J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Mark Allison

Avoriaz :D Great snow through til May most years. Less than 2 hours from Geneva. Lifts and runs actually go through the village - doorstep stuff for all. Big ski area (Portes du Soleil) or local pass for beginners.

:wink:The nearest places to drive to are the ones around Geneva – they take about 8 hours (with one break). Place like the Grand Massif and Portes du Soleil are a good bet, as are Megeve, St Gervais and Chamonix.

Staying in the valley-bottom towns is always a possibility if the resorts themselves are booked up. A 15 minute drive up the mountain isn’t the best way to start and end your day, but beats not skiing at all!

Check out the websites of some of the resorts (just google the place names, followed by office de tourism) and give them a phone - they may still know of stuff available.

Finally, check out a decent map and look for some of the less well known resorts and check them out – if the big travel companies don’t go there, there’s more chance of them having some room. I’m thinking of places like Praz de Lys, Samoens, Morillon, Notre-dame-de Bellcombe, St Jeand’Aulps, Praz sur Arly. There’s loads of them! We get tunnel-vision with our ski resorts in UK – there’s loads most people don’t even know about. The majority will have decent skiing, particularly at the moment.

Good luck – tough being saddled with a teacher - I know how you feel.

Speed limit is 130km/hour on the motorway, which is 80mph. Like here, there's an unofficial 10% tolerance, so I reckon on doing about 88-90mph all the way down. I still find I'm far from being the fastest thing on the road!

You'll go for miles without seeing a gendarme at all. They seem to spend most of their time causing traffic chaos in towns by waving their arms around in their tight-fitting uniforms.

Don't blame me if you get nicked! I'd take it easy once off the motorways, however. They seem a bit more keen here. The road up to Val Thorens is good but winding. Expect ludicrous over-taking manoeuvres from the French on hair-pin bends.

I love driving to the Alps. The build-up of expectation as you approach them is fantastic, particularly as the snow starts to appear. Enjoy!

Morillon and Les Gets are your best bets if you want to minimise transfers from Geneva. Morillon links neatly into the Flaine and Les Carroz areas, but you have to accept that you'll probably be getting a cable car down. Les Gets is 15 minutes nearer to Geneva (about a 1.05 hr drive) than Morzine and a fair bit higher (1172m)- you can nearly always ski back to resort well into April as home runs are north facing. The linked Les Gets/Morzine area pass is great for a few days skiing and is cheap compared to P du S or Grand Massif. Good skiing for all abilities and decent night life.

We nipped out to Les Gets for a weekend last week - the transfer from Geneva is short and the skiing there would suit your ability. The local pass is fairly cheap compared to many areas and the area is easily big enough for intermediates for many days. Car hire (always use the Swiss side) is reasonable despite exchange rate or there are buses. Having said that, most of the above can be said of places like Morillon, La Clusaz, St Gervais and Chamonix! I know of a reasonably priced apartment in Les Gets that's available for most of March and bits of Feb and is available for short term lets if you are interested.

It's not necessary, but we hired one for a day and have never regretted it; one of the best days I've ever had. There's so much stuff you'd never find by yourself and there's a lot of places that you should only go with a guide - in fact there's some places you can only go with a guide. I'd definitely recommend it for a day early in the holiday to get to grips with where all the good stuff is.

I recommend neoprene knee bandages and ibuprofen (much cheaper here). I reckon on the third day you'll need both, as you'll be in pain but won't want to stop.
Have a good one!
I'd be jealous but sneaking out to Les Gets for weekend.

You've got to be really unlucky to need chains to get up to a place like La Plagne. I'd be tempted to watch the J2Ski weather forecasts and do without unless there is a nailed-on certain snow storm forecast - even then, the roads get cleared so quickly that you would be really unlucky to be caught out.
I've been driving to the Alps for donkey's years and put the chains on for the first time last March. However, if I'd waited a couple of hours, it would have been an easy drive up.
All the service stations on the way up to the resorts sell them, so check the forecast and buy if necessary. 102euros is outrageous! Take the other bit of advice and try putting them on before you hit the snow!