J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by msej449

You absolutely need a Vignette to use the Swiss motorways: the police are very hot on stopping people without one. So this is one benefit of hiring at Cointrin. The other is that the Ferney Voltaire site is more circuitous to reach and most signposting is - as was said - to the Swiss Rental Return. Like all airports, it's a bit of a cartel, but that's unavoidable unless you opt to take the train or free bus into Geneva. Go to the GVA airport webpage

http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-72/

to get a list of the car hire firms.

In the past, I have sometimes found that the '.ch' version of a car hire company will have offers and rates that aren't on the '.com' version, but this varies, and you may have to interact in French or German. This was particularly the case with people carriers and larger passenger vans.

Vignettes expire on 1st.Feb the following year, so if you pick up in early February, always check that the Vignette is valid - sometimes they manage to miss changing the odd car if it's busy.

If I was younger, I'd give boarding a go. My youngest learnt to ski first, then switched, but has two bits of advice: 1. Expect to write-off 7-10 days of solid hard work and little reward before you master boarding, and 2. Then get some 1:1 instruction for at least 3 days (preferably a week) to improve your skill. He feels that a lot of boarders are actually very out-of-control.

How about the London Mayor's Office sets up a local by-law whereby tour guides in London have to be accredited? Any foreign tour guides daring to show people 'round the capital will be jailed - they aren't qualified to handle groups negotiating traffic which is going in the 'wrong' direction. Only Qualified London Guides could be used as they will have undergone the in-depth training required. Speaking a foreign language will not be part of the training. What's the difference?

Tripadvisor can be very misleading as far as ski resorts go, because it will only feed back on those places that subscribe to their advertising programme. In the resort where we have our small holiday apartment, TripAdvisor shows less than 5% of the actual accomodation that's available. The only reviews are for those chalets and the few privately-owned apartments that subscribe. And as you point out, even those aren't very consistent. An acquaintance of ours fed back on our apartment, as they enjoyed their stay a lot, and their review has never appeared. That's when I discovered the issue.

Does your budget stretch to something like a small studio apartment in one of the satellite resorts of a major resort (where the prices will be lower)? You'd expect to get a discount for a month. I'm thinking of somewhere like Nendaz or La Tzoumaz in the Swiss 4 Valleys. Or Champéry in the Portes du Soleil? Just take a look at the local websites and contact the Tourist Office - they should have the local contacts to get you a good deal. They may also be able to help you get discounts for skipass (and equipment if you need it).

If I were you, I'd also consider some of the other Swiss resorts in the region, like Verbier, which is popular with Americans and Brits and somewhat closer to Geneva (about 2 hours drive, 3-1/2 hours by train/télécabine. But I'd be the first admit that Zermatt is probably the most spectacular and varied, but there's only so much area you can ski.
You don't say how long for? Personally, I would take the opportunity to do some sightseeing as well, and expose your kids to the culture. Zermatt is in the German-speaking part of Switzerland while Verbier is in the French part. Perhaps you could take the Glacier Express to Zermatt and make this fantastic rail journey part of the holiday? Or fly into Geneva and spend a bit of time there first before going on to a Valaisian resort.
Have a look at the www.myswitzerland.com website and get a flavour of the different regions.
Another option would be to fly into London and then take the train - Eurostar or TGV Lyra to Switzerland. Last year, they ran a Saturday train service direct from London on the TGV-Lyra to the Swiss Valais and you could then connect at Brig to the Glacier Express. If you get the Eurostar, the main route goes via Paris - you could stop of for a few days there and adjust to the different time zone, before going on to your ski holiday.
Really, you have a lot of options, and you could probably include some great sightseeing along the way, provided you had the time to spare.

Switzerland is more expensive than France and if price is your only criteria then I'd probably go for Italy. However, the price difference between France and CH can be minimised. As with anywhere, going to a 4* hotel in the New Year won't be cheap, and an on-piste chalet in a premier resort like Courcheval 1850 won't cost any less than one in central Verbier. Go in the school holidays anywhere and you'll be queuing.
You can mimimise cost by going self-catering in an apartment and in that case, Switzerland can be pretty price equal in terms of car hire, accommodation and catering costs. You will still pay more for a ski pass, however.
But why would you go to CH, rather than France? Well, in the last two years, resorts like the Swiss Four Valleys have seen more French skiers, as the Swiss have pegged the CHF to the Euro. What makes these French visitors expatriate is, I suspect, that all other thing being equal, Swiss resorts are less crowded than French and you simply spend more time skiing as a result. I rarely queue very much in Switzerland and I've become so accustomed to the relatively open slopes and lack of queues that I simply couldn't bear to go back to any of the French resorts I skied previously, where I've had to spend ages being elbowed in long queues just to connect or get home.
And to answer the comment about the Médran queue in Verbier - we did this on our first year there, before we realised it was quicker to use the Mayentzet or Savoleyres Sud first thing.

People often worry a lot about the logistics of a group holiday, naturally. But once you're there, have hired your skis and are off and away, it's worth setting out some ground rules for how the group prepares and also interacts. This is especially the case if you've got a mix of experience in the group. A few tips:

Assume that you will get separated and lost. Have each others mobile numbers on your 'phones. Take money and plastic with you every day. Don't assume that 'someone else' will be around to help. Agree what to do in the event of people being separated. Always carry a piste map.
Generally, this is just a convenience thing so that if the group splits for some reason everyone is still able to enjoy themselves without writing-off most of the day trying to link up again.

Be realistic if you have some more experienced skiers in the group. They'll want to zoom off and have some fun. So agree, say, that the morning is everyone together, then in the afternoon you split the group. Or whatever works.

Make sure you know where to go if someone is slightly/moderately injured. If it's France, the procedure for getting medical attention can be confusing. Understand that most insurance cover is post the event - you will have to pay for stuff and then claim it back (hence the carrying payment suggestion).

NEVER force someone to do something they don't want to. Experienced skiers are particularly prone to this and it can really spoil it for newbies in a group. If someone says "No, I'd rather go back / on the green /etc." do not argue with them, or try and persuade them otherwise. It's a holiday, after all.

Keep your passports safe somewhere, and keep a photocopy separately, along with home contact details and insurance contact details. Have the UK Border Agency helpline number handy in case you lose your passport (not the Passport Office).

This doesn't have to be heavy - it can all be organised beforehand and if you're unlucky it can help a lot. Of course, if you're on a package trip, the Tour Rep will help you, but it will do no harm to be prepared - they might not always be able to help immediately.

Finally, some resorts have useful apps with a 'Find Your Friends' function. You turn on your GPS and register yourselves and can see where people are. It might be worth checking and downloading this before you go, while you have home broadband access.