 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm just wondering if anyone has an "hidden gem" of resorts they could recommend to our group for next year? I'm struggling to decide where to add to our short list!
Here's the wishlist:
As near to ski in out as possible
Large ski area
Transfers under 3 hour absolute max
a little bit of apres - between 4 and 7 is all that's needed! - We don't go out after dinner in chalet/hotel.
Suitable for advanced and upper intermediate skiiers
Not too busy, hate queing for lifts, and packed slopes - love nice peaceful skiing.
Places we've loved:
Obergurgl - but been twice now!
Lech/Zug - we went before the link to St Anton - though very quiet for after drinkies!
Villandry - we stayed this year, and LOVED skiing off the terrace onto the piste at the hotel, though again, no apres feel other than the hotel bar.
I've looked at places on the Sella Ronda - some of the group have skiied it before and say it's pretty busy though. Plus I'm finding it very expensive when I get quotes! We were in France this year, so prefer a different country next year.
We've considered Champoluc/Gressoney a few times, and I'm watching posts about the area. Some say you can ski it in a day, others say it's huge. Still can't decide!
We were advised against Andorra by one of the Travel Agents.
It's so tough to keep finding fab places - so thought I'd ask for a bit of help. I'm sat here looking at all this snow, but can't get to my local club to play in it!
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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In January I have been to Serre Chevalier - a large and fun ski area, easy to go from side to side. Pleasant reds and blacks. 3 hours from Geneva, around 2 from Turin and i imagine it is closer to Grenoble. We stayed in Briancon, there is a groomed red that will take you all the way down. But upload gondola is a must. However no apres ski in Briancon but you have 3 more valleys annexed to it. Worth checking. We also enjoyed Risoul, it is small but looks swiss. Connected to a few more slopes, have no idea re: apres ski.
Les Arcs 2000 - cheaper than 1950, ski in and out, should check about apres ski.
BTW, what about Solden? Yet again Austria, but a good and varied area . You have hotels (more expensive) on the mountain near the pistes underneath Gigijoch gondola. Good apres ski
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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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+1 for Serre Chevalier. Club med is reasonable for January next year, approx 1150 (but all inclusive bar ski hire or carriage)flying from Heathrow to Turin, so around 2 hours transfer. Satisfies most of your criteria
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Thanks both, I'll check out Serre Chevalier. We were in Club med Cervinia last year, half the group loved the "experience" half weren't keen! But will have a look and see what's available hotel wise.
We skied Solden on our trips to Obergurgl - it was quite a bit lower altitude wise, and felt quite busy compared to Obergurgl.
Les Arcs - we spent a lot of time there this year when staying in Villandry - do pretty much "done" that.
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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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The travel agent may have advised against Andorra with good knowledge and be skiing experts but most TA's I have ever dealt with have known only minimal info about skiing. There will be far more knowledge on here I suggest. Some friends went to Pas de la Casa in Jan this year and loved it. Loads of snow and no queues. They used Hotel les Pistes, and I toyed with Hotel Font d'Argent before booking Serre Che myself. Good reviews and at 655 from Birmingham I thought it was a decent deal (crystal).
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Schladming was great for our mixed group of 20+ people in early Feb. Great snow (as mainly north-facing), short transfers from Salzburg, good selection of apres venues and quieter bars, and quiet slopes. Ski in/out exists, but I believe only in the slightly higher Rohmroos village, which looked a bit quieter and a bit of a trek to the bars.
Of the places mentioned above I've enjoyed Cervinia, Andorra (Soldeu) and Solden but would rate Schladming higher.
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Thanks for the Schladming suggestion, it looks promising and different! Looks like you can ski back to the village. Can I ask which hotel you stated at, and did you like it. I spotted a Crystal ski one around 5 mins walk from the gondola, but reviews were mixed. Doesn't sound like the usual ski chalet with English staff we've had before now!
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We all stayed at the Erlbacher just off the main square - just over 5 minutes walk to the main Planai lift. We hired and stored our skis near the lift, which was convenient at the end of the day. The Erlbacher was great; clean, good breakfast, very friendly and helpful owner - they don't do evening meals, but there are plenty of decent restaurants nearby.
Yes you can ski back to the bottom, but as far as I know there are no on-slope hotels in Schladming itself. It's not quite as pretty as Lech, but Schladming is a pleasant small town with plenty happening. The skiing is on four individual linked mountains with loads of nice mountain huts.
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Forgot to add - we booked flights/transport/hotel ourselves, at seemingly a similar price to the tour operators.
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I took a group of 12 last year to courchevel 1850. It is an expensive resort but wow.. the skiing is great it was just an all roubd freat trip!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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There's no apres in Serre Chevalier.
Ischgl is great, a huge area with fast and efficient lifts - and banging apres. Expensive though, even by Austrian standards.
Saalbach is also excellent.
Also look at Mayrhofen and Schladming.
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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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Thanks for the continued ideas.
2 of our group have use of a place on Merribel, so we try to avoid 3 valleys to give them a change.
I've been looking at schladming with interest, we would want to do a package as been reading about people who DIY but have flights cancelled.
Ishgil has always looked good, but as you say pricey!
Whilst looking at Schladming one site suggested Filzmoos which also sounds good. But travel agent keeps trying to steer us to an Italian resort, thinking they must get higher commission! But it will be our choice, not theirs!
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| micheleperry wrote: |
Here's the wishlist:
As near to ski in out as possible
Large ski area
Transfers under 3 hour absolute max
a little bit of apres - between 4 and 7 is all that's needed! - We don't go out after dinner in chalet/hotel.
Suitable for advanced and upper intermediate skiiers
Not too busy, hate queing for lifts, and packed slopes - love nice peaceful skiing.
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| micheleperry wrote: |
We were advised against Andorra by one of the Travel Agents.
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Not sure why T/A said that, but let's see:
It's hard to find any decent ski-out-ski-in places in Andorra. It you stay at Hotel Patagonia in Arinsal, you are next to the Josep Serra chair lift. Anywhere else in center of Arinsal and you have to walk to the gondola. If you stay in Pas de la Casa then you have close access too. (IMHO Pas is a real tacky rontier town).
The largest connected ski area in Andorra is Grandvalira. Arinsal is not in Grandvalira, but Vallnord. It is connected to Pal via the big gondola at the top, but which can be closed in bad weather. Pas de la Casa is in Grandvalira though (until April 2019 at least).
Transfers from BCN/TLS will slightly exceed 3h, but if you're a group of 19 you can ask for a custom transfer instead of the regular service, which can save you some time.
Apres will be active in most main ski towns from about 16:00 onwards, although some restaurants will only start serving decents food from about 19:30 onwards.
You'll find enough skiiing in Andorra to keep advanced skiers busy, but not in Arinsal - for that you need to go to Arinsal, which is a skibus trip. So that eliminates it according to the other requirements. Looks like you need to select Grandvalira area and specifically Pas de la Casa, although depending where you stay, Soldeu might be worthwhile too.
Stay out of the beginner zones in most Andorra resorts and you should be good for chair lift traffic.
HTH.
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You know it makes sense.
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@micheleperry,
Hi, I’m likely to organise a group trip to the Dolomites next season. Did two there this season and WOW.
Can’t say we found it busy in late January at all, even though conditions about as good as it gets. This is compared with usual places we go, like EK and 3V, which are much more crowded same week.
Slopes suit all levels. Vast amount of area to cover. Reliable snow cover due to amazing snow making infrastructure. Excellent lift system. I believe not especially good for serious off piste / backcountry drifters, but don’t really know, as I don’t do much of that these days.
Consistently good food on mountain at reasonable prices. Stunning scenery. Attractive villages. Interesting culture and history, not as simply Italian as the label implies. We found people very friendly.
Can’t wait to get back... but content to ‘rough it’ in Tignes next week.
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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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| HoneyBunny wrote: |
There's no apres in Serre Chevalier.
Ischgl is great, a huge area with fast and efficient lifts - and banging apres. Expensive though, even by Austrian standards.
Saalbach is also excellent.
Also look at Mayrhofen and Schladming. |
I'd second this; Ischgl really fits your requirements for difficulty - it's really mostly reds and lots of them. Not quite ski in, but you can ski back. Expensive hotels. Skiing is high and faces the right way, so conditions should be good.
Saalbach may be better, lots of easy access out of the village (or from Hinterglemm), again lots of reds, and huge area now (and bigger next year). You can just about ski back depending on where you stay. One small downside - lots of runs face south, so may be a bit soft... but plenty of good snow still to be found even in spring like conditions
Mayrhofen - about to visit for the first time in 30 years - definitely NO ski in! Area bigger than it was, and the Ziller valley is supposed to have better/quieter runs in the other resorts.
All 3 have excellent apres. I guess you could also look at KItzbuhel; big but slightly bitty area, good apres, short transfer, not as expensive as you'd think.
Queuing at any of these resorts shouldn't be a problem at all - it's Austria so the lifts are superb - Ischgl and Saalach especially
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Poster: A snowHead
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What about Italy? Montgenevre has great skiing and you can stay super close to the slopes, easy transfer from TUrin - but not sure it would satisfy your apres requirements.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Loving all the help here, thanks, and I'm checking them all out.
I'm finding prices for next year seem WAY more expensive than this year, which we booked last March so no different to what we're doing now. For example, we had 1 week in Villandry last month for £660 ish - catered half board with wine. Same company next year same week shows £895. Pity Ski Olympic only serve France!
All the places I'm looking at are £900 and over so far, with no one offering sensible group discounts (15 of us now).
None of the places I found in Schladming and Pas de la Casa seem to offer half board with wine at dinner - which is what we've always had until now. I mentioned paying to table water to the group last night (as mentioned on most the Austrian hotels info pages on ski sites) and they went mad - daren't mention paying for wine too.... 
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@micheleperry,
I understand people getting irritated at the principle of paying for table water. Perhaps better though to consider overall cost of deals, of which water would be a tiny %?
I’m surprised at your comment about no sensible group discounts. Unless something’s changed, TOs usually bend over backwards to attract booking for 15. Maybe ringing offices direct might help?
Prices next season likely to be higher though, off the back of a weaker GBP against the Euro.
I’ll be putting together a trip to a great part of Italy and expect travel, accomm and H/B in a very comfortable and well run hotel to come in around £800pp in twin share. BYO drinks at dinner but reasonable prices for Alps.
Val D’Isere certainly ticks your boxes but unless going very low season, doubt you’d find similar quality deal for less than £1k. Everything else, eg mountain food, bar drinks, a good 30%+ dearer. Top class resort though.
Good luck finding something to keep most happy most of the time.
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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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@micheleperry,
if paying for table water is a dealbreaker you’ve got a demanding job! Irritating though that is, on principle, I’d suggest an overall cost v quality assessment might be better?
Do your friends boycott buying bottled water on the airside of UK airports, which is a similar rip-off?
Don’t think you’ve said which week(s) of season you’re looking to go. That makes a big difference to advance choice of area and also price.
Weaker £ v € is making typical packages more expensive. Personally I’ve gone for DIY approach, bringing different components together to form own package.
For great part of Italy next season I’m budgeting around £800pp for a HB package. Includes regional flight, transfer, well located comfortable hotel, VG food. Have to buy own drink at dinner but reasonable prices for mountains.
Most other costs about 60% of big French/ Swiss areas. Not sure about Austria. Benchmark is 4.5e for large premium quality beer std price (not just at Happy Hour). Bit less for large glass of decent quality wine. Oh and you get 7 dinners, not 6 like in a chalet. So swings & roundabouts.
I find people getting hung up on minor details, rather than big picture, amusing and bemusing. That and the mythical ‘comfort blanket’ of a package. Still, good that we’re all different. That said, for some areas at some times of season, a package is the way to go. When & where is key. 
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sauze d'0ulx would be good for your group. Great apres ski bar near the lift, massive ski area, very quiet In Feb compared with France and reasonable prices. For 19 people you could save loads by self organising instead of booking a package. I also love Ski Monterosa but not much Apres and if you only ski on the pistes it doesnt feel that big. The off piste is massive though
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