Latest posts for the topic "Bardonecchia Any info?"

Bardonecchia Any info?

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:10:37 GMT

We are going soon to this resort and wondered if anyone had any info on it?
We are staying at the La Betulla. I am aware there were bad reviews of it last yr, but have read some good reviews on trip advisor saying they've pulled their socks up. Don't know much about the resort tho. It says there are some black runs, but i can't see any on the map. I promised the kids they could do some blacks this yr. All the runs appear to be blue and red tho!
I have also red that many blues are like reds. I prefer gentle blues as as I have a bad knee. Is there a gentle run right down fromn the top? Also are there 3 different "areas" It looks like 3 seperate ski areas from the map.

Can we drink the water there safely? I know you usually can in mountain areas but just wanted to check. And I have heard reports they allow smoking in hotels?? They don't do they? And surely not at meal times? Not bothered about me, but have 2 teens and dont want them breathing it in!

Anyway if anyone has any info it'd be gratefully received. Cheers DD

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:30:31 GMT

We stayed at the Campo Smith last year in Bardonecchia. The skiing is ok, but very limited. The ski areas are a little disjointed, but you can get about witha little ingenuity. Runs tend to be short,steep and a little crowded at times, and yes, there are black runs, which were not in good condition at all when we went; you expect a bit of mogully terrain, but the blacks I shot were almost unskiable. Hopefully given the recent snowfall you'll find better skiing. The old Olympic run down to Campo Smith is great; wide, scenic and usually dead quiet, and you can shoot the finish line like Franz Klammer if you fancy it...
Also be prepared for lots of button lifts. The Italians really need to get some serious investment in Bardo.
Smoking indoors? No. So don't worry on that score. Water was ok from the tap too.
Get some practice pushing in front before you go. The Italians do not understand queueing at all, and will barge in front at lift queues, cafes, bars, toilets, hotel reception, everywhere. Even the kids do it.
Phew...sounds a bit negative, so here's some pluses: Mountain cafes are cheap, like a euro for a coffee! And eating out is pretty reasonable, and good quality.
Oh, and there's an excellent bakery/cake shop in Bardo town, (But little else)
Hope I haven't put you off....it's ok really, but having been spoilt in the 3V I don't think I'll be back to Bardo...I hope you have a good time though! I'm sure you will!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:28:24 GMT

Hi randyrat, Thank you so much. We never eat or drink out I have to say! If we go SC I cook EVERYTHING. The only way we can afford to ski, but I actually got a fantastic deal half board, GBP1500 for the 4 of us, incl skis boots and Lps. That's why we're going here! We are always on a budget, so as long as he ski-ing is ok, we're happy.
I'm glad we can drink the water. (We can ask for a jug of it with our evening meal lmao) and glad there's no smoking! I'd read there were rooms where you could smoke! SHOCK!!! lol

I am sure we'll make the most of it, but I am a little concerned about letting the kids do the black runs. They don't sound very safe and I worry enough about injuries.
Are there enough gentle blues? I am a tad concerned about these steep runs you menion. I really should not ski; my knees are shot, but I cannot resist. However I don't want to really work them! I take it the olympic run will be a black one, so I will be unable to do that. If it is quiet I will let the kids do it! Thanks for replying. It's great to get a reply. If I can just bother you again with those questions about runs I'd be grateful. I shall also come and report back in a few weeks when i have been! Cheers!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:28:58 GMT

Oh and it hasn't snowed there yet since before christmas! There is some due this w/e I think

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:21:46 GMT

Plenty of easy blues, and the reds tend to be mostly blue, with a bit of red, if that makes any sense? What I mean is the runs are graded by the hardest section, so a generally blue run with a single short, steep section will be graded as a red, or a run which is mainly short steep sections, but largely blue between will be graded a red.....but in my experience of Bardo, and comparing it to France, the runs are graded better, and generally speaking, if you're happy on blues, you'll get no surprises on a Bardo blue etc.
Sounds like you got a BARGAIN there! Enjoy.....and please have a go at the Olympic run...it's steep and winding, but really wide as well, ans meanders through the trees, lovely...and it's not hard....honestly! (I think it's graded as a red)

Have a great time

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:39:01 GMT

Thank you randyrat! yes I know what you mean with the grading. We went to rauris last yr and many of the blues were certainly really red, so will be better to have reds really blue lmao. I shall have to speak to the rep and ask which are harder I guess. Sounds like the Olympic run will be great for the kids. If it's wide and not too icy I may attemp it! Hubbywill go down it with them if I can't anyway. The kids learned to ski at aged 6 and 10 so are pretty good skiers, being held back bit by us, (44 and 48) who learned at 36/ 40. (I'm the 48 yr old btw!)because, for obvious reasons I don't want them going off on their own, but sometimes if there are parallel runs, a blue and a red, we meet them at the bottom. promised them a black this yr but if we can't, never mind! They will love that olympic run. Got a bargain as you said! Big thanks randyrat! x

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:14:44 GMT

Hi Randyrat. Got back yesterday. Had a great week except for the kids were sick Friday night and my son couldn't ski last day. But they had 5 days great ski-ing. We went with the neilson ski leaders the first 2 mornings and they took us to the black runs much to the kids delight and my apprehension! But got down them both ok! I didn't do the whole olympic run because it was very icy at the top, but the kids did it all. Great fun and loads of slopes. Loved the animal park!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:51:51 GMT

Oh and yes the Italians were AWFUL!! lol Especially the kids!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 07:16:13 GMT

Discodee!
Sounds like you had a great time! And glad to hear you found the locals as awful as we did! :lol:

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 07:41:30 GMT

I find that hard to believe the Italians awful ??? can you give some more information on why they were awful ??

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 07:49:18 GMT

Seriously Whickers...?
Rude, ignorant, disrespectful, pushing in, barging past, interrupting, inconsiderate, obnoxious. All on-piste and in-public traits. However I found the professional Italians such as hotel/waiting staff, shopkeepers etc to be totally the opposite it should be noted!
Looks like nothing gets in the way of an Italian on holiday....fun, fun, fun! (Just for them)
Seriously, it would have to be a REALLY good deal to get me skiing in Italy again. My wife nearly got in a FIGHT in Bardonnecchia, can you believe that?

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 08:03:24 GMT

Yes, exactly that. The Italians in the hotel were lovely, but on the piste? You can be in a queue for the lift and they tread all over your skis to get to the front! The kids were worse.
My hubby was waiting for the loo at Chesal and an Italian walked in in front of him. Needless to say my hubby gave him what for and reclaimed his place. On the small red run, shut most of the time for slalom training, on one afternoon when it was open, they lay across the piste at a drop. My kids had to ski between a 2 foot gap to get down! I saw one kid knock a oldish man over going so fast towards the lift queue to jump in, and my own kids were nearly knocked over a few times. When I had a word with a group of them, they jeered and shouted from the lift and then, as I was waiting for my kids to come down, as i was filming them, they swarmed past me, on each side, missing me by centimetres. Rude arrogant and no respect for piste etiquette! Randyrat, I can well believe your wife almost got into a fight, because I was so enraged I could've throttled the little b*ggers!!
Luckily though the piste was VERY quiet until Saturday which was the worst day.
Still very much enjoyed it. The scenery at Jefferau was breathtaking and you can't beat that feeling of going high into the mountains in the sunshine then meandering down the slope, wherever you are!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 08:28:05 GMT

Wow....I thought we had it bad!
Shame really, but at least it didn't spoil your trip...We witnessed kids knocking people over in their rush to the list also....terrible behaviour.
It would be nice to think that these are isolated incidents, but I have spoken to several people who have skied Italy, and they all have had similar experiences. Maybe it's just us Brits that are too sensitive? I think not.
As I said, Italy for me is firmly at the bottom of my ski destination list....I would rather spend my hard-earned elsewhere thanks very much!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 08:49:27 GMT

lol. That's our first italy trip, and we like to try different places but tbh we fgo wherever I can get a cheap deal. I think it'll be bansko next yr as good deals are getting fewer and fewer. Even if you get a good deal on hotels, lift passes etc are so dear, whereas in Bulgaria they're relatively cheap AND you get tuiton thrown in. This was just too good a deal to miss, and overall, a great value hol and the kids loved the ski-ing so I am glad we went. For less than GBP400 each it was a bargain. I never realised the Italians had such a reputation I have Di Matteo on the back of my old footie shirt too! Pah!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 09:20:50 GMT

Well, thanks for the replies, I have been to Italy many times albeit not to Bardonecchia, and I have never found that kind of Rudeness, maybe it would be right not to tar all Italians with the experience you have had.
I have done some things like unclipping a queue jumpers bindings, and chasing after the odd idiot who has skied over my daughters skis but never got close to fisticuffs. :shock: :shock:

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 09:22:45 GMT

If you're going to Bansko ensure you all get your skis tightened properly. A few of our group had to take theirs back. This did little to ensure confidence in the safety of our equipment. The service on that side and in restaurants is nowhere near as good as Bardonecchia.

I prefer not to go to Bulgaria. I would not advise anyone against it though. We had a good enough holiday in Bansko and it is great value. Especially if you are a beginner and want a full course of lessons. Many of our group won't go there again though as they see it a much lesser experience and we're all well past beginner stage now.

The year after Bansko we went to Bardonecchia and much preferred it. The service in the ski shop and bars far outweighed anything I've seen in Bulgaria. The food was also much better. I've never seen aperitivo in Bulgaria and we've had some great stuff in both Sauze and Bardonecchia. I didn't have any of the problems Discodee and Randyrat encountered though.

The only problem we had was one ski theft/loss and that the bars were too spread out.

Bulgaria is cheap but it has little to recommend it on the service side.

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 09:46:29 GMT

Sorry if it sounded like I was tarring everyone with the same brush...just sharing my own experience. I have no doubt that others have had far better experiences, even in Bardo....I for one, however, will not be going back. I'd rather take my money elsewhere.

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 10:53:37 GMT

randyrat wrote:Sorry if it sounded like I was tarring everyone with the same brush...just sharing my own experience. I have no doubt that others have had far better experiences, even in Bardo....I for one, however, will not be going back. I'd rather take my money elsewhere.

It is just a shame that you had that experience .. I just hope it did not spoil your holiday that much

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 13:10:30 GMT

Discodee wrote:Hi randyrat, Thank you so much. We never eat or drink out I have to say! If we go SC I cook EVERYTHING. The only way we can afford to ski, but I actually got a fantastic deal half board, GBP1500 for the 4 of us, incl skis boots and Lps. That's why we're going here! We are always on a budget, so as long as he ski-ing is ok, we're happy.

GBP1500 for 4 people self catering, I assume includes flights and transfers, with lift passes and skis and boots thrown in. You have to ask yourself why they've thrown everything in at that price, working out to GBP375pp. Lift pass alone would be around GBP175, ski hire maybe another GBP100pp or so.
So all in all I'd say thats a good deal on the face of it. However, that still leaves you all the cooking etc to organise, and food and drink to buy out there, on the current euro rate.

I always book on a budget. Best deal I think I ever had was GBP260 catered chalet in Verbier, or GBP510 catered chalet in ADH including lift pass. I guess it depends what you want from your holiday, but you can keep costs down without going SC.

I had a quick look at Bardo in the WTSS guide and its not somewhere that would suit me or my group, too limited an area and not the best reviews. But like I said, depends what you want from your ski holiday.

Hope you enjoy it, and would welcome a review when you return.

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 18:49:50 GMT

No it wasn't self catering, it was half board! And we made up batches for lunch and took a yoghurt from breakfast! All we spent was 12 euros on a souvenir each for the kids!
Lift pass was GBP129 adults and GBP99 for our 13 yr old. Equipment was GBP59 each. The whole hol was GBP1,530 in total

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 18:55:19 GMT

btw as you see in what you quoted, I did say it was half board!

Mekka, we learned to ski in Borovets and would prefer not to redo Bulgaria, but are always on a budget. I'v e never paid more than GBP1300 in the past but our son is now 13 so prices will obviously rise and with inflation etc we have to pay more i guess. But we were about to book bansko with balkan holidays when the last minute deal in Italy popped up.
If we can't get a late deal elsewhere next yr, we will do bansko. I've read some good reviews and we just want to ski and sledge, we dont buy anything anywhere so that doesn't bother us. If the npiste is good, that's all we want lol. BUT, we'd prefer elsewhere, but bansko is better than nothing. :)

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 19:05:53 GMT

Tony_H wrote:

Discodee wrote:Hi randyrat, Thank you so much. We never eat or drink out I have to say! If we go SC I cook EVERYTHING. The only way we can afford to ski, but I actually got a fantastic deal half board, GBP1500 for the 4 of us, incl skis boots and Lps. That's why we're going here! We are always on a budget, so as long as he ski-ing is ok, we're happy.

GBP1500 for 4 people self catering, I assume includes flights and transfers, with lift passes and skis and boots thrown in. You have to ask yourself why they've thrown everything in at that price, working out to GBP375pp. Lift pass alone would be around GBP175, ski hire maybe another GBP100pp or so.
So all in all I'd say thats a good deal on the face of it. However, that still leaves you all the cooking etc to organise, and food and drink to buy out there, on the current euro rate.

Hope you enjoy it, and would welcome a review when you return.

Btw Just saw the end of this. I have BEEN lol. I wrote a review on Trip Advisor. Now, even though we went half board this yr, we half often gone SC, as it saves a fortune. Last yr we did Rauris, for GBP1260 for the 4 of us, all in but SC. I took cereal, pasta, rice, bacon, gammon steaks, and even wrapped frozen fish chicken and ham in foil in a cool bag in the case. It was still frozen when i got there, so popped it in the freezer. I also took cans of stewing steak and curry in the case. Spar sold massive bags of oranges and apples for 1 euro. I took carrots ( my kids eat them raw,) and took loads of biscuits and cakes. I took tins of tuna and salmon and packs of ham for lunch with bread. All I had to buy was a baguette each day and milk ( and the apples/oranges)
Oh and I bought 3 bottles of vodka for 4 euros each haha. Great saving there!
The cooking doesn't bother me; we had a cooked breakfast every other day and toast and cereal the others, and I'd put tea on while we were in the shower. Great fun and we ate LOADS!
Put it this way, we have been abroad 5 times in 13 months, (2 ski hols, a week AI in Crete and 2 DIY city breaks) and my hubby earns 16k a yr. We get great deals and spend nowt while there. It can be done, and we'd rather have a few great hols than one go mad holiday! We go ski-ing to ski, not for anything else, and it warms my heart to see the faces of my kids shining when they're on the piste and I am so proud of them as they are brilliant ski-ers and they've only ever had one set of lessons!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 19:08:08 GMT

Sorry to keep typing, just realised how that post looks! I took the voddie home lol. Didnt drink it there! We had a couple of cans (50cents each) a couple of nights but apart from that just drank coffee!! As I said, we go to ski!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 20:34:51 GMT

.............and breathe

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 21:09:10 GMT

haha!
Well you read properly lol!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 07:37:06 GMT

Discodee....
You're an institution!
(Just wish my lot were more conducive to a little frugality!)
Excellent post!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 08:46:42 GMT

LOL Thank you Randyrat. :) My kids sure love all the hols!

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Sun, 5 Feb 2012 16:02:16 GMT

Re:Bardonecchia Any info?

Sun, 5 Feb 2012 19:35:58 GMT

???????????? Why is my post credited to someone else? lol