J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by bluebird

caron-a

funny you should pose this question,i was only thinking of doing the same.
a friend of mine has this anti french attitude,which i find a bit bemusing.
i've been to france about 6 times skiing plus a couple of trips to paris,and
i cant recall any problems whatsoever.(apart from the beer prices)

tony,

according to the latest edition thompson brochure a weeks premium boot hire is £49,so i would guess that standard boots would be 30 odd quid.

would be worth checking out the price on buying a pair in resort.

i bought a pair of nordicas for 90 euro in st anton about 4 years ago ,still using them now.

I reckon you should give lech a go,its mostly blues and reds.

dont be put off by the expensive reputation,ok so the 4/5 star hotels can get pricey,but theres plenty of modest 3 star accommodation.

the food and drink cost is a tad higher than the average austrian resort.but it is still cheaper than france.

was watching bridget jones edge of reason last night(for about the 6th time) always seems to get me in the mood for the arlberg,as some of the film is shot in lech.

not as big and hectic as st anton,so it sits in nice with the smooth theme.

lifts also are mainly the padded covered and heated type,plus you dont have to queue for them.

the lift map and piste kms looks the same now as it did then.the link to champoluc was definately there (sometimes closed though)
didn,t ski over to alagna which is more reknown for its offpiste potential.

perhaps my memory is a bit blurred but i can only remember a few pistes where you could have a good blast.

150 kms isnt a lot when consider that 2 of the areas st jean and antagnod are separate but proberly counted in that figure.

just my own opinion,thers loads of resorts ive been to and would go back to,but not gressoney

stayed in gressoney 8 years ago ,wasn,t that impressed,village too quiet.poor track like piste back to the village,cafeteria type mountain restaurants,not that much mileage. long queues to get out of the village in the mornings (it was new year week millenium)

on the plus side it had great scenery all around,the glacier nearly runs into the town.it was cheap compared to the more famous resorts,has great off piste potential (with a guide)

often described as a hidden gem,not quite convinced myself.

I wouldnt discount it as it has the insurance policy of the hintertux glacier just up the valley.

also dont be put off with the snow depth on lower slopes,as this can be misleading with some resorts.mayrhofen and chamonix being the perfect examples,low villages where you generally dont ski back to anyway.most of the skiing is above 6000ft whereas the villages are around 3000ft.

crystal start their programme on 13th dec this year so the resort must be scheduled to be open at that time.

also in recent years it seems the eastern half of the alps has had the better of the early snow,whereas the western side fares better late season

not sure when easter is next year,if it is late you should check when the resort shuts for the season.
many of the lower austrian resorts [ie niederau soll etc] shut at the end march beginning of april.

saalbach,soll,kitzbuel,zell am see,kaprun too name a few.my number 1 choice would be lech but you may need to add another 1 or 2k to your budget