Help me choose some where to ski in March please

[Ealingkate]

DH and I are going skiing at the end of March (29th) until the following Thurs (7th).
We were going to go to Whistler as we have been there a few times and loved it, but, we're not sure it's worth going all that way for 9 days.
I don't really know France at all for skiing and was hoping someone could advise on good locations for these dates - we are happy to drive or fly.

If you are able to drive, I would recommend waiting until the week before to book, to see what the snow situation is.

Which are the best websites for checking that out??

We've been to Courchevel on that week for several years, and have always been very lucky with the snow. We can only go in April this year due to school holidays being later. We will be doing what MrsGofG suggests which is to monitor the snow situation, and book somewhere the week before if it looks ok. I look at the webcams on the LaTania webiste here which has a link on the left hand side.

Snow forecasts can be found here and here

Also if you get the Sunday Times, on the back page they usually have a ski scene section which gives an update for a number of resorts.

They've had less snow than usual in Courchevel so far - but it is cold, and they have a lot of snow cannons, so I think the pistes are in fairly good condition.

Plenty of time for lots more snow before March/April , so I'm optimistic.

Hi there - welove2ski.com is a very good website and you could also check out the snow reports on the Ski Club of Great Britain website www.skiclub.co.uk. Most accommodations will run Sat/Sat from 26th March and it is a great week to go because the pistes will be quiet (hopefully) and the sun should be out (glorious) I would recommend that you go somewhere nice and high as that will give you the best chance of decent snow. Val Thorens is the highest resort in Europe, Tignes also has a fabulous glacier and Arc 1950 would also be worth a look because it has loads of great facilities for those with younger children as everything has been purpose built for total convenience. If I wasn't pregnant and waddling I would be going there that week. :)

Yes, SkiClub has useful snow reports and they will also email them to you if you join (not expensive & worth it for the discounts I find ) with comments from their reps in that resort - I signed up for Courchevel & Meribel to get daily reports (obsessive, moi? ) as we are going in two weeks, ans the snow don't look too great right now.....

If you aren't absolutely stuck on the idea of France, I can recommend Obergurgl in Austria. It is high and snow sure. We skied there 4 years ago during the last week in March. Great weather, fab snow but warm enough for base layer+tee lunches in the sun :)

Thanks for all your advice.

Please feel free to add more!!

Hi Ealingkate

Could you please tell me all about Whistler, I see you have 3 Children, we have two 9 + 4 would it be good for them? Thanks in advance.

whistler is terrific for everybody! it has a lot of runs, a lot of learning areas, some terific hard stuff, 4 different levels of terrainparks (so even beginners can do some rollers and maybe a picnic table), lots of nice gentle crusy runs.. the staff are (on the whole) much friendlier than europe, there are public toilets and public picnic areas (indoors with toilets!!)
lessons are excellent, slowzones are policed to make sure people are slow, and it snows practically every other night (or so it seemed to me).
the flight and the time difference is the main drawback, in my opinion. and of course the hotels are in the village so mainly it is a short walk (or sometimes further) to the slopes. your 9 yr old would do great, the 4 year old would be alright if they travel well.

fatfishy - We love Whistler, but haven't taken our children there yet. We did meet lots of people there who raved about the ski school. There are loads of runs and I particularly enjoyed doing Fresh Tracks one morning, where you pay a bit extra and get to start skiing before everyone else, which is great if you love cruising down a great blue run which has been freshly groomed and is totally empty.
We stayed at Club Intrawest which was a very short walk to the lifts, would be worth staying in one of the places in the village with younger children.
When are you thinking of going??

Greygirl and Ealingkate

Thanks for your advise. We are In the process of booking Whistler for Christmas and are going for 11nights so we all have time to adjust back with time difference.

(hotel is also ski in ski out).

I know it's a long time away but if you want good deals apparently you have to book early! So looking forward to going the kids don't even know yet!