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Club Med Paradaski-LaPlagne &
Annecy France
Date:
Jan 25 - Feb 3, 2025
Trip Leader: Raghu Naik
Trip Assistant:
Maryann Crilly
Our Club had 44 people on the trip, 33 flying with
us on United from Newark to Geneva and a group who got to Geneva early
and met us at Geneva Airport.
The group met at Newark airport for the Saturday flight around 5:30 pm.
Our plane left Newark airport on time. We arrived in Geneva at 7:25 AM
(on time), meeting the early birds to Geneva at the airport. We then
loaded the bus for our almost 3-hour drive via windy switchback roads to
the mountain village of La Plagne. When we arrived at Club Med, their
"GO" team took our luggage and staged it on the appropriate floor for
each of our rooms. Our skis and boot bags were placed near the lobby
entrance. Our rooms were not ready, so we went to the auditorium where
there were drinks and snacks. Lunch was available for a fee, but no one
chose to pay for it. After a somewhat chaotic check-in process, we
eventually obtained our room bracelets, ski passes, ski locker key and
opened an account so we could rent skis and obtain mountain insurance.
Several of us chose to purchase the optional mountain rescue insurance
for about $25. Once we obtained the ski locker key, we moved our skis
from the front entrance to the ski room.
The Club Med Hotel was a very good choice. The rooms were large for
Europe. All food and drinks were included, and the quality and variety
of the buffet was very good. A few people rented skis, mostly via
Club-Med. The hotel had an official ski room with individual lockers, so
people didn’t have to carry skis to the room.
On Sunday evening, there was a table to sign up for the ski lesson group
you would like to be in. Most participants signed up for a group with an
English-speaking guide and with folks they knew. Approximately half of
the group signed up for level 3B. On Monday morning, level 3B was
separated into smaller groups. Each skier level had a similar meeting
time and destination, which changed each day, based on instructor
decision. Tuesday a few folks changed their group to either advance a
stage or reduce a stage. A few folks chose not to ski with the guide but
on their own, and a few folks took lessons. Several of the skier level
groups consisted of all or mostly Holmdel Ski Club members. Some
instructors gave frequent lesson tips/assessments, while others guided
us around the mountains.
La Plagne Club Med resort is a true ski in, ski out resort.
On Monday evening into Tuesday morning, there a
was a snowstorm, dumping at least 6” of fluffy powder on the mountain.
Several people went out for the morning session, while the avalanche
patrol was at work. After lunch, more people went out to ski because the
visibility cleared.
Paradiski is the second-largest interconnected ski
area in the world. The Peisey-Vallandry, La Plagne, and Les Arcs Resorts
make up Paradiski. The skiing at La Plagne had a variety of groomed and
ungroomed runs. Off-piste cover was
mostly packed with some untouched area of powder. The vastness of the
terrain was unbelievable!
The trails are not well marked so our guides were invaluable. Some of
the runs were crowded with people, especially Monday – Friday. Saturday
was wonderful since a lot of the crowds left.
We had a great time together at meals since Club Med designated a
specific dining area for our club. Many toasts and accompanied laughter
filled each evening.
For dinner, we had a choice of using the Main dining area with an
excellent variety of food choices and drinks or we could have made a
reservation at a smaller restaurant. Most people stayed in the dining
area. Breakfast (7:30 to 9:30) and lunches (12 to 2 PM) were served in
the same dining area.
Sunday morning was the departure day for most Club Med guests, so the
lobby was filled with luggage going to different places. It was again
imperative that each of our member’s bags had our Club's colorful
luggage tags so that we could differentiate our bags from others. Once
again, the Club-med baggage handling left something to be desired. By
9:45 am we were on our way to Annecy. The first hour was driving above
tree line across passes, switchbacks, and rural towns with narrow
roadways and sitting in traffic. We stopped at a roadside rest area for
a bathroom break. Old-town Annecy contains many restaurants and shops
along its canals. It is a wonderful place to spend a day and is much
closer to Geneva airport (75 minutes away in weekday commuter traffic)
than La Plagne (3 hours on a clear day, but who knows when it’s
snowing). People walked around town and enjoyed the sights and bistros
CLUB MED PHOTOS
CLUB MEMBERS ON
THE SLOPES
ANNECY
PHOTOS
THANK YOU FROM YOUR TRIP LEADERS - RAGHU & MARYANN
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