Le Grand Bornand - thoughts

[Julian Ashcroft]

We are thinking of going to Le Grand Bornand in January 2004, any thoughts
on this place for skiing etc. We are looking at Self Catering Accommodation.
Don't need night clubs, as we prefer bars and restaurants. We are a mixed
group, some will need ski school, while others will be hunting out the
blacks.

We have already booked our flights with Easyjet to Geneva (£60.00 return).
If you don't know anything about Le Grand Bornand any other suggestions
would be welcome around an hour or so's travel from Geneva.

Thanks in advance.

Julian Ashcroft

[Ace]

On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 08:47:19 +0100, "Julian Ashcroft" >
wrote:

>We are thinking of going to Le Grand Bornand in January 2004, any thoughts
>on this place for skiing etc. We are looking at Self Catering Accommodation.
>Don't need night clubs, as we prefer bars and restaurants. We are a mixed
>group, some will need ski school, while others will be hunting out the
>blacks.
>
>We have already booked our flights with Easyjet to Geneva (£60.00 return).
>If you don't know anything about Le Grand Bornand any other suggestions
>would be welcome around an hour or so's travel from Geneva.

I repped for a week in La Clusaz, which is just up the road, a couple
of years ago, and skied one day at Le GB. Both are small traditional
villages and quite pleasant places to stay. They're both part of the
Aravis ski area, which is reasonably extensive and varied.

Skiing can be a little limited, however, by the ~2100m maximum
altitude, particularly early in the season or in poor (wet) weather.
Also, the villages are very low, so skiing back to resort may often
be, err, interesting :-}

That apart, there's a reasonable variety of terrain and levels of
difficulty, but advanced to expert skiers may get bored quite quickly,
unless they're into off-piste, of which there's plenty (in La Clusaz,
at least), but for the best of which I'd recommend a mountain guide.

You might also like to consider the Grand Massif - Flaine/Samoens/Les
Carroz/Morrillon. It's just a tiny bit further south, but still only
an hour (or less, when I'm driving) from Geneva. Much more variety and
quantity of skiing, and a much better snow record.

HTH

Check out the Ski Club's historical snow reports at
http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/direct/historical/default.asp.
--
Ace in Alsace - bruce dot rogers at roche dot com
Ski Club of Great Britain http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

[Rod Jenkins]

"Julian Ashcroft" > wrote in message
...
> We are thinking of going to Le Grand Bornand in January 2004, any thoughts
> on this place for skiing etc. We are looking at Self Catering
Accommodation.
> Don't need night clubs, as we prefer bars and restaurants. We are a mixed
> group, some will need ski school, while others will be hunting out the
> blacks.
>
> We have already booked our flights with Easyjet to Geneva (£60.00 return).
> If you don't know anything about Le Grand Bornand any other suggestions
> would be welcome around an hour or so's travel from Geneva.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Julian Ashcroft
>
Le Grand Bornand: We stayed at Chinaillon, which gives more direct access
to the slopes. On average I would say that the slopes are steeper, colour
for colour, than those in the Grand Massif or PdeS. Several restaurants in
Chinaillon, including our favourite in the whole of the Alps. We only spent
half day in Clusaz, we did not enjoy that but it was flat light and icey up
top and heavy slush at the bottom, so our judgement is unreliable. As
intermediate skiers and boarders we enjoyed our week at Bornand. We booked
our appartment over the internet with the local tourist office.
Grand Massif: I recommend staying in Les Carroz, which gives good access to
the rest of the Flaine area but has good tree skiing if the weather closes
in. Plenty of restauants in Carroz. Samoens is nice but you can get stuck
in its own little valley in poor weather. Morillon is better in that
respect but we have not stayed there.
Portes de Soleil: Anywhere here will be good. In my view the best snow and
scenery are in the Linga sector between Chatel and Avoriaz.
All are low but we have always been able to find sufficient snow.

Rod

[Frances Hinden]

"Julian Ashcroft" > wrote in message >...
> We are thinking of going to Le Grand Bornand in January 2004, any thoughts
> on this place for skiing etc. We are looking at Self Catering Accommodation.
> Don't need night clubs, as we prefer bars and restaurants. We are a mixed
> group, some will need ski school, while others will be hunting out the
> blacks.
>
> We have already booked our flights with Easyjet to Geneva (£60.00 return).
> If you don't know anything about Le Grand Bornand any other suggestions
> would be welcome around an hour or so's travel from Geneva.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Julian Ashcroft

We went for a long weekend in La Clusaz (just down the road from GB)
last Feb. There was enough skiing to keep us happy for a few days,
but on a sunny Saturday the lift queues were huge, and the lift system
is a little antiquated. Unfortunately all the Genevans (Genevois?)
know it's only an hour down the road as well... at 5pm the traffic was
completely solid with day-trippers leaving.

[Frances Hinden]

"Julian Ashcroft" > wrote in message >...
> We are thinking of going to Le Grand Bornand in January 2004, any thoughts
> on this place for skiing etc. We are looking at Self Catering Accommodation.
> Don't need night clubs, as we prefer bars and restaurants. We are a mixed
> group, some will need ski school, while others will be hunting out the
> blacks.
>
> We have already booked our flights with Easyjet to Geneva (£60.00 return).
> If you don't know anything about Le Grand Bornand any other suggestions
> would be welcome around an hour or so's travel from Geneva.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Julian Ashcroft

Verbier is only about 1.5 hours drive and it's nearly all on motorway.

[Ace]

On 31 Jul 2003 10:16:39 -0700, (Frances Hinden)
wrote:

>"Julian Ashcroft" > wrote in message >...

>> We have already booked our flights with Easyjet to Geneva (£60.00 return).
>> If you don't know anything about Le Grand Bornand any other suggestions
>> would be welcome around an hour or so's travel from Geneva.

>Verbier is only about 1.5 hours drive and it's nearly all on motorway.

From Geneva? I think not.

You've got to drive either all the way around lac Leman, via Thonon
and Evian (not a fast road by any stretch of the imagination) then
down the motorway to Martigny before starting to climb up to Verbier
_or_ motorway to Argentiere then over the pass (if it's open) down
into Martigny.

The former is going to take at least 1.5 hours before you reach the
motorway, probably more, and the latter is a good 1.5 hours to
Argentiere, before you reach the pass.

Not done either route in toto, but I'd be surprised if you could do
it in less than 2,5 hours even in ideal conditions, no traffic and
ignoring all the speed limits.

--
Ace in Alsace - bruce dot rogers at roche dot com
Ski Club of Great Britain http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

[Ian Spare]

On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 18:03:48 +0200, Ace > wrote:

>On 31 Jul 2003 10:16:39 -0700, (Frances Hinden)
>wrote:
>
>>"Julian Ashcroft" > wrote in message >...
>
>>> We have already booked our flights with Easyjet to Geneva (£60.00 return).
>>> If you don't know anything about Le Grand Bornand any other suggestions
>>> would be welcome around an hour or so's travel from Geneva.
>
>>Verbier is only about 1.5 hours drive and it's nearly all on motorway.
>
>From Geneva? I think not.
>
>You've got to drive either all the way around lac Leman, via Thonon
>and Evian (not a fast road by any stretch of the imagination) then
>down the motorway to Martigny before starting to climb up to Verbier
>_or_ motorway to Argentiere then over the pass (if it's open) down
>into Martigny.
>
>The former is going to take at least 1.5 hours before you reach the
>motorway, probably more, and the latter is a good 1.5 hours to
>Argentiere, before you reach the pass.
>
>Not done either route in toto, but I'd be surprised if you could do

Most people would go via Lausanne, something like 160-170 km I'd
guess. Which would be be about 1.5 to 2 hours and nearly all motorway
just like the man said :-)


--
Yeah, because you never know when the value of 2^15 will change and
you have to go through all your code fixing it.
-- Paul Tomblin

[Frances Hinden]

Ace > wrote in message >...
> On 31 Jul 2003 10:16:39 -0700, (Frances Hinden)
> wrote:
>
> >"Julian Ashcroft" > wrote in message >...
>
> >> We have already booked our flights with Easyjet to Geneva (£60.00 return).
> >> If you don't know anything about Le Grand Bornand any other suggestions
> >> would be welcome around an hour or so's travel from Geneva.
>
> >Verbier is only about 1.5 hours drive and it's nearly all on motorway.
>
> From Geneva? I think not.
>
> You've got to drive either all the way around lac Leman, via Thonon
> and Evian (not a fast road by any stretch of the imagination) then
> down the motorway to Martigny before starting to climb up to Verbier
> _or_ motorway to Argentiere then over the pass (if it's open) down
> into Martigny.
>
> The former is going to take at least 1.5 hours before you reach the
> motorway, probably more, and the latter is a good 1.5 hours to
> Argentiere, before you reach the pass.
>
> Not done either route in toto, but I'd be surprised if you could do
> it in less than 2,5 hours even in ideal conditions, no traffic and
> ignoring all the speed limits.

Well I was asleep most of the way (not being the driver) so I couldn't
tell you the route but we did it in about 1.5hrs arriving 1.30am Good
Friday.

Admittedly it took rather longer on the way back on the afternoon of
Easter Monday.

[Ace]

On 5 Aug 2003 08:46:41 -0700, (Frances Hinden)
wrote:

>Ace > wrote in message >...
<genva - verbier>

>> Not done either route in toto, but I'd be surprised if you could do
>> it in less than 2,5 hours even in ideal conditions, no traffic and
>> ignoring all the speed limits.
>
>Well I was asleep most of the way (not being the driver) so I couldn't
>tell you the route but we did it in about 1.5hrs arriving 1.30am Good
>Friday.

All right already - I admit it can be done, as shown in Ian's and
Jeremy's posts, OK? Now get off my case ;-)

But the time at which you did it is probably relevant too.

>Admittedly it took rather longer on the way back on the afternoon of
>Easter Monday.

Ahh, that sounds more like it...

--
Ace in Alsace - bruce dot rogers at roche dot com
Ski Club of Great Britain http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

[Greg Hilton]

Ace > wrote in news:h0ovivgabn44m3uar4orac4e4kcra2fjbf@
4ax.com:

> But the time at which you did it is probably relevant too.

Hate to do this Ace, but I've done Verbier pre-Xmas twice on weekend trips
both around 1.5 hours on a Friday or Sunday, 8-9amish there and 4-5pmish
back.

regards,

greg

[Frances Hinden]

Ace > wrote in message >...
> On 5 Aug 2003 08:46:41 -0700, (Frances Hinden)
> wrote:
>
> >Ace > wrote in message >...
> <genva - verbier>
>
> >> Not done either route in toto, but I'd be surprised if you could do
> >> it in less than 2,5 hours even in ideal conditions, no traffic and
> >> ignoring all the speed limits.
> >
> >Well I was asleep most of the way (not being the driver) so I couldn't
> >tell you the route but we did it in about 1.5hrs arriving 1.30am Good
> >Friday.
>
> All right already - I admit it can be done, as shown in Ian's and
> Jeremy's posts, OK? Now get off my case ;-)
>
Sorry. Jeremy's post hadn't appeared here when I wrote my reply.

> But the time at which you did it is probably relevant too.
>
> >Admittedly it took rather longer on the way back on the afternoon of
> >Easter Monday.
>
> Ahh, that sounds more like it...

[Ace]

On 7 Aug 2003 10:55:31 -0700, (Frances Hinden)
wrote:

>Ace > wrote in message >...

>> All right already - I admit it can be done, as shown in Ian's and
>> Jeremy's posts, OK? Now get off my case ;-)
>>
>Sorry. Jeremy's post hadn't appeared here when I wrote my reply.

Heh. No worries. This 'being wrong' thing takes some getting used to
:-}

--
Ace in Alsace - bruce dot rogers at roche dot com
Ski Club of Great Britain http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.