Maximus,
If you are planning to go skiing in early January I suggest that you make sure the resort has plenty of low level skiing as perhaps more important than a glacier. In my humble experience the first week of January can be painfully cold, but in 25 years of going at that time of year I have only once had a shortage of snow and altitude made no difference to that.
In France and Italy we have always found this to be a very quiet week so accommodation should not be a problem.
We have done a few weekends in France and can offer the following suggestions, but it really depends upon what type of skiing you want to do:
Leave the choice of destination late. Check the snow conditions and then decide.
If you are hiring a car then stay in the valley and drive up to the resort for the day. That way you will find better value accommodation.
The resorts closer to Geneva are busy during weekends, but the more distant ones, such as Val d’Isere are quieter. BTW Val d’Isere is only about a 2.5 to 3 hour drive from Geneva depending upon the time of day.
Consider the following resorts very closely: Flaine, but stay in Cluses; La Grand Bornand; Les Sept Laux, but stay in Crolle (this resort is bigger than almost anything in North America, but almost unknown to the British market; and Argentiere, which does have a glacier, but expect it to be very,cold in January.
There is lots and lots to choose from, but I would not put the availability of a glacier high on my list.
If you need any more help then please get back to the forum.
John
