Never been skiing but need to organise for 10

[Thisismyusernamefornow]

A group of us are looking for a resort for January 2020.

Mixed abilities although believe majority are complete beginners. Age group 30-40!

Where do we start?

Hotel vs Chalet?

Somewhere fun and lively?

Please can anybody advise!

Thank you in advance.

La Plagne is a great resort, with lots of blue and even green runs. Its also ski in/ski out which is great. Maeva do self catering and are basic but reasonably cheap.
I would avoid the school holidays, in France the feb hols run over 3 weeks as its by districts.

Worth looking at Inghams and Crystal for ideas as they have a range of prices and resorts.
Good luck, it's a great experience

I’d always advocate for lessons for a group, based on ability. A complete beginner needs teaching by a professional, and you’ll all have much more fun at your own level. I’d go with a catered chalet if you can afford it - especially if you can get one that only takes ten and is therefore private to you. Will be brilliant fun! Also, although going out for dinner sounds nice it’s actually really nice to be able to come back from skiing and properly relax without having to go out again.

I would also recommend Morzine. Something for everyone in the wider ski area and a proper pretty village rather than a purpose built concrete jungle (I’m looking at you, Tignes...). Have fun!

Oh @MariaNovella you are funny! But also come across as utterly daft too.

The very best ski instructors in the Alps are in Val d’Isere. If you want to learn to ski (as opposed to lying round drinking mulled wine.....

How many places have you been to that aren’t Val d’Isere in order to have formed such a strong opinion? Having skied in over 50 resorts across 8 countries on 3 continents, Val d’I only stood out to me for its World Cup run and it’s horrifically expensive hot chocolate - neither of which scream out to me that this is the ONLY resort in the world a beginner should go to. There are so many different places out there, all so very different and exciting. You should try some other places (and no, saying you’ve been to Tignes too doesn’t count.)

PS I love mulled wine/vin chaud/gluhwein/glog of whatever they call it in Kazakhstan- we needed it there along with a bit of lying around to let our legs recover after skiing down a steep, steep powder field where the only other tracks we saw were those made by a snow leopard! Enjoying lying around drinking mulled wine and being a good skier are not mutually exclusive. PPS my very first ski lessons ever were given to me by the Bulgarian national champion. He was brilliant. Just remembered I skied in Bulgaria, so make that 9 countries.

Hey OP, sorry to throw another option into the mix but Andorra is great for beginners/ intermediates. It’s a good bit cheaper than France/ Austria so you’ll get more for you budget. Let me know if you want more info.

Val d’Isere is one of the best ski areas in the world and particularly Europe, I don’t think you can argue with its size, variety of runs/off piste, altitude/snowsure and good infrastructure. Although I agree it is an expensive resort and a long transfer; beginners don’t need all that skiing but as someone who progressed from greens to reds there, alongside an experienced skier it was a good base for a mixed group particularly now the Solaise chair has been replaced. It is not fair in my eyes to portray it as some kind of overpriced/overrated place akin to Klosters etc. I’m sure there are plenty of cheaper and closer places where OPs group could have a great break but it’s silly to run down a great resort on that basis.

I’m not running it down. But neither am I completely dismissing every single other resort in the world either.

We're just back from ski weekenders- they do weeks as well - and they may suit. It's catered hotel/chalet between two resorts one of which ale Grand Bornand would be very suitable for beginners.

Everything except ski hire and flights are included and the dinner wine is quite drinkable. Big group tables for dinner which would suit yourselves but a bit of a chance for different ski levels

If you go mid January, you will get a great deal on a catered chalet. I have seen prices as low as £500 pp per week including all food/wine/beer etc. Most chalets I have seen provide en-suite bathrooms nowadays!

Ski/boot hire approx £100 per week
Ski passes approx £250 per week
Organise your own flights.

Most chalets organise everything for you, including lifts to/from the slopes.

If you are flying to Geneva, the nearest ski areas would be Portes du Soleil (Morzine, Avoriaz, Les Gets, Chatel) or Grande Massif (Flaine, Samoens, Les Carroz). Both just over an hours drive. Chamonix too, but it’s not really recommended for beginners.

You can post up your requirements on chaletsdirect.com, and the chalets will bid for your booking. All your friends could view the replies online no probs.

I have just remembered that the last time we were in Morzine, ESF have a “learn to ski” package outwith school holidays that includes lessons, ski pass and equipment for a ridiculously low price. They maybe do this offer in other resorts too?

If you are looking for a top class chalet in Morzine, I can highly recommend www.alikats.eu or www.mountainutopia.co.uk

But shop around, I’m sure there are lots of similar offerings out there!

One of the biggest differences will be getting proper insoles. I know this sounds strange, but at the end of the day it won't really matter where you book as the snow dictates what your experience will be like (ask anyone who has had 3 days of snow whiteout or slush or rocks).

Why insoles? They transform a boot. You can hire the cheaper end of the equipment and slip out the cheap thin insole for a proper cork one and be able to ski all day. Most people just don't realise what a difference it makes to your ski experience. They hire more expensive boots and then try to ski all day and it hurts them, because they're not properly supported.

I went to Geilo over New Years and I skied the first day without insoles (lost somewhere in suitcase and rush to get DC's out to slope for their first time). Feet in agony, why am I skiing at the end of the day. Cork insoles put in that night, like wearing a pair of slippers the rest of the week.

If you look now you'll find plenty of half price deals for insoles. I see snow and rock are doing 50% off theirs, so £35 instead of 70.

Best thing to do and if you convince everyone less likely to get drop-outs as they've invested already

For a group of beginners, I would suggest a small resort, such as Claviere (Italy) or Kranjska Gora (Slovenia). Lift passes and equipment hire are likely to be cheaper than in a big-name resort

It's brilliant to stay in a chalet if you can fill the chalet yourselves, but if not, you either pay a hefty under occupancy supplement, or else have to take pot luck with random strangers sharing the chalet with you

Also worth bearing in mind that the group discount isn't that generous by the time it's split between all 10 members of your group. I wonder if the simplest option would be to choose a hotel and encourage pairs/couples to make their own booking, so that you don't have to handle other people's money and you are not left out of pocket if someone changes their mind. Nearer the time, you could contact the tour operator/hotel to request that they seat all of you together for meals

If you contact Crystal, Iglu Ski or Ski Line etc, then they can check availability and perhaps put beds/flights on hold for you for 24 hours