209: Les 2 Alpes, Trysil in Norway & Vans For Bands

We discuss Les 2 Alpes in France, Trysil in Norway and find out more about a great new way of travelling to the snow on your ski holiday.

Iain was joined by freelance journalist, Rebecca Miles and Tarrant Anderson, founder of Vans For Bands.

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SHOW NOTES

David George joined me to discuss the impact of climate change on ski resorts in Episode 206 (3:30)
Simon Burgess was in Flaine (3:45)
Steve Angus reported from Val d'Isère (4:45)
Alex Irwin from 150 Days of Winter reported from Courchevel (6:20)
Iain took part in the X3 Triathlon in Courchevel in 2022 (7:00)
It was the warmest start to April ever in France, hitting 29C in Grenoble & 27C in Albertville (8:15)
This winter was already the third warmest winter in France (8:30)
Lobbying is underway for a direct Train from London to GVA (8:45)
Take a look at this year’s ski April Fools in this Skipedia blog post (9:15)
Vail Resorts themed April Fools including Disney buying Vail Resorts & Vail buys Alterra(12:30)
Les 2 Alpes is a great trip for older teens looking for apres-ski! (13:30)
Highly recommended is the Umbrella Bar (14:00)
Anthony Guzman is Sales & Marketing Director at Les 2 Alpes lift company AEON (14:15)
SATA has rebranded as AEON (15:15)
You can find out more about the new Jandri 3S lift here (17:00)
Iain drove to Les 2 Alpes in a 9-seater luxury splitter minivans from Vans For Bands (23:00)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tYRSizJYAE
Vans For Bands was founded in 2006 (23:15)
The VFB coaches are like ‘hotels on wheels’ (26:30)
Listen to Iain’s interview with Bode Miller (27:00)
There is SO MUCH storage space (31:00)
Vans cost from £145pd to rent, including insurance, breakdown cover & snow chains
You can drive a splitter van on a regular driving licence (33:15)
Read Bec’s article about Trysil in The Telegraph (34:30)
Becs flew into Scandinavian Mountain Airport (35:30)
Find out more about Trysil ski resort (39:00)
Have a look at the piste map for Trysil (40:30)
Is Salen the closest ski resort to an airport? (42:15)
Find out more about train travel to ski resorts at Ski Flight Free (46:00)
Becs booked group train travel with Eurostar and SNCF at a good discount (46:45)

Feedback (43:30)
I enjoy all feedback about the show, I like to know what you think, especially about our features so please contact on social @theskipodcast or by email theskipodcast@gmail.com

Adam Fisher: "Really enjoy listening to the podcast, you're doing a great job. It helps me out with a bit of research. I'll just let you know that I am your English but Mexican listener as I spend a bit of time over there"

Michael Hart: "Enjoyed listening to The Ski Podcast as usual. I appreciate the work you do both on sustainability, but mindful of the difficulties that skiers in the north/Scotland have with train travel. I have taken the decision to offset my carbon to mitigate air travel, but the lack of economically viable train option from Manchester and similar areas remains a problem."

Andy Aitkenhead: "I found the recent episode on Andermatt and Vail Resorts of interest - I was in Andermatt just before the deal was announced. I'm heading to Engelberg in just over a week. I'm currently wrestling over travel - given my concerns around climate change. Currently my calculations are that it will be cheaper to fly. I wondered whether you have any tips for reducing the cost over the Eurostar and SNCF published prices. Keep up the good work with the podcast."

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