 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi. I'm a nervous blue run/easy red skier who loves being in the mountains. I'm looking for the best resort from what I've learned works for me. I like a small ski area, most runs leading back to resort would be lovely as I feel most confident skiing towards the village. Convenience is important, not too sprawled out and accommodation near lifts. I'm happy to go package or DIY. Not too worried about budget as I can make it work around our limits. I love France but would be happy to go to Italy and Austria too. Quiet on the slopes (outside school holidays) but wouldn't mind a lively bar or 2 in resort. Less than 2 hour transfer preferable but not essential. Does this place exist?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Off to Villars with you. Switzerland, but hey.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thank you, I'll have a look. I should've said Switzerland too.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Obertauern.
1hr ish from Salzburg, not huge, snowsure, mostly cruisy reds/blues all in a bowl above the town.
Apparently some reasonably lively apres.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Les Saisies ticks all boxes
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Trysil, Norway - not in any of those places but hits most of the other points!
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I like Courchevel 1850.....where there is lots of well groomed, easy skiing. It's part of a huge area, but you can get a Courchevel Only Lift Pass. It isn't cheap, though.
They also have some excellent Ski Schools, like Ski Supreme, New Gen, BASS, Marmalade.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Fri 9-02-18 14:54; edited 1 time in total
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| Hamish wrote: |
Obertauern.
1hr ish from Salzburg, not huge, snowsure, mostly cruisy reds/blues all in a bowl above the town.
Apparently some reasonably lively apres. |
Hope so as this post applies to me too!!
I clicked on this because the title describes me. We are off to Obertauern as it seemed to fit the bill for me. OP, I’ll report back. I can vouch for the mountain resort side of Trysil too as there as some gorgeous blues. Downside many drag lifts and food and drinks is really expensive.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Have you thought about Warth? A tiny village with lots of hotels close to the lift, especially now so that a new gondola has been built closer to the village, a couple nice easy runs that take you back there. When you get to the top you have a broad selection of cruising blue and reds (you can get to anywhere using only blues) and a couple challenging blacks if you have the courage for. In case you want some more variety you can easily take the lift to Lech and ski around all the way to St. Anton. Cheaper than France too.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Fri 9-02-18 15:25; edited 1 time in total
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| Quote: |
Cheaper than France too
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I suspect Les Saisies might be cheaper than Lech... 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Le Grand-Bornand.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Cervinia is nice with easy blues. Not many of them lead to the village, though.
Stay away from St. Anton.
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You know it makes sense.
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Courchevel 1650 (Moriond) is bang on the money. Lovely range of runs, including wide and cruisey blue down to the village, accommodation close by lifts, and a range of native English ski schools. Not as pricey crowded or flash as 1850, though I agree that 1850 also is great for someone like you in terms of the skiing down to the Croisette.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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This is great, thank you. I'll be doing a lot of Googling now.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Claviere is worth a look too. Small place some lovely easy runs too.
We went there last year as first place on real snow. Was spot on and pretty quiet
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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As @pam w also says, I reckon Les Saisies would be perfect.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I'd add Hemsedal into the mix as another Norwegian option - compact ski area with most runs heading back to the centre, slopeside accommodation and quiet outside (scandi) hols. Same food/drink cost issues as Trysil, but not as bad as you'd think.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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La Chapelle d'Abondance. Lovely easy skiing for you. With simple access to much more skiing if required.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Mountain Lover, I'm going to take a totally different approach. Find the ski instructor that you think is the right one for you and go wherever he or she teaches. On that basis I'd recommend Flaine, which most people would say is not right for a nervous skier, simply because the tuition I had in Flaine completely converted me from a nervous skier to a confident one.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| sj1608 wrote: |
| @Mountain Lover, I'm going to take a totally different approach. Find the ski instructor that you think is the right one for you and go wherever he or she teaches. On that basis I'd recommend Flaine, which most people would say is not right for a nervous skier, simply because the tuition I had in Flaine completely converted me from a nervous skier to a confident one. |
Nothing wrong with Flaine as a confidence building resort (though Flaine itself is a bit soulless - or was when I was there a fair while ago) ....and I agree with your comment about instruction (which is why I listed Ski Schools in my post above).
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Fri 9-02-18 22:45; edited 1 time in total
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@Mountain Lover, Seefeld, Austria 20 mins from Innsbruck. really nice town, small but really easy ski area. My wife loved it.
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I appreciate the comments. I've been to a lot of resorts and have had many, many lessons but I've also had a bad injury, have a fear of heights and learned too old which is why I now know what I'm comfortable with. I can ski but certain things make me tense up. Strangely I'm happier skiing down a short steep bit than a long flat run as I'd rather be turning. I just don't ever want to give up being in the mountains so have now got to the point where I'd like to go somewhere I know what's in store.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Don’t do claviere please. Really is one of the worst resorts I’ve been to.
In terms of what you’re after - I’d say Saalbach or Hinterglemm. Really nice gradient of slopes, all of which are tree lined. Pumping apres if you want it too. Great lift system. Decent value once there but as it’s popular it’s not the cheapest for a package holiday.
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| boabski wrote: |
Don’t do claviere please. Really is one of the worst resorts I’ve been to.
In terms of what you’re after - I’d say Saalbach or Hinterglemm. Really nice gradient of slopes, all of which are tree lined. Pumping apres if you want it too. Great lift system. Decent value once there but as it’s popular it’s not the cheapest for a package holiday. |
Why is Claviere bad? Isn't it linked to Sestriere and Montgenevre?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Mountain Lover, if going x'pond, Copper Mountain has a stunning amount of long 'greeny blues' and 'bluey reds' . . . Plus a reasonable amount of on hill accommodation, unusually good cheap food and beer and on top of that a very reasonable season pass that will let you choose when you want to visit.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Mountain Lover, although I mostly ski in France, I’m going to recommend you consider the Dolomites in Italy.
Several villages/areas that would meet your needs, I think.
For example, Alta Badia, San Cassiano, Colfosco, possibly Corvara.
Price of most winter holiday staple items reasonable. Food consistently excellent. Mountain scenery stunning. Attractive towns and villages, which harmonise with the scenery, rather than jangle against it (no high rise rabbit hutch accommodation).
2 hour transfer may be a tad optimistic but as near as doesn’t matter, especially if flying into Venice. I’d suggest most, not all, recommendations above may struggle to meet 2 hr transfer, though all have their merits.
Buonissomo. 
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I'd say Montgenevre rather than Clavier. Yllas in Finland if you fancy somewhere different. Val Cenis is a good choice in France and if you get the valley pass that also gets you access to a bunch of other small resorts. And Alta Badia (corvara, colfosco, San cassiano) in the dolomites has some of the best blue runs skiing I've seen, with a smattering of reds around too, but doesn't quite fit your ski down to village thing, as most of the skiing there is around a plateau area in-between the villages.
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You know it makes sense.
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Some people have suggested very high ski areas, e.g. Cervinia, Obertauern. I'm going to stick my neck out here and say they are perhaps not the best. Being so high means above the tree line, fine in great weather, but in bad weather the lack of visibility and wind can make for an unpleasant experience, not suitable for an already nervous skier. I'd recommend staying low with decent tree cover, you can't predict the weather.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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IIRC there are trees in Obertauern, and nothing scary for a cautious skier.
Somewhere in Italy would probably suit the OP.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Montgenevre, easy transfer from Turin. Lots of confidence building runs
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A third for Montgenevre. Quiet out of school holidays, lots of blues and easy reds. Ski right into the village from almost all runs. Not a big sprawl. Short transfer from Turin at 75 minutes or so. Most budgets catered for. Breakfast in France and Lunch in Italy.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Rcav wrote: |
| . And Alta Badia (corvara, colfosco, San cassiano) in the dolomites has some of the best blue runs skiing I've seen, with a smattering of reds around too, but doesn't quite fit your ski down to village thing, as most of the skiing there is around a plateau area in-between the villages. |
If you stay in Corvara, theres no way back to the village unless you ski down. There are two easy blue runs back, one to the Col ALto gondola station and one to the Boe gondola station
If you stay in San Cassiano you can ski back down via blue runs 11 and 9
If you stay in La Villa you can ski back via blue 24/red17
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As for easy runs for a nervous skier, you cant get much better than blue runs in Colfosco (Alta Badia). Even though the main stretch is quite busy with the Sella Ronda skiers, you can avoid most of the busy stretches by alternate routes!! Once your happy here, you can easily access the mainly blue run area above Corvara/La Villa/San Cassiano
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Mountain Lover, videos on resort websites, and youTube may be your friend here. For many (most?) resorts, it's possible to find point-of-view videos of every run, from which you can get a really good idea of what suits you. I understand that it's not necessarily logical, and you may get some duff steers from randoms on the internet like me.
You've had at least 2 good suggestions so far - Hemsedal is one where everything funnels down to the base, and there is no big-mountain-vertigo-inducing type scenery. You've had two pro and one anti Obertauern - I would go pro that, as it's in a bowl so you can ski either direction in a circle and see the whole resort, so no surprises. There's also a lovely ski area along the road called Grosseck-Spiereck which is flat up top then has long tree lined descents.
If you can stretch to it, no-one does easy trails quite like the North Americans. Left field suggestion of a resort that doesn't suit everyone, but I have a feeling that might tick all your boxes - Tremblant.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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We are in obertauern at the moment and thoroughly enjoyed our skiing yesterday. Nice blues although I didn’t enjoy the beginning and end of the main one we did (gamsleiten) . Due to poor visibility and it snowing all day, I haven’t been out today (wimp). Loads of trees in resort and quite pretty. People very friendly and haven’t noticed any hoon type behaviour which is nice. Early days but I like it here.
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another vote for Montgenevre . . .alternatively Obergurgl as a slightly more expensive option; very 'polite' piste etiquette in this resort. Both confidence building and fit your requirements . .
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Out of interest are there many drag lifts in Montgenèvre to serve “easy” blues?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@bambionskiis, From memory you can do all the blues and greens on the Chalvet side without taking a drag lift . . .there is a long one from the top of the chalvet gondola so best to go up the chondola at the other end of town . . .Gondrans side you can do all the blues via chairs and theres a massive green from top to bottom . . .unless you really want to catch drags?
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| Belch wrote: |
| @bambionskiis, From memory you can do all the blues and greens on the Chalvet side without taking a drag lift . . .there is a long one from the top of the chalvet gondola so best to go up the chondola at the other end of town . . .Gondrans side you can do all the blues via chairs and theres a massive green from top to bottom . . .unless you really want to catch drags? |
Definately not; I hate the blooming things and avoid at all costs. That’s great thanks
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