french alps in my new cali

[Anonymous]

hi were going to the french alps snowboarding n skiing at the end of jan 2012 in our new cali,just wondering ,has anybody done this in a cali in winter,
i have to sleep in the roof as my mrs and 9yr old son will be claiming the downstairs bed,
firstly i have bought a thermo roof screen of pucer screens and a quality winter sleeping bag,
just wondering is this enough? i see it can reach minus 14 at night,wow..
were all rear round campers anyway and have owned and used our calis for the past 4 years in all conditions,in the lakes wales cornwall scotland to mention a few,
anyway any advise on this from people that have done it would be great
next we need snow chains and a shovel ,also any good chains advise would also be great cheers and happy new year!!! jason

 

[Chris]

Very jealous of that trip. Where are you going, staying and duration.

I was looking at using the Cali for my 2012/13 snowboard holiday. Would be great to hear of your trip. Not going this year as my snowboard buddy went and got a kiddy and is now broke!

As for chains I saw this whilst researching. http://www.exeros-technologies.com/mita-snow-chains
They look very good and simple to fit. Watch the video. Expensive but because they are universal, they can be used on other size of tyre. Will make the next big freeze in Blighty a doodle
Good luck and let us know hoe you get on.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks chris just had a look at them they seem prettty good ,i like the fact they fit other sizes too,,
were goin to a place called le grand bornand,
never done france in the winter before so really lookin forward to it, apparently it a nice quiet place were theres no waiting for ski lifts ect,my son is a first time snowboarder he is only 9 so a nice mellow place suits us best for that reason.cheers again pal ..

 

[Calimark]

Winter skiing is something that we will be trying with our son once the cali arrives. Let us know how it goes. As for snow chains, these are apparently good:

Weissenfels Klack and Go

Which camp site and resort are you planning on staying at ? The advantage of the cali is that you will not need to stay in a hotel on the way down which will save some more costs (and add further justification of the expensive Cali!). I am thinking about a insulated roof cover so are you happy with the pucer screens for the roof. I was planning on taking a roof box to house the extra gear you would need when skiing (ie all the bulky clothes) so this is where the pucer is handy. Do you also have a windscreen cover (like taylormade) ?

 

[Anonymous]

hi yeah the calis great just pull up and get the bed out,no hotels involved,
the place is le grand bornand, campsite is 500 mtrs from the town center so plenty of bars ect,also you can walk to the ski lifts which is a massive bonus for me!!
no parking in carparks!!!!
the pucer screen is great we used it last wknd in the lakes,it rained all night but it was fine and dry as a bone in the morn.. also warmer and quieter,and yes i have a thermo mat that sticks to the inside of the screen that i bought from reimo for our t4 camper about 7yrs ago. it fits perfect,otherwise a taylormade screen or silver screen would be a must..cheers for the info on snow chains,im going to take a look strait after this,went into vw van center manchester today and they sell SNOCKS [like a fabric type sock instead ov a snow chain they look good but do they work????]

 

[Graham]

Just looking at google maps - is that L'escale or Clos du Pin campsite?

 

[Graham]

I read a review about 'auto socks' a while back and they were highly rated by the IAM. www.autosockdirect.co.uk/ will take you to their website.

 

[Martin]

We stayed at L'escale last year, nice campsite and only 5 minute walk to the town and lifts : http://www.campinglescale.com/ They also have a good live webcam http://www.webcam-hd.com/grand-bornand-hiver.php

 

[Calimark]

Hi Graham, do you know whether the French police accept the "auto sock". This is probably the best option for a cali since space is a premium.

 

[Calimark]

Hi Martin, that campsite looks good and the towns webcam is the best i've seen. We are thinking of going the first week of April (Easter Hols) to get some late season skiing in since my cali does not arrive until the 1st Mar. Do you think the 1st week of April is too late for this resort (what height are most of the intermediate slopes) ?

Also, do you think we need to book well in advance for this campsite for April and which Ampage electricity would you recommend for the cali.

Many thanks.
Mark.

 

[Martin]

Hi Mark, We did not ski there I am afraid but the campsite are very helpful and speak excellent English so it might be worth giving them a call or an email. As for Ampage we chose the lowest option and it did not trip at all, talking of electricity if you do go to this site you will need a continental adapter as their EHU's appear to be about 100 years old, I think they may have been on reverse polarity aswell.

 

[Blacky]

Hi !
There is a good camping in Bourg Saint Maurice open during the winter and Les Arcs is a good place for snowboarding...

 

[Anonymous]

just got back from a week in le grand bornand(french alps) in our cali,, wow what a superb place. snowboarding was ace our little lad had private lesssons and the instructors were really nice people,nice bars nice eating places,stunning town center,stuuning campsite a long drive for a week but well worth it,would go again tomorrow, the mrs now would prefer a bigger coachbuilt van after getting freindly with our english neighbours and seeeing the benifits of fixed beds showers ect haha,im considering a big van next time sorry to say then we can take our teenage daughter and our cocker spanial dog ozzie but thats in the future,one extra that i would say is a cali owners must is a pucer screen and a decent sleeping bag if your concidering doin this sort of thing in a cali i was up in the roof in -20 conditions and it was fine them screens are the dogs and work really well, no cond,no cold,and rolls up in the boot easy,, the cali was a pleasure and served us well ,pulled in 36mpg at 120kph i love these vans and its going to take a lot more convincing before i go for a big coachbuilt i would load a pic on but i dont know how too...DUH!!!

 

[Martin]

Hi Jay, yes its a great location at Grand Bornand, we are looking forward to going back possibly this year, its so nice to be walking distance to everything. (email me your photo's and I can upload them for you if you are still having trouble)

As regards to buying a motorhome, we have actually done things the other way round as we have had several 6 berth large coachbuilt motorhomes over the years and yes you do have the extra room inside and nice lounge and bathroom, but you can't cruise along at 70-80mph getting 36MPG, you cant park anywhere you want and you cant really use it for day trips to the beach etc ..., also our motorhomes ended up sitting on the drive for the majority of the year just getting damp inside!

I am sure we will all convince you to keep the Cali

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers Martin I will show that to the mrs...we have had all the Vw campers over 20 yrs goin rite back to the old bay windows so I'm sure its just she must be getting soft I'n her old age haha.shhhh!!

 

[Calimark]

Hi Jay,

We are thinking of going to the "camping L'escale" in Le Grand Bornaud next Feb during half term. What is the indoor swimming pool like ? Also, are you able to dry your ski clothes in their ski room overnight (or can you only leave Ski's & Boots) ?

Cheers
Mark

 

[Anonymous]

hi mark it was mostly just ski boots and skis in there drying room,im sure there wouldnt be a prob with clothes too but its not locked up a night time so its a gamble,,as for the pool its nice heated too, only slightly but still nice.we loved it carnt wait to go back next year.we was lucky with the gear as it was powder so we wasnt wet after a days snowboarding even tho we spent a lot of the time on our asses :lol:

 

[Calimark]

Thanks Jay..we can't wait as well and will probably book up the campsite soon as we are not sure how busy it gets during half term. We didn't go skiing this year so we really missed it. Ski camping was one of the "business case" justifications to get the Cali so hopefully it all works out ok.

 

[Calimark]

Hi Jay, the thread is old now but wanted to see which lift pass you went for when in Le Grand Bornand. We are thinking about the whole Aravis lift pass but wondered whether you thought that the Le Grand B is sufficient for beginners. We didn't manage to make it out this year and have booked up for next Feb which isn't too far away now. We are going to use a Mutze cap up top which probably wont be as warm as the Pucer screen. My son will be up top with a 15tog Duvalay plus a 3 season down sleeping bag for extra warmth if needed. We are taking a small oil filled radiator as I find the Cali blower a bit noisy to have on all night.