 Poster: A snowHead
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This year we are restricted to skiing at Easter - my wife can't get Christmas off as she is a nurse and Perthshire doesn't have a full week off between Christmas and Easter. School holidays start on 5th April, but we're prepared to let him skip the last day if necessary. At the moment we're thinking of driving via Hull/Rotterdam or Zeebrugge ferry, so much of the Alps is about 10 hours drive from the ferry.
Our son likes messing about on the hill, rather than in parks; my wife is a nervous skier who would prefer mainly cruise blues and the occasional red, and I ski with them - I'm not really fussy as I enjoy being in the hills with them.
We have no strong opinions on where we want to go, but I am inclined to look to Austria.
Anyone got suggestion for somewhere which should still be largely open then, or should we wait and try to book last minute?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yellow Pyranha, I'd be inclined to wait till the last minute. sometimes there is loads of good skiing in early April, in a range of resorts, sometimes you really do need to aim a bit higher. I don't know about Austria but in France that'll be low season for accommodation costs - you should have loads of choice.
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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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Yellow Pyranha, i went to sell am see at the end of March/start if April. Was excellent can't recommend enough
Wouldn't go late latte though as snow quality is awful.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Yellow Pyranha, anecdotes about individual holidays aren't going to be a lot of help to you. Last year resorts closed for the season, in the northern French Alps (and elsewhere |I think) with shedloads of snow still left - even on south facing slopes. But quite a lot of places had to close early two years earlier than that - we had a picnic at the bottom of the chairlift in Les Houches on 1 April in warm sunshine without a flake of snow to be seen anywhere. We drove through the Tunnel and the temperature down in Aosta was nearly 30 degrees.
If anyone tried to generalise from their experience in either of those years it would be grossly misleading. Few years are as good as last year, very few as dire as the year some resorts closed early.
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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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Zell*
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Yellow Pyranha, wot pam w, says. I think Northern French Alps are the easiest drive and if the snowfall is good you'll have loads of choice and more or less you take your pick.
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pam w, thanks for the comments - I've been looking around the web and to try to get ideas which resorts expect to be open by then (based on ticket price info). I remember a few holidays in the mid 90s when I repeatedly failed to book anywhere when there was actually snow, between January and March.
We're concerned primarily because, this being Easter, we're worried that places may be getting busier. I've only skied that late in Canada or Scotland. From your comments, I take it that Easter doesn't make a great deal of difference to crowds (or lack) in your experience
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Yellow Pyranha, skied the last 4 Easters school holidays (not necessarily over the religious holiday weekend). Managed Andorra, Les Arcs, Kitzbuhel and Ski Amade. We've never left it until the last minute, but have left it 4-6 weeks before booking. The highest ski area out of them was Les Arcs and had less snow cover than any of the others, I think it was probably the year pam w, references about picnicking and 30C in Aosta - we were well above 2000m and some days the temps were well in to the 20s. Les Arcs was also the busiest of the Easter trips too - but would have been fine if the whole area was open.
Had good times and good skiing on each trip, but at these stage it's pretty much pot luck. That week I'd expect most areas to have something open even if it's not the whole area (for example some of the Ski Amade individual areas closed on Easter Monday).
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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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Yellow Pyranha, The Good Friday week and Easter are not usually too busy in the Alps, so you can probably wait until a week or so before you arrive and see where the snow is. As you say, a 10-hour drive from Zeebrugge or Rotterdam will get you to most of the French Alps or Tirol and Salzburgerland in Austria, so you'll have plenty of choices. Look out for good deals on lift tickets - e.g. some Austrian resorts offer free lift passes to under-16's from 15th March onwards.
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That's one of the main reasons we went to Ski Amade quinton, we could get a free pass for Jnr. Fantastic area, especially if you have a car.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Les Arcs was also the busiest of the Easter trips too - but would have been fine if the whole area was open
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Yes - if snow cover lower is poor the high places will certainly get busier. But the French have largely given up skiing by April. Our area is never busy at Easter and I remember a last minute Easter trip to Courchevel 1650 which was very quiet.
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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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pam w, from the voices I could hear the clientèle that week seemed very European as opposed to mainly French.
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hammerite, yes, there are always quite a few Belgians round our way about that time. Some Dutch, a few Italians. Very rare to hear a language I can't identify round our way (and I can identify very few - only French, German, Dutch and Italian!). Les Arcs are probably much more cosmopolitan than our area. I did hear a Slav language last year (a group of three youngsters) but couldn't tell you which one. I have only once come across Germans and sad to relate they were behaving rather badly in a queue in Les Contamines, where normally people are very civil.  English is still sufficiently rare in our area that if you hear it (for example in the supermarket) you always look round to see who it is. Much more common in Les Contamines.
In the Easter holidays I'd say that the small, lesser known, resorts are quieter than the bigger ones. But I don't think that's true in the French holidays from mid Feb to mid March, when the clientele is overwhelmingly French (and I normally come home).
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You know it makes sense.
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Zell am See might be a good bet, as Pi suggests, and has the advantage that it has the Kitzsteinhorn glacier as a backup if it turns out to be a bad year for snow. If you are prepared to make a late decision when the snow situation is clearer, the Schneewinkel area (Fieberbrunn, Steinplatte/Waidring, St. Johann in Tirol, etc.) would also be a sensible choice. It is a good area when you have a car to drive around to try the several resorts.
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