 Poster: A snowHead
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We promised our kids a trip of their choice when the graduate from high school. My eldest is about to graduate and has a dream trip of skiing in Europe over the winter break (Dec 19-Jan 4) and then catching the Chelsea-Arsenal game in England before we head home. I'm guessing late December is hit or miss, where would you suggest us going that would give us the best chance of good snow. My teens are great skiers so we are looking for more of the ski hard then the party hard scene. They were hoping for Verbier or Cham, though from what I've heard Verbier will be super pricey and snow will be iffy, and it is way too early in the year for Cham. Others have suggested St Anton, so I'm looking there, but lodging seems tough to find.
Open to other suggestions. Ideally would like a larger area, good expert terrain, ideally a great terrain park, and options for off piste.
Some more details about what we are looking for:
--Budget: hard to say, probably looking to spend 2k-3k Euros for the week
--Likely flying to London to watch the game (assuming we can get tickets) and then head to ski around the 29th of Dec)
-- Open to accommodation typesWhere are you planning to fly to in Europe?
--4 skiers. My teens and I are expert, wife is intermediate
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi @devonbrn, Welcome to the forum.
I'd suggest Val d'Isere Tignes for France.
Then St Anton if Its really late December in Austria if party is priority.
There will be lots more advice in the next few minutes I'm sure.
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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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Problem is that that's mega busy time and a lot of accommodation will only be available Saturday/ Saturday or Sunday/ Sunday. £2k is a tight budget for four of you in the most expensive week of the year.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The nearest time / date wise I've been in 4V is first week in January, it certainly didn't lack snow then over a few visits so wouldn't discount it on that basis.
Agree that you may go into cost overrun staying in Verbier town dependant on your budget, but some perimeter options may help you there.
It's a blend that if you want Verbier, then it maybe hard to match and it does seem to suit your requirements. I'd explore that more and you're probably going to get some of the more local experienced on here to help.
I think it's well worth aiming for, great place to ski.
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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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Can probably be somewhat flexible on hotels though would like to stay under £3k. Party/apres is not a priority, good skiing is. We are open to locations. Since this will be the first time skiing in Europe for the kids, I'd love them to experience one of the BIG area -- which makes St Anton and Val d'Isere-Tigne appealing. Open to other options. I'd say best chance of good snow is our #1 priority.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Unsure of your knowledge regarding geographical details of some areas discussed.
For the 4V area, Northern most of the domain is Nendaz village. Different cost base to Verbier but same ski area and may offer better cost blend for you. New lifts into central connects this season too, making reviews previously posted out of date regarding convenient lift travel. Decent lively apré here and plenty of accommodation as there's alot of capacity making it less full. It has alot more summer focus I believe so there's quite alot available in winter.
Outlying choice, but fits perfectly advance skier remits. Val D Anniviers, specifically Grimentz which is a very traditional mountain village right at the highest end of a beautiful valley. Checkout both pictures and reviews, it's an enchanting place with superb snow conditions usually but off the principal tourist map. If you really want amazing back-in-time high mountain skiing, then this is the place.
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@devonbrn,
Early season I usually try and book late depending on where the snow is unfortunately at New Year break this is not really possible. There is a bit of luck involved. I have at that time of year been to Austria on several occasions and had good snow. Both Arlberg and Ischgl which often have excellent early season snow though already you may have to book one of the outlying villages to get reasonable priced accommodation not usually a problem.
Failing this I agree that Val D'Isere /Tignes is often good, you will probably have to book and accept that a bit of luck is the outcome is inevitable.
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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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Somewhere in the Zillertal may be worth looking at? Not quiet as pricey as St Anton or Ischgl but a touch higher in altitude than some of the other big names in Austria.
Look at Mayrhofen, Zell am Ziller, Kaltenbach, Tux.
Plus the added bonus of Hintertux glacier up the road for ironclad guaranteed skiing should it be the Indian summer to end all Indian summers.
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good expert terrain
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What do you consider expert terrain?
You understand that European resorts are not avalanche controlled like north American? If you want to leave the groomers you will need avy equipment (beacon, shovel, probe) and appropriate knowledge. Of course you can take a guide but increases costs on an already tight budget, plus off piste may be quite limited due to snow cover anyway.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Late Dec - early Jan is pretty much hit & miss in St Anton. Even if there is decent snow on the pistes, the off piste will be quite sketchy.
Best look for a resort with glacier, if you are booking this far ahead.
NB: the Xmas - Sylvester week is probably the single busiest week in most ski resorts.
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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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Verbier.
Slam it on the creditcard.
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The snowmaking resorts are probably as reliable as anywhere in the Alps early season. Unlikely to have any off piste skiing however.
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You know it makes sense.
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From what you have said good areas would be Arlberg, Verbier, Chamonix and Espace Killy, there are lots more without quite the level of "expert skiing" such as Ischgl, Trois Vallee, Porte de Soleil, Les Deux Alpes, add your favourite ski resort! The issues are, how good will the snow be early season (a question without an answer), how expensive and how easy to find accommodation (though Christmas is much easier than New Year). None of the first four is likely to be "cheap" especially booking at this late stage. Difficult to say which is most snow sure, especially if what you are looking for are more ski itineraries rather than pistes. All of the big resorts have comprehensive snow making so there will be some skiing but maybe not quite what you are after (away from the snow making it often takes a good deal of snow for the more challenging areas to open). If forced to choose I would probably look at Arlberg or Espace Killy, Switzerland is the most expensive and Chamonix is probably the least "snow sure" (assuming you are not planning to ski tour up Mt Blanc!). Lech could well be best spot in the Arlberg (though Lech is generally pricey, St Anton perfectly good too though wider range of pistes in Lech) and Val d'Isere in Espace Killy (at the risk of upsetting someone, Tignes is an eyesore!). For Austrian resorts the best way to find accommodation is to contact the local tourist office, they all run central booking services for the hotels and apartments in their resorts.
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