 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm going to throw something into this conversation about diversity of offering.
Each year I take, along with a number of other Brits, a winter fatbike trip to guarantee some riding on snow.
This year a bunch of us went to Les Sybelles and in previous years we have visited Chamonix, Chatel and had several trips to the Jura. Others tend to head north to Sweden and Finland. Considering the UK fatbike scene is very small compared to the rest of mainland Europe, we do seem to make a fair few trips to the snow. The one thing that makes the riding more difficult is getting up the mountain! If a resort was to leave bike hooks on a small selection of lifts and offer groomed, shared trails with pedestrians from those lifts there could definately be visitors from around Europe.
Some places do already do something.. St Sorlin d'Avres in Les Sybelles offers a guided lift up, run down on the last lift. Chatel has a firm offering guided e-mtb rides day and evening (but you have to rent their bikes...) and in Metabief in the Jura you can have a guide for access on one chair lift.
So, if anyone has any sway over a resort that might be looking to deversify, let me know! I like my week in January on the bike but have yet to find the perfect place 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| ciderinsport wrote: |
I'm going to throw something into this conversation about diversity of offering.
Each year I take, along with a number of other Brits, a winter fatbike trip to guarantee some riding on snow.
This year a bunch of us went to Les Sybelles and in previous years we have visited Chamonix, Chatel and had several trips to the Jura. Others tend to head north to Sweden and Finland. Considering the UK fatbike scene is very small compared to the rest of mainland Europe, we do seem to make a fair few trips to the snow. The one thing that makes the riding more difficult is getting up the mountain! If a resort was to leave bike hooks on a small selection of lifts and offer groomed, shared trails with pedestrians from those lifts there could definately be visitors from around Europe.
Some places do already do something.. St Sorlin d'Avres in Les Sybelles offers a guided lift up, run down on the last lift. Chatel has a firm offering guided e-mtb rides day and evening (but you have to rent their bikes...) and in Metabief in the Jura you can have a guide for access on one chair lift.
So, if anyone has any sway over a resort that might be looking to deversify, let me know! I like my week in January on the bike but have yet to find the perfect place |
Muttereralm used to do that, with a couple of slopes for (downhill) fat biking. I think they stopped due to lack of demand, and bikes/pedestrians were separated (as they have to be everywhere in Austria...)
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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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There was a "fat bike" area in Les Saisies when I was last there (pre-Covid). But limited, and probably more interesting for youngsters than seasoned riders. But as a pedestrian who has often had to leap aside on summer paths with cyclists hurtling down, I'd not be at all keen on shared paths. A few shared ski pistes might be less dangerous, as speeds would be more comparable. But those are snowy/wintry ideas anyway - it's non-snow stuff which resorts are going to have to develop and, above all, a longer season. The places with lakes will have a big advantage - I don't think there's much wrong with Annecy's year-round tourism offer.
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Interesting article and even more interesting comments.
So we've just got back from Madesimo - small village, nice old school Italian family resort.
Lots of new apartment blocks, closed and completely empty. Hotels closed for the season and this was first week of March, should be buzzing. Bars/restaurants that only have an atmosphere on Saturday when 80% full.
So why ?... it's only 2hrs and a bit from Milan, the snow was adequate to good and the longest we queued for a lift was about 30 seconds. Go down a red with no one in front and no one behind was just weird. Whole resort empty.
Italy always looks a bit shabby compared to France (sorry to any Italians, but it does), but this year it seemed more so. The effects of lockdown has taken its toll, but I reckon the economic toll will still be felt for a few seasons more. If next year's snow is iffy, I guarantee many hotel/hospitality owners will give up.
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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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@baldnbad, gosh. I don't know Madesimo, but I don't recognize any of your description, least of all the 'shabby' bit, as being applicable to the Dolomites this season.
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@baldnbad, I also visited Madesimo last week. I think you are making an unequal comparison, and therefore jumping to the wrong conclusions. Which French resorts are you comparing Madesimo to?
Madesimo is close to Milan (as you say) and only has a small ski area. Therefore the vast majority of business will come from day trippers at weekends. In the week, during termtime it will indeed be very quiet.
Most large French resorts, particularly away from the big cities, have the opposite model - busy from holidaymakers in the week, quieter at the weekend. If you want to make a comparison with France then you need to look at a smallish resort close to a big city. How about Praz de Lys near Geneva, or Collet d'Allevard near Grenoble? You'll find the same ebb and flow of visitors as in Madesimo.
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| the longest we queued for a lift was about 30 seconds |
Madesimo has a high-capacity lift system for its size - several fast chairs, modern gondola, cable car, underground funicular for access... for only 37km of slopes. So queues will be few.
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| Go down a red with no one in front and no one behind was just weird. Whole resort empty. |
That's not weird. That's normal for small ski areas outside school holidays, in France and in Italy.
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| Italy always looks a bit shabby compared to France |
I didn't explore the resort itself in any detail, but I didn't get the impression it was particularly shabby compared to similar "day tripper resorts" in France such as Praz de Lys, Chamrousse, Les Sept Laux. There is not much natural snow around at town level, which does tend to make things look less pretty.
Most of your descriptions - no queues or crowds, good snow, nice resort - are positives for me and indicate that the ski area is successfully delivering a good experience.
I summarised Madesimo in my own trip report like this: "Overall we liked Madesimo a lot, for a day at least. Excellent red runs. Off-pisters could have a ball in good snow conditions. Some of the pistes were quite busy with some dangerously fast skiers - it would no doubt be quieter during the week."
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It's been a rough year snow wise in the Alps, but I really do reckon that the FIS racing calendar has been unfortunate this year in terms of promoting tourism. So many races on a strip of snow surrounded by green fields has not been a good look. It won't happen yet, but sooner or later the power block in the FIS will connect racing and the need to promote skiing.
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| Quote: |
Go down a red with no one in front and no one behind was just weird.
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Weird?  As @denfinella says, that's quite normal at quiet times in lots of places, and highly desirable in my book. And as for 30 seconds lift queue, that's longer than I was accustomed to in the Espace Diamant at quiet times. I don't understand why people insist on going to crowded resorts at peak times. Maybe they just enjoy the company? Like folk who sit on crowded beaches.
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