skiing in France during French school holidays. Bad idea?

Chamonix is a little bit unique. The lift system was creaking a bit over Christmas New Year but mainly due to everyone wanting to ski only 2 of the 5 areas. I honestly have no idea when a French school holiday is so in reality it can never of been that bad for me to take note. Definitely you would enjoy more if you take early bus in morning though, obviously if you are planning on renting a car makes no difference. Lot depends on what type of mentality you have towards skiing. If you want miles and miles of motorway piste then am sure there are better options. If you want great town, amazing scenery, easily accessible offpiste, tons of affordable great restaurants in town, a good mix of areas for all abilities and vertical to make the best legs burn then is perfect. If you had any specific questions, concerns then easier to guide.

Currents conditions are still very good, quick skin up this morning and 2 nice runs down. Clouds are building so seems like tomorrow will be a powder day.

Cheers Ranchero,

Useful info. Part of the holiday is needing a bit of a break from the daily grind. So a scrum for the bus might not be the best idea for a relaxing few days :).

Still rubbing chin thinking about it.

Hmmm,

T1b

As long as you hit the 08:20ish bus you will 99% of time get a seat. Might be a bit keen for some but the 07:50 and a coffee at bottom is not worst way to start your day either :-). Car rental from Geneva is pretty cheap and cannot imagine there is an easier resort in world to drive to or around. For all the complaints about the bus system I lived here for 4 odd years and was never once tempted to buy or even rent a car in winter. Obviously if you are from London and associate "commute" with work and or shopping then might be different.

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Funny enough three of the ones you have mentioned! We stayed at Le Grand Bornand which neighboured both La Clusaz and Le Chinaillon, all three were a total nightmare when the school holidays started. The resort runs were very dangerous towards the of day with hundreds of skiers and boarders of all levels coming down at the same time and we saw some really nasty incidents where people were obviously badly hurt. We returned the following year in between school holidays and the contrast was amazing, no queues at the lifts, empty pistes and restaurants and a lot safer. We're soon off to Les Gets, Meribel and Les Saisses before the holidays start - bliss!

And on that note it will be a resort that isn't I'm France :)

Cheers Anne for the heads up :)

Anne Cochrane wrote:Funny enough three of the ones you have mentioned!

:lol:

...but I did say (above) "stay away from the town and other bottlenecks"... We missed all that, fortunately.

This is what it was like at La Balme, with mini-me on the long green at the bottom. This is effectively the "busy home run" for that sector, but we spent the day "lapping" this on his 4th day on skis because there was no queue...




February Half-Term 2012 at La Clusaz

As you can see... carnage! 8)

Tib - I'm not sure you'll find it much different in other countries; just pick your location with thought and you'll be fine.

I don't understand why people are making so much fuss about ski buses. I love Chamonix buses and every time I went there they were not particularly busy too. There are 5 areas and if the snow is good people will be going in different directions anyway. The town itself is very special. And food. And scenery. Buses are a part of it.