 Poster: A snowHead
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Currently planning trip with my dad and my 2 brothers and I could use some help with selecting resort. My dad has passed 60 but is still eager to ski black and red pistes all day. I'm the same except I have been snowboarding for many years now. My brothers have skied since they could walk, but one of them has also switched to board and hasn't had very much practice in the last decade. The most important priority is to keep my dad pleased, since he will be paying for most of the trip. So the ideal place would have plenty of black and red pistes in very good condition, not too crowded and without too much ski bus or queuing time.
So, we need a resort with a system that can provide varied and demanding pistes. Big enough to keep us entertained for a week, but without too much transports. Off-piste is not a big priority although I wouldn't mind having the possibility if the snow situation allows it. We'll be going week 7 (Feb 8th-15th), since my brother is a teacher and needs to use the Swedish winter holiday.
I've been looking around a bit and on the top of my list right now is Saalbach, but I have also considered Schladming, Sestriere, Cervinia, Livigno, Alpe d'Huez, Serre Chevaliere and Morzine. Our choice of resort is somewhat limited to the trip organizers' offers, we want to keep it simple. The only direct flights to the Alp region from Gothenburg is to Munich, so anything easily reached from there could also be considered.
Any help would be very much appreciated, thanks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If I was you I would be taking those direct flights as I wouldn't fancy messing about with a transfer. That would rule out all the French and Italian options and have you looking at Austria. What sort of accomodation are you looking for? Have you been to any Austrian resorts before? Need to be careful if you want to avoid buses. What about budget?
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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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Only been to St Anton before and not really interested in going back there. I was probably a bit unclear in the first post. All the listed resorts are available with charter trips (flight, transfer, accomodation + skipass) from Gothenburg. Total budget for such a package is max 5000£ (incl. half board) in total for four persons.
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Ah OK. In that case it sounds to me like you want to go to a French megaresort. I love ADH and will be going there at christmas. I stay in Oz-en-Oisans, a small satellite village with great links into the resort. Slightly bigger options are Espace Killy (Tignes/Val D) and Paradiski (Les Arcs/Les Coches). Both have a huge amount of skiing with plenty of challenging pistes.
I've been Serre Chevalier. Some people love it. For me it was OK but I haven't been back.
Why didn't you like St Anton?
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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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Austrian resorts will be somewhat cheaper that week as the schools are not on holiday until the first week of March. Saalbach would fit the bill nicely I think, but then so would Serre Chevalier. Schladming is a great resort with fabulous skiing but sometimes the accommodation is not so well placed. If you are not interested in going back to St anton is it possible to say why? That will help people to suggest other places as well. Direct flights to Munich and transfer with one of the many companies that cover Munich Airport as well as direct contact with hotels in a resort may save you some money.
Where do the tour operators fly to in France? I remember lots of flights from Sweden coming into Geneva, but the transfer times to some of those resorts you mention would be horrendous. Are you intending to stay in a hotel/catered accommodation or go Bed & Breakfast or even self-catering
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Tour operators generally fly Geneva or Grenoble, could be Turin for Serre Che also. I've been to many of the biggest French places and liked most of them. Drawback of going to the French megaresorts on the school holiday would be that we will travel with hordes of Swedish 18-yearolds, not a concern for me but my dad is getting old and grumpy. Alpe d'Huez and Serre Che probably see a little less of the party crowd, I think. Intention is to go for hotel with half board.
I wasn't very impressed with the slopes in St Anton when I was there, but that could very well be because of difficult snow conditions. Looking at the piste map now, I see areas that I don't even remember visiting.
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Cliff, I am a littlen biased, but I think that would be the perfect week to visit Serre Chevalier. The Hotel de Europe in Monetier-les-Bains is a decent half-board hotel, but there are plenty of others to choose from.
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If your dad isn't happy travelling with hordes of Swedish 18 years old I am more than happy to take his place 
I get the impression you would like ADH.
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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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Of the resorts on your list, I would go for a package trip to Saalbach or look at organising a trip yourself. You know you can fly to Salzburg directly from Landvetter with Norwegian, but the prices for Week 7 are crazy, so you would probably be better getting a package with a tour operator. Week 7 is Winter Holiday in much of Sweden and Denmark, but not in Bayern and Austria, so the slopes will not be too busy and the lift queues in Saalbach should be OK due to the new lifts that have been built in the village in the last 3 years. If you live in the centre of the village, you will not need a ski bus at all - all the lifts are in the village centre.
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Cliff. Click the link to my FB page in the signature. We went to Morzine/PDS that same week last year, and had about 9 inches of snow a day! lol It was epic.
Our chalet would suit your group size perfectly. Its not in resort and the price would reflect that. PDS obviously has more skiing than you can do in a week or two
PM me if you are interested.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Cliff wrote: |
| Drawback of going to the French megaresorts on the school holiday |
Its not the school hols for France or UK, so I think you'll be fine?! (Zone 3 FR and the UK are the following week according to my sources.
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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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From your list Morzine would have the easiest, cheapest and shortest transfer times (60 km from Geneva) but at least the Morzine side is not that chalenging. Avoriaz side may have more options. New lifts are being constructed in Morzine - though during FR school week it will be pretty busy ...
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Cliff, what was wrong with slopes in st Anton? Too easy or too hard? From your description you are all very good skiers, and if you generally stay on-piste, you may be disappointed with several of the resorts you named there as the pistes not vey challenging
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You know it makes sense.
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peanuthead, I don't think I've ever been to a resort where the pistes were too hard. I went to St Anton in 1998 and we did hit the apres pretty hard, so memory is a bit blurred. I could consider going back if you really think that it should fit my bill.
For reference, Alp resorts that I've visited and liked:
Val Thorens (excellent slopes and we had some amazing off-piste runs)
Val d'Isere (we were very unlucky with the weather but the system seems really impressive)
Serre Chevalier (had excellent conditions and I really liked the system)
Resorts that I've visited and not really interested in this time:
Les 2 Alpes (not a good system for snowboard IMO, not enough quality pistes)
Chamonix (too much bus transports for my dad's taste)
Canazei (went last year with same group, we had a great time but the really good runs were a little too few and too far between)
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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By definition pistes can never be "too hard". The ski resorts are not going to deliberately set pistes that are insurmountable to an experienced skier. The only pistes that I have found almost impossible to ski are ones that are either boilerplate or cut up and then frozen. I say almost impossible because clearly I found a way to make it down. Invariably in terms of actual steepness and narrowness they are nothing special and with better snow they would be straightforward. I always think "challenging" is a better word. Because I think we can all agree that is what it comes down to. Some slopes are simply more challenging than others with snow conditions being the second element that either reduces or elevates the basic challengability.
The Arlberg has some fantastic skiing. My experience has mostly been skiing out of Stuben. I was doing quite a bit of off piste but the pistes themselves were also a challenge. However the problem for Cliff would be that it's not all fully interconnected. Certainly iirc you have to bus it from Stuben/St Anton to Lech/Zurs.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Cliff, re St Anton, I am not fan of pistes there either. It is a resort to go to for off-pistes. I wouldn't be bothered going there if planning to stay on pistes. If you are reasonably experienced you will find little challenging on piste, but if you are any way timid you may find much of it terrifying. Also I was there in March and as most pistes face south the snow is poor. Its a funny resort that way. But fantastic off-piste on many north facing slopes including stuben
I hear pistes in Lech are better but it is not interconnected and not so easy to get there, but of course can be done
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FAQ
In FR I think that run is called 'la chavanette' if my memory serves me right. And you will have one of the 'must do' in your pocket 