 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm planning ski trips for next year and I'd appreciate some advice on where to go please.
I'm a good all mountain skier and my son will be an 11 year old intermediate next winter.
This year we skied in Seefeld in variable snow and we pretty much skied it all out apart from the black run at the top. We also have a week in Flaine booked for this easter with UCPA so he'll hopefully make some progress before next year.
My thinking is that next year we could probably get the most out of a resort with a lot of intermediate runs like Ischgl (I skied there at the end of the 23 season). I skied the Stubai Glacier in January this year and the terrain looked about right for my son next year. I also remember Avoriaz being quite good for intermediates. The aim is to have a bit more variety than Seefeld.
We tend to start early, ski all day with a break for lunch in a self service on the mountain and go home about 16:00. My son is usually so tired out he does not want to go out at all after skiing so we do not eat out.
Trips will look something like the following:
Christmas or new year with my son and non skiing wife. This is a possible but may not happen.
UK Feb half term just me and my son.
Easter holiday probably second week in April just me and my son.
What I am looking for (in rough order of priority):
Good snow
Avoid lift queues - I'm ok if the first lifts up rom the village are busy at peak times but I want to avoid queues as much as possible throughout the day. TBF this mainly applies to Feb half term.
A good range of red and blue runs in a decent sized well linked area.
Modern high speed lift system.
Accommodation close to the lifts, avoiding the need for long walks or busses.
Self catering apartment ideally but would consider half board hotel or catered chalet (but not B&B)
On site Spa included or municipal spa close to accommodation (similar to Tignes le Lac). I'd be ok with just a Sauna.
Good for non skier (Christmas only)
Short transfer preferred but not essential
Not bothered about
Apres ski
Cute piste restaurants (we just go to a big self service)
Off piste options
The cheapest resort
My rough plan is currently:
Book something last minute for Christmas/New year or consider Saas Fee (especially if we can get a booking in the youth hostel).
Austria for Feb Half term (likely near Innsbruck), possibly stay in a budget hotel in Innsbruck at either end of the trip to break the journey.
France for easter (possibly Arc 1950)
I'll probably fly for anything not in France, train strikes are too much of a problem when travelling across multiple countries (I got hit by both a DB and SNCF strike on two trips this year and it cost me nearly 1k in total) also the 17h journey from Seefeld to the UK was a bit much in one day.
Happy with any suggestions/thoughts please.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 18-03-24 15:42; edited 3 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'd be thinking about Italy - probably Dolomites - for half term. You can't really get a more splendid array of intermediate skiing!
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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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| Origen wrote: |
| I'd be thinking about Italy - probably Dolomites - for half term. You can't really get a more splendid array of intermediate skiing! |
Thanks, a quick check of the school holiday thread also shows Italy is probably good for minimal queues for Feb HT because not much of Germany or Italy is off.
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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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| Henwc wrote: |
I'm planning ski trips for next year and I'd appreciate some advice on where to go please.
I'm a good all mountain skier and my son will be an 11 year old intermediate next winter.
This year we skied in Seefeld in variable snow and we pretty much skied it all out apart from the black run at the top. We also have a week in Flaine booked for this easter with UCPA so he'll hopefully make some progress before next year.
My thinking is that next year we could probably get the most out of a resort with a lot of intermediate runs like Ischgl (I skied there at the end of the 23 season). I skied the Stubai Glacier in January this year and the terrain looked about right for my son next year. I also remember Avoriaz being quite good for intermediates. The aim is to have a bit more variety than Seefeld.
We tend to start early, ski all day with a break for lunch in a self service on the mountain and go home about 16:00. My son is usually so tired out he does not want to go out at all after skiing so we do not eat out.
Trips will look something like the following:
Christmas or new year with my son and non skiing wife. This is a possible but may not happen.
UK Feb half term just me and my son.
Easter holiday probably second week in April just me and my son.
What I am looking for (in rough order of priority):
Good snow
Avoid lift queues - I'm ok if the first lifts up rom the village are busy at peak times but I want to avoid queues as much as possible throughout the day. TBF this mainly applies to Feb half term.
A good range of red and blue runs in a decent sized well linked area.
Modern high speed lift system.
Accommodation close to the lifts
Self catering apartment ideally but would consider half board hotel or catered chalet (but not B&B)
On site Spa included or municipal spa close to accommodation (similar to Tignes le Lac). I'd be ok with just a Sauna.
Good for non skier (Christmas only)
Short transfer preferred but not essential
Not bothered about
Apres ski
Cute piste restaurants (we just go to a big self service)
Off piste options
The cheapest resort
My rough plan is currently:
Book something last minute for Christmas/New year or consider Saas Fee (especially if we can get a booking in the youth hostel).
Austria for Feb Half term (likely near Innsbruck), possibly stay in a budget hotel in Innsbruck at either end of the trip to break the journey.
France for easter (possibly Arc 1950)
Happy with any suggestions/thoughts please. |
If you’re going to Saas Fee, you may want to look into the Magic Pass if you like Switzerland. Crans Montana, Villars / Les Diablerets and Val d’Anniviers would be options for your half-term and Easter trips. It’s an annual pass so also good for Mountain biking in the Summer if you and your son are interested in 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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| BobinCH wrote: |
| If you’re going to Saas Fee, you may want to look into the Magic Pass if you like Switzerland. Crans Montana, Villars / Les Diablerets and Val d’Anniviers would be options for your half-term and Easter trips. It’s an annual pass so also good for Mountain biking in the Summer if you and your son are interested in that. |
Thanks, do you know if the Magic Pass is valid for summer skiing on the Saas Fee glacier?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Henwc wrote: |
| BobinCH wrote: |
| If you’re going to Saas Fee, you may want to look into the Magic Pass if you like Switzerland. Crans Montana, Villars / Les Diablerets and Val d’Anniviers would be options for your half-term and Easter trips. It’s an annual pass so also good for Mountain biking in the Summer if you and your son are interested in that. |
Thanks, do you know if the Magic Pass is valid for summer skiing on the Saas Fee glacier? |
It appears not but there is an option to add Easter 2024 onto a 24/25 pass for a €99 supplement
https://www.saas-fee.ch/en/magic-pass
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@BobinCH, Thanks, the summer skiing would be too good to be true, I think they try to keep mere mortals like me off the glacier in favour of the ski teams.
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I'd agree with the Dolomites in Feb HT comment. Especially if you focus your skiing away from the Sella Ronda. You'll find pistes are a lot quieter away from the main loop.
If you liked Austria, the Zillertal will tick pretty much all you boxes, especially if you're prepared to use buses/trains to access all the resorts along the valley. There's more skiing than you could get through in just 1 week here, and loads of decent stuff for intermediates.
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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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| swskier wrote: |
I'd agree with the Dolomites in Feb HT comment. Especially if you focus your skiing away from the Sella Ronda. You'll find pistes are a lot quieter away from the main loop.
If you liked Austria, the Zillertal will tick pretty much all you boxes, especially if you're prepared to use buses/trains to access all the resorts along the valley. There's more skiing than you could get through in just 1 week here, and loads of decent stuff for intermediates. |
Thanks, I do love Austria but my son's usually so tired he's falling asleep into his hot chocolate by the end of the day so I'll probably try to avoid the buses for his sake (I have edited the first post to clarify).
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@Henwc,
You haven't said how you'd be travelling.
A great resort for skiers with a non-skieris Zermatt - the lift system lends itself to pedestrians, including going over to Italy.
Early & late season go high. Half term avoid France.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I would say both Ischgl & Dolomites would be a good fit. Ischgl is more compact (no need for buses), is excellent for early or late season, has plenty of self service restaurants for quick lunches, not so good for self catering (mostly half board hotels) and the village is big on expensive apres. Dolies have stunning scenery, an almost unlimited amount of straight forward piste skiing, it is a big area though so sometimes the links etc need a good deal of planning and food always seems on the slow side. Both places pretty easy access from Innsbruck (Ischgl reasonably easy by public transport, main Sella Ronda spots less so, not sure about private transfers). Ischgl not really good for non skiers.
For Christmas, if you have the budget look at Lech, attractive snow sure spot with plenty to do if not skiing.
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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, I'll probably fly for anything not in France, train strikes are too much of a problem when travelling across multiple countries (I got hit by both a DB and SNCF strike on two trips this year and it cost me nearly 1k in total) also the 17h journey from Seefeld to the UK was a bit much in one day. Original post edited to reflect this.
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Having never been there, but seen reviews from people on here, perhaps Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis might be suitable?
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You know it makes sense.
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@munich_irish, Thanks, I was considering the Samnaun side of Ischgl, there are some very nice looking self catering options in the village. Although they would involve the flat section of the smugglers run to the cable car each morning.
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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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Have a look at Ski monterosa. Just come back from my 5th visit there. It's quiet even in half term. Here's my Feb half term trick to get 8 days skiing & keep costs down. Fly to Milan on Friday & back the following Sunday for the cheapest air fares & hire a car. Book friday night an hour from the resort in an airbnb & the following Saturday night somewhere near the Milan airport you're flying back from. Then book 7 nights in hotel or other resort accommodation. We stayed in Gressoney Saint Jean & drove 15 minutes up to the resort each morning. This would actually work really well for your tired son after skiing as we just left the skis in the car all week & parked near the lift & just outside our apartment at the end of the day.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@BenTisdall, Thanks for the tips, I'll take a look. I like the idea of bookending the week with budget accommodation close to the airport. That way we could make the most of being in resort for the 7 nights. Am I right in thinking Monterosa has amazing off piste (or am I muddling it up with somewhere else)?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Obergurgl/Hochgurgl - short-ish transfer from Innsbruck, high, lots of hotel options with Spa, reasonable size ski area.
La Daille area of Val D'Isere. La Tania in 3V. Both longer transfers but quieter, less busy places that access great ski areas.
On the smaller area side, and possibly a bit low, Wengen. Plenty of self-catering and hotel options.
On the pricier end - Lech. Superb skiing, especially for lots of intermediate runs, short-ish transfer from Innsbruck or two hours from Zurich. Went UK Feb half term this year and not busy at all. Think you'd want half board/catered though as the restaurants are expensive.
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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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@shortturns, Thanks!
Austria does look good re school holidays and I'l take a look at OBG/HG, a few others have also suggested Lech.
La Daille is interesting although I might save it until my son is a bit better and can handle the hidden valley route down to La Daille. TBH I'm not sure I'd want to be on the runs below La Folie Douce on the way home at 16:00.
I'll also take a look at Wengen although after Seefeld this year I'm keen to go a bit higher.
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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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Yes Monterosa is known for it's off piste and has a lift just for the freeride area. They had a big international competition when we were there which was great to watch.
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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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No problem.
Yeah, LD would probably be a download on the gondola at the end of the day considering the Folie Douced crowd!
Quieter places in the 3V might work well - La Tania, Mottaret, Courchevel 1550/1650 - but these might be too busy at peak times and are a longer transfer. Same for Zermatt (if you can find a place close to the lifts), although certainly a stand-out choice for non-skiers with the trains to the top.
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