Where is your fav family chalet/ location....or is it a secret?!

Tony,
I didn't mean that one extra day cost £500, what I meant was that the lift passes cost a bit more because we had 7 days, not 6 (the extra day of ski hire was free, luckily).

The £500 was the total cost for lift passes, lessons morning and afternoon, and ski and boot hire in Val Thorens during Feb half-term '09 per person for 7 days.

The skis and boots were adult, 'red' and 'black' i.e. not the cheapest beginner's 'blue' ones, booked on the internet a long time before we left, at 40% discount if I remember correctly, from Intersport. The lessons were about £200, lift passes £200, and ski and boot hire £100.

And I agree we do spend a lot of time on the train. However, we live about 50 miles from the nearest motorway, and about 100 miles from the nearest airport. We are trying not to fly any more to reduce our carbon footprint. My husband stays home to look after the farm (but very kindly lets me takes the kids ski-ing) and I don't fancy driving all the way to London, quite apart from global warming, to get the train to France. The added bonus is that we get to stay the night with my elderly parents in London, and catch up with their news.

I think I still need ski lessons because I'm not very good yet, and I have read all about the 'intermediate plateau' that a lot of people get stuck on. I would like to be a good skier, so that I can get down any piste comfortably, without too much anxiety, and safely. Naturally I'd like to be able to ski with style as well, but that's probably asking a bit too much!

The added bonus of lessons is that it means you can ski in practically any conditions as long as the lifts are running. We skied this time in thick fog/snow in a lesson, and the teacher kept us entertained by getting us to ski with our eyes shut! We all had a good laugh, and we were practically the only people on the slopes, and the teacher was there to make sure there were no collisions (she had her eyes open). And the same thing happened last year - we had absolutely no idea where we were, because of the fog, but we just followed each other and the teacher and managed to ski all day.

I am very jealous, Ian, that you can ski any time. My elder daughter has already left home for Uni, and maybe when my younger one leaves home I will again be able to ski when I like in Jan and Feb, before I have to look after our own holidaymakers here.

Ally

Sorry Tony, don't know why I said Ian. Total brain misfunction - old age creeping up I suppose.

Ally

Getting back to the question - if you have to go at half term, then £9-£11K, for 11 people in a catered chalet is about right. You are not going to save much on that because of all the 'boxes you want ticked', ie Ski to door, nursery slopes nearby, short walk to town. catered, lifts nearby etc.

These requests are not unreasonable, but I reckon if you need to save some money, you need to do two things:
1) Find a resort that is not a main resort, but one that is 'linked' to the main resort or area, or is not as fashionable. This may have to be lower down the mountain, but still could have the requirements you need.
For example, if you look at J2ski's snow reports on France, you'll see dozens and dozens of ski resorts, but a lot of them you won't recognise. Pick one of these and research it. Equally take a look in a 'where to ski and snowboard' book, and these will show smaller resorts linked to larger areas.

2) book direct with the owner, and drive or arrange own flights. As there are 11 of you, I'd suggest that driving would be cheapest. Some owners do offer catered, but most would be self catered.

You can find some properties on websites such as www.cheznous.com but mostly you'll have to surf the web.
http://www.hannibals.co.uk/winter/ does have catered and self catered in Serre Chevalier, and usually includes lift pass in price.

AllyG wrote:Sorry Tony, don't know why I said Ian. Total brain misfunction - old age creeping up I suppose.

Ally

I can't see how you got us mixed up I'm the good looking one :mrgreen:

Ian,
I will try and remember that you are the good looking one. Sorry for the mix-up. Perhaps instead of ski-ing I should book myself into an old folks home for a holiday and give my husband a break.

And I hope the original poster finds a great catered chalet somewhere at a reasonable price for next Feb half-term.

Ally

Ian Wickham wrote:

AllyG wrote:Sorry Tony, don't know why I said Ian. Total brain misfunction - old age creeping up I suppose.

Ally

I can't see how you got us mixed up I'm the good looking one :mrgreen:

That doesnt say much for me then, does it?

hymac580 wrote:Getting back to the question - if you have to go at half term, then £9-£11K, for 11 people in a catered chalet is about right. You are not going to save much on that because of all the 'boxes you want ticked', ie Ski to door, nursery slopes nearby, short walk to town. catered, lifts nearby etc.

These requests are not unreasonable, but I reckon if you need to save some money, you need to do two things:
1) Find a resort that is not a main resort, but one that is 'linked' to the main resort or area, or is not as fashionable. This may have to be lower down the mountain, but still could have the requirements you need.
For example, if you look at J2ski's snow reports on France, you'll see dozens and dozens of ski resorts, but a lot of them you won't recognise. Pick one of these and research it. Equally take a look in a 'where to ski and snowboard' book, and these will show smaller resorts linked to larger areas.

2) book direct with the owner, and drive or arrange own flights. As there are 11 of you, I'd suggest that driving would be cheapest. Some owners do offer catered, but most would be self catered.

You can find some properties on websites such as www.cheznous.com but mostly you'll have to surf the web.
http://www.hannibals.co.uk/winter/ does have catered and self catered in Serre Chevalier, and usually includes lift pass in price.

Pretty sound advice, and I can certainly vouch for Serre Che.

at the risk of sounding like a broken record, have you had a look at esprit? A lot of their chalets would fit your description and the childcare would be there already so you don't have to pay flights, accom and wages for your own. They aren't cheap but, as hymac wrote, it's pretty normal for perfection at half term.

Until my children became slightly less reliant I had my eye on La Rosiere, ski in and out until your heart's content :D