Latest posts for the topic "April ski holiday"

April ski holiday

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:37:32 GMT

Hi, I live in South Africa, I am hoping to plan a ski trip ( first time overseas) the first 2 weeks of April 2012, where can I stay and still have good snow so late in the season, we are novices , skied twice in Lesotho south Africa.

Later

Adman

April ski holiday

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:24:13 GMT

Adman wrote:Hi, I live in South Africa, I am hoping to plan a ski trip ( first time overseas) the first 2 weeks of April 2012, where can I stay and still have good snow so late in the season, we are novices , skied twice in Lesotho south Africa.

Later

Adman

Val D'Isere/Tignes, Zermatt, Solden, Stubai, Hintertux, Les 2 Alpes.....all pretty safe and high.

Re:April ski holiday

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:26:35 GMT

As Tony says check the forecasts and ski high :thumbup:

Re:April ski holiday

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:07:25 GMT

What a shame you cannot go a month earlier!
I'm sure an opportunity to get to one of the big European stations doesn't happen every year and whilst there will be skiing and good snow higher up all resorts will be loosing the snow on their lower runs.
Conditions will be much better in March and you would be able to appreciate one of the big ski areas (and there are loads across the European Alps).
No chance you could get over a month earlier?

Re:April ski holiday

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:19:11 GMT

Les 2 Alpes would be a good choice, most of the easy stuff is at high altitude.

Re:April ski holiday

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:24:37 GMT

Many thanks, all for the info, the full length of the run in Leshoto is 1200m so anything longer is a bonus, 28 march is the soonest we can travel, I am planning to book befor the end of the yr, will check out your resorts, which one would be the best?
Later
Adman

Re:April ski holiday

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:40:01 GMT

Be careful Adman, some of the resorts suggested would not be suitable for novices, and several are not rated for novices by the TOs.
Andy, at Les2A, can a novice safely negotiate off the easy slopes down to the valley? If so, that may well be the good suggestion.
In the main season, you might often go by the TO guide. Hence, when the snow is good, Val D'Isere only rates 3/5. Similarly with Zermatt. Most of the novice slopes are at the bottom in most resorts, and of course, in April, there is unlikely to be decent snow at village level. Hence it is important that a novice can get safely down off an upper slope to the valley.
Caw canny; just because a resort is high does not make it novice-friendly.

Re:April ski holiday

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:14:36 GMT

Perhaps a definition of "novice" might be useful here, as I assume Dave is talking about bunny slopes for beginners. Maybe, having skied twice before, the poster is looking for intermediate slopes.
If not, maybe a re-assessment of when they are travelling may be required?

Re:April ski holiday

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:15:44 GMT

Those are the Easter weeks and the Brits are booking up the 1st week pretty fast. Pick your flights and resorts carefully or you might get a shock.

Re:April ski holiday

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:59:16 GMT

Lethoso has two slopes that are classed as blue. It has no red slopes. Hence it behoves us to be careful when offering advice to a person classifying themselves as a novice. There are many high Euro resorts where the drop off to the gondola is minimally red. It is not enough just to give a list of high resorts. Also, given the localised variation in Euro slope colour definitions, a nominated blue, could be a fairly challenging red. Hence my respectful query on Les 2A. I am happy to comment on places that I have skied, but not on those that I have not skied.

Re:April ski holiday

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:56:10 GMT

Dave Mac wrote:Andy, at Les2A, can a novice safely negotiate off the easy slopes down to the valley? If so, that may well be the good suggestion.

Yes there's a blue all the way down. I've not skied there, so my recommendation is based on what I've been told. A good friend has skied there on several occasions so I've got a good source of information.

The reason I haven't been there is the same reason I'm recommending it, a high proportion of the high altitude skiing is on blues.

Re:April ski holiday

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:47:09 GMT

it's a green to the bottom at Les2A, but it's narrow and v busy at peak times i.e. home time. L2A are supposed to be linking the green with the Diablo/Diable gondola with a blue run.

cheers

dobby

Re:April ski holiday

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:05:59 GMT

dobby wrote:it's a green to the bottom at Les2A, but it's narrow and v busy at peak times i.e. home time. L2A are supposed to be linking the green with the Diablo/Diable gondola with a blue run.
dobby

That is good quality info, dobby, in two ways. The key info though is that a novice ought to be able to get safely off the mountain in L2A. There is nothing better than first hand experience.

Re:April ski holiday

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:47:54 GMT

Dave Mac wrote:

dobby wrote:it's a green to the bottom at Les2A, but it's narrow and v busy at peak times i.e. home time. L2A are supposed to be linking the green with the Diablo/Diable gondola with a blue run.
dobby

That is good quality info, dobby, in two ways. The key info though is that a novice ought to be able to get safely off the mountain in L2A. There is nothing better than first hand experience.

I have skied the green "road" back to L2A, it's so crowded that beginners should download, or risk being put off the sport. I skied the Black thereafter, it was fairly full of beginners also...I wonder why? :mrgreen:

Re:April ski holiday

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:16:19 GMT

Les Deux Alpes looks like an excellent option. As said, the Beginner's / Early Inters area is up high above the town on a very sunny (probably, at that time of year) plateau. The runs on and from the glacier are easy to reach from there and long and wide, so will be quite a contrast from Lesotho!

There is no need to "risk" the runs down to the town - just hop on the gondola (Jandri Express? is that the one?) at the end of the day. Plenty of people do and your legs will thank you for it if you've had a long day on the slopes.

[ETA - having checked the piste map (see link to the left), there are three different gondolas serving the Cretes area. I think you might even be able to download on one of the chairs too IIRC but don't bank on that]

Re:April ski holiday

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:45:10 GMT

End of march and early april doesn't necessarily discount the lower resorts either - ok if the low slopes are south facing then possibly it does, but in any sort of average snow year most French ski resorts will aim to be 100% open at that time of year still.

Also, remember early April is easter holidays so that will make a lot of resorts busier. If you can get there a week earlier you will have quieter slopes and arguably better snow chances wherever you choose.

Of the high ones, from what I remember Les Arcs is quite novice/intermediate friendly (including access too and from). Tignes also is quite navigable if happy on blues.

cheers