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Overall
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Silver Ski has been going for quite a while but again I’d never heard of it. In fact my sister says she found it from the teletext website. I would recommend Silver Ski particularly if you are in a large group and can do full occupancy of a chalet (I’m not sure but I ... Read review
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Advantages: Great food, free wine, great hosts Disadvantages: Long uncomfortable transfer after nothing to write home about flight
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Overall
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Silver Ski has been going for quite a while but again I’d never heard of it. In fact my sister says she found it from the teletext website. I would recommend Silver Ski particularly if you are in a large group and can do full occupancy of a chalet (I’m not sure but I think 10 was the smallest chalet), also if you want mostly all in (food wise). I think they probably cater quite well for children too (I think one ... ...many problems.
I think Silver Ski provided a great holiday but having looked at some of the problems I encountered in getting there I’m going to have to rate it 4 out of 5 since the travel arrangements weren’t brilliant and the holiday was quite expensive (as all Ski holiday’s are) at about £500 for the half board accomodation and flights. ... more
WebSite ---------- http://www.silverski.co.uk
Two weeks ago I was in the Alps learning to ski. How I wish I could go back. I couldn’t really ski before I went, the only skiing prior to that was a couple of trips to dry slopes over 10 years ago.
Booking -------- My sister organized this trip for me, and in total there were 10 of us. So I have no idea how the booking procedure went. I’m pretty sure that she didn’t have any problems and they were ok when she rang them up to ask for more info.
Flights ------- This was a JMC charter flight from Gatwick to Lyon. Both flights were early – 6:30 and 9:30 so not only did we have to get up early but once on the plane we were given a rather rank looking breakfast which included baked beans (much to my consternation) also we noticed that there wasn’t a vegetarian option. The only other complaint was that on the return flight we were stuck in this, what looked to be, aircraft hanger that served as gates 9 and 10 rather than being in the main building and hence the variety of facilities was limited.
Arrival -------- After a long 2 hours coach ride – including some harrowing switch back mountain pass driving. The bus was old and really not very pleasant, not having a toilet or a TV. We stopped once at a place where we could only go to the loo and not eat or drink since there were no facilities to purchase either food or drink. We arrived at about 1pm at La Plagne 1800 (so called because it was indeed at 1800m). We were greeted by several people including our hosts for the week: Matt and Annie.
La Plagne ------------ La Plagne is actually a series of different village resorts connected by both ski lifts and buses. I’m pretty sure that you can ski anywhere in the resort to all of the 10 “stations” assuming that the required runs and lifts are working. Plagne Centre is the hub, most lifts start here and most runs lead here. From where we were in Plagne 1800, plagne centre was a 15 minute bus ride or 2 ski lifts and a bit of skiing away. So we could get there quite easily. The buses are free and deliberately so to make it so that the other village bits of the resort get business from tourists who don’t have to live in the centre of things, that way you can pass out your stay in a nice quite village and still get to the bustling centre quite easily. Plagne 1800 however had a fair few facilities it self, although I didn’t explore it very thoroughly I know that it had 2 ski hire places, at least 1 bar, at least 1 restaurant and a shop when I am told you can buy most things you will need.
The food --------- This will undoubtedly vary from Chalet to Chalet as there are different hosts with different menus and cooking styles. However I think that it is always 3 course meals every night apart from 1 night (the host’s night off – Wednesday) when we went out to the local restaurant and had – yes a 3 course meal. (I think I skipped dessert though). The meals were very good well presented and you could normally have more of the main course especially of vegetables. Also there was a vegetarian option for those who stated that they wanted that in advance, and their food always looked as good as ours. I even tried the veggie pie one night and it was very good. Lunches and drinks in the resort seemed cheap, mostly I think because of the strength of the pound vs the Euro, which is now in force in France.
Drinks ------- There was free wine of drink as much as you want quantities, even if the quality wasn’t brilliant it was wet and had alcohol in it. After all it’s not like you notice after a few glasses.
Friends --------- This time I went with people I knew – my sister and her boyfriend, 2 couples and 3 other singles. However I didn’t know anyone very well apart from my sister and her boyfriend, so again it was make friends time, which was very enjoyable. Also Matt and Annie became our friends too.
Activities ----------- Erm - This week I have mostly bin learnin’ ow to ski. But having said that there were other activities on offer, some of which I did:
Eating – less of a necessity and more of a past time – I dread to think how much weight I put on.
Drinking – Most nights what with the free booze, although I didn’t really go out and drink apart from one night.
Shopping – I bought a new pair of gloves as the ones I had were fabric and would have been very useful if I was thirsty (read soaking wet)
Sight seeing – I did go to the top of the mountain but only once got a decent view as it was snowing too much
Ski lessons – 5 days worth to be precise. Bob Raft – going down a luge track in a big plastic box very quickly – great fun, but be at the front as I couldn’t see anything at the back. Other activities I didn’t do:
Ice Skating – I did want to but just didn’t get the time
Cinema
Trampoline with wires – my sister had a go!
Snowboarding – curse them – sitting on their arses all day in the middle of the piste!
Sleigh riding – such great fun when we were kids – but a little bit suicidal on a red run!
Language --------- We were in France but our hosts were English, the Ski school instructors spoke English well enough. (“Accept to slide” – ahem) and every attempt at speaking French to a waiter was replied in English, so there really wasn’t too much French going round, I guess the most I did was speaking to other people on ski lifts, but that was just because I can speak French (albeit badly).
Entertainment --------------- Well we mostly brought our own entertainment of books, since after skiing you tend to be a bit knackered (or at least I was) but we did do a bit of social drinking and talking around the chalet as well as dangerous girls vs boys games of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Taboo.
Wheelchair users and others ------------ Not really recommended with out a helper. I didn’t see any wheelchairs. I did see lots of steps (around plagne centre). However I did see several people in those sit down mono ski things with to “steering skis” attached to the arms which I assume is how wheelchair bound people ski.
Overall -------- Silver Ski has been going for quite a while but again I’d never heard of it. In fact my sister says she found it from the teletext website. I would recommend Silver Ski particularly if you are in a large group and can do full occupancy of a chalet (I’m not sure but I think 10 was the smallest chalet), also if you want mostly all in (food wise). I think they probably cater quite well for children too (I think one of the chalets has a Creche right next door). I had a great time and was amazed at what I could learn in 1 week. I’ve got from virtual beginner (snow plough only) to being a semi proficient skier who can do parallel turns down blue runs and handle steep bits of them without too many problems. I think Silver Ski provided a great holiday but having looked at some of the problems I encountered in getting there I’m going to have to rate it 4 out of 5 since the travel arrangements weren’t brilliant and the holiday was quite expensive (as all Ski holiday’s are) at about £500 for the half board accomodation and flights.
Advantages: quality interior snow Disadvantages: too many intersecting runs
Silver Star Resort (now owned by the same opperator as Big White) is located near Vernon B.C.
************ The Village*****************
The resort village is an interesting collection of "victorian style" town house painted in an eclectic mix of bright blues, yellows and pinks.This lends itself to the very fairy tale cartoon feel to the place. The Village is a pedestrian only one and that gives the area a realaxed feel. It is located on the side of the ski area and as such enables you to ski in and out of it.
*******National Altitude Training center*****
Silver Star is the home of the national altitude training center and as a result there are some pretty cool things to do there that are not on offer at every ski resort. Such as taking advantage of the Indoor climbing wall. It is located in the training center. There you ...
Advantages: Real Snow, 3 pistes, 2 lifts, Located in the UK! Disadvantages: Costly, public transport not brilliant.
WebSite
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http://www.snozonemk.co.uk/intro.asp
Intro
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A month ago I was in Milton Keynes skiing. Yes at the beginning of August I went skiing in the UK and what?s more it was real snow, none of this dry slope harsh brushes rubbish.
If you?ve read my previous op on SilverSki you?ll know that I?ve had a weeks skiing including tuition and loved it, so to get an ?in-between seasons? ski felt pretty good.
Booking
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We didn?t book, and we didn?t need to. We went along at about 12pm on a Saturday and paid there and then. It wasn?t too busy either. I imagine that you would need to book to get a group discount (10 or more of you.)
Travel
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I went by car, and as Snozone is situated at Xscape it has plenty of parking (1,300 spaces to be exact), most of it free. Milton Keynes is unfortunately a car ...
Advantages: Fun and inexpensive Disadvantages: Across the pond
6 Japanese restaurants alone though, so it?d be hard to get bored here in the evening. The places we ate at included The Silver Dragon, a Chinese Restaurant with huge, tasty portions and small, friendly prices. Giorgio?s, our freebie from the Ski Stop, turned out to be a gem. Massive starters, but manageable, stylish entrees - I?d highly recommend this one to any fans of Italian food. Wild Bills, a Tex-Mex, also was great. I could bang on about the food here all day, but I think you?d need to be very unlucky to get a bad meal in Banff. For beers try the Rose and Crown. Wooden clad with a log fire and Strongbow on draught, it claims to be a real English pub, anyway the prices were similar. I don?t know about that, but it was good and the tables for eating always seemed to have plenty of reserved cards on them.
All of these ...
