Need a schooling......Whistler or Yurp (Chamonix?)?

[powtario]

Howdy mags,

I'm coming to you for your biased, insulting and rude but ultimately the best advice that can be had anywhere. I know this has been done a buzillion times before on here, and I've done a ton fo reading...but I'm still torn.

I'm in Dublin for school, and have March 3-17 off. I'm going skiing, but where? Budget is (hopefully) about C$2000/E1500. I'll probably be spending a fair bit of time at night studying, so nightlife isn't really that big of a deal, the skiing is more important.

I'm originally from Ontario, here for 4 years, absolutely torn about what to do.

I'll ski almost anything that can be found in bounds in NA, and have avy gear but not really a huge amount of BC experience. I will be taking a 2 day course wherever I go anyways. I have fuck-all for mountaineering experience, and as much as I would love to I won't be able to afford to join a guided group for more than a few days.

I would love to do some day tours, and pretty stoked on using my new-to-me setup. I think I'll leave the overnighting for when I have a bit more experience.

I think the prices will nearly the same:

Whistler:
-lived there, know the mountains, know people to rip with. My sis is at school in Van and it would be great to see her
-the forecast for the rest of the year is looking.......dryish
-flights Dub-Van return right now are C$590 on KLM via expedia.ca (cheap as shit for anyone else thinking of heading to NA!)
-student pass $620
-UBC lodge $350 for the 2 weeks

Europe:
-never been, don't know anybody, they literally just got their first snow, but its Europe and the mountains, from everything I've read, and fucking epic. Especially Chamonix.
-flghts Dub-Geneva C$320 on Swissair
-tickets from what I've read will be somewhere around E500/C$700 for the 2 weeks, no matter where I go (am I wrong?)
-I've contacted Gary at Vitamin Ski in Chamonix, and I could maybe swing that for one week, but it would be tight.
-hostles will be about E20/night, so about E300/C$450 minimum.

Should I just nut up and head to the Alps?

School me.

[Schnappi]

Sister pics?

[54-46]

Go to Cham; if you don't, you'll always wonder. Looks like you have Whistler pretty dialed; it's not like that's going to change.

[grapedrink]

chamonix is amazing, but not if you don't know what you're doing or don't have a guide/group. if you can't venture very far from the lifts then it's like skiing anywhere else except with much better views and probably shittier snow.

if you're going to be skiing solo, i recommend going to verbier where there's lots of great terrain, no guide needed, and it's easy to get to. if you see it, you can ski it. then go to chamonix for as many days as you can afford a guide to show you around terrain that makes verbier look like a bunny hill.

[ACHTUNG]

Cham. Shouldn't even be a question.

[Bird Blaster]

WB is great and all. But if you can go to Cham go there!!!!!

[hutash]

Cham, which has lots of other options should conditions not pan out. It is spectacular and worth a visit. Go back to Whistler when you move back to Canada.

[gramboh]

Chamonix... what if you come to Whistler and it's dry/2 week high pressure or rain? Since you've lived there you know how bored you'll be of the skiing. Even if conditions suck, Europe will be new (I've never been and it's the choice I'd made if I were you).

[gregL]

I'll ski just about anything

I would be wary of broadcasting this if you haven't seen Chamonix, but since you are already in Dublin you should definitely go for it. Bonne chance!

[shirk]

Go to Cham and have Francis be your guide.

http://nosiesta.com/Home.html


Have your mind blown up there.

[powtario]

Maggots, the advice is much appreciated.

Yurp in March it is!

[CarveMan]

Cham.

It is mecca.

You will end up there one way or the other in your lifetime, so it might as well be soon. Then you will go back. And again, it's like a virus.....

Here's what you can get up to in Cham and the area: http://powderbible.com/blog/

[Alaskan Rover]

I'm coming to you for your biased, insulting and rude....advice.

You came to the right place, then. Carry on.


WTF??????

You're already a hop skip and a jump from the Alps and you have to ask the question???

Whistler/Blackcomb is great if you CAN'T get to the Alps, Patagonia, Himilayas or Alaska/Yukon.

I mean I LOVE whistler and have spent loads of time there...but we're talking the Alps!!!!

It's been a LONG time since I've skied in the Alps (Verbier was last place), but I remember it as being a skiers PARADISE. Runs that last for 40 minutes and take you through farmer's fields and mountain villages...you end up at the bottom like a century of skiing later and have a shot of Grand Marnier and the best swiss cheese you can imagine.

Plus it's a ripping place for young college kids...the girls are crazily gorgeous.

Make sure you get there via Paris, that way you can mellow out on the left bank for a few days when your ski trip is finished. In fact, I think they have ski trains that leave from Paris enroute to various French Alps destinations.

Lucky Bastard.

--

EDIT : As far as hostels in the Alps, the time period you're talking is MAJOR spring break week for pretty every college in the world (at least northern hemisphere). I've been to lots of hostels in europe. Some take reservations....some don't. Find out which ones take reservations, 'cause if you plan to just go there without reservations...most will have been long ago filled up. I'd make hostel reservations NOW, if you can. If you find yourself out of luck as far as hostels, some chalet owners and guides there will rent out beds. Hotels are expensive.

[Dee Hubbs]

Whistler is full.

[Arno]

EDIT : As far as hostels in the Alps, the time period you're talking is MAJOR spring break week for pretty every college in the world (at least northern hemisphere). I've been to lots of hostels in europe. Some take reservations....some don't. Find out which ones take reservations, 'cause if you plan to just go there without reservations...most will have been long ago filled up. I'd make hostel reservations NOW, if you can. If you find yourself out of luck as far as hostels, some chalet owners and guides there will rent out beds. Hotels are expensive.

huh? peak holiday time is end of Feb

[CarveMan]

I was there that time this year, crowds were fine.

[hutash]

Francis is the real deal as guides go, so if he is in town then it would be worth hiring him. American, but speaks fluent French, although there are plenty of English speaking guides in Cham.