J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by andyoneil

Interesting Billip - is there much snow in Kitz that early as its very low (by comparison to may of the early opening resorts)?

that looks like a blatant plug for no good reason - ADDERS!!!!!!!!

Hi Ben

Of the resorts you have mentioned I know most about Meribel / Courchevel as the 3 Valleys area they are in is one of my faves

First thing to consider is that France uses a different grade to other countries and has Green/Blue/Red/Black in increasing order of difficulty so an absolute beginner like your girlfriend will start on greens and progress to blue (maybe odd red by end of week but who knows how fast she will pick it up)

This has the advantage that you know the greens are definitely easy when you go out away from lessons - if blue is the starting point then, until you ski it, you may not know what is an easy blue or a hard blue - the extra classification colour gives you more confidence of what you are getting

If you want "looks nice" then Courchevel is not ideal as its a bit of a monstrosity in the resort centre where the lifts combine in Courchevel 1850. That said the smaller villages of 1650 etc are prettier but less going on

Meribel is more Alpine chocolate box in feel as it has mostly chalets but is VERY spread out so you can be a long way from slopes/apres depending on the accommodation (plenty of folks on here know the exact geography better than me)

Courchevel (especially 1850) is rather expensive - you can get value, as you can anywhere in France no matter what some doomsayers say, but it has more expensive places than most. It has (or had) more Michelin starred restaurants than anywhere else in France bar Paris. Its very popular with the Russians.....

Meribel is more normally priced though Val Thorens (in the 3rd Valley) is cheaper again.

Plenty of Apres in both places

The 3 Valleys is a great place for beginners and you certainly have variety - I took some people on their first week on snow and got them all the way from Val Thorens to Courchevel and back again in a day without touching a red and no run done twice. But its VERY difficult to gauge how fast your better half will progress

I'd throw onto your list Val d'Isere - slightly better transfer than 3V from Geneva. Beautiful town, loads of apres, loads of skiing. Its not for everyone as it CAN be expensive but equally it can be cheap if you don't look to get ripped off (basic rule I guess). Beginners have a great nursery slope right in town with a proper chairlift (nothing worse than drag lifts) and loads to progress to higher up the mountain (though she is unlikely to be able to ski home and will need the gondola but so do MANY)

I could go on and on but hope this helps as a starter and feel free to PM me if you want anything further (I've been to 3 Valleys 3 times and off to VDI and the Espace Killy for the 5th time this year)

Enjoy wherever you go and I'm sure your missus will love it

VDI first week of Feb for me (a week or two later than normal due to others in group's work schedules)

Big area, Big tunes from Mullit in Chalet bar and then big Tartiflette / Fondue

What's not to love....

Nice one Nelly - hope you're fully fit and raring to go (be it on one plank or two)

had to cancel with Inghams a fair few years ago - we'd had our first ski trip of the year in VT and my wife had been hit and needed surgery etc in UK so later trip to Milky Way had to be cancelled

Inghams were great about the whole thing as I remember it but it was a while ago

Matt

Ive not actually skied in Canada but have visited Banff in the summer and we loved it! (we took a train from Toronto to Jasper before bussing down to Lake Lou, on to Banff and then the Rocky Mountaineer to Vancouver and on to Victoria)

Basically Banff is one long street with all the accommodation, bars and restaurants within a block or so of the main drag - I'd def recommend "The Keg" for a great steak

As for the NHL game - the Saddledome is one of the iconic building of the league so that should be great - its recovered now from the terrible floods they had a while ago. Calgary themselves will be rebuilding this season - who are they playing for t he game you hope to see?

I'm booked for VDI in Feb for £920pp

That includes flights, transfers, chalet board, skis, full area lift pass

Chalet board means that most of spending money is included too as we get through their wine not our own pockets and lunch is often simply made up of leftovers from brekkie (actively encouraged by staff)

My flights are from NCL which is expensive on the supplements too

And there are cheaper spots than VDI to ski in (though its nowhere near as expensive as some make out)

You'll do it for under a grand easily (my first ski holiday with the lads cost us £350 each all in but that was a while ago and in Andorra which is not as cheap as it was)