[SamT]

Just looked and in 2022 we did a family of 4 in Tignes for £3500 all in.

Fuel was 350
Tolls were 180

We dropped lucky with Accom which was about 900 for a 2 bed appartment which I think you'd be lucky to get now.

[Fultonius]

Oh, looks like Le Tour is back in action...

GM top still shut, planned opening 2024/5 season.

[SA Chris]

Re: driving, I've done it with 3 in a car, leaving Bristol at 5pm, late ferry, driven in rotation and got to Les Gets at 8 am, got straight on the lifts. That was with a company car though (Volvo estate, and fuel was cheaper in those days).

If you choose to fly, in my experience, if there are 4 of you, a week of car hire from Geneva is less than 4 2-way transfers, and gives you flexibility when you are there to visit other resorts. Book through a comparison site comparison site like travel supermarket, and get insurance through insure4less (for a 1 trip or annual policy).

Many resort websites have accommodation booking options directly, which are often not on air bnb (for numerus reasons). These are often just 2 bunks and a sleeper couch in a single room, fine if you are good mates.

[Johnny Brown]

Biggest saving I've found recently is that quite a few sites include the lift pass free with the accommodation.

[SA Chris]

borrowed an old transceiver for a mate to use, do I carry the decent one, or does he???

[Fultonius]

My mate once came out to cham with  a rubbishy cheap shovel/probe/transceiver setup and I had the same dilemma!

I just let him drop in first... 

[SamT]

borrowed an old transceiver for a mate to use, do I carry the decent one, or does he???

 

[Paul B]

Get a second decent one 

[hongkongstuey]

A little bit of Hokkaido Japow for you from Tuesday - we hiked a Ghost Resort that shutdown about 5-years ago to score some fresh tracks after a pretty decent dump the night before. Still frothing right now. Perfect end to a quick 5-day trip there. 

[Johnny Brown]

Looks amazing. Are there many of these ghost resorts?

Actually had the chance to be in Japan this week, but had a bunch of reasons not to go.

[hongkongstuey]

Looks amazing. Are there many of these ghost resorts?

Actually had the chance to be in Japan this week, but had a bunch of reasons not to go.

the above vid gives quite a nice summary of the ghost resort situation in Japan - looks like there should be a couple of hundred of them kicking about...

I'd highly recommend Japan to any keen skier/boarder - the combination of perfect snow, awesome and accessible side/back country, and just being in Japan (one of my fav countries to visit whatever the reason) makes for a great all round experience

[Johnny Brown]

Cheers, would love to go but unlikely unless part of a bigger trip. Is it mostly overcast/ flat light?

[hongkongstuey]

Cheers, would love to go but unlikely unless part of a bigger trip. Is it mostly overcast/ flat light?

The conditions you hope for are mostly flat light as that means it's dumping   

we had a mix last week: two bluebird days to start with (which i didn't mind as i hadn't had a chance to strap in for four years due to the previous travel restrictions in HK so it gave me nice easy conditions to find my feet again), followed by a couple of days with steady moderate to heavy snow and the odd parting of the clouds - perfect for getting into the back country to find fresh tracks.   

[SA Chris]

Get a second decent one 

Didn't need either in the end. Conditions very stable, only off piste we did was a couple of runs off the shoulder of the Bellecote on very variable snow, otherwise piste only. Definitely want to go back, so much great terrain. Skied from the top of the Aiguille Rouge down to Villaroger, a thigh exploding continuous 2000m of descent.

[Johnny Brown]

Nice, was up there today! 41.5km off piste from the other side of La Plagne and back. Bad news is all the off piste is totally fucked due to high rain followed by a freeze last week. Good news is the new splitboard totally rips. Was a bit worried it might be a bit big or stiff compared to the skeleton key but just rides so well. Not had the skins on but had some fun smashing through in-between bits of crust.

[Fultonius]

 Keep thinking of getting the Mrs a splitboard, she'd still hate the sweaty climbs though 

Hope that icy layer fucks off before Feb 26th!

[Johnny Brown]

It was really warm for quite a while, there are loads of full depth avalanches developing on sunny slopes, full spring conditions. Up high there is a great base for later in the season though.

[SA Chris]

Bad news is all the off piste is totally fucked due to high rain followed by a freeze last week.

Yeah, it was a bit heavy, but we were only going as low as the Chalet chair, so snow still reasonable. I would have been a lot happier on a snowboard! The pistes were horrible the day after the rain, but softened up again.

There is apparently another storm cycle due in next 10 days, hope temp stays low.

[hongkongstuey]

Just bought a splitty... frothing now, anyone else yearning for turning?

i got carried away after my trip and just did the same - now trying to convince the wife another long weekend in Feb is fine (even tho i'd be dumping her again for a few weeks in Font shortly afterwards  ). Went for one of these as Japan is my 'local' and the only time i'm likely to be heading back country is when the powder has been dumping

[Johnny Brown]

Ooh nice, been reading some great reviews for that board, a proper swallowtail that's not just for powder! There is one on Uk ebay at the mo although it looks a bit trashed, still tempting tho...

My new Surf Shuttle worked great, due to the hard frozen conditions I used it for one day on piste and a half day mini-tour. Worked great, including carving pistes and cruising through some very heavy crust without really having to think about it. Skinning was fine - stiffer is definitely to be preferred here - and the transitions were easy. A little slower to initiate a turn than the Skeleton Key, and a little twitchier wrt catching edges, but generally a close enough ride that I didn't have to consciously adapt my style.

Didn't see another split all week, and generally snowboards in a <10% minority. Saw two monoskis though. Conditions were really bad at first due to rain then freeze, but the pistes improved through the week although the off-piste remained frozen solid.

Impression of La Plagne were mixed - really big, really busy (even for Jan) and seems to have been planned in a lax fashion; there is a LOT of accommodation spread about and the lift network appears a bit ad hoc, resulting in predictable queues at the bottlenecks. Although the villages are high the pistes are mostly in the zone 600m above with limited higher, and a lot of runs require return to village. Variety of aspects, though mostly north facing. Middle of the resort mostly low-angled, bookended by two big valleys with lift access and egress but otherwise unpisted. Both mostly icy hell last week - most of the blacks were closed purely due to ice. The in between off piste looks amazing, limestone underneath so really detailed terrain full of dolines and pinnacles, but I'd assume it would be mobbed as it is the first big resort you get to in the Isère valley. The combo lift pass with Les Arcs requires determination to use, linking the arse ends of both resorts and prob not worth it for most.

[SA Chris]

We had one day in La Plagne and thought the same. Only really bad queue we had all week was getting out of Bellecote on the Arpette. My brother's sister and brother in law live in Peisey Vallandry, and they only ever go to La Plagne to access the Bellecote. By comparison Les Arcs was a lot quieter, although the Transarc bubble (due to be upgraded) and Aiguille Rouge gondola were always pretty busy at peak times, The Vallandry side and 1600 side were always deserted, and it's easy to check out length of lines in 1900 and 2000 as you pass through.

Les Arcs has stacks of off / side piste potential, looks like it will be getting good again next week (typical).  Snowboarding is definitely on the decline, I think lots of people have splittys in their quiver, but donlt ride them in resort. Noted at least a monoskier a day, and a few teleskiers.

[SA Chris]

We are looking at somewhere high in Austria (mainly so kids can do full day lessons) for Easter. Pref with base about 1400/1500. Serfaus / Fiss / Landis seems a good area, wondering if anyone has been? Not many operators go there, so might be DIY job - fly / train / bus or taxi or hire car.

A lot of the other high resorts (Obergurgl, Ishgl, Lech / Zurs) that operators offer packages to are silly prices. Any other hidden gems? Naasfeld comes up, but is a long way from airports.

[Duncan Disorderly]

No idea bout Austria - soz Chris... Went to Solden 30 odd years ago with my dad and there's a Glacier (or there was....) and he was always looking for cheap and cheerful...

Got a Q about bindings - anyone got any recomends? Got a Skeleton Key, all about the freeride and am looking at Burton Cartels (either EST or Reflex) but if anyone's got a better suggestions then that'd be ace....

Off to France 2nd March - Psyched!

[SA Chris]

Solden has definitely gone upmarket since! Plus it's not actually that high. Prefer a high base, as the beginners area is inevitably near the base, and it can be like skiing in porridge late on a warm day. The new step on bindings look good, but you need specific boots I think. I am still on some Drake ones I bought in 2003 (new straps though).

[Johnny Brown]

We are looking at somewhere high in Austria (mainly so kids can do full day lessons) for Easter. Pref with base about 1400/1500.

Went to Stubai about 20 years back. Accommodation was in the Neustift valley with bus then cable car/ bubble to main ski area. Close to Innsbruck, was cheap (at the time), ski area isn't massive but is high (mostly 2300-3200m, base at 1700) and snow was good. Village was pretty.

Duncan - I've been on Burton Step Ins/ Ons for 20+ years. Yes you need specific boots. Union seem to be the choice of the strap binding connoisseurs.