 Poster: A snowHead
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For countries that doesn't have a great deal of skiing, it's taken for granted one travel to where the good snow is. If that's a different country, so be it.
But I'm curious, how often French skiers go skiing in Italy or Switzerland? Or vice versa?
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 3-05-16 0:41; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Interesting question, to which I don't have a clue what the answer is. I can't say I've ever come across many French, Swiss, Austrians, Italians skiing outside their home territory although I assume there must be a few. Why would they? If the skiing in Scotland was on a par with the Alps I wonder how that might affect the way we travel to ski. From the South East I doubt it would make very much difference. From Manchester northwards it might make a difference and it would certainly encourage those people to make more short trips.
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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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Plenty make the trip to the States, Canada and Japan.
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I have an Italian friend who now lives in the UK. He skis in Italy every year. When I proposed that he joined us in France/Austria he looked at me like I'd grown a second head. He said he's only ever skied in Italy, why would he ever go anywhere else (even though he now lives in the UK)?
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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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Interestingly I thought the french were avid skiiers. We have made lots of french friends since moving here and only know one that skis which surprised me no end. 
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Lots of Italians come here to Les Deux Alpes. It's not too far away at all.
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I would imagine there is quite a lot of crossover in Europe as geographically the Euro resorts are all pretty close together and crossing borders is trivial. Probably a more interesting question would be how many NA skiers visit European resorts and vice-versa? I rarely come across Canadian skiers who regularly ski in Europe and I rarely come across mainland Europeans out in Canada - but there are quite a few Brits. US skiers seem to favour skiing in Canada whenever the exchange rate is in their favour. There were a lot out there this season.
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Lots of Swiss ski in Austria as the exchange rate is so good.
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| uktrailmonster wrote: |
| I would imagine there is quite a lot of crossover in Europe as geographically the Euro resorts are all pretty close together and crossing borders is trivial. Probably a more interesting question would be how many NA skiers visit European resorts and vice-versa? I rarely come across Canadian skiers who regularly ski in Europe and I rarely come across mainland Europeans out in Canada - but there are quite a few Brits. US skiers seem to favour skiing in Canada whenever the exchange rate is in their favour. There were a lot out there this season. |
Not exactly. While I was in Banff 2 weeks ago, I got a lot of surprised look when I told whoever I was sharing chair/gondola with that I was from the US, AND that it was my SECOND visit in a few years. So it seems they're not all that accustomed to regular visits from Americans skiers.
After all, there're so many different mountains in the US, majority of American skiers don't even think of skiing in Canada, even though it's no difference in convenience or cost (sometimes better, sometimes not, but the difference is relatively small).
American/Canadians skiing in Europe, or Europeans skiing in North America are quite different. The two continents are very different, with different snow condition, different kind of ski resorts.
But for Italians skiing in France or vice versa, that would be akin to Americans skiing in Canada, which doesn't appear to be happening all that common. (the one big exception is Whistler, which seems to draw a lot of American skiers).
So I'm curious as to how often do skiers, who have a good access to skiing in their own country, cross the border to ski in a neighbouring country.
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| Claude B wrote: |
| Lots of Italians come here to Les Deux Alpes. It's not too far away at all. |
and to Serre Chevalier, they also buy property here.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@abc, strange that, as on our trips to both Banff and Whistler, there were loads of American skiers.
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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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| abc wrote: |
| uktrailmonster wrote: |
| I would imagine there is quite a lot of crossover in Europe as geographically the Euro resorts are all pretty close together and crossing borders is trivial. Probably a more interesting question would be how many NA skiers visit European resorts and vice-versa? I rarely come across Canadian skiers who regularly ski in Europe and I rarely come across mainland Europeans out in Canada - but there are quite a few Brits. US skiers seem to favour skiing in Canada whenever the exchange rate is in their favour. There were a lot out there this season. |
Not exactly. While I was in Banff 2 weeks ago, I got a lot of surprised look when I told whoever I was sharing chair/gondola with that I was from the US, AND that it was my SECOND visit in a few years. So it seems they're not all that accustomed to regular visits from Americans skiers.
After all, there're so many different mountains in the US, majority of American skiers don't even think of skiing in Canada, even though it's no difference in convenience or cost (sometimes better, sometimes not, but the difference is relatively small).
American/Canadians skiing in Europe, or Europeans skiing in North America are quite different. The two continents are very different, with different snow condition, different kind of ski resorts.
But for Italians skiing in France or vice versa, that would be akin to Americans skiing in Canada, which doesn't appear to be happening all that common. (the one big exception is Whistler, which seems to draw a lot of American skiers).
So I'm curious as to how often do skiers, who have a good access to skiing in their own country, cross the border to ski in a neighbouring country. |
There were loads of Americans in Big White this year. But I guess Kelowna is nearer to the Washington US border. Having skied there for a decade now I've seen the Americans come and go over the years in line with exchange rates. Definitely more Brits there this year as well. No idea why!
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I've been working in Paris for the last year. Many of my friends at work ski and they all skied in France this year. Most take their their summer holidays somewhere in France as well. They are very lucky with the huge number of options on their doorstep. The guy I work most closely with has another property near La Rochelle.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Hells Bells wrote: |
| @abc, strange that, as on our trips to both Banff and Whistler, there were loads of American skiers. |
I too, ran into other Americans while there. Still, the Canadians sound surprised. May have to do with it being my SECOND visit. So I wasn't there just to tick a box?
A lot of Canadians in Ontario/Quebec cross over to ski in US. But I think it's because the US mountains near the boarder are bigger.
I think there's a lot of similarity to the countries in the Alps. Hence the curiosity.
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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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At one time the French authorities would not keep the Pyrennian passes open to discourage French skiers partaking in the rather cheaper offerings of the Spanish ski stations.
Oh ad there are a lot of Scots to be found on the slopes of mainland Europe even though Glenoe and Cairngorm are still open.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've met plenty of French and Italians skiing in Austria, and have met Austrians, Swiss and French skiing in Kashmir and Japan. I know plenty of other Austrians who have skied in Canada, Norway, etc etc. I also know other Austrians who are loathe to spend their money skiing outside Austria rather than keeping it in their own economy.
I think it depends on the type of skier. The latter are mostly piste skiers, for whom skiing is just skiing and mountains are just mountains - piste are mostly the same everywhere so it's not like they're missing out on anything. The former are more adventurous skiers, who want to ride different terrain styles and snow than you get in the Alps, or bag peaks.
Of course the Scandis have plenty of skiing at home, but are normally found tracking someone else's powder out 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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In my experience there is an adventurous/open-minded minority of all alpine nationalities who want to experience skiing in another country, but the vast majority stick to their home mountains. It's a combination of convenience, patriotism, familiarity, language barriers and marketing patterns.
I had the great pleasure of tagging along with the old ESF Avoriaz/NZSIA exchange program one summer (in the days before the french isolated themselves). The young lads from Morzine I traveled with were sent off as if they were joining Columbus' voyage of discovery, never to return! They braved their season in the perfidious anglophone world (and for a while you could get a decent ESF ski lesson in english here, until they retired/moved on); but they booked their stop-overs in Nouvelle Caledonie outbound and Guadeloupe homebound... 
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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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This is really all anecdotal rather than scientific. Last year, I met a nice German man on a long, slow chairlift in Austria. We got chatting and he said he skied in Austria because there were lots of large, linked, areas, unlike Germany. He was under the (weird) impression that the majority of English people were all keen skiers. Why? Because every time he holidayed in Austria there were more English than any other nationality .
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@shep, mate, you are showng your age. Not on skis of course!
I agree with shep, typically alpine countries stay ay home, for reasonably sensible reasons.
Why would you not?
On a related topic, we now, delightedly, have many repeat clients. Mostly EU mainland. Brits like trying different places often in France so it makes no sense to us. Why?
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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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Visitors to Austria tend to be German, Dutch, British, Danish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian but I have encountered a few French, Belgian, Italian.
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You get quite a few Italians in Seefeld.
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We spend every January and February in our motorhome somewhere in the alps and get a bit of an insight from the other campers number plates when parked on campsites/aires/sostas. I've seen very few French vans outside France and very few Italian vans outside Italy. Up to 20% of vans in France could be British with a decent number of Dutch and Belgians but no Germans. In Austria the vans are almost exclusively German. In the Dolomites this year he majority of foreign vans were Slovenian and German with just one other British van.
Kev
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@musher, slightly off thread, but i've just booked a trip to Seefeld for my wife and I. She is a complete beginner and i'm a upper intermediate. What's it like there?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Ski lots wrote: |
Oh ad there are a lot of Scots to be found on the slopes of mainland Europe even though Glenoe and Cairngorm are still open. |
Yes but they are not proper skiing places though.
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@gazzaredcruiser,
Seefeld is a nice "upmarket" town (loads of 4 & 5* hotels), well suited to beginners. The ski school is good. It's not ideal for more advanced skiers, so you might want to take a drive somewhere more interesting, or the train into Innsbruck and then public transport is available to several other local hills including the Stubai glacier. We drove to the glacier a few times at Christmas as the snow wasn't great in Seefeld.
There are 2 main ski areas on Rosshutte/Harmelkopf and the Gschwandtkopf, and a beginners area Geigenbühel/Birkenlifte which is usually just used by the kids ski schools. Regular buses run between them. If you get bored easily you will ski everything in Seefeld in a couple of days. Rosshutte is OK. Gschwandtkopf is only a small hill, basically one huge blue run.
It has some of the best cross country skiing available in Austria (Mrs M likes skiing uphill). If your wife doesn't take to downhill she could always go the other way, and then there is the ski jumping if she is more adventurous They filmed some of the Eddie the Eagle film there, Easter before last I think.
The Olympic centre is very good and well worth a visit, nice restaurant, good pool, skating etc.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| emwmarine wrote: |
| Ski lots wrote: |
Oh ad there are a lot of Scots to be found on the slopes of mainland Europe even though Glenoe and Cairngorm are still open. |
Yes but they are not proper skiing places though. |
I have to disagree with you here, I have it on good authority that there are at least a couple of "proper skiing places" on mainland Europe.
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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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| Quote: |
Oh ad there are a lot of Scots to be found on the slopes of mainland Europe even though Glenoe and Cairngorm are still open. |
I would put it on the same level as German's skiing in Austria, or Fins skiing in France. Even though there're "ski places" in Germany and Finland, those are not the same scale as the Alps.
It isn't the same as Italians skiing in France or vice verse. Both countries have similar ski geography. Yet for Italians or French not living near the mountain, it's just as easy to travel to one mountain or the other, whether it's in their own country or just across the border.
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@musher, Thanks, it sounds perfect, Mrs Redcruiser is not a cheap model to run  she does rather like the 4/5 star hotel option, and the prices seem pretty good, we're only going for three days (going to La Tania with the guys for a week in Jan, will have had my fix) so I hopefully won't get too bored with the limited skiing. Seefeld is such a short transfer from Inns it makes it an ideal long weekend option for the beginner that likes a touch of the highlife!!
roll on next season.
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You know it makes sense.
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@gazzaredcruiser,
Only about 40 Euro in a taxi. Have you chosen a hotel yet?
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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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| OwenM wrote: |
| emwmarine wrote: |
| Ski lots wrote: |
Oh ad there are a lot of Scots to be found on the slopes of mainland Europe even though Glenoe and Cairngorm are still open. |
Yes but they are not proper skiing places though. |
I have to disagree with you here, I have it on good authority that there are at least a couple of "proper skiing places" on mainland Europe. |
LOL, I'm pretty sure he meant Scotland doesn't have any proper skiing places. Or is this a clever reverse joke that flew over my head?
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Poster: A snowHead
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I was surprised to see some Japanese visitors to Whistler... the new direct route Tokyo-Vancouver helps of course.
Makes my flight from Bangkok to Whistler easier too  (Yes, one ski trip in Japan, to Myoko which was fabulous... but the wife doesn't want to ski any more and friends are over in Chicago and chose to go to Whistler ).
I'd strongly recommend Japan - especially in those French/UK school holiday periods as surely the Japanese dates are different (?) and empty slopes, and surprisingly good value and just very, very lovely.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| uktrailmonster wrote: |
| OwenM wrote: |
| emwmarine wrote: |
| Ski lots wrote: |
Oh ad there are a lot of Scots to be found on the slopes of mainland Europe even though Glenoe and Cairngorm are still open. |
Yes but they are not proper skiing places though. |
I have to disagree with you here, I have it on good authority that there are at least a couple of "proper skiing places" on mainland Europe. |
LOL, I'm pretty sure he meant Scotland doesn't have any proper skiing places. Or is this a clever reverse joke that flew over my head? |
There's nothing clever about any of my jokes.
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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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| emwmarine wrote: |
| uktrailmonster wrote: |
| OwenM wrote: |
| emwmarine wrote: |
| Ski lots wrote: |
Oh ad there are a lot of Scots to be found on the slopes of mainland Europe even though Glenoe and Cairngorm are still open. |
Yes but they are not proper skiing places though. |
I have to disagree with you here, I have it on good authority that there are at least a couple of "proper skiing places" on mainland Europe. |
LOL, I'm pretty sure he meant Scotland doesn't have any proper skiing places. Or is this a clever reverse joke that flew over my head? |
There's nothing clever about any of my jokes. |
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@musher, Yep have booked a superior room in the Aktivhotel Veronika, it's about £700 half board for 4 nights for both of us, so £350 each which i think is pretty good value. just hoping for some nice cheap EJ flights for 18th March, but they don't release them until June but if you've got a better recommendation i'd be very pleased to hear it?
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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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| Quote: |
I agree with shep, typically alpine countries stay ay home, for reasonably sensible reasons.
Why would you not?
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Because you're missing out on the different food, drinks, entertainment etc that other countries offer if you only ever ski in your home country?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@swiftoid, +1
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That's a very British attitude which I think is not shared by many other Europeans.
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@Claude B, more fool them
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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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| Claude B wrote: |
| That's a very British attitude which I think is not shared by many other PEOPLE. |
Not just Europeans.
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@abc, I think if I lived in France, or the states (but obviously longer distances for travelling), I would probably do most of my holidaying at home.
why would you bother to travel, you have the vast choice of mountains (alps and Pyrenees), the beaches of the med and the west coast, generally better weather, and stunning scenery in the gorges of the Dordogne etc..
All within a good days drive from one another, a great chunk of our holiday costs to France are made up of ferries/flights across the channel.
Saying that, us Brits as a nation have always enjoyed an expedition or two to foreign climes!!!!
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