Any skiers out there?

[Archie_tect]

Although Sweden and, more so, Norway are expensive countries, they have excellent and affordable skiing facilities for all ages and abilities.

http://www.inghams.co.uk/ski/NOR/index.html

http://www.ski-norway.com/

http://www.plentyofsnow.com/sweden/

There is guaranteed snow, plenty of activities, such snowboarding, skating, cross-country skiing, Telemark skiing, rides on dog sleighs, hot baths etc.

Best time to go (with regard to daylight hours) is mid-February up until end of April.

Completely with Dayvo...We had a fantastic week at Voss in Norway, you could get the North Sea DFDS ferry across to Bergen and [approx] 2 hour coach transfer. Stay at the Youth Hostel [food is basic but filling- lots of sausages!] and get beginner classes for your children [3 year old maybe a bit young though] so they don't have to have separate ski passes- you ski while their in skischool and do things together when they are tired [toboganning and sleigh rides]. The cable car runs from Voss up to the first station- check out pass charges on Voss Ski sites.

Alcohol is expensive but as you're with small children you wouldn't be drinking excessively or going out without them anyway....

Or, you could try a week-end taster seesion at Glenshee in Scotland to see if your children take to it. Or even better take them to a Snowdome [one at Tamworth] to see how they like it first.

 

[BrumJim]

Ferry to Bergen is no longer running, I'm afraid.

 

[rogersavery]

costs for Tignes, french alps

- coach from London Victoria around £120 each - arriving Sat lunchtime, leaves tignes the following saturday evening
- book accommodation direct with gestignes.com around £340 for 4 person self catering apartment (supermarkets in the resort, not cheap, but not too expensive either)
- tignes / val claret has several free slopes ideal for beginners, so you can dispense getting a ski pass for few days, then expect to pay around £20-£30 per day, and the have 2 different areas depending how adventurous you are feeling.
- skis/boots can be prebooked in the uk and collect in the resort for around £50/person/week

around £450 each inc food? - £2k total

The apartment is only available saturday evening and you need to vacate it before 10am the following saturday, Tignes has a left luggage facility (+showers,toilets etc) at the Maison du tignes right next to where the bus stops), so the 1st saturday afternoon you can dump the luggage and go and play on the slopes, and the following saturday you clear the apartment, leave the luggage in the maison du tignes and ski all day on the almost empty slopes (saturday being the change over day the slopes are usually empty)

 

[TheDoctor]

Not sure I'd wholeheartedly recommend an overnight coach with a three-year-old...

 

[Archie_tect]

Ferry to Bergen is no longer running, I'm afraid.

Doh, thanks Jim... probably in the name of progress! Theystopped the Denmark crossing from North Shields too... more Norwegians and Danes came over here to shop at the Metro Centre than so it's probably to protect the Norwegian/ Danish economy!

I suppose flying to Bergen [Eastern Airways fly from Newcastle] would be OK but that isn't exactly eco friendly

 

[BrumJim]

If you are all beginners, avoid the large resorts such as Tignes, 4 valleys, etc. You will only use a very small fraction of the whole resort, and waste most of the cost of an expensive lift pass. Check out here for good deals and honest resort information.

Unless someone isn't going to ski, and is prepared to cook, don't go self catering, as a big day on the slopes will leave everyone too tired to sort out dinner, and you will spend a packet on restaurants.

Don't forget to factor in food as well as drinks up the mountain. These can also be very expensive. As will ski hire, boot hire, and sorting out proper ski-ing clothes. Watch out for car hire that could be more expensive than taking a flight to a closer airport. Consider taking a bus rather than hiring a car, and see if the snow train will be cheaper than flying, as there are no check-in costs or baggage restrictions, and you can take your own food.



Ski-ing is expensive, but absolutely fantastic, as long as you love exercise, the outdoors, and being just a little bit out of control at times.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Ferry to Bergen is no longer running, I'm afraid.

Suspected to have been smuggling heavy water?

 

[very-near]

At the risk of getting all Noodley - shouldn't this be in the Cafe?

I think all threads you post on should be in P&L as they always seem to end in a bun fight

 

[theclaud]

I think all threads you post on should be in P&L as they always seem to end in a bun fight

Yes but it's not necessarily my fault .

 

[Archie_tect]

Oi v-n, pack it in and be nice...

 

[Globalti]

Coming late to this thread as usual, here's my hap' 'orth:

Look carefully at the resort: although the advice to avoid the bigger resorts is good, especially if you're going at half term, check that you don't end up at the bottom of the valley in an old first-generation resort which is a traditional Alpine village connected to the slopes by cable car; you will waste a lot of time travelling. Try to find a third-generation resort where you can ski straight from the chalet. Check out Family Ski at Ardent and check out La Rosiere, a good, small family resort. We had a chalet right at the foot of the slopes but I can't remember the company.

 

[User482]

Doh, thanks Jim... probably in the name of progress! Theystopped the Denmark crossing from North Shields too... more Norwegians and Danes came over here to shop at the Metro Centre than so it's probably to protect the Norwegian/ Danish economy!

I suppose flying to Bergen [Eastern Airways fly from Newcastle] would be OK but that isn't exactly eco friendly

Apparently, the DFDS ferry had a net economic benefit both for Newcastle, and for Bergen. It was stopped because the ferry itself was loss-making. It's a pity that a way of subsidising it couldn't be found.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Unless someone isn't going to ski, and is prepared to cook, don't go self catering, as a big day on the slopes will leave everyone too tired to sort out dinner, and you will spend a packet on restaurants.

The key to self catering is planning it in advance and keeping it simple. The last couple of trips I've been on involved four star hotels and five course means and quite frankly, I've been happier with a good wodge of self catered carbohydrate when I've got in from skiing. Rosti dishes, pasta and couscous can all be cooked relatively quickly if you've got the ingredients ready.

It's no good coming back knackered, having a shower and a couple of beers and then thinking about going shopping for the ingredients.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Apparently, the DFDS ferry had a net economic benefit both for Newcastle, and for Bergen. It was stopped because the ferry itself was loss-making. It's a pity that a way of subsidising it couldn't be found.

I agree - it was a very sad day that it stopped.

Anyway, now I can just step outside my front door to do a bit of cross-country. I'd have to go up to Quebec for some hills though.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Check out Family Ski at Ardent and check out La Rosiere, a good, small family resort. We had a chalet right at the foot of the slopes but I can't remember the company.

Don't be tempted to nip into Italy for lunch via the black into La Thuile. It was like a sheet of glass when I did it