Suggestions - Family Ski Trip

A snowHead

Hi everyone,

What a great site, I've had a chance to read a lot of great information and some great suggestions.

Plan is to bring my 2 girls which will be 13 and 15 skiing next year somewhere in the Alps. We're coming from Canada, we ski Mont Tremblant in the Quebec region and have been to some of the areas in Vermont like Jay Peak and Killington.

Me and one of the girls are snowboarding and the oldest is on skis. We're all intermediate to advance skiiers.

There are so many resorts from budget to luxury that its hard to figure out where to go.

I've read up on so many areas but I am leaning towards Les Portes du Soleil mainly because it seems large and easily accessible and not to mention the cross boarder skiing which I'm sure the kids would love to do. Also seems close to other areas if we decide to do a couple of hours drive to another destination.

There are some interesting things like skiing glaciers that could be fun.

Plans would be to go mid March next year but thought I'd start looking at our next ski trip in advance.

Thought I'd see what peoples thoughts are on options for best skiing in March. Looking for an all round ski vacation with some great memories with the girls.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

A snowHead

Just so you are aware resorts in Europe are set up differently. Only the groomers are avalanche controlled, as soon as you go off groomers you will need avalanche equipment (and knowledge). For glaciers you would need crevasse rescue equipment too. Personally, I would save the money and ski in north America. However if your set on Europe:

- look for somewhere high - mid march things can be getting warm at the lower resorts.
- glaciers are good for early/late season skiing so definitely not a bad choice. However, skiing on a glacier is not really any different to regular skiing so don't expect too much.
- Italy tends to be a little cheaper than France. Switzerland is most expensive. However, there tends to be a range of budgets in terms of accomodation and restaurants at all resorts.
- skiing over borders might be a little underwhelming.
- if your travelling all the way from Canada I wouldn't get to focused on accessibility/transfer times. Another hour or two on what will be a long journey is not such a big deal. More important to get the right resort.
- I'd definitely try to add in a visit to a European city as well as the skiing to get the "full experience". Of course depends how much time you have. Unless you have more than 7 days skiing one of the big resorts should be sufficient without the need to travel to other resorts.

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@Carl, To get the most from your trip you may want to look at the Tarentaise area of France, in the Haute Tarentaise you have three of the best resorts in Europe as well as cross border skiing to Italy. If you base yourself in the valley town - Bourg St Maurice you have access to over 1600 kms of pistes, without including La Plagne. From BSM you can access Les Arcs directly, Tignes and Val d'Isere by road within 40 mins -1 hr and Ste Foy and La Rosiere which is linked to La Thuile in Italy. All these resorts offer higher altitudes and more reliable snow cover than the Portes de Soleil and in my opinion much greater variety of terrain as well as the option for heli-skiing.

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This is great info! I figured there'd be some good insight on location for that time of year. I'm not set on any destination but doing some research to sort out best conditions for that time of year.

Funny thing is I've been looking at going to either Whistler or Banff and it's less expensive to go to Europe for us... by a significant amount. I'm not too worried on travel time more looking to find a good experience for the kids.

We'd definitely be adding some city's to the agenda. I figure we'll be there for 10 - 14 days.

We won't be doing any of the off piste as we're not equipped for that and I'm not that brave.

Thanks for the help so far on this.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

My personal recommendation would be the Espace Killy, i.e. Tignes + Val d'Isere. One of the things Europe offers that North America doesn't is these huge linked resorts. In France the three main ones are the 3 Vallees (Val Thorens, Meribel and Courchevel), Espace Killy, and Paradiski (La Plagne + Les Arcs). PdS also offers a vast skiing domain, but is IMO less well connected (i.e. you may need buses to get around properly). It's also quite a bit lower, and in mid-March going high is probably sensible (especially considering you're coming so far). Any of EK, 3V and Paradiski would suit you just fine. 3V is the biggest, but I think in terms of quality of skiing EK has the edge for intermediates/advanced.

@Lee Shaw makes a decent suggestion about staying in Bourg Saint Maurice and getting a choice of resorts, but I think it's a bit of a shame to go skiing and not stay in the mountains. There's something rather wonderful about being able to leave your flat on skis Very Happy

. I also think that any of the three resorts mentioned provides more than enough skiing for a week.

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@Carl,
A few thoughts.
PdS is low by European standards and mid march European climate is highly variable, it could be cool and snowy, we may be basking in a heat wave.
Its a great area to ski but if I was crossing the Atlantic to ski I would look for somewhere a little higher.

You mention glaciers, in all honesty skiing on piste on a glacier isn't really much different from skiing anywhere else, you can't really tell you are on a glacier.
If you were to arrange a guided trip down the Vallee Blanche with a guide you'd really know you've been on a glacier and the experience would be unforgettable it is stunning though the skiing isn't usually particularly difficult. The guide is essential particularly on a board as tumbling down a crevasse without a guide in Europe is considered to be poor etiquette.

Cross border skiing at altitude in Europe is possibly at its finest and most expensive in Zermatt, the town is quaint and the Matterhorn stunning, the snow is ultra reliable in March.
You can do some of it on a cheaper basis by staying in Cervinia.

If you want to combine a City and skiing with a memorable trip you could combine Venice with the Dolomites.
The City is known to all and about quite in spring than the summer.
The Dolomites have a vast ski area which is beautiful combined with great food at reasonable prices.

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For Switzerland, take a look at the national Swiss Tourist Office site, which also might give you some ideas: www.myswitzerland.com. If you speak French, the SW part of Switzerland is French-speaking, so that's the Valais region's Quatre Vallées (Verbier and its satellites - over 400Kms but realistically, about 250kms), and the Swiss part of the Portes du Soleil are the big areas.

After all it is free

Got to consider the Dolomites surely?

In fact I can't think of any advantages of skiing in France for this trip. Happy to be educated

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I think it really depends on what you are trying to get out of the trip. I love Tignes/Val D'Isere for the skiing and being right up in the mountains. But the flip side is that I find them lacking a bit of charm (especially Tignes). If you want to have a bit more of a traditional European flavour then Italy, Austria or Switzerland might be better.

I have skied in Mont Saint-Anne in Quebec and also in Killington. Somewhere like Tignes/Val D'isere is huge by comparison.

If you are thinking two weeks, you could definitely make it a two center effort with a bit of both?

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You know it makes sense.

Don't let these folks dissuade you from the PDS - there are plenty of pros and cons for all resorts.

Shorter/easier transfers are surely a bonus for those with kids
Avoriaz has a very good snow record and will be perfectly fine for skiing in mid march, I've done it many times.
Stay in Morzine, a decent sized town with more to do and easy access to Avoriaz if you need better snow
Lower is better if you have bad weather.

There are other things I would ask though. For how long are you planning on coming and will you be renting a car?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Thanks for all the help and info on this everyone.

I don't know Dolomites but I'm open to suggestions.

I don't know Tignes or the different areas to ski. It seems easy to find information on PdS and Zermatt. I've started doing some search on skiing in Europe and landed on this site and there was great information. Its hard for someone not from the area to really understand the differences and subtleties so thought I'd ask here. I'm definetely going to be doing more searches on the areas suggested and reading up on many of these forums to get some insight on options.

The flights are a little bit cheaper from Ottawa to Paris then Ottawa to Calgary or Vancouver but the cost of skiing and accommodations are far cheaper in my opinion. Whistler is a very large resort, very nice but extremely expensive. Plus the scenery is that much nicer in the alps. The girls would love either one of the locations but I thought the European experience would be different.

We will be renting a car to allow us to do different things as well.

Do want to thank everyone again for all the help!

Help!!

Suggestions - Family Ski Trip

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