you may feel that you cannot achieve all these costs. On the other hand, I can find accomodation in N-, good location, for 9 Euros a night. I am sure that this situation exists in many other tyrolean resorts. This is true of Austria, where some accomodation is in converted farm buildings. Location is a key aspect.

If you have paid for accomodation, it is normal that this entitles you to use of the ski bus, a cost that you would have to bear, should you be camping.

So, I respectfully suggest that is all a no-brainer.

Alternative.
Worse/better than that,you could pay Tony-H some kind of consultancy fee, half of bitter may work. In return, he has a vast knowledge of ski holidays at £99, £115, £175, all heaps better than the average punter can manage. Of course, there is a drawback, most of them would be in M-. :lol:

Ski Hire.
Skiset has already been suggested. I have used Skiset several times, in my view, the service and equipment are good.

Lift pass.
When you are considering the resorts, just check the lift pass prices. Go onto the lift company website, and check.

Ski School.
This is the one area where most people with your limited experience fall down. All four of you should be in ski school. It sounds as though you are early intermediate, and of course, it is some years since you last skied. You are not a ski instructor.

Invest three years of ski school in becoming a competent skier.

So good luck. Have done it myself, all round Europe, USA, Australia.

But only in summer.

The "camping" available close to Mayrhofen in winter is in caravans, not tents!!

Bottom line: It will be less stress and expense to fly instead of drive. Getting your party into ski school would be a smart choice, unless, you all get together and go to a snowdome before you go to resort. Most slope operators run "Learn to ski in a day" courses. Might be an option worth checking out.

Tino, I win the N word bet I believe )

Dave Mac mentioned it on the 10th message after my post. I believe the bet was not mutually exclusive anyhow, and the use of 'or' won me the bet outright when skidaddle shouted MAYRHOFEN after about 2 posts.

What do I get?