J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

Thanks very much for your report Dids :D

You have done a very good job of putting me off Chamonix :lol:

I am really glad we're going to Tignes in 2013 for the J2Ski group holiday, and not Chamonix (which came a close second). It sounds like it's the sort of place that's much better for advanced and expert skiers, who like ski-ing off piste.

And I don't like disjointed ski areas, or having to get on a ski bus. I don't know why, as I realize it's totally illogical, but somehow I'm perfectly happy to jump in a gondola but not a bus.

I'm glad you had a good time, even though it wasn't really your ideal resort :D

I hope your daughter recovered okay from her chest infection. Being ill on a ski holiday is a really miserable waste of ski-ing time :cry:

Hi Cat,
I don't know if EasyJet would charge you extra for skis etc. even if they were your only checked in hold luggage, but I suspect they would.

Swiss don't charge for ski/snowboard carriage even if you do have the normal checked in hold luggage, but they are unusual in this respect.

I'm afraid I've never flown with AerLingus so I don't know what they're like.

Here is a photo (taken on my 'research' trip to Tignes at the end of April), just to remind us all of why we struggle with airline luggage regulations etc. :lol:

I was rather confused about where we were when my daughter took this photo, so I asked Old Andy about it. I think we are ski-ing down from the Eye of the Needle (L'Aiguille Percee), at 2748m, on the blue run Corniche, which if you follow it down, has a turning off for the black Sache into Les Brevieres (I saw the danger notice and kept going down the blue ...). And, depending which piste you take when you reach the junctions, you can either ski into Tignes Lavachet, Tignes Les Boisses (where we were staying) or Tignes Les Brevieres (where we are going in January) with a choice of blue or red runs.

The Sache run is 10 Km long so I would say that if you ski all the way down into Les Brevieres (at 1550m) from the Eye of the Needle (at 2748m), on the alternative blue and red pistes it must be a total run of at least 10 Km. The Eye is called that because there is a big hole in the rock formation, and when we were going up past it in the chairlift I thought there was a huge blue plate stuck to the rock, until common sense kicked in and I realized it was a huge hole and I was seeing the blue sky through the hole :lol:

In the photo the tallest mountain, above the lower skier, is the Grande Sassiere (3751m), which divides France from Italy. And the valley we are ski-ing down into is the Isere Valley which runs all the way from Albertville in the west, past Moutiers, Aime, and Bourg-St-Maurice. The whole area including the ski resorts of the 3 Valleys, Les Arcs, La Plagne, La Rosiere, Tignes and Val d'Isere is called the Tarentaise. During the winter the road finishes at Val d'Isere because the pass over the mountains is closed.

Nelly, we use an agency, so they do all the advertising, but they have a special website for dog friendly cottages like ours. We have been 4* graded by the dogs :wink:

One of the worst breeds for dog hair is the Sheltie - I could practically have knitted an entire blanket out of all the hair/wool left behind by a pair of shelties when they were here (with their owners) for a fortnight :lol:

Far Queue wrote:

bandit wrote:Les Arcs might fit the bill. Plenty of variation in the slopes, a broad, mixed ski area, possibility of La Plagne linked in on the Paradiski Pass. Lots of ski in/ski out. Big altitude range, tree lined and open faces, prices moderate when compared to other Tarentaise resorts.

And the chance to meet/ski with snowcrazychris :twisted:

Yes - maybe I should send a pm asking for chalet suggestions ...

Thanks Bandit :D

I will add Les Arcs to the list.

Iceman wrote: You let dogs in your cottages? :shock:

Icy, sometimes it feels like we are providing holidays for dogs (plus their owners) :lol:

A couple of weeks ago, for example, a charming elderly lady was in the 4 bedroom farmhouse on her own with 2 dogs. She said the dogs needed the space :shock:

Actually we get a lot of bookings by agreeing to take dogs, because many cottages won't have them, and our guests pay us an extra £10 per dog :D

I am well prepared for dogs with throws on the furniture, slate floors, and special cleaning kit like those sticky rolley things I use to remove the dog hairs from the cushions and bedding :D

bandit wrote:There are (to my knowledge) no larger resorts in the vicinity. Switzerland does not really do ski in/ski out, resorts are much older and more established, they grew from farming villages and Health Spas mostly.

Thanks Bandit :D

I've never skied Switzerland so I don't know much about it :cry:

Have you got any suggestions for somewhere you think might suit us all, or comments on the long list we have already (obviously we will have to trim this down at some point).

AllyG wrote:
This is a quick summary of the situation at the moment:

Ian W - wants January or maybe March
Nelly - can't do January but OK for Feb and March
Me - March a bit doubtful about whether I can manage it or not
Snapzzz - prefers last week in Jan or early Feb but could probably manage Jan, Feb or March (as long as we hurry up and organize it before he books his family holidays)
Icy - wants March
Tony H - Thinks it's too early to consider 2014
Old Andy - said he'd love to come if he could manage it
Bandit - possibly might be considering it - I don't really know
Dids - would like to come 'one day'
Old Boarder - wants Feb or March
Felthorpe - doesn't seem to mind which month
Daved - wants last 2 weeks of Jan or 1st week of Feb
Far Queue - wants January or March
Bedrock Barney + 1 - wants late Feb or early March
Tonypants - not March
Joe Colin - wants January or February
Brooksy - doesn't want school holidays and prefers the cheaper holiday dates if possible
Randyrat - has a group of 4 people, and prefers the last week in January and somewhere not too expensive.
Catp - is interested in coming and hasn't got any preferences for the date

Have I left anyone out, or accidentally included anyone I shouldn't have?

Here are the places suggested so far for 2014:

Snapzzz - Zermatt, Sella Ronda, Les Portes du Soleil
Crispyapplepie - Morzine, St Anton, Alpe d'Huez
Daved - Milky Way, La Plagne (Montchavin and Champery), La Clusaz, Verchaix/Grand Massif
Old Boarder - Les Deux Alpes
Dids - Samoens/Grand Massif
Andyhull - chalet The Lodge in Val d'Isere with Skiworld (around £700-£750 all inclusive except ski hire, January prices)
Tony H - Niederau and St Moritz
AllyG - 3 Valleys
Ian W - Livigno
Icy - Chamonix
Ranchero_1979 - Engelberg
Bandit - Les Arcs

Any more places/ski areas anyone would like us to consider? Would anyone else like to go on the list of those potentially interested for 2014?

I have added CatP to the list of those interested in coming, and added Chamonix, Les Arcs, St Moritz, Livigno, and Engelberg to the list of potential resorts/ski areas.