 Poster: A snowHead
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@Steilhang, Pontresina sounds really nice (to be fair I love the whole Engadine region) but it doesn't look as if you can ski between there and the St Moritz ski area.
I would throw Davos into the mix, access to a pretty reasonable downhill area and it appeared to me to have very extensive cross-country (it was hosting the world championships one time we were there). And I would guess not as expensive as St Moritz.
@BobinCH, while I have never stayed in Moutiers I do remember being impressed by the range of resorts that were easily available for day trips by bus from the station (we have used the Eurostar/TGV to Moutiers as a route to a couple of places). I think it is inevitable that the places with the best connections will be down in the valleys connecting resorts.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| Bigtipper wrote: |
Having spend a few years travelling around European ski resorts and living in the back of a van, I would echo the point @clarky999 made about not staying in a ski resort.
I mostly skied in French resorts, but went to some Austrian, Swiss, Italian and Andorra resorts as well as south of France beaches and Spanish beaches (in winter time when it was cooler)
Annecy would be a good place to reside, and travel back and forward to different ski resorts nearby. Albertville, Moutiers or Bourg St Maurice might also be considered.
Grenoble would be my choice for a bigger city with good links to ski resorts (regular day/weekend bus trips for ski mad population)
Outside of France, I would probably choose somewhere like Le Chable. |
Intrigued by this… from my memory Moutiers was pretty miserable. Why would anyone want to live there? |
Nobody wants to live there but it is cheaper than up the mountain
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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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| Steilhang wrote: |
| @abc, would probably choose to live in Pontresina rather than St. Moritz. More down to earth & same skiing. Just my opinion |
Totally agree that Pontresina is "better" than the town of St. Moritz in many aspect. For one thing, while the surrounding mountains and lakes are very scenic, the town of St Moritz itself is kind of... ugly.
When I wrote "St Moritz", I was thinking of the entire Egadine area. Since I didn't visit each and every village in the surrounding area, I didn't want to limit my suggestion to a particular village. There might even be other villages besides Pontresina that are worth considering. Celerina for example, would be my choice if I go again.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Sun 12-06-22 1:21; edited 2 times in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| j b wrote: |
@Steilhang, Pontresina sounds really nice (to be fair I love the whole Engadine region) but it doesn't look as if you can ski between there and the St Moritz ski area.
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Yes, you can cross country ski between the two. Pontresina is where most cross country skiers stay. Whilst St Moritz attracts the more downhill oriented crowd.
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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 ski areas are just a short bus journey away. Plus Pontresina has better access to the Diavolezza and Lagalb areas up on Bernina Pass
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| abc wrote: |
| @Kenzie, how's the xc skiing at Bourg St Maurice? |
There is nothing interesting.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Sun 12-06-22 10:18; edited 2 times in total
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| davidof wrote: |
| BobinCH wrote: |
| Bigtipper wrote: |
Having spend a few years travelling around European ski resorts and living in the back of a van, I would echo the point @clarky999 made about not staying in a ski resort.
I mostly skied in French resorts, but went to some Austrian, Swiss, Italian and Andorra resorts as well as south of France beaches and Spanish beaches (in winter time when it was cooler)
Annecy would be a good place to reside, and travel back and forward to different ski resorts nearby. Albertville, Moutiers or Bourg St Maurice might also be considered.
Grenoble would be my choice for a bigger city with good links to ski resorts (regular day/weekend bus trips for ski mad population)
Outside of France, I would probably choose somewhere like Le Chable. |
Intrigued by this… from my memory Moutiers was pretty miserable. Why would anyone want to live there? |
Nobody wants to live there but it is cheaper than up the mountain |
Location, location, location! Also a town with very little in it but a small supermarket and a post office might not attract the types you get in Albertville, or Bourg St Maurice. Less commercialism.
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| Peter S wrote: |
Four pages of suggestions.
Shame then that we have made it much more difficult for ourselves by choosing to leave the EU  |
The OP is American, I doubt he's bothered much by the EU.
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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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Innsbruck
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| abc wrote: |
| @Kenzie, how's the xc skiing at Bourg St Maurice? |
Funicular station up to Les Arcs (by BSM train station).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| j b wrote: |
I would throw Davos into the mix, access to a pretty reasonable downhill area and it appeared to me to have very extensive cross-country (it was hosting the world championships one time we were there). And I would guess not as expensive as St Moritz. |
I would think it likely to be right up there in cost, TBH. Never looked at housing prices as such, but both of them have seen big price increases in the last few years. https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/st-moritz-switzerland-posts-fastest-price-growth-among-world-class-ski-resorts-01634593776
As for living there - I've always found it to be a soulless place, too big to have Swiss village charm, too spread out to have a proper 'centre', yet still too small to have all you need from a city and too far away from the nearest big city (Chur) to be acceptable for year-round living. Things like proper department stores, big DIY shops etc. may not seem that important if you're just talking about staying there for a ski season; I suppose I'm seeing it through a long-term resident's viewpoint, so maybe it's not so relevant for the OP here.
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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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| Kenzie wrote: |
| abc wrote: |
| @Kenzie, how's the xc skiing at Bourg St Maurice? |
Funicular station up to Les Arcs (by BSM train station). |
But you still left out how the xc skiing is like 
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@Chaletbeauroc, that's the price inflation not the actual prices.
I made my guess based on the snootiness factor. But I thought I should check and I found a 2022 report (so presumably 2021 prices). https://www.knightfrank.com/research/report-library/ski-property-report-8489.aspx
Price in St Moritz 22,700 euros/sq m while Davos 13,000.
I know what you mean about the lack of village charm, but that may be partly because it is effectively two places each with their own train station (Davos Dorf and Davos Platz). Both those ends of the town have their own characters, the sprawl in the middle not so much. Can't tell you whether there was a DIY store lurking in a back street though.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Tom_Ski,
Briancon City / Serre Chevalier Villages, so many other XC locations and valleys you'll be spoilt for choice.
Plus some great ski touring and the pistes are not too bad I hear 
The Hautes Alpes / Nordic Alpes Sud XC pass covers some 20 XC locations.
https://www.nordicalpesdusud.com/
Summer is so good, especially if you cycle and kayaking currently is World Class along with a fair number of Via Ferrata, and loads more.
I'm here for another six weeks and would gladly meet up etc
In fact, we were with a couple last evening who are thinking about moving here after 25 years in Saillon Valais Switzerland.
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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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| Tom_Ski wrote: |
UPDATE: We're in Innsbruck today, on day 10 of our 30-day exploration trip.
I've just re-read this entire thread and now that we've had a few days to explore a couple different areas, the info everyone has provided is taking on new dimension. So thank you again, all, for your input - it has helped us shape our itinerary for our trip.
We started on June 1 in Munich, spent a couple days there drinking beer and looking at historical sites. Was wonderful experience of this world city (our first time there). My rusty German speaking skills got a real workout without too much trouble when needing to switch to English (or Engl-Deutsch). Very friendly people - suprisingly so.
Then on the Garmisch-P. GaPa was really great. We stayed in old town Partenkirchen and woke up each morning looking at the Zugspitze out our window. Did some amazing hiking, and sussed out a couple of ski resorts there. Also checked out the Olympic village area and drove through Seefeld, the xc center (I think). Had some major rain days, but fortunately in the afternoon. I could see basing there, but you all don't seem to have a high opinion of the nearby skiing options.
Here we are on day 3 in Innsbruck. Been cloudy/rainy every day so far, with Nordkette socked in with clouds and the peak not visible , so it's been challenging to get a sense of the place as a ski destination. Innsbruck feels a bit bigger as a city than I think either of us need.
Next stop is Cortina, where we'll explore some of the Dolomite resort areas and towns. Love Italy - will be interesting to see if we can find something like Bolzano or Trento that is within 15 mins or so of a good ski resort.
From there, Kitzbuhl and Soll, both of which I'm excited to check out - and hopeful that they will tick the boxes on our European ski/summer town. |
Sounds like an awesome trip!
If you can fit it into your agenda I’d highly recommend a visit to Zermatt. It’s not cheap but it’s wonderful both in Winter and Summer. Just back from a weekend there and you just can’t beat those Matterhorn views and stunning mountain lakes and hiking trails. It’s one of the few resorts which is busy all year round.
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