the best one near here for skiing is at Brixen, because it has it's own lift from which you can ski to the gondola at Brixen, and from the piste you can ski back to the camp site.
It is situated about half way between Hopfgarden and Kitzbuhel, and ideal for skiing on both the Ski Welt and at Kitzbuhel.
Relaxed now and not thinking about our house at home. When I returned for the funeral, I found a real mess. We had a burst in the loft. Upstairs and downstairs the ceilings had collapsed, walls soaked, wooden floors soaked, water coming out of lights and switches.
A real mess. Left the insurance people to sort it out, hopefully for our return in April.
Michael I am so sorry to hear your news about the house, what a disaster for you. That is going to take quite some time to sort out. Jeez, this weather is just not what we are used to although more so for you up North but the softie south isn't much good at it. We still don't have clear roads down here.
I am glad we managed to steal a little of your snow though, given that we cannot get abroad for the foreseeable future.
Could I ask our skiing colleagues some additonal info - my wife and I are considering taking our caravan to the Alps this March (2011) and my wife anticipates the following issues: a. drying our ski clothes and boots overnight (she doesn't fancy leaving it in a communial drying room), b. washing thermalwear (we have enough for a week) c. stopping the aquarolls and inside pipes freezing (we prefer to sleep in the cold rather than having a electric fire on overnight). We are thinking of going to the Jungfrau area (staying down in Interlaken and skiing from Wilderswil, Les Arc (in the site under the Vanois Express, and near Sameons. We would be away for 4 or so weeks. Any comments much appreciated.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Hi dixiedean. I can't help much with the caravan stuff, but in terms of ski resorts I can highly recommend the Flims ski area in Switzerland for skiing - a good variety of slopes, with an excellent lift system, relatively cheap prices, and a really nice, feel to the place ... maybe a little too far east for you though.
As an alternative to Les Arc/La Plagne, may I suggest the Three Valleys area just down the road - simply superb skiing, if a little pricey on the lift pass.
You may be lucky enough in March to do without overnight heating but I would not recommend you rely upon it. We use two small electric fan heaters kept on low all night.(I don`t like the gas on overnight) This keeps us warm and stops water inside the van freezing. Any external pipes etc WILL freeze if there is any water in them, so use a bucket not a traditional wastemaster for waste water.
Insulate the aquaroll as well as possible, stand it on a couple of thick polystyrene tiles and keep it in the awning. This will work unless it gets very cold in which case you`ll have to do without it by using a smaller container kept inside,or lug the aquaroll inside.I have heard of people using small fish tank heaters inside the aquaroll but I don`t know how that works.
Washing, including thermals, should not be a problem, (we take them with us but rarely have needed to use them) as many sites have washers and tumble dryers, if not there will be a laundrette near by.
People do use tumble dryers to dry wet ski jackets etc but I have never had any problem using the drying rooms. When we stayed at a site without any drying facilities I set the fan heaters up in the awning and made an enclosure of the damp items. You can buy specific gadgets for this type of drying:
You always need to put your ski boots somewhere warm and dry overnight, again without using site facilities you can make arrangements with any ski shops at the bottom of the lifts, they will keep them warm and dry for you overnight, along with skis etc, or alternatively point a fan heater on low at them with them on their sides so that warm air can get inside.
If your van has warm air gas heating you can put your boots in front of one of these, and in one van we had, the whole shower room got really warm from the heating and acted as a drying cupboard.
Hope that helps! Have a great time, it really is fun caravanning in the winter snows.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Skiing with the van
