Never been skiing. Help.

Hello, brand new here and never put a ski on in my life. That will all be changing soon as I plan to learn in advance of a skiing trip next February.

No doubt over the next few months I will have a million questions, but for now here is the first.

My friend is getting married, and since we are not kids anymore and have done pretty much all of the euro/drinking/stag destinations we have decided to go skiing instead. With no knowledge on resorts I would appreciate any help in choosing.

We are looking for a resort to which we can fly from a northern airport (best would be Durham, Newcastle or Leeds) We would like a short transfer time as some of the group will be staying only a few nights. We would like good skiing for beginner to intermediate. We would also like good nightlife.

Any ideas would be great as we really don't have a clue yet.

PS I have been mountain biking a couple of times in Morzine/Les Gets/Avoriaz. Does this area fit the bill?

Much thanks, Heavy.

Hi Heavy - a ski trip as atag trip is great fun. I organised one some 7 years ago and we have had a 'lads' trip off the back of it ever since.....

Avoriaz / Morzine / Les Gets is certainly a shortish transfer from Geneva. Try http://www.diy-hols.com/ for a good deal. I only assume you can get to Geneva from the airports you mentioned.

I'd suggest Morzine as a better 'stag party' resort for evening entertainment if you can find accommodation in the town. But finding a taxi late a night / drunk and cold is a nightmare (been there!!!!) So Avoriaz has the advantage of being able to walk everywhere. The nightlife is pretty good too.

I think the skiing is better up Avoriaz too.

You may find it hard to find less than 7 nights accommodation in FEB. But in JAN is easier. Perhaps bring the trip forward a week or two. P&V have a number of 'basic' appartment/flat that they offen rent out for less than a week. I've stayed twice in Avoriaz for 4 nights each time - Jan and later March.

Remember though - the beer is expensive in Euroland at present......

What about SCOTLAND :wink: :shock: :wink:!!!!

Have fun

Head for Geneva and the resorts you mentioned fit the bill. Have fun.

Hello Heavy - you do realise that this will be a life changing moment! The skiing bug tends to take over your life ) No doubt someone else will come along to give exact dates, but a potential problem with French resorts in February is the influx of skiers caused by various half terms.
Wherever you go, hope you all have a great time.

Hi Heavy,

Live near you, so can confirm that Newcastle (easyjet.com and Jet2.com) and Leeds (jet2.com) both have regular flights to Geneva. Teesside (bmi) only does Saturdays. The winter timetable has been released, so move fast for the best prices. Half term is already extortionate (13th-20th Feb). The week before and week after are still reasonable.

There's lots of ways of getting from GVA to the Portes du Soleil resorts - there are many transfer bus companies (geneva2morzine.com altibus.com etc). Just check out the resort websites - www.morzine.com or www.lesgets.com. If there's a bunch of you, hire a car or people carrier from GVA - works out cheaper, in my experience and it's handy to have a car in resort.

If you are beginner or even itermediates, I wouldn't bother with Avoriaz and the larger Portes du Soleil lift pass. It adds massively to the cost (lift pass extension is another £45 a head and stuff is v expensive there), is a lot further and can be a pain to get to unless you are actually staying there (which would add 45 mins to your transfer time). Also, it's ugly. If you have some thrill seekers in your party, they will no doubt want to get the lift pass which allows you to ski there also - most of the steeps and powder is over there, though there is good tougher skiing in Les Gets (Mont Chery - if you mountain bike, you'll know it).

Now it's a while since I've had a stag-type event, but I think either Morzine or Les Gets would fit the bill. Morzine is a very big town for a ski resort, Les Gets more compact. Both have lots of bars which are great - I've just come back from there and prices weren't too bad. Just make sure that your accommodation is near Town Centre, as both places sprawl a lot and you could end up with a long walk or taxi ride after a session (I've got a place in Les Gets, but I think it's a bit far out of town for your purposes). Again, websites for both resorts have on-line reservation services which tell you where apartments/hotels are.

Give me a shout if there's any other stuff you need to know, but get your flights booked now - they will not get any cheaper!

Cheers,

Mark

Hi Heavy, and welcome to the forum.

I think you'll find that the Portes du Soleil (Avoriaz/Morzine/Chatel etc) or the Grand Massif (Flaine/Les Carroz etc) will fit the bill. They have good extensive domains which would suit all levels of skier from beginner to expert.

For utter convenience and something a bit different, you might want to try the purpose built resorts in both these domains - Avoriaz & Flaine. The skiing convenience is great (skis on outside your hotel), there isn't far to stumble after a night out, and they both offer extra "stag type" activities like snow mobile trips.

Let me know if you have any more questions, but as Mark said, get flights to Geneva booked asap and start from there!

Regards,

Ed

Right, thanks eveyone. It looks like booking flights to Geneva is the way forward. Cheers.

I love Les Gets and there are a couple of late bars that would fit the bill, and the Igloo is open til 5am. A Flintstones-sized cote de boeuf on the slopes at Chez Nannon will see you right the day after.

The mix of skiing is good; total beginners' slopes to some hairier stuff. Also there's a BASS ski school; I've seen a few and these guys are great for total beginners, esp compared with Extremely Snotty Frenchmen, also known in resorts as ESF...