 Poster: A snowHead
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I have always wanted to ski at Christmas, but don't know where to go to be assured of snow so early on in the season , and also where to find a 'Christmasy' resort where there is lots going on! I will be going with my partner and 2 teenage daughters, we are intermediate and would like a picturesque, but quite lively place with lots do to off the slopes. It will have to be Europe, as I can't afford US/Canada. Would be grateful of any advice.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Welcome to Snowheads 
In my view, Austria tends to do "Christmasy" quite well - I'd recommend somewhere like Zell am See. It has a pretty lakeside location and apart from the skiing on Zell am See slopes itself you have the snow insurance of being able to ski on the nearby glacier at Kaprun. In the days up to Christmas Eve there is a traditional Christmas market in the town square and on Christmas Eve the local brass band plays music from a balcony in the town square. There are quite a few well known apres ski bar location in Zell such as Crazy Daisy
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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 did Canada, but that was a bit of a non-event. Switzerland was much better, so doing that again this year 
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| Alastair Pink wrote: |
Welcome to Snowheads
In my view, Austria tends to do "Christmasy" quite well - I'd recommend somewhere like Zell am See. It has a pretty lakeside location and apart from the skiing on Zell am See slopes itself you have the snow insurance of being able to ski on the nearby glacier at Kaprun. In the days up to Christmas Eve there is a traditional Christmas market in the town square and on Christmas Eve the local brass band plays music from a balcony in the town square. There are quite a few well known apres ski bar location in Zell such as Crazy Daisy |
We're there for christmas this year.
Excitement app has been installed!
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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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How about Saint-Martin de Belleville in the Three Valleys, France - not massively lively but you can up to Les Menuires. Valloire, France is worth checking too, not massive apres-ski but not bad.
There are early booking offers and good prices around for the week of 22/12 to 29/12 - a few examples on our page below but plenty elsewhere too
http://www.peakretreats.co.uk/ski/christmas-new-year-skiing-deals.htm
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Not sure if I can help, because I always go away over Christmas to get away from the excessive "you must have turkey cos its Christmas" atmosphere in England. In continental Europe Christmas eve is the big event and Christmas day is just another day. New year's eve tends to be a much bigger event with consequently higher prices.
As to the resort. I have only been to Val d'Isere, St. Anton and Les Arcs over this period. Val d'Isere, largely because of the massive UK contingent, was much more like a English Christmas. St. Anton was just massive lift queues and Les Arcs suites me down to the ground, with small celebrations Christmas eve. One year I remember going out to collect my pre ordered piarade meat from the butchers to be greeted by White Christmas over the speakers, free vin chaud, a torchlight descent of the piste and gently falling snowflakes; beautiful. There was a midnight mass those who like that kind of thing.
The snow over Christmas over the 10 or so years I have been going has ranged from adequate to excellent.
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We did L2A a couple of years back for Christmas and they seemed to have a fair bit going on. Not a picture postcard resort, but I tend to look at the mountains rather than the buildings.
Not sure if other places do more though. I only have Cervinia to compare it to and there didn't seem to be a huge amount Christmassy going on - we went to midnight mass which was an interesting experience. I managed to pick out the words Nelson Mandella, Apartheid and Bambino, but that was it. Went on for a bit too 
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On johnE, point about lift queues. L2A had a reasonable queue to get out of the village in the morning, but fine everywhere else. Cervinia had no queues all week.
We're off to Arabba this Christmas.
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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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sallyjones5372@gmail.com, I've messaged you in case we can be of any help. Our studio apartment is available at Christmas.
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Dolomites at Christmas might be a bit chancy, hammerite, so good luck. But perhaps it will be better than last Christmas.
St Martin de Belleville is the lowest point of the 3 Valleys, so again it wouldn't be my choice for Christmas, though probably OK.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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javascript:emoticon('sallyjones5372@gmail.com,%20'), I too have just messaged you with some useful information. Thanks in advance.
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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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We've been to Selva past 2 Christmas's and had good piste cover all around Sella Ronda, Italians have magic snow cannons!!! and also LDA twice, and it is more Xmas eve in Europe that is celebrated, although hotel and chalets do put on a more traditional Christmas dinner, but there is nothing like skiing Xmas day.
We are back in Selva this Xmas !!
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Bartezki, yes, true. But we had an off piste holiday booked for early last January and had to cancel and go elsewhere because there wasn't enough snow (lost the flights and hotel deposits) - but the pistes don't need much snow anyway, being mostly grassy meadows.
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You know it makes sense.
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sallyjones5372@gmail.com, Try looking at the Inghams brochure, they are offering the Auffacherhof in Auffach this season at very good prices. It is at the top of the Wildschonau area and perfectly placed to enjoy the new link across to Alpbach. The village is really nice and will give you all the Christmassy atmosphere and feel you want.
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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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As has been suggested I would not look past Austria for a Christmas ski holiday. The week leading up to Christmas and often even up to 27th / 28th is a great time to ski with empty slopes. This year the hotels and slopes will fill up in Austria from Saturday 29th when the Germans arrive. Most of the Tyrolean resorts are fantastic at that time of year. Schladming is also very good with a Christmas market in the village centre. Lifts close at 2pm on Christmas Eve but are up and running on Christmas Day. We tend to get out and ski after the kids have opened presents, have a standard ski lunch on the mountain and then a nice dinner in the evening.
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Poster: A snowHead
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snowball - We went to LDA specifically to have snow sure skiing and were limited to the nursery slopes for 3 out of the 6 days because of high winds, and later in the week it rained, so more like spring conditions, like the famous poet says, 'you pay your money, you take your chances'.
Next best thing to skiing Xmas day is sitting in the mountains with a bombardino!!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Bartezki, Bad luck despite good strategy! The fact that you've had good snow cover in the Sella Ronds for the last two Xmases but rain in LDA shows what a lottery it is, particularly if you've only got 6 days and can't afford to go along with the philosophical view often expressed by the locals, that 'a bit of rain helps to form a good base' and is usually a very temporary precursor to a good dump of snow, as the temperatures drop.
downhillalltheway, Agree with you 100%! After 6 consecutive Xmases in Austria, I can't imagine spending it anywhere else, and skiing the powder under a blue sky has to be the ultimate way of spending Xmas Day!
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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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Not to highjack the thread, but how is Zermatt at Christmas? Already booked for Christmas week, Dec 21st to Dec. 29th. Had thought about Austria but liked the idea of a high, snow sure resort.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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've done Christmas in Chatel (2), La Plagne(3), val d'isere, Menuires (3), Alpe d'Huez (5), Courchevel, La Tania(2), Serre Chevalier, mottaret, kitzbuhel
There are two things to consider: First Christmassyness, well I suppose people are right, the austrians do it well, but only "Weihnachtsabend" where its wall to wall "oh tannenbaum" on the radio. But, as you can see by the number of visits, Alpe d'Huez is pretty good! Usually pere noel arrives on christmas eve on a parapente and great fireworks and some kind of do on at the icerink (one year it was fireeating stilt walkers, on an icerink, I ask you....) and vin chaud with substanital amounts of grand marnier one year, and chickens roasting over a wood fire from that shop oposite (to be honest they do that every day....), and its usually very snowy etc etc. Generally France has been pretty good, val d'isere wasn't great with the fireworks on christmas day - yukkily british. Serre chevalier did NOTHING at all - totally dead. Most of the above were self catering appartments so a christmas tree is bought and lights and decorations come with us so our bit is always very nice.
2nd thing to consider: Snowyness, All of the above were fine apart from Chatel which was totally green and didnt improve, so I won't do that again. Menuires one year was just a strip of artificial at the bottom when we arrived, but that improved through the time (most trips were 2 weeks christmas and new year). One year we arrived at Alpe d'huez with just green fields down bergerre, went for a long french lunch to console ourselves, it started snowing while we were in.... and stopped on tuesday. So, trois vallees in particular (Also ADH, and Plagne) the snow has usually been adequate or much better.
So you don't need to go to Austria to do Christmas properly, out of all of them I rate AdH the best.
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I think that wherever you go, Christmas is sooooooooooooooooo much more bearable out in a ski resort, than at home, especially given that most Brits idea of Christmas is to watch wall to wall telly whilst eating and drinking way too much.
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I was in Zell am See for Christmas about 15 years ago, had a great time, kids loved it, but the run into the village was closed due to insufficient snow.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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andyrew,
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the austrians do it well, but only "Weihnachtsabend" where its wall to wall "oh tannenbaum" on the radio
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We've also had wall to wall snow for the last 6 Christmases (perhaps I'd better touch wood before I click 'Submit'!). (I can't speak for before then, since 2006 was our first Christmas abroad.)
We've also appreciated the other Christmassy things that the Austrians go in for, such as the Christkindlmarkt in the village square, Christmas brass band and carol concerts, the ceremonial lighting of the Christmas tree (covered in sparklers) to the strains of "Stille Nacht" and a visit from "St Nicholas" in our favourite restaurant, sipping gluewein round hot braziers in the village street, Midnight Mass in the ancient, onion-domed village church, and generally marvelling at the sheer 'Christmas card' prettiness of it all - the snowy village and all the Christmas trees bedecked in fairy-lights, etc.
Caveat: it does help to be a bit of an old romantic! There are even those who have been known to stick "The Sound of Music" on the tele for the umpteenth time when it's snowing outside, or to delay skiing on New Year's Day to watch the traditional New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. I suspect that at Christmas such people should stay away from Les Menuires, with or without "a strip of artificial"!
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I would probably go to Zermatt - pretty resort, the Matterhorn, snow sure, plenty to do, excellent hotels (recommend the Hotel Beau Site). Val d'Isere is also a great option in my opinion. I haven't done any holidays in Austria but I can imagine that near Innsbruck would be nice!
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FAQ
. Personally I'd say Austria, Mayrhofen has lots to offer.
