 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi there
Was hoping to narrow down our search on where to go for 3-4 weeks skiing from about 20 December 2024 in Europe. Happy to move around to different resorts. Would anyone be able to make recommendations (including even hotels  )
The kids are now 18 and we are looking for a memorable once in a lifetime experience before they leave home. Some key things:
- Happy to spend $$$ for this occasion and have a luxury stay.
- The kids and my husband are very good skiers.
- They’d ideally like blue skies, groomed runs, lots of snow, and some off piste powder skiing.
- we prefer ski in ski out, and ideally also convenient to e.g. nightlife / restaurants
- I’m not a skier so somewhere that is enjoyable for non-skiers too would be important for at least half the time away. That said, if there was somewhere offering wide open green slopes I’d be happy to get out.
- would like nice selection of restaurants, a day spa, shops, atmosphere in village
- good night life (we’d like somewhere to go for a drink and chat, kids would like that too but also to party some nights)
- somewhere really lovely for the Christmas week, maybe with events on?
- somewhere else for NYE for fun
- by the time we leave it would be after mid Jan so would ordering of resorts matter for best chance of good snow cover?
- happy to have travel days if there is quite a bit of distance between recommended resorts
So far the resorts that keep coming up seem to be: Austria (lech, st Anton, ishgl), Switzerland (st Moritz, Zermatt, verbier, gstaad), France (3 valleys, megeve, Val d’isere, chamonix)
Thanks so very much in advance!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Thisskilife, I’d hold off and decide once you see how the snow is looking, I’ve stopped skiing at Christmas too busy and marginal conditions. FWIW I’d go mid January to early/ mid February ( returning before half term kids holidays).
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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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I’d go with Zermatt since it has everything you asked for except ski-in/out (you can get that but not then also be in the centre for nightlife). I’d recommend taking a chalet (Mountain Exposure is my provider of choice but they are also friends so I’m biased).
As Zermatt is connected to Cervinia to liven things up you could spend a few nights there too … and potentially also go along the Italian Aosta Valley and try La Thuille, Pila and Courmayeur from there. The relatively newly opened Grand Hotel Cervino is excellent for a couple of nights in Cervinia and you could just ski over rather than do a full decamp (it’s a four hour drive but only a 45 minute lift/ski).
Only thing to consider is that the powder skiing is very much in the lap of the Gods that early in the season. This year it’s been fantastic but last was a no go entirely. However, to be candid, you stand the best chance of it somewhere like Zermatt as it is very high.
PS. I stayed all of December in Zermatt this season … so, again, I might be biased
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@Thisskilife, Nice plan. Bear in mind, even if money isn’t really an issue, that each time you move you will be forking out for lift passes, which would be very expensive if you stay in 4 different resorts. One option might be to look at the 3V or one of the bigger linked ski covered by one pass, where you could keep the same pass, even if you move to a different resort The plus side of staying somewhere for a month is also that you get to know the area - both on and off the mountain- a bit more, plus you get to ski on transfer days. If you do want to stay in one place for most or all of the time, given your plan includes NY and Christmas week-I’d advise looking get cracking early to find accommodation.
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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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I can only comment upon France, but delete Megeve (way too low for that time of year, too niche) and sadly Cham (great town but too much travel to skiing). Val Thorens, the highest 3V resort is snowsure, but bleak, and lacks a real 'centre'. Meribel Centre would work (be aware the accommodation is very spread out). If you're Nth American, the scale of the 3V will be a revelation.
Val D'Isere would be good for you as a non skier, but IMO it's becoming too geriatric and opulent.
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| Thisskilife wrote: |
- Happy to spend $$$ for this occasion and have a luxury stay...
Switzerland (st Moritz, Zermatt, verbier, gstaad)
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It will be $$$$ or $$$$$ for those!! 
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| Quote: |
FWIW I’d go mid January to early/ mid February ( returning before half term kids holidays
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I'd agree with that. Christmas/New Year you will encounter significant crowds and lift queues just about anywhere.
I'd ideally like to find one really nice place and stay there, too. Having to keep packing up and moving around is a pain and some of the places you mention are quite far apart!!
You've not mentioned Italy. Don't rule out the Dolomites - stunning scenery, wonderful places to eat on the mountain. Not party central but endless choice of well groomed runs, mostly not very difficult.
An alternative would be the Aosta Valley, flying to Turin. Courmayeur has glitz and glamour and there's a choice of skiing along the valley, including Cervinia/Zermatt and Monterosa as well as La Thuile and Pila. Distances between centres are small - very manageable to move around.
For a non-skier you could get up the Mont Blanc skyway, which is a spectacular day. Aosta is a city well worth a day's exploration (whilst the skiers gondola up to Pila). Lots of people seem not to ski in Italian resorts - just swan around looking good and enjoying the great food in lovely restaurants with fantastic views.
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| Thisskilife wrote: |
| blue skies... lots of snow...off piste powder skiing |
If there's blue skies, there won't be lots of snow or any powder!! 
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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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If youre going for a month then it needs to be a decent sized resort or within easy reach of other resorts or the family might get bored and as you are a non skier then it needs to be fairly easy to get away from the resort to so that really removes the like of val thorens etc . Perhaps somewhere in Austria might be good, while its not my favorite place the ski welt pass covers a big area and quite a few places have train links to Salzburg etc so plenty for you to do. Xmas anywhere is going to be dear, again perhaps arrive the day before and have the big day and a couple after in the city then move to the ski area when everyone has gone back to work. Its great having the runs almost to yourself
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If I had to choose one resort with the best chance of getting your preferences in it would probably be Lech which is a pretty traditional resort fairly upmarket and a reputation for higher than average snow falls.
Having said that if you want to splash the cash and optimise your chances I might book somewhere for the first couple of weeks very early and think about moving on after new Year when you can wait and see where the best snow is for off piste skiing . It varies a lot from year to year and though you can usually find somewhere decent by January it is by no means always the case and it is not completely predictable where it would be.
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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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Week 1-2 = Verbier
Week 3 = Zermatt
Week 4 = St Moritz
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You know it makes sense.
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Verbier. It has it all.
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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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| Whitegold wrote: |
Week 1-2 = Verbier
Week 3 = Zermatt
Week 4 = St Moritz |
Good call! But you'll be easily into six digits $$$$$$ there!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Thisskilife,
Which airport are you flying into?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Wow, so very helpful thanks!
A few extra things to respond:
- our dates are pretty firm (from christmas for a month), we can’t defer until mid Jan due to other commitments we have
- we don’t mind moving around (1 month in 1 ski resort is just not for us. And as the non skier I do most of the logistics and the family just enjoy the variety without noticing the hassle)
- we don’t mind having to purchase different ski passes for different resorts as we travel around.
- we want to secure our accommodation early for a few reasons (including don’t want to miss out on preferred accom, and we will have friends and family joining us at various resorts along the way so will need to have this locked in so others can also make their plans)
- flights: We are booking flights when they are released later this month. Where we fly in/out of will largely depend on where we decide to go. It’s easiest for us to fly into these airports: Lyon, Zurich, Geneva, Milan, Vienna, but given we have a month we don’t mind additional travel for the right places.
- Verbier: i note the suggestion of Verbier for weeks 1-2 - can you advise why is that because of the atmosphere for Chrissy and NY? Or likelihood of good snow? I was thinking Verbier for our final week as the forums seem to suggest it’s for experts so I thought it would be best to end there once the ski legs are well and truly looking for expert runs. But if it’s also fantastic for Christmas and NY (or early snow) that’s great to know.
(Oh and $$$$$$ is ok for this trip)
- Zermatt - seems to come up a lot stating good for earlier in the season as higher up and also excellent snow making facilities, so wonder if that would be better to switch with Verbier for weeks 1-3 and therefore have Christmas week in Zermatt? Although @blackblade you mention Zermatt was no go last December?
- Dolomites - I’d heard Dolomites is riskier in terms of snow sure that early in season? I adore Italy so only discounted Dolomites because of riskiness and in attempt to start to reduce potential resorts.
- Lech: if Lech is pretty quiet would we better choosing St Anton as base?
- ok thanks have removed megeve, Cham, Val thorens from the running
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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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There's a couple of season passes in Austria called the Tirol snow card and the Salzburg super ski card.
you could stay over tge West Side of Austria and ski ischgl, Serfaus fiss ladis, sölden and obergurgl plus throw in many more along the way(stubital/ski areas around innsbruck/kühtai)also visit innsbruck.
East Side of innsbruck zillertal(mayrhofen/kaltenbach/zell am ziller) ski welt, Kitzski. Alpbach plus many more.
over in Salzburgerland kitzski and skiwelt still covered, the ski circus zell am see/kaprun the whole of the ski Armade. you still wouldn't have enough time in a month to fully ski everything on either pass. Austrian apres is un matched, the lift systems are world class. the hotel hospitality is great. The mountain hüttes serve quality food.
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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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Don’t miss Zermatt is all I would say. Verbier good for offpiste, but the village is a large roundabout, and Heineken city at night. ( Heineken, the Watneys red barrel of lagers?) If you go to Zermatt, La Couronne hotel is a good balance between cost and luxury in my view, excellent positioned in town for bus links and nightlife.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Thisskilife wrote: |
- Verbier: i note the suggestion of Verbier for weeks 1-2 - can you advise why is that because of the atmosphere for Chrissy and NY? Or likelihood of good snow? I was thinking Verbier for our final week as the forums seem to suggest it’s for experts so I thought it would be best to end there once the ski legs are well and truly looking for expert runs. But if it’s also fantastic for Christmas and NY (or early snow) that’s great to know.
(Oh and $$$$$$ is ok for this trip)
- Zermatt - seems to come up a lot stating good for earlier in the season as higher up and also excellent snow making facilities, so wonder if that would be better to switch with Verbier for weeks 1-3 and therefore have Christmas week in Zermatt? Although @blackblade you mention Zermatt was no go last December?
- Dolomites - I’d heard Dolomites is riskier in terms of snow sure that early in season? I adore Italy so only discounted Dolomites because of riskiness and in attempt to start to reduce potential resorts.
- Lech: if Lech is pretty quiet would we better choosing St Anton as base?
- ok thanks have removed megeve, Cham, Val thorens from the running |
Verbier has the altitude to make December as sure a bet as you can get (see the 4Vs TR in my sig for my December 21 trip) and is very very easy to get to from GVA by train from the airport; and in a good year, well, @BobinCH is an exceptionally persuasive evangelist. If your skiers are indeed very good, they won't have any trouble at all anywhere on piste. Off piste will be weather dependent, as it will in any resort.
If cost is (relatively speaking) no object, Courchevel 1850 in the 3Vs is definitely worth some time in January (not earlier): very good advanced terrain and is also fab for non-skiers who like to spa/eat. It also has the best network of green pistes in the world. It of course links to Val Thoren (but would stay on the Courchevel side of the 3Vs--see the other thread on 3V accomodation options).
Was last in Zermatt in 1993 (didn't ski again for nearly 20 years), really need to get back, but I tend to prefer France , so would love to spend a month going up and down the Tarentaise Valley (3Vs, Les Arcs, LP, EK, SFT), but that is probably a minority view.
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| Thisskilife wrote: |
Wow, so very helpful thanks!
A few extra things to respond:
- our dates are pretty firm (from christmas for a month), we can’t defer until mid Jan due to other commitments we have
- we don’t mind moving around (1 month in 1 ski resort is just not for us. And as the non skier I do most of the logistics and the family just enjoy the variety without noticing the hassle)
- we don’t mind having to purchase different ski passes for different resorts as we travel around.
- we want to secure our accommodation early for a few reasons (including don’t want to miss out on preferred accom, and we will have friends and family joining us at various resorts along the way so will need to have this locked in so others can also make their plans)
- flights: We are booking flights when they are released later this month. Where we fly in/out of will largely depend on where we decide to go. It’s easiest for us to fly into these airports: Lyon, Zurich, Geneva, Milan, Vienna, but given we have a month we don’t mind additional travel for the right places.
- Verbier: i note the suggestion of Verbier for weeks 1-2 - can you advise why is that because of the atmosphere for Chrissy and NY? Or likelihood of good snow? I was thinking Verbier for our final week as the forums seem to suggest it’s for experts so I thought it would be best to end there once the ski legs are well and truly looking for expert runs. But if it’s also fantastic for Christmas and NY (or early snow) that’s great to know.
(Oh and $$$$$$ is ok for this trip)
- Zermatt - seems to come up a lot stating good for earlier in the season as higher up and also excellent snow making facilities, so wonder if that would be better to switch with Verbier for weeks 1-3 and therefore have Christmas week in Zermatt? Although @blackblade you mention Zermatt was no go last December?
- Dolomites - I’d heard Dolomites is riskier in terms of snow sure that early in season? I adore Italy so only discounted Dolomites because of riskiness and in attempt to start to reduce potential resorts.
- Lech: if Lech is pretty quiet would we better choosing St Anton as base?
- ok thanks have removed megeve, Cham, Val thorens from the running |
Fly into Geneva, take the train from the airport to Zermatt (1 change at Visp. Everyone has to take the train to Zermatt as no car access beyond Tasch) for Christmas and New Year - good access for non-skier to join rest of group on the mountain for lunch, even if they go over to Italy for the day.
I can recommend these to talk to about your accommodation & rail travel https://otp.co.uk/viewer/winter-skiing/zermatt/ If you use them get Jeff to take you out one night for a fondue https://otp.co.uk/company/
Take the train back to Geneva airport and use road transfer to one of the mega ski areas in the Tarentaise (France) - 3 Valleys, Paradiski or Espace Killy - for your other two weeks - the skiiers will not get bored in any of those over two weeks! Non-ski activities https://evolution2.com/en/activities#activities
Return to Geneva airport by road. Or perhaps take the train to Paris for a few days before flying home. A couple of trip reports from Australians currently doing something similar to your plan:-
https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/lady-ps-european-odyssey-dolomites-zermatt-and-meribel-with-the-kids.94216/page-14#post-5559789
https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/fast-eddies-european-adventure.94293/page-4#post-5559786
For the Tarentaise section consider the UK tour operators, especially chalet or chalet-hotel as accommodation. These people would be able to advise:-
https://www.peakretreats.co.uk/
https://www.igluski.com/
https://www.alpineanswers.co.uk/
But once you've picked you destinations ask for further advise on the relevant resort thread(s) here https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/snow_reports.php?
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If you're considering Zermatt and Verbier, and thinking about which week(s) for each, then there's little difference regarding snow conditions. If I were to make the choice, I'd go for Zermatt over Xmas & New Year, on the marginal basis that these are the busy weeks, but I'd expect a larger proportion of guests in Zermatt would be non-skiers, so the slopes may not be quite as busy in Zermatt in those weeks. Also, I think there are more ways up the mountain in Zermatt, which gives more options for avoiding queues first thing.
One resort that hasn't been mentioned much in this thread is St Moritz. It should meet all your criteria, and has the bonus (if also going for Zermatt) of the Glacier Express for travel to/from Zermatt
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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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| viv wrote: |
| One resort that hasn't been mentioned much in this thread is St Moritz. It should meet all your criteria, and has the bonus (if also going for Zermatt) of the Glacier Express for travel to/from Zermatt |
It had been mentioned, though not with sufficient specifics. Seems not too many people had been to St Moritz, whilst many had been to Zermatt. Hence the lack of detail and specifics.
(I’m the reverse. I’ve been to St Moritz but not Zermatt. I quite like St Moritz and think it’s a good destination, especially for non-skiers. But I haven’t been to many of the others on the list, so can’t really say St Moritz is “better than the rest”)
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FAQ
