skiing in argentieres, near chamonix (i think!)

[meerkate]

...anyone been here with kids? planning to go in february, but have heard it's quite high level skiing-wise, wondering if anyone has experience of it - are there enough red runs (kids, 7 and 9, on their third season, so reasonably experienced, but red would be their outer limit!) thinking of the kids, and is the ski school good? any advice appreciated! thanks!

Hi,
Argentiere is 8km from Chamonix, and linked by a bus service. The Chamonix valley is divided into 4 ski areas, linked by buses, so it is not as convenient as some resorts where you can just catch lifts to ski the whole area. This area is certainly more suited to high Intermediates and Advanced skiiers.
You do not say where you have skiied in the past, but bear in mind that blues, reds and blacks can vary in level if difficulty in different countries and resorts.A blue in the Chamonix area will be more testing than a blue in say, Morzine, or some other French resorts.
Chamonix itself is best for Advanced skiiers, who like adventurous challenging skiing. Not really recommended for beginners or lower intermediates.
I have not been to Argentiere, but it seems to have only reds and blacks.
I have skiied in Les Houches ( the tramway to the slopes from St Gervaise was fun)and found the blues and reds there quite steep and rather limited.
The best family resort that we have skiied in is the Grand Valira in Andorra. We stayed in Soldeu, and our boys loved it. Ski school was great fun, with English instructors. Our boys became highly advanced skiiers there. The resort is very popular with British and Irish skiiers, and access to the slopes is very easy.You can ski the whole area of 5 resorts just using chairlifts. No buses or button lifts at all!
They did not enjoy it as much in other French resorts, and my younger son eventually said he would only go with us if we went to Soldeu.They often met old friends there, and the ski instructors remembered them.It is a very friendly and safe resort, and a fabulous ski area for beginners and intermediates, with excellent off piste for advanced.Usually a bit cheaper and not as busy as the Alps.
One to bear in mind for another year maybe.
I hope you have a super holiday.

Norway is supposed to be the best place for kids to learn.

Some links to read for more info about Argentiere.
www.mountain-base.com/argentiere.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argenti%C3%A8re
This report says it is not ideal for beginners or intermediates.
www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/skiresorts/resortintro.aspx/Argentiere
Personally, with your ages children, unless they really have become extremely good skiiers in just 2 previous seasons, I would choose a resort more suited to them, where they can ski practically everywhere on blues and comfortable reds.
Even though I have been skiing for years, I became frozen with fear on a very steep red in one of the resorts in that area. It would have definitely been black in other resorts we had skiied in. You do not want to frighten your children and put them off skking. However, it does depend on the child. One of my sons is fearless, and would ski anything at a young age.( with a natural ability). My other son was always a bit more cautious and would be more easily scared.

I've been. DD was only in Panda Club when she went as I think she was 4 so she stayed in their snow garden. The Panda Club in Argentiere was good, no idea what the ESF there is like.

I really liked it, only thing I hated is that we stayed in a chalet in Le Praz which is halfway between Argentiere and Chamonix. We didn't have a car so had to take the ski bus up and down the valley which was a pain (free but crowded).

My brother came with us (his first time skiing) and we spent a lot of time a bit further up the valley at Le Tours where there are some beautiful reds. I think it was called Le Tours (right at top of valley)

By the way, remember the weather! How cold do you want it? Very high altitude glacier resorts in February can be absolutely freezing!
Norway is OK for a first ski holiday, or for people who want to do other things besides skiing, but it has very limited slopes, and gets dark very early in Dec/ Jan/ Feb.It can be very cold, around -6 in Feb.Voss only has 40km of pistes. They do have floodlights though.Norwegian resorts can suffer from a lack of snow sometimes,and they do not have many snowcannons to keep slopes open.
Andorra is reputed to have the best ski school in Europe. It used to be a lovely quiet tax free country for skiing, with excellently groomed uncrowded slopes, even during half term. Unfortunately, more people have discovered this now, and it is much busier and more expensive than it used to be!
We have skiied in Courchevel and all the 3 valley resorts, and still think the Grand Valira is better.

Le Tour is below Argentiere, at a lower altitude. The slopes are not as steep here. There are a few blues and easier reds than in the higher resorts.

Have a look at this link for Trip Advisor Haute-Savoie skiing forum. You can ask your own questions if you join TA. It is free.
www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g499091-i10850-Haute_Savoie_Rhone_Alpes.html

This was a TA question about skiing in Argentiere.
www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187261-i1053-k3791190-Should_We_Stay_in_Argentiere-Chamonix_Haute_Savoie_Rhone_Alpes.html

Sorry, wrong link. I meant this one.
www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187261-i1053-k1622674-Ski_ing_difficulty_Argentiere-Chamonix_Haute_Savoie_Rhone_Alpes.html

We have skied at Argentiere quite often and the children did the panda club there for a week one year but they were both quite reasonable skiers by then. To be quite frank, Argentiere is not ideal for beginners it has two or three blue runs (that's all) and at most other resorts they would be graded red. The red runs there are challenging reds and many would probably be black elsewhere. The blacks are challenging!

That said the panda club is excellent and the children will learn plenty, but probably not access a huge number of different runs.

Le Tour is further up the valley (so the base station is higher than Argentiere) and it has good snow because it is actually quite high (top station not as high as the top at Argentiere). There would be a much larger number of suitable runs for your children there.

If you have a car in the chamonix valley it's quite nice to ski a different resort each day as there are so many quite close and they are mainly not very big so you might not want to spend a whole week in one place - of corse this just doesn't work if the children are doing ski-school. If I had to be in one place in that area with children in ski school I would choose Les Contamines - it's not actually in the Chamonix valley, prob about a 45mion drive from Cham, but it's got a good sized area, reliable snow and lots of suitable runs for your dc (including at least one very accessible black, which is fun to do for them).

my lord - you girls are SO helpful - i'd forgotten to come back for a while, and am all agog at all the info! HUGE thanks to everyone. i have skied for years, since childhood, but my focus is really on the kids' enjoyment these days. my father is an obsessive skier so he likes to organise a big family reunion ski hol once a year, argentiere was his suggestion, but it's not set in stone yet.

i frankly DREAD all the hassle involved with equipment, dragging kids along with ski boots, skis etc so the thought of ski buses and a very disjointed-sounding ski area does put me off the argentiere idea a bit - i am definitely going to look into andorra, thanks so much figgy. plus, i am very opposed to being very cold, you were quite right to mention the temperature aspect!

le tour also sounds good, so i'll look into that too - thanks snorkie. my brother has mentioned les houches. decisions decisions! we went to les coches last year, which was great for the kids, but we had to walk what felt like miles every day to the cable car (actually a paltry distance but there were 4 young kids to get organised) so am keen to avoid that scene again.

thanks again to all - will go off and continue my research!

I agree with Snorkie. When we went skiing with a group of higher Intermediate/ lower advanced level friends in St Gervaise, we also had days skiing in Chamonix, Les Houches,Combleu and Les Contamines. We all thought Les Contamines was excellent, with a good range of slopes, and good for all levels. We had a lovely sunny day with blue skies, which made it even better!

Just to add about Andorra.....
Many good skiiers dismiss the Pyrenees for skiing, as they think that Andorra is only for beginners, like Bulgaria. Not so. The Grand Valira consists of 5 resorts covering 193 km with 110 marked slopes. ( green, blue, red, black).
Pas De La Casa ( highest resort, rather ugly large town, popular with groups of young people, lots of shops, nightlife etc)
Grau Roig ( lovely ski area, slopes never busy as no accommodation or ski school here)
Soldeu ( where we stay, small friendly resort, easy access to slopes and ski school by gondola from the main street that goes through resort,so close to hotels, mainly blues and reds, wide open pistes and also lovely tree lined ones)small resort but has all the necessary shops and some good restaurants,bars and clubs.)
El Tarter - smaller and lower than Soldeu, but still a good family resort, with gondola from the main car park to the slopes and ski school. More limited apres ski than Soldeu.
Canillo - very small resort, one very long enjoyable blue leads here, or one black.
Encamp - this is further away. Access to the top of the mountain at Soldeu by cable car. Encamp Ski school is at the very top of the mountain, so can be a very cold and windy place to learn!You cannot ski to Encamp.
Advanced skiiers will find the skiing at Pas De La casa more challenging, as slopes are steeper here, but the Grand Valira has excellent freeride off piste for more adventurous skiiers. There are 3 snowparks, the best one is in El Tarter, with a big half pipe, jumps, rails etc.
The Grand Valira pass covers all 5 areas, all linked by very efficient chairlifts.
Prices on the slopes are not cheap, but not as expensive as France. Andorra is a tax free country.

I forgot to mention that you can hire nice warm indoor lockers right next to the gondola station in Soldeu, so saves walking back to the hotel in ski boots and carrying skiis. Each locker takes up to 5 pairs of boots/ skiis.Very convenient, especially with children.