Does anyone have any experience of this please? We’re a large group (21 of us) going to Chamrousse next week and thought it might be great if we could get our shopping delivered as we’re self catering in 4 flats. I’ve managed (after a bit of emailing to and fro) to open an account with OOshop (Carrefour’s delivery service) and it sounds great in theory. I’ve given the address as the bar near to the flats as we don’t know our exact address yet, so it shouldn’t be too much of a chore to sit in the bar waiting for the delivery. But I’m a bit nervous of ordering over 300 euro’s worth of food and booze… Any opinions anyone please?

Sorry, I cannot help, but I really admire your gumption. Good luck.

John

I’ll report back after the holiday!

Just for anyone who may be interested in trying to get their shopping delivered, it worked like a charm in Chamrousse. I used Ooshop, the delivery arm of Carrefour. There wasn’t anywhere near as much choice as in the shop, but everything arrived that we’d ordered, only one breakage which was a tub of Hummus. As we spent a total of 400 euro they didn’t charge for delivery, which was pretty good considering they don’t normally deliver at all to where we were staying in 1700, the only addresses on the list to choose from were all in 1650 but when I emailed them they agreed to make the further trip up to 1700. I didn’t have an exact address to give them as we didn’t know which apartments we’d be allocated so I gave the address of the local bar, and chose a delivery time between 16.00 and 18.00. Some of our group volunteered to wait in the bar, while two of us waited outside the apartment which was located before the bar on the one-way system. The van came round at 16.10 so we didn’t wait long. Much better than the 90 minute round-trip to Grenoble plus shopping time!

Linden,

What did you think of Chamrousse? I must admit I was not overly impressed and much preferred Les Sept Laux in the Grenoble area. I gather Chamrousse is a popular dormitory town for Grenoble. Did this affect the atmosphere in the resort?

John

Hi John. We were a large (22 of us) mixed ability group and it was my suggestion that we went there. I’d been before about 8 years ago with my family and found it good, although if you’re an expert you’d be pretty bored after a couple of days. The reason we went was purely economy - we had 4 x 8-person apartments between us, and booking with Snowtrex, paid between £134 and £159 each INCLUDING the lift pass for the week depending on numbers in the apartment. A bargain in anyone’s money! Unfortunately we had a lot of fog, on a couple of days the top lift was closed and I can confirm it needed to be! We ended up coming down a very mogulled black accidentally earlier in the day and couldn’t even see the next piste marker - took us 2 hours to reach the bottom as none of us had come down the run before. Piste grooming was good though, and that’s a big ticked box for me.
Another plus was that everyone in the resort was extremely friendly and helpful. We had a major injury on a blue run - one of our expert skiers in the group had a freak accident when he hit a tree after avoiding a child who skied across the front of him. Six rescue guys came out really quickly then the helicopter was called as it was a serious double break in his leg. After hearing horror stories about the rescue services insisting on insurance, carte neige, E111, passport, credit card and anything else they can think of before helping, we were worried as all these things were locked in his apartment, and the keys were with others who didn’t know what had happened and weren’t carrying their phones (lessons there for everyone!). Actually the medics couldn’t have been nicer, and only asked for his name and date of birth and a couple of phone numbers so they could contact us, and a signature from one of the group. We really couldn’t praise them highly enough for just getting on with helping him without any fuss and red tape.
I had a look at Sept Laux brochure while we were in Chamrousse, it looks good… are the runs quite long? It’s certainly an easy drive to Grenoble, so anywhere around there is worth a look I think.

Linden,

It certainly sounds good value.

I have had one injury that required a blood wagon down the mountain (helmeted young skier hit me from behind on a blue run and dislocated my shoulder) and a few of our party over the years have been similarly rescued. The rescue services have never asked for any insurance etc at the point of recovery and only after rescue have they politely asked for insurance details, credit cards etc. We have gone back the next day and given them. It is illegal in France not to offer assistance to an injured person and the rescue services may be acting illegally if they refuse help just because you you do not have insurance. Mind you they can insist on payment afterwards. Incidentally my only hassle was my British insurance company. I paid all the bills up front using my credit card. The insurance company then insisted on converting euros to pounds at an exchange rate 10% worse than the commercial rate and 15% worse than I paid. No wonder they keep campaigning to stop the UK joining the euro. I have since changed companies, but the moral of the story is - pay nothing yourself, let the insurance company pay everything.

I hope your friend is recovering well.

John

Thanks for that, it’s another thing worth knowing. It rather adds insult to injury (quite literally) when you end up out of pocket through being scammed by your insurance company on the exchange rate. Our injured friend is progressing and they hope to be able to fly home by the end of the week, although he will have to be kept flat apparently - at least he won’t have to worry about carrying his luggage. We’ve told him that it will be our secret that this massive injury happened on a blue run! Seriously though, it just goes to show what a sometimes dangerous sport we involve ourselves in, and that injuries can happen anywhere, anytime through a very small catalyst that starts the whole episode off. I’ve always carried a silver foil blanket with me for years, just in case someone gets injured. Can you believe that one day I’d left it behind? But the main lesson is to keep phones with you and charged up (we had people scouring the mountain because those with the apartment keys didn’t have their phones, which added to the stress level) and some sort of identification. It’s inevitable that injuries will happen, but with a little planning in advance the aftermath can be made easier or harder.

IMHO blue runs are by far the most dangerous - lots of barely in control skiers going too fast. There is no shame in being injured on one. Stick to the blacks for safety.

I imagine your friend will be out of action for a very long time. Please give him my regards and wish him a speedy recovery.

John

I agree with John. Test out the blacks. They are often rarely used and even intermediates can mince their way down. We did in the early days. Latterly, use them!  They are often in pristine condition. You get peace and quiet and can stop for a rest and a fag when you want. PS this doesn’t work on chutes. Difficult to light up when you are sliding on your arse towards the trees.

Ken

I might have missed this thread in my previous incarnation (SPAM ISSUES in the Site Display Problems section explains what I’m talking about) but it is one I should have posted to. Here goes:-

Every sympathy to Linden, and all due sympathy to her friend (who did the right thing by avoiding the child) but hers sounds like a case of an “expert” overtaking too fast. We talk about “motorway” pistes but unlike real motorways they do not have defined lanes. A skier (the child in this case) further down the piste, by however little, and however much to the side, always has absolute right of way to cut across in front of the skier coming from higher up.

Twice in ski resorts I have heard of injuries to young ski instructors no less, on the slopes I was on that day. Each accident happened when the instructor, skiing moderately fast, had to take last-minute action to avoid a collision, which if not predictable was a contingency that should have been allowed for. In the one case a slow-moving intermediate fell just where the instructor was heading for. (I had the details from members of his class.) The other accident happened on a home-run track through woods that was also a designated pedestrian way: a group of walkers was coming up the side of the piste just round a corner.

Richard