J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by acarr

Eggman wrote:
I know it's not funny but on the flight home we had two broken legs, a broken wrist and a badly bruised face.

Blimey, I wouldn't use that airline again! :lol:

Ally, the apartment was just over £400 for the week I think (if I remember correctly what our friends said). It supposedly sleeps 5 but in fact there was 1 small double bedroom, a double sofabed in the kitchen/diner/living room and a mezzanine with a single bed but the ceiling was so low that it would only suit a child. I believe that's standard for France. Someone told me it is better to calculate the number of bedrooms you need, rather than going by the number of people that the apartment supposedly sleeps. So for our family of 3, I'd want 2 bedrooms, even though an apartment that size would supposedly sleep 6! Of course, the price goes up correspondingly...

The ski lessons cost 72 Euros for 2 hours, which I believe is for up to a maximum of 4 people. You could also just have 1 hour for 36 Euros.

I forgot to say that we saved a fortune on the lift pass. There's a beginners pass which is valid for 2 return trips on the gondola per day and unlimited use of a couple of drags at the top. That cost 43Euros per day (15 E each per adult and 13 E for the child).

The drag lifts (2) on the nursery slope in the village are free, but are really only good for complete beginners.

I loved Les Carroz and would definitely go back some day.

Allie

Hi everyone. Got back from Les Carroz last night. Quick summary of our experience.
Ski school: used Nouvelle Dimension. Had private lessons, 2 hours per day, family of 3 (youngster is 9). Instructor, Isabelle, was excellent. Spoke great English and was very friendly and relaxed.
Pistes: Although we parents never got off the green run :roll: I understand from other skiers that you can ski to Flaine and Samoens. There is a nursery slope in the village, but a better learners area at the top of the gondola.
Lifts: One gondola, numerous chairs, but still quite a few drags, especially for learners, and some drags had steep sections. One drag, behind our hotel, took off with a vicious lurch - I fell here twice. Queues mainly for learners who competed with ski schools for use of drags, but nothing too long as ski schools tended to come and go at different times.
Weather: we were lucky and had mostly blue skies and sunshine. Snow in village was melting fast, but still plenty at the top.
Scenery: stunning. Tree-lined pistes with mountains all around, including Mont Blanc in the distance. Village is very pretty and traditional savoyarde style.
Family-friendly: very. Mostly French families, a few Brits but virtually no other nationalities that I could detect.
Accommodation: Lots of self-catering apartments, few hotels. We stayed in one of the few hotels, half-board. Cost about 1,400 euros for the 3 of us. Friends stayed in an apartment, much cheaper, but a bit pokey.
Prices: It's a while since I went to France, so I was shocked at the prices - hot chocolate 3 or 4 Euros for a small cup. Could spend 35 Euros easily on snack lunch for the 3 of us.

That's it in a nutshell. Gotta go make dinner. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Allie

Three sleeps for me, then off to Les Carroz :lol:

Ally, we have just bought boots after hiring for the last 3 years. We are going to Les Carroz next week by train. We have invested in a couple of wheeled cases and will put our boots in with all our other clothes. I know they will weigh a ton, hence the wheels! I will let you know how it goes with (a) improving our skiing and (b) lugging them around in our cases.

We went to Ellis Brigham in Covent Garden and the guy took his time with us. Plus as Pabs said if you're not happy they will buy them back for 70% of the cost.

Allie

Good review Ally. Looking forward to reading more.

He has a facebook group Kwames Army, if anyone is interested.

I've seen this clip and it looks scary!
Allie