Posts by Mark Allison

Thanks for the response, Bandit. It's in "Ski Forum Index" - "Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports" - top two choices.

It gives a two week forecast of expected temperatures and precipitation in Vienna area and Geneva area. It's very good at predicting weather patterns, in my experience. The Geneva one just seems to be a bit stuck at the moment and I'm watching (with everything crossed!) for any break in the current dominant High Pressure system. Seems to be no end to it

I was hoping the Admin Man might know what the problem is?

Is anyone else having a problem with this useful forecast tool? I seem to be only getting daily updates, rather than the 6-hourly updates that I used to get. The Vienna forecast gets updated 6-hourly. Any idea why?

The Boomerang is reasonable and has a great location, as are the Bel Alp and Stella Alpina. They're all two-star hotels and will do B and B outside of their busy weeks. A bit cheaper - but just as nice - is A La Bonne Franquette. It's a 2-star hotel on the edge of town near the Perrieres lift and is cheaper because of its less central location. You'll probably struggle to get a self-catering place for just a few days - they tend to be let for the week. You can find info on the above on the Les Gets website www.lesgets.com or just Google them.

Schladming in Austria is great for tree-lined runs. I would say that approaching 80% of the runs are tree-lined. It's lovely. Skied there last February in fantastic conditions. The ski area extends over four big mountains and all four are similar - if you like trees, it's the place for you. The peaks are above the tree line, so there's a bit of variety. Sauze is OK for trees, but not in the same league as Schladming or many of the other lower lying Austrian resorts.

I assume by B2 Olympic Rep, you mean the Rossignol Bandit B2 41 Olympique Limited Edition retro - the wood-effect ski? If you do, it is a top ski which goes anywhere. Very stable at speed on piste and copes with just about any off-piste condition. Flexible enough for bumps too. Can't speak for the Black-eyes though. £271 is a good price for the Rossies.

Hi there - highly jealous. Les Gets is a fantastic place and the seasonaires there always seem to have a great time. It's not as expensive as some have commented earlier - you'll get to know how to have a good time on the cheap. Night life has been pretty well covered - Boomerang was certainly popular last year, but the seasonaires seemed to hang out in lots of places. Skiing-wise, for quiet (but a bit slow) lifts, empty pistes and tough skiing, the place to head is Mont Chery, particularly if you've just got a few hours to spare. It's got 3 pretty tough blacks and some nice off-piste, plus the snow-park. Even during school holidays it stays quiet, mainly because it's not linked to the rest of the ski area by lifts. Enjoy!

Hi Coops, skied Schladming with my family and big group of friends this half term. Group included some young children. Their parents said ski school was great (they used the one at Rohrmoos) and their kids certainly improved over the week. The resort is great - nice town and a brilliant ski area. I was really impressed with the lift system, apart from one or two slow two-man chairs up from the bottom stations. Pistes were immaculate. Bit busy, but hey, it was half term. It wasn't cheap, but they've invested heaps in the ski area and there's a new 8 man chair going up this summer. Four big mountains to ski, big vertical drop, varied pistes (a bit limited if you are advanced). Go for it.
I've also skied St Anton a fair bit and loved it, but I'd say Schladming is better for kids. St Anton is huge and very lively and much better for advanced skiers. Massive off-piste. Cheers - enjoy!

Hi Frostbite,

Morzine is pretty busy at half-term, but nowhere near as bad as many French resorts. Because half of the Morzine clientelle go up to Avoriaz via the cable-car in the village, this leaves the Morzine/Les Gets side reasonably quiet. We ski Les Gets most half term weeks and rarely queue. Snow has always been good in February. So if you can still get a deal, either places would be excellent for a mixed family group.

If you want to go cheap at half-term, do the following.

1. Drive. Use Tesco vouchers to go under the Tunnel (free!). Petrol and tolls will be about £300.
2. Rent an apartment. You should get one for £600-£900.
3. Don't go for a big ski area - Les Gets/Morzine was about £450 for the family booking on-line this year. The Notre-Dame/Praz sur Arly area is cheap too and is lovely.
4. Take your own food. Ready prepared meals/pizzas/tins of chilli/pasta sauces etc aren't too hard to knock together in the evening. Not too much of a chore over a bottle of wine whilst the kids chill in front of a DVD. Also, take cereal etc. £150 at most.
5. If you don't have your own gear, rent on-line from the UK and pick up in resort. However, it's much cheaper in the long run to buy your own stuff, particularly if you drive as it's a piece of cake to take. £400 max
6. Do not give your money to a Tour Operator. It's them that take the profit at half term. Resort prices don't go up that much (ski passes etc don't go up at all). It's just the TOs that bang up prices as they know they'll sell out regardless.
7. Take it easy at lunch time - sandwiches aren't that bad in the reasonable French resorts discussed in this thread (4-5 euros) and if you take some choccy snacks up (buy in England) it doesn't have to cost a fortune. £200.
8. Don't go out and get ratted every night. Once or twice is plenty! £200 spends.

Altogether, way less than your target spend of £3000.

Simple. You'll save enough to have two holidays! Trust me. It's the way to go with a family at half term without bankrupting yourself.

Any more advice, just ask.

Mark