J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by snowb4ndit

andymol2 wrote:Well Snowbandit you must have been in a different Morzine to the one I visited in March last year - slush, rocks & ski'd out pistes. On the Les Gets side they were bringing the piste bashers down for the summer.

No Same Morzine...Just as you describe!

But as I am sure you are aware the PDS is much much bigger than Morzine...

As I said I was still able to ski right until the first week in April. In fact I think our last ski day was the 16th April and it was really hard work because the snow was so wet and heavy. Of course we had to go high!

A couple of pictures from March:

Tony_H wrote:

Not according to facebook posts you made last year where you said the snow had melted in Morzine, and you were skiing on grass in many places at times. I believe that was Jan 2011?

No disputing that, one post on the 13th Jan did say "Has anyone got any grass skates" (just checked) but you may also remember the many other posts before and after that in January 2011 that were saying what fantastic skiing I was having. You see the snow had melted in Morzine town in fact it was raining, but not on the pistes. (if it's raining in the village then it's snowing up the bubble. As I said there was still plenty of skiing to be had, once up any lift.

I don't slate Andorra, but I wonder why people would choose it over the alps. I've been there myself for a short break so can speak from experience. The snow coverage was dreadful just before Xmas, but that could of course have been an isolated incident.

Tony_H wrote:Last season was bad at times across Europe. Having said that I skied St Moritz mid Jan and it was as good as I can remember conditions ever being - lots of snow and very cold and sunny. Lovely. This was at the same time as people I know in Morzine were skiing grass meadows.

Andorra and Bulgaria do seem to suffer a lot more than the Alps, and for that reason alone I would not consider taking a holiday to either, and Bulgaria not at all for many reasons.

I think you really need to think about what you want from a ski holiday, and for me thats 6 days full on skiing, nothing else matters that much. Dont take the risk would be my advice, go to the Alps and ski high up.

Firstly I must say that I was in Morzine for the whole season last year (as you all know - Yawn yawn) and never at any point needed to ski meadows. What some people forget/don't realise is that Morzine is a doorway to the whole of the Porte De Soleil which offers 650km of pistes in France and Switzerland and on top of that there is very much oppurtunity for off piste skiing. Many places in Europe suffered badly last year but there was plenty of skiing to be had in the PDS which is why Morzine and the other resorts of the PDS remained busy and like us fully booked. In fact towards the end of the season it became even more busy because people were being transferred/shipped here from other resorts . The pistes going down into Morzine did close earlier than usual but that wasn't until the beginning of April and it just meant a different lift had to be used to get to the snow.

Tony, I don't understand why you keep slating Andorra. I think you must have been misinformed because Andorra/Grandvilara is not a low area - 2640m Highest Lift/1710m Lowest Piste/1710 vertical drop and yet you keep telling people you wouldn't consider it due to its altitude but that's not bad compared to somewhere I know you do consider, St Anton - Highest lift 2450m/lowest lift 1304/vertical drop 1350


Andorra is not renound for being the place to go for experts but for regular holiday makers who are not into extreme skiing it is a good place to go.Snow is pretty much assured throughout the season. You can usually expect well over a meter base both upper and lower slopes during February and March and you will have access to 193km of pistes.

There are many places I would prefer to go and this is because there are so many areas that I have not had the oppurtunity to ski in yet and probably never will. But I will always speak up for Andorra as it is very much under rated. I have spent a few weeks there, I know.

Bulgaria on the other hand...Now that's somewhere I just would not consider again.

Now it's time to get back to that waist deep powder in Morzine! :D

Impressive! :D

Snocannon wrote:Just to Epilog the debate, we're (sadly) back in Green Ireland, and have had a fantastic week of 7 hr per day skiing for 6 days in Grandvalira, based out of excellent Soldeu. There had been no snowfall for the previous 4 weeks, and as with Murphy's Law in action, it began to snow as we left back our skis on Sat evening and had not stopped as we boarded the bus to airport the following morning.
I've made myself a few promises from all this, I promise never to listen to Andorra nay sayers again :roll:, if it does not snow for 4 weeks prior to my arrival I promise I wont fret or worry because this excellent well run resort has all the snow making facilities that will GUARANTEE me skiing for as long as we did last week, and coupled with the fact that Soldeu ticks every satisfaction box for me, from value to food to Apres ski I PROMISE TO GO BACK. :D

Glad you had a fabulous time! :D

Been snowing all night and day here - Just got back after having a fabulous powder day, off piste all the way...Waist deep in some places and never less than knee deep.

I'm feeling tired now but very satisfied. Can't wait till tomorrow...It's still snowing!!! :D

In my opinion the frequency and amount of snow we've had here in the PDS is just perfect! There have been a few days when we've thought that we need a bit of the fresh stuff but as soon as we start thinking that it starts snowing again.

Absolutely no complaints here! :thumbup:

I find that if I know the terrain (i.e. it is an area I am familiar with and know where I am going) I can do it, I can turn, no problem, I feel like I'm floating and confidence is high as I glide along. If I am venturing onto steeper unfamiliar territory, then a fear of the fall line seems to reappear. When this happens I start doing my 'giraffe in powder impressions'. I don't fall, but there is not a lot of gliding going on!