J2Ski Holiday 2014

Here is the website of the Hotel Gran baita where the J2ski 2014 ski holiday will be based ...... late August on the way to the Dolomites I popped in to have a chat and see what the hotel is like.

The owners were very pleasant as you would expect and the hotel was clean and was typically Italian, Rustic charm with gym, sauna and seems to have an excellent reputation for food, well it is Italy. The Hotel is about 400 metres to the nearest lift and if you really feel that you do not want to walk the hotel will drop you off at the lift station in their free mini-bus.

http://www.granbaita.it/en/


There are seventeen J2skiers already booked to go , a good mix of skiers and boarders and also a good mix of age groups from 12 to well it would be impolite to say .... as Ally has previously posted she has negotiated a excellent deal with the hotel, and we also have a discounted lift pass.

There is still room if any other J2skier's and their families wish to come for a week of excellent skiing, great company and the odd glass of vino and one or two laughs. And the biggest benefit of all you get to meet Wickers :thumbup:

We are also at the stage of buying J2ski bobble hats, I shall be wearing mine with pride 8)

One potential advantage with this years group that no-one has so far mentioned ........

I'm not going !!!
:mrgreen:

OldAndy wrote:One potential advantage with this years group that no-one has so far mentioned ........

I'm not going !!!
:mrgreen:

That certainly made my mind up to go :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

We now have 18 people going, and 10 for the 12 seater mini-bus transfer, so there are only 2 places left for the mini-bus!

As a consequence of this the cost of the return transfer in this mini-bus between Verona airport and the Gran Baita hotel in Folgarida is now only 70 euros :)

Is anyone else interested in coming with us?

Very tempted Ally. Not sure if we can make it work (I always avoid flights from London for logistical reasons).

Only other issue relates to timing, I was originally aiming for late Feb for our 2nd trip.

I was looking at the piste map. There do seem to be a lot of lifts to negotiate to get up the mountain. Maybe I've got used to places like Val d'Isere where two lifts can quickly get you 1000m up the mountain?

Presume no concerns with height of resort at only 1300m? Presume ok early Feb although perhaps not so good later in the season?

Hi BB,
I'm glad to hear you're interested in coming with us :)

Which other airports would you consider, if you don't want to go via London Gatwick or Stansted?

Manchester is a possibility, if you fly to Venice (Marco Polo VCE), with Monarch. A return flight, with luggage, is currently £123.

There are 2 more people thinking of coming with us and flying from Manchester, if they can sort out flights and transfers.

Venice would be possible, I reckon, if you hired a car for the week. Otherwise, if we get enough people interested in this route, perhaps we could consider hiring another mini-bus taxi to do the return route between the airport and the hotel, timed to fit in with the Monarch flights.

Going out, the Monarch flight departs Manchester at 15-00 on Sunday 2nd February and arrives at Venice at 18-20.

Coming back, the flight departs Venice at 19-20 on Sunday 9th February and arrives back in Manchester at 20-50.

The other possibility is Innsbruck. There is a direct train from Innsbruck train station to Trento (which is on the line to Verona). The public shuttle bus picks up at Trento train station going to and from Folgarida. Or, again, if enough people wanted to do it we could consider hiring another taxi.

EasyJet does Bristol to Innsbruck and back, and Monarch do Manchester to Innsbruck and back.

Innsbruck airport is closer to Folgarida than Venice airport. The distance from Innsbruck airport to Folgarida is 132 miles, or 3 hours travelling time. From Venice to Folgarida it's 147 miles, or 3 3/4 hours travelling time.

And it's only 2 1/4 hours from Verona airport to Folgarida.

I haven't skied the area before, but I have read quite a few reviews on it, and I think it will suit us very well. Most of the reviews are about Madonna di Campiglio, which is the 'posh' village, but the ski area is shared with Folgarida, much like Tignes and Val d'Isere I imagine.

Here is part of the review from the Ski Club of GB by the guy who led the first FreshTracks holiday there a few months ago:

Italy's top resort?
Overall rating: 5 stars
John Bennett
Visited: January 2013

Campiglio claims to be Italy's top resort - and maybe it really is now...
I first visited Campiglio in 2004 and my only criticisms then were a lack of some more challenging skiing, and maybe a few kms short for a full-on ski week
In 2013 I found:
- a new gondola link bringing Pinzolo (a locals resort) into the Campiglio network
- new covered high-speed chairlifts (life-savers in last seasons snowstorms)
- a new gondola up to 5-Laghi, and new pistes/lifts as well
- some runs left unpisted for a bit of free-skiing/mogul skiing
so now good for more advanced as well as good intermediate skiers.

The Pinzolo link opens up a lower-altitude area, featuring several decent black runs, and also some off-piste pitches.
The linked pistes above resort level mean also mean that you not need a ski-bus to get back to your accommodation, regardless of which areas you ski in.
Unusual for an upmarket resort, Campiglio loves boarders and freestyle skiers, you will find a great snow-park in Groste area.

I checked the historical snow records on the Ski Club of GB website and they looked pretty good to me, and February is probably the best month for snow :).

Thanks Ally. You must have an epic spreadsheet to hand with flights/transfer etc -)

We can fly from Stansted without too much trouble. It's Gatwick and Heathrow that are the big pain.

Will give this some thoughts over the next few days. It's a doddle to fly from our local airport (Humberside) to Innsbruck for around £325 each. Milan Linate even cheaper at approx £220 each.

We are eying up Ischgl/Hintertux/Lech as well though with our final easy option being Eurostar to Moutiers and a 30 minute transfer up to Meribel Mottaret.

We do fancy another country to France though.

Worst things to be doing than planning ski holidays!!

If you can go from Stansted, then RyanAir do several flights to Milan Bergamo. And the public shuttle bus goes from Bergamo to Folgarida.
http://www.flyskishuttle.com/start.php?page=home&lang=EN