She's a good sport. If the ski base is in a small town or village, all the better. If it's isolated we would stay in town and I'd travel on ski days.
Don’t underestimate the town issue. It really can be a plus and one of the things that makes European skiing unique. Especially when you do say an off piste route and end up in another town. Even on piste you end up in other towns and getting back, if too late, can take buses and trains. Which can be fun.
Looks like I should be revising my expectations for this trip. I originally thought it was going to be like spring skiing at Arapahoe Basin, but sounds QUITE different.
I mean it could be. North American skiing is generally very efficient for advanced skiing. Take lift, ski over, repeat. In bounds is all controlled, so it eliminates a huge issue. European skiing can be rather inefficient for that, but varies greatly. I don’t have the knowledge to lay that out, but I’ve heard Brits complaining about the lift systems in 4 Valleées. (Verbier)
Realize that tree line is much lower than in North America. Not sure, but thinking around 1,800 meters.
For our European friends, here’s what he’s talking about with spring skiing at Arapahoe Basin. First off, the base is at roughly 3,200meters, the top would be around 4,000 meters, but that requires hiking, and is steep, narrow and wide couloirs. It’s avy controlled and either open or not. Most skiing it have no avy gear.
Overall vertical isn’t large, if you eliminate the hike to part, which you might do 1x per day, or not at all, you’re talking 1,550ft or about 470meters. There is a very good selection of advanced steep, moguled terrain, treed and untreed, if Pallavicini is open. That depends on waterflow underneath the snowpack. May can get iffy or not, depending. Early to mid May can see dry powder, graupel, wetter powder, spring corn to slush. The full range depending on weather.
As for sharing a guide: most guide agencies don't offer a group service, I believe. In most cases, you have to make your own group and then hire a guide together (in that order). But maybe there are organizations that do offer that service.
I’m only familiar with Chamonix and Verbier. Verbier has random group guiding 1x per week on Wednesdays. It was expensive, but they give you an airbag with shovel and probe. You need to get a beeper. I think it was 130 Ch Francs. Problem is, they’ll cancel it if not enough interest. The last time I was there they cancelled it because of low snow and not enough interest I guess. I tried calling a bunch of the ski schools and basically they thought I was nuts. What is this random group guide? We have ski school groups. Those instructors have some limitations, but I think it might be just they can’t use ropes.
-Occurs to me :
Mt Gelée tram. (Telépherique), in Verbier would basically be lift served Arapahoe Basin hike to terrain. Except, it’s not avy controlled like Abasin. Prob not as straight, direct down. I’m not that familiar with skiing it. But, if your skilled and not an idiot, you’d probably be ok given the usual warnings skiing alone in that terrain. It might make sense to go up there once with a guide.
Chamonix is a different story. You walk into the guide office and can join a group. But, I don’t know what happens if there’s only a few people. Are you now paying an increased fee? I suspect so.My only encounter with that was when the Aiguille dunMidi tram was on windhold and they cancelled our group. Two Germans and I basically hired the group guide. I will say that with only three, we went places you could never take a group of 8 random people with one guide. It was pretty amazing and intense at times.
That evening I went back to the guide office and said I wanted something a little less intense. “How about Italy?” So I joined a group to Courmayeur and we took a van through the tunnel to Italy.
Guiding in Cham in April might be different. You might have to hire the guide yourself. Don’t know.
Check this out. Chamonix off the North Face of the Aiguille du Midi. The tram you take in town. It’s kind of insane up there because you see the town in the valley like you’re in a plane.
This type of thing is not uncommon, but not common either obviously. You could do a less intense version, but not with a random big group.