Sometimes it's hard to be a Briton. For most of the year, we can get away with feeling a certain quiet, though misguided, superiority over our European neighbours. But come winter, as soon as the French, Italians, Swiss and Austrians start nipping up to their local hills to steal a cheeky weekend on the snow, our sophisticated pop culture and quirky sense of humour don't seem quite enough.
Now all that may be changing. Having an Alp on our doorstep will remain an elusive dream, but the increasingly ferocious battle between low-cost cost airlines is having the happy side-effect of bringing Europe's best mountains closer to these shores. Dashing over the Channel for a spontaneous couple of days of high-quality riding could soon no longer be the preserve of minor royals and rock stars.
Taking advantage of Go's new bargain service to Lyon, I decided to test this utopian theory. The plan was to catch a bus from the airport into the Alps for a cheap weekend of early-season boarding. The resort wasn't important, the accommodation a trivial concern; the only consideration was that we got on snow for the lowest cost possible. How naive.
The details had come together nicely enough. La Plagne, one of the original 1960s resorts and tradition ally one of the most popular in France, had affordable rooms available. We jumped at the chance.
Then there was a slight hiccup with transport. The Satobus service runs direct from Lyon airport and takes two-and-a-half hours to get into the mountains at Aime, the small town at the base, from where shuttles transfer skiers and boarders around the various resort centres that make up La Plagne.
Because we were tied to returning early on a Sunday morning, however, the transfer times did not tallly. Yet, even that obstacle was easily overcome: we simply hired a car through specialist broker Holiday Autos, which, even complete with snow chains and ski rack, costs only a touch more than the #163;50-a-head return bus fares. This, I thought smugly to myself, was too easy.
That feeling of self-satisfaction rocketed off the scale as we twisted up the mountain towards the resort on the Thursday afternoon. The sky was unbroken blue. Soft, dry snow was piled high on both sides of the snaking road, and the weather was not forecast to close in until later on Saturday.
But after a fun first morning beneath bluebird skies, we began to realise that when it comes to spontaneous ski trips, the Europeans still hold all the best cards. Most important of all is local knowledge: with only two days on the mountain, we had little chance to explore and find the best riding. And with heavy cloud moving in, we just had to take what we found.
La Plagne is superb for families, beginners and lower-intermediates, but the juicier riding is much harder to find, and that was time we just didn't have. At least we had a final bout of apres to look forward to. But even with cheap airfares, bargain car hire and discount half-board accommodation, we proved it is still a fundamental rule of nature that cheap weekends in a ski resort do not exist. In two-and-a-half days, I still managed to get through almost #163;200. On nothing in particular: lunches, a few beers in the evenings and pizza on the last night.
Driving back through thick snow to Lyon the following morning, I was a man humbled. The snow had been great, the riding lovely while it lasted, but it will be a long time before the European ideal of equality is a reality for British skiers and boarders.
The practicals
Go has one flight a day, each way, between London and Lyon and two each way on Saturdays, for #163;60 return inc taxes. Book on 0845 6054321 or go-fly.com for a #163;2 discount. Accommodation through Erna Low (0171 584 2841). Weekend car rentals in France start from #163;69 between midday Friday and 9am Monday with Holiday Autos' (0870 400 0011 and www.holidayautos.co.uk).
