St Anton vs Alpe d'Huez

A snowHead

I am considering going to either St Anton or Alpe d'Huez for mid April next year.

Based on peoples experience here, which is most likely to have the better snow. I do realise it is a bit of a crystal ball question but wanting to know peoples personal experience.

BTW I have looked at historic snow charts but the widely differing figures which are alledgely from the same data source have me slightly confused / nervous (see my other post).

Thanks

ETA: I know that Alpe d'Huez had beginner lifts which didn't need a ski pass, but does St Anton have any or will the girls need a lift pass? For last seasons lift pass prices St Anton for that week as classed as "Crystal Snow" and it was quite a bit cheaper. Do they do that every year?

A snowHead

ADH does have a reputation for being south facing and therefore getting baked by the sun. this is partially true and certainly is true for the beginners areas around the main village

that said, if people are comfortable on red runs, there is plenty of stuff which is north facing or very high (eg the glacier) which will be fine into april most years

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks Arno. Me and My husband are very comfortable on Reds. But we also have our 2 daughters (age 3 and 6) who will be on nursery slopes to consider.

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If you were going in March or early April, ADH would be a great choice because the beginners areas are huge and right next to the village - one of the resort's many strong points IMO. I have spent plenty of time there over the years and the beginners areas are often fine late into the season but it is a bit of a gamble

is St Anton the only other choice? Never been there, but it doesn't have a great reputation as a place for beginners

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We have been to St Anton and absolutely loved it. With the girls being so young though they won't be after lots of long blue or green runs, they will be on nursery slopes, so I would have thought that would be fine. We are going 14 April - so later than March to early April. 1 week earlier and it costs a good £1000 more, another week earlier is about £1000 more again I think (haven't worked out exactly).

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NickyJ, Nursery slopes are in Nasserein for St Anton but I would not know where they take the kids thereafter - probably Gampen??? Have you looked at staying in Stuben as an alternative? Much better snow than St Anton. Have stayed there once with the family and worked out well for my youngest - who was 5 at time and managed to ski all the way to the Moos with us. The 3 year old will get a free full area pass and I think the cut off age is 5 for that???
Kappl would be worth a look, although not sure how late they open. As would Serfaus/Fiss/Ladis
Bear in mind that in Austria the ski school is 2.5 hours in morning and same again in afternoon. They can also take the kids for lunch for an extra €10 a day - allowing you to ski lots of terrain

After all it is free

NickyJ - If you are going 14th April I think this is term time. Surely if you are able to go in term time it would be better to go either in January, first week of Feb or 23rd March? You could then have a much wider choice of resorts and better chance of decent snow.

We haven't yet been to St Anton or Alpe D'Huez and neither are on our list for the time being. Friends took their children to St Anton and said it didn't work well for them. Alpe D'Huez is south facing and lacking trees (from what I can tell) and quite a large resort. We have enjoyed going to smaller resorts since having children (due to needing to get back for ski school pick up) and the places we've been to in recent years have had free or reduced lift passes for under 6s - eg. Puy St Vincent, La Rosiere, Montgenevre and Les Saisies. We took our son to la plagne when he was tiny but he was too young to ski so can't remember what the lift pass situation was there.

I've also been looking at historic snow depths and notice there is never a recording of 0 - whereas there must have been lots of resorts with 0 on the lower or south facing pistes in April last year. I would advise looking at webcams of resorts you are considering and in some cases you can look at historic photos (ie. scroll back and look at the webcams on 14th April this year).

We have permission to take Ellie out of school that week bt they will only allow it for weeks adjacent to school holidays that is first week back after Easter.

There are several other limitting factors one is we are limiting ourselves to Esprit there setup suits us perfectly, we wnt with them to Courchevel hence why I am keen to use them again, the other is money due to the children discounts and holiday prices that is the cheapest week. I can (just) afford those two options

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Thanks snowymum. I didn't realise you could get historic footage from the web cams I will take a look!

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Don't look at 2011 whatever you do. I don't think there was much snow left lower down in ADH by then.

snow reports

NickyJ, I wouldn't consider either of them. I've skied at both St Anton & Alpe D'Huez at Easter, a couple of different Easters at each and reckon both too busy for my liking around the beginner areas and the lower village approach runs. Both also seem to host a higher ratio of delusional, incompetent and out of control skiers than other big Alpine ski resorts.

In my mind for late season, for all sorts of reasons, a better pair of similarly sized and located resorts for you to consider would be Ischgl and Les Deux Alpes.

Here're the main reasons though wink

...

Ischgl today ... http://www.snoweye.com/?resort=at_ischgl (versus) St Anton today ... http://www.snoweye.com/?resort=at_stanton

Deux Alpes today ... http://www.snoweye.com/?resort=fr_deuxalpes (versus) http://www.snoweye.com/?resort=fr_alpehuez

NickyJ, one option around ADH would be to stay in Vaujany. The skiing there is all N facing and quieter than the main area around ADH. The lifts provide a great entry to the Grand Rousses ski area for decent skiers (it's my favourite place to start and finish from) and the nursery area is right at the top of one of the lifts out of town. Much smaller and quieter than ADH but has a good reputation for being family friendly

You know it makes sense.

The Arlberg was excellent at that time this year but the sketchiest conditions for relatively inexperienced were definitely in Nasserein. That said I wouldn't hold out much hope of the Front de neige runs in ADH being anything other than a swamp fest if weather is vaguely warm/sunny that time of year.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

NickyJ, I suspect your 3 year old lift pass will be 10 Euros in St Anton, they do it on DOB, have a dig around the Arlberg website

We've skied from Stuben with loads of kids for the past 3 years. There are three free beginner moving carpets in Zurs. We don't often ski down to St Anton, never been busy around Stuben, Lech, Zurs etc

2009 went out 10th April : great snow, could still ski back to Stuben and St Anton

2010: 9th April: good snow despite the massive thaw and poor snow year, could still ski back to Stuben and St Anton. pics here

2011: 7th April - could still ski back to all base stations, huge snow depth everywhere. pics here

snowymum, In my view and experience there is better snow at Easter compared to Xmas or Feb half term.

A snowHead

kitenski, thanks so much that is brilliant

I am sold and will book the St Anton holiday

thanks all really appreciate all your comments

A snowHead

NickyJ, where are you thinking of staying? Are you doing it DIY?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

NickyJ, you could also consider Courchevel/La Tania? Much wider slopes for young kids, we went 6 years with this company when our 2 were similiar ages to your 2. http://familyfriendlyskiing.com/

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NickyJ, Good choice as my old friend says "The only good thing to do in the d'huez is leave"

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Cynic, that sounds rather harsh.

kitenski, we are using Esprit and staying in Chalet Pepi Gabl.

BTW does anybody know the name of the ski hire place under neath Pepi Gabl? It is right next to the Nasserein gondala. Thanks. I haven't booked skis through Esprit as past experience I found it a lot cheaper to book privately.

Thanks

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Cynic, i thought this was pretty good around ADH but maybe that's just me rolling eyes

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I'm going back to ADH next year, first time since 2008, but in February Very Happy

Will return to St Anton some time too, really enjoyed half term 2011.

After all it is free

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I must admit I don't want the hassle of taking our own skis. I have only been able to get one price so far (all the other online prices don't go that far in advance) but that was £252.06 for skis for me and hubby and skis and boots for the girls.

Given it costs £29 per pair of skis to take our own coupled with the idea of carrying skis on top of luggage for a family of 4 and our ski boots really puts me off.

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Jennewein's (Sport 2000) the ski hire shop under the Pepi. Excellent location for the lifts/piste as it's right next door. There's also Intersport just across the road from the Pepi and then Alber to the left of the Nassereinbahn as you look up towards it.

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Maybe a bit late to this thread but I did AdH this Easter with my 8 year old and it was fine. Obviously you can't predict the weather! See my review here: http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=88638

Could you do Val Thorens? Loads of easy runs, will be one of most reliable places foe snow so late

Help!!

St Anton vs Alpe d'Huez

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