need help planning a ski/road trip!!

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?

caron-a wrote:you a big drinker by any chance tino? :D

It was probably the most sober holiday of my life, the reason was far more innocent, it was my first time up the mountain, never skied or boarded before. All my mates were off doing blacks, and the only thing I had in common with black was the colour of my knees.

BTW, I found La Plagne to be far more expensive than val d'Isere. There was one bar in Belle Plagne, where it was 7 Euro for everything,....a beer,....a box of smokes,......to hang your ski-jacket up?!?!?!? If I had asked the barman for a Euro he'd have probably charged me 7.

blinkingh heck guys, loads of replies, i thought the forum was dormant for a while.

right. few points to note. i am a confident skier, i have been skiing 3 time all when i was 13 and 15 years of age i am now 26. when i first went ski-ing i went into a ski school and went from beginners to advanced in 2 days (how advanced the class was i have no idea but i loved it and felt advanced was too slow for me) i was a keen skate boarder and rolle blader and love my extreme sports so i have no problems in picking up ski-ing agian but yes i may enrol onto a half day refresher.

the is only 2 of us going now the other cannot ski but is a quick learner so i feel he will pick it up quick. however hehas no problem in buying tuition if he needs it.

i am in 2 minds, i want more days ski-ing and would love to book a package but i would love the road trip especially at that time of year seeing the scenery of the mountains plus the experience etc. my mate is dead keen on road tripping it as he wants to see the scenery etc.

the camper van is carpeted out has gas central heating and 2 beds, no tents involved. we will make a ski eqiupment rack for drying clothes thats not a problem.

If i can get a package holiday inc transfers/flights accom etc to anywhere!! austria/bulgaria/switz/france for £200 (not inc costs for ski rental and lift pass) then i would book that. for jan sometime. where do people recomend i search? so far its been in the region of £400 each, I can drive to the resort for £300 all your help is priceless guys. please mention the places and dont put N or M etc as i havent a clue.

HaHA! M = Mayrhofen in Austria, N = Niederau in Austria. Both are well known resorts, different in their own ways, but well loved by many on here. Either would be good places for you to try, and the cost of eating out there is a lot less than France for instance.

You can seriously get a weeks package B&B for around £200 if you are prepared to wait a little while, as they wont sell out for Jan especially with the predicted fall in winter holidays this season as a result of the credit crunch. Keep looking on Inghams, Crystal and Nielsons sites for offers, and also use bookableski, skideals, directski and other bargain websites. Trust me, as much as the road trip would be an adventure, you would be better off getting a cheap package and relying on other people to get you there quickly and efficiently.

I also suggest your mate has half a dozen sessions at the snow dome before you go, or get him into ski school.

Whatever you choose, let us know, and enjoy it. This forum is NEVER dormant!

great i will search the above sites for offers.

when is the best time to look for them, is later the better in this case? or do the prices not drop closer to the time?

I would love to book something up asap so me and my mate can start putting money away for it.