Advice on organising ski/snowboarding holiday for group of friends

mrvolleyball

Hi

I'd like to try and organise a ski / snowboarding holiday for up to 10 people to somewhere in Europe sometime in January and I'd also like to keep the costs down.

Should I check out where I can get cheap flights to first of all then decide which country / area to go to. Any thoughts on which areas or countries to look at ?

I'm thinking that a chalet would be most cost affective solution. Does anyone have any recommendations or even the best websites to look at.

Any other advice / tips

Thanks

ajtrader100

:snow_laug Good Afternoon

Right this really depends on the level of your abilities, exactly what your looking for, and if its just the ski-ing you are going for.

If you are all of a beginner to intermediate level then areas like Andorra, some Austrian are reasonably priced, and then you have Bulgaria and some areas of France aren't too costly.

If you want to go out at night, have cheap drinks, fairly good snow but plenty of sun Andorra wins hands down. Its great for skiers up to an Intermediate level as the Resort itself is fairly small, but limited for those wanting to test themselves on the black runs. It does have limited pistes but the nightlife and cheap hotels and beer makes it a really great place to go.

If its really good ski-ing your after then France will always have good snow, a variety of runs from very beginners to the expert. Avoriaz is one of the cheaper areas in the Alps, near Morzine which is another favourite. Obviously you have the benefit of cheap wine here.....

Then Bulgaria and Austria do have cheaper options, I have never skied here however have heard that the prices are great and the skiings good too. If you give me an idea of your capabilities I could recommend in a little more detail, I know a few websites that could help with some more detail.

:snow_laug

mrvolleyball

Thanks for all the info ajtrader100 (and I like the little snowmen)

I would think (although don't know for sure yet as we're still finding out who all wants to go) that beginner to intermediate would cover most people, so if you could base any advice on that. Some of us also want to try snowboarding ( we are going to go for lessons here beforehand ) if that makes any difference.

Some sort of night life would be good aswell but isn't the main reason we are going.

I've been to Andorra before although not to ski (was playing volleyball there of all sports), and thought the place was lovely. I suppose there should be cheap flights to Barcelona althought then there is the travel up to Andorra.

Someone else had mentioned Bulgaria as being cheap but I know nothing about the place.

Once again thanks for taking the time to help

shockingmoment

I'd second Andorra for your group. EJ fly to Toulouse. Same distance Barcelona / Toulouse to Andorra. Pas de la casa is a bit Club 18 -30. Soldeu is lively and family oriented. Ski school is great. Have fun

ajtrader100

Andorra is made up of 4 main ski resorts, although they are all well within a short bus journey between the 4, and from experience I am sure you can ski between some of them.

The four main resorts are

Arinsal ( I stayed here it was great fun, all tastes catered for), El Tarter, Pas De La Casa and Soldeu. To be honest they are much the same, the country is only tiny so I think whichever area you get the best price is probably the one to go for.

Ski school here is great especially for beginner to intermediates as this is the section of the skiing fraternity likely to visit this area. Its fairly cheap in comparison to French ski schools.The ski School at Soldeu El Tarter is considered one of the best at a European level and is composed of more than 250 qualified instructors, capable of giving lessons in different languages.
Nowadays there are three ski schools: one at Soldeu, another one at El Tarter and the third one at Canillo. There is also a Snowboard School at El Tarter, with 25 instructors.

Beer is cheap, hotels arent too bad, remember you will always pay a little more for ski hotels than any other as there is such a demand..... remember ski-ing is an expensive addiction.......

Also ski hire, boot hire, snowboard hire is relatively cheap as they expect very beginners at these locations. Dont expect the highest quality carvers for the very beginner, but saying this I managed to bag quite a nice pair of ski's on my visit here. The weather is generally very good, try to avoid the very end of the season as it can get quite slushy (also called sugary), which can be quite hard going on tired legs. However this means you could always start the great apres-ski early!!!:D

My advice is search, search, search for good deals, dont leave it too late, sking is getting more and more popular so late deals arent always available. Barter with the travel companies too you can talk your way into a good deal.

You can fly either to Toulouse or Barcelona. Some ski chalets offer a bus service from the airport to your chalet, depending where you fly to.

Here are a few websites to get the juices flowing...........

http://www.catered-ski-chalets.co.uk/index.asp?http://www.catered-ski-chalets.co.uk/resort_details.asp?from=reslist&country=1&resortid=108+mainframe

http://www.supertravel.co.uk/SkiDefault.asp?source=google&gclid=CPLM4sjUsIgCFRFjMAod_3dNHg

http://www.skiline.co.uk/datailpages/resortDetail.asp?resortID=95

http://www.skichalets.co.uk/ski%20holidays%20Andorra

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra

Bulgaria I havent been to but ill research it from my pal, ill speak to him tomorrow and find waht he recommends, personally Andorra is a great place and Im sure you will enjoy it.

Any questions give me a shout.

ajtrader100

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF8&om=1&z=11&ll=42.54701,1.602631&spn=0.214993,0.462799

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF8&om=1&z=7&ll=42.512602,2.230225&spn=3.441488,7.404785

this is a quick overview map of the country

Check out budget flightchecker for the cheapest flights.

GIRLPOWER_2

we have just booked a ski holiday for january 13th 15 of us going to catered chalet where all meals, drinks including unlimited wine with dinner and ski transport included..

cost us 60.00 return for flights with BMI bay to Geneva and 385.00 each for the chalet for 1 week.

this is the place it's run by an English couple... check out the Hot tub overlooking Mont Blanc.. nice after drink will be had in there!

http://www.demipiste.com

And this is the link where MSE'rs helped me get a bargain flight

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=3369327#post3369327

tomstickland

Useful thread. We went last year. Stayed in a Chalet and went skiing in the French Grand Massif (not far from Chamonix). Great fun and we're going this year too. We're considering doing a last minute package deal.

barron_2

http://www.go-travel-ski.co.uk/

0845 608 1733 ask for Graham or Ian.

Happy Hols

mrvolleyball

Thanks for all the help and advice. I think I've narrowed it down to Andorra, due mainly to cheap flights.
Now I just have to find a chalet for between 8 and 12 people.

ajtrader100

Try this out for resort analysis

Pas de la Casa

http://www.alpineanswers.co.uk/resorts/show/36

Arinsal

http://www.alpineanswers.co.uk/resorts/show/123

Soldeu

http://www.alpineanswers.co.uk/resorts/show/42

Pas de la Casa comes out on top.

So here are some cheap chalets:

http://www.justchalets.com/

http://www.skiavista.co.uk/chaletsearch.phtml

http://www.neilson.co.uk/ski/ski_Andorra_Pas_de_la_Casa.asp?id=32

Here is a cheap lift pass site:

http://www.worldski.co.uk/ski_liftpasses.asp?referrer=161&CMP=KNC-HO5357173535&gclid=CKG89ePdtYgCFQ1dMAodRFCp2A

Enjoy:snow_grin