 Poster: A snowHead
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Italy
Cervinia
Parking
I stayed in Zermatt youth hostel when I skied the Cervinia area. The parking in Cervinia was ample and full of campervans. I spotted this when I skied over there. You do not need your passport to enter Italy if you ski over!
Skiing
The Cervinia side tended to be more windswept, meaning that the pistes were often bare in places. This is the sunny side of the Matterhorn, and so that would also make sense as to why the snow does not last as long as on the other side (although there are plenty sunny areas in the Zermatt side. I do not recall any particularly difficult challenges on the Cervinia side.
Anything else
It is cheaper to eat on the Cervinia side of the Matterhorn at lunchtime.
Sauze d'Oulx
I went to Sauze d'Oulx on my own with a tour operator in February 2002 for a week. I also drove there, parked and decided not to stay.
Parking
The parking in Sauze d'Oulx was not particularly campervan friendly. Every parking spot was on a steep incline. The whole resort was on a steep incline right up to the pistes. There were free parking places where the buses stop, but I decided it was not worth it even though the weather was good. (I had skied there before and knew the terrain)
Skiing
Even in 2002 I found the skiing fairly limiting and to be frank, just dull. The reds were more like blues, and the blacks just were not there in any quantity. There were one or two bright spots in Sestriere, which proved a little bit more taxing, but I never really found any areas of interest. Luckily the tour operators, and resort, organised a ski slalom competition for amateurs. This was new to me, and demonstrated that skiing in and out of tight corners in hard ice rutted banks, is actually a lot harder than it looks on TV. It was hard to balance the speed and control. I erred on the control side, and so did not produce a particularly speedy attempt. If I had done it a second time, it would have been a lot faster.
Nightlife
A good selection of live music, disco/bars, restaurants, sports bars, etc. Plenty to keep you busy in the evenings. The apres-ski is lively here.
Eating out
I ate out every night during a week. I mainly consumed pasta, pizza, wine and beer. Good food, good prices, and the service was always friendly and prompt wherever I went.
Anything else
This is a very good choice resort to go to as a solo skier with a tour operator. It was fairly good value too as there was no single room supplement with Nielson when I booked.
Sestriere
Parking
I drove to Sestriere and parked in the day parking area. There were lots of anti-campervan signs, and a general feeling that they were not welcome in this resort. I got the message that Italy really does not like campervans. So I turned back after lunch, and went back to France where it was slightly more inclusive.
Skiing
There was no day tickets, or afternoon tickets on sale in Sestriere. You had to buy two days minimum, and so that was another reason why I decided to pass, as I knew the skiing was not going to blow my mind.
Switzerland
Crans Montana
Parking
I hid in a covered parking area, and paid for an overnight ticket. The weather was bad when I was there.
Skiing
I did not ski here, due to the weather. I had a look around the resort, and had a cup of coffee and cake in a nice coffeehouse.
Davos and Klosters
Parking
There is plenty of parking in Davos, and it is mostly free. This was my first stop after skiing in St Anton. I stayed in Davos overnight, as I was getting tired driving and the previous night crossing over from Austria I had to park in a lay by and sit out a bad storm overnight. The place I stopped that night was quite high up in the Austria/ Switzerland pass not far from Davos.
Skiing
I did not ski here, as there was very little open in the way of lifts, and the weather was not too good.
Nightlife
I have no idea. I was too tired.
Eating in
I would have had some tinned curry with dried toast. Perhaps topped up with some grated cheese from the supermarket. I did have breakfast in McDonalds in Davos the next day. I did that quite a lot, especially in France where it was only 2 euros for a very substantial breakfast.
Anything else
Davos was pretty uninspiring as a place to wander about. I went to a large open-air ice-rink, which looked like it would be fun if it was being used. It was totally empty! I did not go near Klosters, as I would only have gone there if I purchased a ski ticket.
Saas Fe
Parking
There is covered parking just before you arrive at the "car free" resort of Saas Fe. The charge was not too great for me to avoid it for one night only.
Skiing
I did not ski here, as the skiing looked limited for me.
Nightlife
I just slept in the van that night. The place did not tempt me out.
Anything else
Another Swiss resort with all electric cars in resort. Very family friendly, not that suitable for campervaners and single males out on a stag do.
St Moritz
Parking
The parking was kind of expensive in this resort. I headed for the Youth Hostel where there was free parking. The youth hostel was well away from the main resort, and the parking was level. I had a cup of coffee in the youth hostel, and asked about rooms but in the end spent the night in the van (you had to have a meal and there may have been a minimum of 5 days with a booking)
Skiing
I skied in St Moritz all day. It was a blue-sky day, and the snow was in perfect condition. I never really encountered much challenging skiing, but I did feel tired at the end of the day from covering as much as the area as I could in one day. I only skied in the Piz Nair area, and so it was fairly easy to do it all in a day (all that was open).
Nightlife
I did go out in St Moritz in the evening, I was just window shopping though. I did not even try the casinos. Nightlife is more suited to couples with a lot of money to waste than skiers who have nearly killed themselves during the day letting off excess adrenaline.
Anything else
It was kind of expensive in the on piste self service restaurants. There is a general feeling of calm and peace in St Mortitz, which is perhaps suited to the motorway intermediate pistes available. A good place to relax if money is no object.
Verbier
Parking
Parking is free and ample in Verbier behind the sports centre. Also you can access the Verbier lift system from free parking well below resort level at Le Chable (you do not need to drive into resort to ski there).
Skiing
Verbier is one of the places I have skied, and keep returning to. It challenges me, and when I have left, there is still more I have not done yet. So I have skied there several times over a few years. (All on blue sky days when the snow coverage and lifts were great) My favourite routes were the dotted lines on the TimeOut magazine piste map, and yellow routes on the piste map. These are unpisted areas, which allow you to get to Tortin and so over to the whole of the Verbier skiable area.
Nightlife
I went out in Verbier a few times and sampled a disco, some apres-ski bars, an Indian restaurant, and watched some rugby in a large out of town ski hostel bar. It has a lot of life in it, but for some reason I still felt like an outsider. Perhaps it is the Germanic language, or the Swiss formality.
Eating in
There was ample supermarket food to eat in with. Lots of fresh and cheap food to supplement my diet of tinned food and pasta. I had some memorable meals there in the back of a van.
Anything else
There is a large sports centre, with a huge ice rink there where they play ice hockey in the evenings sometimes. I watched a game one evening, and found it fairly entertaining. It is quite a physical game, and so it gets the audience pumped up.
Zermatt
Parking
The parking for Zermatt is in a small village a 15-minute train journey away from Zermatt. There is a choice between a large covered car park right next to the train station, or many small car parks in the open. (Or the large overflow car park before you reach the covered car park by the station)
The prices charged per night make the eyes water, especially if you know you will not be sleeping in your van and instead staying in a youth hostel. (Paying for accommodation twice is painful)
However, I did manage to get one night’s sleep in the covered car park before I took the train up to Zermatt. This allowed me to get into resort, book into the hostel, and have a full day skiing by catching the first train in the morning.
Skiing
I skied in Zermatt once on a day trip one year, and then I also booked 5 nights over Christmas 2005. There was 5 great days for skiing luckily over that Xmas. I pretty much skied all that was open in those 5 days. The most challenging stuff was down from the Gornergrat if it was open. Quite often the lifts would not be open there, and I would end up doing the same runs over and over again.
The powder skiing on the glacier in the sunshine on Xmas was a memory I will savour for a long time. The cafeteria food is expensive, but very good quality. I mostly ate soup!
Nightlife
I was there 5 nights and I never went out to nightclubs or bars. I stayed in the youth hostel, and wandered around town. I went to the Church on Christmas Eve, and marvelled at the extravagant building. I may have had a beer or two at the youth hostel with dinner.
Eating in
The youth hostel provides breakfast and a main meal included in the price. The food is very basic, but better than I was able to produce in the van.
Anything else
The supermarkets in Zermatt are large, and contain a great selection of fresh foods for lunch.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Me doing the amateur slalom race in Sauze D'Oulx (2002).
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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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FAQ
