SCUK Winter Bash

Duration	8 days
Starts on	Saturday 21st January 2006
Ends on	Saturday 28th January 2006 (986 days ago)
Location	Alpes d’Huez, France

January 2006 showcases the first SCUK Winter Bash. A chance for UK snowboarders to get together and hit the slopes and the bars of Alpes d’Huez in France, in an orderly, British fashion.

Details

Review

Gallery

Bookings closed on Friday 6th January 2006. Any final payments need to be made by 13th January 2006.

Insurance

We have insurance available for the duration of the trip for £32 or £28.80 if you are a SCUK member. Check out our snowboard specific insurance with great rates.

Check In

Keys and lift passes will be available for collection from La Grotte du Yeti from 1700hrs on Saturday 21st. You will need to bring a passport photo with you in order to make up your lift pass.

In order to get your SCUK discount for the trip please have your SCUK membership cards with you when you check in.

If you have any problems on arrivals day then you can phone the Wasteland Ski Emergency number which is +33 (0) 6 89 26 82 83.

If you're arriving earlier on Saturday, then Yeti has a luggage depot that costs a couple of euros. You will need to get yourself an extra day/halfday pass; the 6 day pass we have is Sunday to Friday. Same goes for the following Saturday.

Directions

Our accommodation is above La Grotte du Yeti and called the Auberge. This is situated down the steps opposite the tourist office. It is also close to the VFD bus office which have buses going from Grenoble.

There's a big PDF map of the resort here. Our apartments are in the large triangular-shaped building above the "Televillage" lift station on the map in on the boundary of grid F7/G7.

Room Allocations

Here's the final room allocations. Unless otherwise stated the sofa couches are for 2 people, but I'm assuming they pull apart in case you're not that friendly. No idea what a "bedbank" is.

People are allocated to apartments, not specific rooms and what beds you take are up to you when you get there.

Room	Sleeps	Floor	Bedroom	Bedroom	Bedroom	Living area	Who
.001	8	ground	bunk bed	2 bunk beds	-	sofa couch	Robert (Robster) Lawrence (lez_s) Lynsey (board_angel) Jodi (jodithelegs) John (Johnny) Rose (Posy_74) David (Pocket) Paul (Prive)
.003	8	ground	bunk bed	2 bunk beds	-	sofa couch	Sam (Dragon) Dominic (n/a) Dan (n/a) Simon (n/a) Tim (carnivormonkey) Thom (punk_rallye) Michael (wakeyboarder ) Tom (ruckspin)
.004	6	ground	bunk bed	bunk bed	-	bunk bed	Lizz (lizzibeff) & Charles (charliebuoy) Victoria (vixen) Hanh (micro_tat) Matt (MattR) Mark (mickeywablo)
.005	8	ground	bunk bed	2 bunk beds	-	sofa couch	Craig (Midtown) Adam (Boywonder) Paolo (REAP) Daniel (n/a) Sidney (sidney) Joshua (joshrov) Graeme (feersum_endjinn) Daniel (n/a)
.006	16	ground	2 bunk beds	3 bunk beds	3 bunk beds	0	Ben (benShaw) Graeme (graememchugh) Stuart (melonman ) Andrew (abuchanx) david (RedTop) francis (AgingMetalhead) Duncan (Duncan2001) Dean (AKI) Samuel (sam_highbeam) Chris (stof) alan (lostit92) Arijit/Harry (HarryCambs) andrew (Leafyl) richard (dirtyvans) Sean (Soup) Richard (Project1)
.101	8	first	bunk bed	2 bunk beds	-	2 bedbanks	Martin (TypseyRussell) Phil (Me@tychi) Jon (jonnyboy) Heston (Hest) Paul (flash) Dean (Tiberius) Adam (Adam_2005) James (Jimmylewoots)
.105	7	first	bunk bed	2 bunk beds	-	sofa couch for 1	Dunx (dunx) Matt (MattW) Stu (stu) Spencer (spencer) Chris (agentvialli) Danny (RabbitBoy) & Aileen (n/a)

Half Board

Those on half board will eat at the Yeti. You may be sharing an apartment with others who are not half board.

In the evenings

This isn't an 18/30 holiday (which is just as well, as I wouldn't be allowed to go) and we don't have any famous DJs lined up. But, we do have a few things planned for those that feel like joining in.

Spencer will be running a quiz on Monday night.

Early Thursday evening, Wasteland will host a BBQ for everybody on half board. This is on the terrace, outside the hotel. If you're self catering, fear not, you can join in with the BBQ for Euro7.50, but need to let the Wasteland reps know by Sunday night at the latest. Best sort it out when you check in on Saturday.

There's nothing else planned for the evenings, but we do have two birthdays during the week - Pocket and Punk_Rallye, so I'm sure they'll be buying everybody a drink on those days ;) Also expect some pool, Shoe Golf, S-Board and T-Board fun as you want it. There has also been talk on the SCUK Bash forum about a fancy dress night and some top-to-bottom shot races.

If anybody fancies any fine SCUK merchandise, we'll have heaps of our Ts with us and beanies galore.

On the slopes

Naturally, you're free to enjoy the vast expanses of Alpe d'Huez as you want, but we do have a few things you might be interested in.

Danny Warren is our official photographer for the trip and is available to shoot you if you ask him nicely. Bang!

Stu, Spencer and Matt will all be available for coaching in the park. Again, just ask nicely.

A few people have already said they are interested in some guided touring of the back country. That's something you can ask the Wasteland reps about on arrival. The avalanche risk is currently (Wednesday 18th) "considerable", with more snow forecast today and again Friday overnight and Saturday morning. Snow is good, but please be careful if you choose to go out of bounds. If you have it, bring avalanche transceivers, poles and shovels!

The lift pass we have includes a day in Les Duex Alpes and a bus runs between the two resorts. There was reasonably priced chopper trips between the two resorts last time I was there. Again, speak to the Wasteland reps on arrivial.

We have some awesome demo boards available to try out from Salomon and Burton. Speak to the SCUK crew about these.

General Info

For more information about the package call Ru Wood@Wasteland on 08708 444644.

However much you might love the carpet burns of Snowflex, the finger-breaking of Dendix or the fridge-like qualities of the indoor snow slopes, you cannot deny the thing that makes ours a sport of breath-taking beauty is the normal location for our sport to take place, the mountains. And unfortunately, this brings us in to close proximity with our Gallic, garlic munching chums.

Booking - now closed

We have broken down the holiday to offer the flexibility to appeal to everyone.
The prices include accommodation and a 6 day lift pass. They do not include travel to and from the resort or insurance. There are a number of options to suit the holiday to your budget and taste. With a Half Board option (breakfasts and evening meals) you don’t have to worry about sorting out your own food (or the washing-up). There is also the opportunity to hire equipment.

Under 16s are more than welcome to come, but must either come with a parent or with an adult who is legally responsible for them. Snowboard Club Ltd or Wasteland Ski Ltd cannot accept any responsibility for any minor who turns up unaccompanied. Kids between the ages of 5-15 yrs get a £19 discount

For those wanting to share with their mates, rooms will be allocated nearer the date. For the moment, just get your place booked and we'll be sorting out who sleeps where later.

Basic Package - Self Catering

Self Catering Accommodation in Auberge residence – based on sharing apartment(s).
6 day lift pass (full area of Alpes D’Huez pass including 2 days in Les Deux Alps)
Cost to Non SCUK member = £239
Cost to SCUK member = £224
Kids between the ages of 5-15 yrs get a £19 discount

Half Board Package:

6 x continental breakfasts
6 x evening meals (including 1 BBQ)
Cost = Basic Package + £70

Board Hire:

Basic Board and Boots hire
Cost = Basic Package + £60

Resort

Whatever you say about the mollusc eaters, they do have some of the most amazing snowboarding on offer, with the French Alps host to numerous terrain packed resorts. One of these is the awesome Alpes d’Huez, a high altitude resort with pistes catering for all levels of rider. With wide open, easy areas on the lower slopes for beginners, to steep and deep around the Gorges de Sarenne and Glacier de Sarenne for experts, this resort can cater for a very mixed ability group. The actual Resort sits at 1450m and typically of most purpose-built French ski-towns is hardly the prettiest of locales. However, it does have all the amenities that any discerning snowboarder could need, from cheap Pizzeria’s to insane partying in one of the many bars and nightclubs.

On the Hill

From the base level of 1450m, Alpes d’Huez has 87 lifts, reaching the top elevation of 3330m. These 87 lifts (45 of which are drags…Ah, you’ll get used to them!) service over 10,000 HA of terrain, with 116 runs for your pleasure, meaning that you’ll find plenty to keep you entertained, whatever your skill level. The resort is pretty high so it receives good snow cover every year, usually from late November to mid April. Everybody is invited along, whether you're a SCUK Member or not, so come and join us for as much fun as you can handle. We just want to see you there.

Read the World Snowboard Guide review of Alpes d'Huez.

Apartments

We will be staying in the Résidence Auberge Ensoleillée, located just 10 metres from the piste and lifts. It consists of a number of self contained apartments for groups of between 3 and 16 people. The apartments are appointed with kitchen areas if you are taking the self-catering option, and have their own bathrooms which have a hand basin and shower and most apartments have a separate WC. We also have use of the bar downstairs, and this will form the focus and starting point of most of our après-board activities.

Activities

We have been wracking the collective SCUK brain to think of uber-apres board activities to keep you lot entertained and give you that warm feeling inside from being part of a group. These might include the following, but will be confirmed closer to the date:

BBQ.
Quiz night.
Pub Olympics – Teams compete at darts, pool, drinking, smoking, etc. to win a carriage clock.
Coaching – Stu Brass, and any other available goodly riders.
Photography - Danny Warren will be on hand to shoot you.
SCUK banquet.
RFJ v JRF jousting.
Face painting – a la Phoenix Nights.
Whack the rat (for some reason Spencer Claridge is obsessed with this).
Shoe Golf.
We'll have some S-Boards and T-Boards available for people to try out.
We also have some awesome demo boards available to try out from Salomon and Burton.

Travel

In order to keep the costs down, and to be able to offer the trip to people from all over the UK, we have decided to let you sort your own way down there.

Fly

The easiest Airports to travel to and transfer from are Grenoble and Lyon.
Early investigations show that flights are available from London Gatwick to Grenoble (21-28/01/2006) for £82.72 (including £10 board carriage each way and taxes etc) on www.easyjet.com
Flights are also available to Grenoble from Luton, Stanstead, Gatwick and Lyon from Bournemouth, Birmingham, Coventry, Doncaster, Heathrow, Stanstead and new routes seem to be announced every few days.

Transfers are available from:
www.a-t-s.net
www.transferintelligence.com
www.satobus-alps.com
It might be worth your while getting a group of people on the same flights together to save some money. For example, you can get a return to the resort from Grenoble Airport for £38 per person, based on a group of eight with www.a-t-s.net

Drive

If you are driving down, follow these directions from Calais. The distance is 576 miles and should take about 10 and a half hours. The majority of the journey is on toll road (costing approx. £35) and the average cars fuel bill will be around £60.

CALAIS take the A16 - A26 towards:
REIMS take the A26 - A4 towards:
CHALONS en CHAMPAGNE take the A26 towards:
TROYES take the A5 towards:
MARAC take the A31 towards:
DIJON take the A31 (E17) & (E15) A6 towards:
MACON take the A6 towards:
LYON take the A43 E70 A48 E711 towards:
GRENOBLE head south to Le Pont de-claix and pick up the N91 in the direction of Briancon. Finally take the D211 on the left up to the resort.
ALPES d’HUEZ

Incidentally, if you are fly-driving it, you can follow the directions above from your respective airport. Lyon is approx. 2hrs and Grenoble is approx. 1hr 40 mins away. SCUK members can even take advantage of a discount at AVIS (see the SCUK Travel Discount pages).

Another great source of route planning is Via Michelin.

Finally…

The Forum Winter Bash is an event brought to you by Snowboard Club UK in association with Wasteland Ski. So dig out your suntan lotion, wax up your board, get your fancy dress outfit ready and while you’re at it, pack some dancing shoes, alka-seltzer and some impact shorts. This is a social thing and a snowboard thing, rather than a competitive thing and everybody is welcome, so whatever your level, come join us and experience how snowboarding should be… on snow!

Alpes D’Huez…. Here we come!

If you have any more questions, then have a read of the SCUK Bash forum.

The SCUK Winter Bash event page can be administered by Dunx (dunx), Stu Brass (stu), Spencer Claridge (spencer) and Office (office).

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Page updated:
22 February, 2006