Whose planning for this Winter?

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

DH currently pricing up what we can afford this winter... Not helped by only being able to go Christmas week!

Anyone else being optimistic and planning?

Sounds like we won't be able to go then. 😢

We're booked for France for Christmas in a hotel with half board, but I'm assuming that my 17 year old won't be able to stay or eat there as he is only entitled to have one vaccination in the UK.

@ThirtyCharacterUsernamesOnly30 it's too soon to call time. My hunch is strongly that he will be offered a second jab well before Christmas. If they leave it too long past 12 weeks wont they have to re-jab everyone?

Just came back to say that we've taken the plunge and booked for the first week of the Easter holidays. Christmas/New Year falling on Saturdays makes a new year booking difficult and we didn't want to join the crowds in Feb half-term. Fingers crossed for good snow!

Just booked for Xmas/New Year. Going to Austria so I'm hoping the vaccine rules are OK for our DC 10 & 13

Can't wait!

Also got a friends trip in March so I'll be match fit for that!

On the brink of booking Andorra! 😱

Go for it @massistar

I've booked for Ruka in Finland in February. Cannot wait! Mainly there for the cross country skiing as I'm not wild about downhill.

Booked as a package with Crystal mainly because getting to Finland is a faff otherwise, and it's nice to have that bit of cancellation confidence.

@kittykarate I’m going to Ruka over Christmas with Crystal…went once before over 10 years ago and we loved it for a chilled place and so beautiful. Going with small person in tow now so think he’ll love it too.

@kittykarate OMG I loooooved Ruka. It's such a lovely place. @SarBear1980 we booked our trips via the local tourist information centre. Really great service and Father Christmas trip was so amazing that I definitely believe he's real!

Sitting on the ski lift with the sun coming up and looking at the frozen trees and seeing what you could see in them - animals and people. Magical place.

Dd due to go with school at Easter. Wonder if the whole 12-16 single vaccination only thing will be sorted by then 🤔

@Weirdlynormal Yes! I can’t wait for the beautiful trees and strange blue daylight…we’ve been to Lapland before on a Santa trip so I reckon we’ll just ski this time. I’m feeling so much more optimistic that skiing will happen this season now 😊 ⛷

I did it @abricotine ! So excited!

I’ve just booked belle plagne in France via crystal ski for march. Can’t wait! First package I’ve been on but I didn’t want to risk all separate components and I always find booking a transfer a hassle.

This is when being an expat and living in the Canadian Rockies comes into its own. Although the snow is late this year.

So much that it’s time for one of my annual name changes!

@NobbyButtons

I've booked to go to the UCPA in Les Contamines in France in Feb half-term, but we'll only be able to go if the quarantine on return requirement is lifted before then.

@NobbyButtons just looking for feedback on UCPA family weeks & found this - did you go? Did you like it?!

@DistrictCommissioner I’m here now.

It’s very cheap for a skiing holiday.
The centre is generally well organised and the staff are friendly, and have provided lots of information with photos, such as of how to find the lesson meeting point.

Les Contamines isn’t ski in ski out and you have to take a shuttle bus to the slopes, which can be very crowded. The ski hire is all done in the UCPA. There are 5 lessons here each lasting 2.5 hours apart from Wednesday which was shorter. We got put in afternoon lessons which is a bit trickier as you have to plan your morning skiing around getting back in time.

There’s lots of stuff on in the evenings for adults and children such as quizzes if you like that kind of thing. I didn’t appreciate the noisy concert that went on until 10:45 one night however!

The rooms are quite basic with a sink and you share toilets and shower. Some UCPAs have en-suite rooms. There is no Wi-Fi so I am having to rely on my data.

The food is good with plenty of vegan options although I was disappointed there were no croissants and pain au chocolats at breakfast

It seems to be popular with groups of families and friends who are holidaying together.

I’ll write more when I get back.

Thanks @NobbyButtons that’s useful. I’m thinking of it next year as a cheap option that might also be easier for me as I will be on my own with 3 kids (14, 11 and 7 then). Would be great to hear more when you’re back.

If you have the budget for it, Single Parents on Holiday do ski holidays to Austria which look very good.

Those do look great - I’m not a single parent though, so would be a bit of a fraud! Just that DH won’t have the time off work next year so I will take the kids on my own.

Would you book UCPA again?

I'm not a single parent either but my husband and daughter don't like skiing. I emailed SPOH and they said that it would be fine for just me and my son to travel with them, but we couldn't go this year because their February holiday was the week before our half-term.

I thought UCPA/Action Outdoors was great value for a skiing holiday in February half-term so I'd be inclined to book with them again. If you are there for the skiing and don't mind no-frills accommodation it's fine. The food was served buffet-style and was good, and you can either make a picnic each day at breakfast or return to the centre for a hot lunch. It was convenient having the ski pass provided by the UCPA, and the ski hire done in house. I liked the ski area of Les Contamines. It's relatively compact, has great views, and there were lots of good blue slopes and wide, not too steep reds. However, I didn't like having to take the shuttle bus to and from the slopes as it was sometimes extremely crowded.

The UCPA was sometimes a bit noisy at night with all the heavy doors opening and closing. If they ever do a family week to UCPA Flaine that would be a good option as it's ski-in ski-out and has ensuite rooms. My daughter probably would have enjoyed the chance to get to know other children during the lessons and at the centre, but my son isn't very sociable and was happy to chill in the room in the evenings.

Looked at the prices for SPOH & it’s a bit of a stretch…
I think I will go for UCPA. How do they group for lessons - are kids separate to adults? Age based or experience based? Thanks for your reviews, really useful @NobbyButtons

With UCPA children and adults have separate lessons, organised by ability.