Skiing - Anywhere but the Alps
Skiing - Anywhere but the Alps
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sidekickdmr

Original Poster:

5,176 posts

224 months

Monday 13th October
quotequote all
I have, for the last 10 years been skiing probably 6-7 times, and every single time been to the Alps.

Avoriaz x2

Morzine x2

Tignes

Flaine

Val-d'Isère

LOVED them, they are all great resorts, with great mountains and would go back in a heartbeat, HOWEVER, it would be very narrow minded of me to only go there, when there is a whole world out there.

So, Japan is on my list, as is Canada, but thats a bigger trip when the kids are older.

This season, where, for reasonable money and under a 3 hour flight, can we go, that compared to the above resorts in the French alps, wont disappoint, and may even be better? I'm thinking somewhere that distinguishes its self from the French alps food and architecture wise.

Ta muchly smile

Lotobear

8,227 posts

146 months

Monday 13th October
quotequote all
Austria

Suspicious_user

4,033 posts

211 months

Monday 13th October
quotequote all
Lotobear said:
Austria
Yup, I've no idea why people go to France to ski when you can easily get to Austria. (well I do know, it's proximity to England.)

We did Whistler in 2020 - but it's much more expensive now.

TCEvo

14,444 posts

220 months

Monday 13th October
quotequote all
Also Austria.

sidekickdmr

Original Poster:

5,176 posts

224 months

Monday 13th October
quotequote all
Thanks guys, always fancied Austria,

Knowing nothing about it, whats the top 3 resorts/areas?

Not too posh/spendy, but good atmosphere, mix of slopes, restaurants etc

shocks

799 posts

182 months

Monday 13th October
quotequote all
Saalbach for the variety, personal favourite in Austria

St Anton, Solden or Ischgl for the Apres - also reasonable skiing


renmure

4,711 posts

242 months

Monday 13th October
quotequote all
Austria must be the prettiest place to ski with all the tree lined runs but there is a risk of having a slightly drizzly hill walking holiday by accident.

haggi

869 posts

231 months

Monday 13th October
quotequote all
shocks said:
Saalbach for the variety, personal favourite in Austria

St Anton, Solden or Ischgl for the Apres - also reasonable skiing
Saalbach is wonderful, i had two of the best weeks of my skiing life there, we stayed in Hinterglemm which is the next village up and is nice and compact, it’s one of the best connected resorts I’ve been to.

chip*

1,465 posts

246 months

Monday 13th October
quotequote all
No longer snowboard anymore, but we followed the crowd and went to France in the early years, then we tried out Austria and never went back to France ever again.

shocks said:
Saalbach for the variety, personal favourite in Austria

St Anton, Solden or Ischgl for the Apres - also reasonable skiing
All these are great resorts with Solden as one of my favourite + apres ski to match.

Also worth checking out Schladming, not a popular resort with the Brits but a vast area to ski/board (you can ski the same piste as the professional skiers in the infamous World Cup night race).



Edited by chip* on Monday 13th October 23:06

Shooter McGavin

8,416 posts

162 months

Monday 13th October
quotequote all
I’ve had a great time in St Anton (x2) and Mayrhofen.

What about Italy? The Sella Ronda is great when conditions are good. We had an awesome trip based in Selva Gardena.

shirt

24,665 posts

219 months

Monday 13th October
quotequote all
I’d also say sella ronda. With the dolomiti superski pass you can access kronplatz if the conditions force you to higher altitude.

The dolomites are certainly very different scenery (check out the hidden valley if you don’t know of it) some novelty in the sella ronda routes, and a more relaxed vibe. I can give some decent food options from high end to proper country cooking.

Kwackersaki

1,572 posts

246 months

Tuesday 14th October
quotequote all
haggi said:
shocks said:
Saalbach for the variety, personal favourite in Austria

St Anton, Solden or Ischgl for the Apres - also reasonable skiing
Saalbach is wonderful, i had two of the best weeks of my skiing life there, we stayed in Hinterglemm which is the next village up and is nice and compact, it s one of the best connected resorts I ve been to.
Definitely Saalbach and Hiinterglemm. We’ve done both and the variety of skiing is excellent. They have also linked up to another couple of resorts.

If you go, try the highest brewery in Austria the Asitzbrau. Well worth a visit.

I looked to go next year but it’s very expensive.

Lotobear

8,227 posts

146 months

Tuesday 14th October
quotequote all
renmure said:
Austria must be the prettiest place to ski with all the tree lined runs but there is a risk of having a slightly drizzly hill walking holiday by accident.
True, but that risk also exists in may French resorts these days. France does have more snow sure resorts but for me the high ones feel so manufactured and, despite their reputation for gastonomy, I find the food and service so much better in Austria and the resorts so much prettier and authentic.

//j17

4,797 posts

241 months

Tuesday 14th October
quotequote all
As other have said France != The Alps.

With massive generalizations:

France has:
- Easier 'drive to ski' access.
- 'Current' generation chair infrastructure.
- Big, mountain top, ski in/out resorts.
- Chalets
- Some very good food - but also a lot of at best average food for wallet rinsing prices.
- Apres ski that is split 'glass of wine off the mountain'/nothing/out from 10pm till 6am then missing half the following day skiing.

Switzerland (from my experience limited to skiing there from other countries) has:
- Similar to France but with slightly older lifts.
- And much higher prices.
- Never tried apres so can't comment.

Austria has:
- Next generation lift infrastructure.
- More valley village based resorts with daily gondola up/downloads.
- Hotels/B&Bs/2 bedroom rental apartments.
- Fecking Austrian twin beds.
- Good, if heavy, but reasonable priced food and drink.
- Apres that runs 3pm till 7pm, then food, then bed, then breakfast and first lift in the morning.

Italy has:
- Last generation lists.
- More valley based resorts.
- Certainly hotels/B&Bs (never needed to look at others).
- Consistently good food for dirt cheap prices.
- Coffee that even as a tea drinker I enjoy drinking - and for about €3, even on the top of the hill.
- I'm told there's apres but can't say I've ever found it.


And of course there is skiing outside the Alps but:
- Generally takes a lot longer/costs a lot more to get there meaning 6 days skiing isn't just 5 days off work. US/Canada is probably +2 days and Japan +3 (timezones mean flying out is take off one day/land the next) - but if you're going that far/spending that much you're probably looking at electing for even more days.
- Or there's scandinavia - where your hours of daylight can be much shorter depending on when/where you go. Also not known for the length of its runs.
- Or Spain/Eastern Europe - but not in a position to comment.

chip*

1,465 posts

246 months

Tuesday 14th October
quotequote all
//j17 said:
Austria has:
- Next generation lift infrastructure.
- More valley village based resorts with daily gondola up/downloads.
- Hotels/B&Bs/2 bedroom rental apartments.
- Fecking Austrian twin beds.
- Good, if heavy, but reasonable priced food and drink.
- Apres that runs 3pm till 7pm, then food, then bed, then breakfast and first lift in the morning.
+
Austrian hotel restaurant is usually staffed by local chef/cook, unlike the 18 year old "cook" who is out in a gap year as found in the French chalets. From experience, the French chalets food was variable at best, and I still remember that occasion where boiled egg was classed as a cooked breakfast! WTF!!

On 4* and above hotels, you will find hotels are kitted out with wellness facilities e.g. swimming pool (some linked pool indoor and outdoor) and the infamous saunas hehe

Agree on the Austrian twin bed, but at least the hotel rooms are ensuite with proper cupboard, maybe balcony and storage space.


Shooter McGavin

8,416 posts

162 months

Tuesday 14th October
quotequote all
One caveat with your "somewhere other than France" is that most of the places you've been so far OP have been at a decent elevation so are pretty snow sure.

Austria is (generally speaking) lower altitudes so if we have a poor season snow-wise, they can suffer.

The link below is just from a search on 'Snow Sure Austria' - of course there can be no guarantees.

https://www.skisolutions.com/blog/snow-sure-ski-re...

Note it mentions Lech and Zurs. They are both fabulous, but included on the St Anton am Arlberg lift pass. It's been a while since I was there but yes, last time we were in St Anton we actually spent most of our time over in Lech and Zurs as both were excellent for us as a bunch of intermediates.

Heated chairlift seats in Zurs too! https://www.skiarlberg.at/en/Lech-Oberlech-Zuers/S...

Lotobear

8,227 posts

146 months

Tuesday 14th October
quotequote all
Shooter McGavin said:
One caveat with your "somewhere other than France" is that most of the places you've been so far OP have been at a decent elevation so are pretty snow sure.

Austria is (generally speaking) lower altitudes so if we have a poor season snow-wise, they can suffer.

The link below is just from a search on 'Snow Sure Austria' - of course there can be no guarantees.

https://www.skisolutions.com/blog/snow-sure-ski-re...

Note it mentions Lech and Zurs. They are both fabulous, but included on the St Anton am Arlberg lift pass. It's been a while since I was there but yes, last time we were in St Anton we actually spent most of our time over in Lech and Zurs as both were excellent for us as a bunch of intermediates.

Heated chairlift seats in Zurs too! https://www.skiarlberg.at/en/Lech-Oberlech-Zuers/S...
Agreed, just make sure you're not back too late to get across to SA - the queues back over at the end of the day can be brutal

shirt

24,665 posts

219 months

Tuesday 14th October
quotequote all
//j17 said:
Italy has:
- Last generation lists.
- More valley based resorts.
- Certainly hotels/B&Bs (never needed to look at others).
- Consistently good food for dirt cheap prices.
- Coffee that even as a tea drinker I enjoy drinking - and for about 3, even on the top of the hill.
- I'm told there's apres but can't say I've ever found it.
- smaller queue's for the lifts
- excellent snowmaking facilities
- bombardino's

for apres it seems to shift about as pistes can be accessed from multiple valleys. first trip our stay was pretty low key which tbh suited us fine. second time we got on extremely well with the instructors who would let us know what was going on and where. often last minute and requiring to book a snow cat, but had some great nights.


Shooter McGavin

8,416 posts

162 months

Tuesday 14th October
quotequote all
Lotobear said:
Shooter McGavin said:
One caveat with your "somewhere other than France" is that most of the places you've been so far OP have been at a decent elevation so are pretty snow sure.

Austria is (generally speaking) lower altitudes so if we have a poor season snow-wise, they can suffer.

The link below is just from a search on 'Snow Sure Austria' - of course there can be no guarantees.

https://www.skisolutions.com/blog/snow-sure-ski-re...

Note it mentions Lech and Zurs. They are both fabulous, but included on the St Anton am Arlberg lift pass. It's been a while since I was there but yes, last time we were in St Anton we actually spent most of our time over in Lech and Zurs as both were excellent for us as a bunch of intermediates.

Heated chairlift seats in Zurs too! https://www.skiarlberg.at/en/Lech-Oberlech-Zuers/S...
Agreed, just make sure you're not back too late to get across to SA - the queues back over at the end of the day can be brutal
We were in a group of 8 so took the option of "contributing to affable Austrian Mercedes minivan taxi driver's pension fund", which wasn't too painful once we'd had a few Gösser beers then split the taxi bill 8 ways! hehe

They were great times for me - single and child free. I daren't even look at how much a similar family trip in school holidays would be!

Dixy

3,362 posts

223 months

Tuesday 14th October
quotequote all
Lotobear said:
Shooter McGavin said:
One caveat with your "somewhere other than France" is that most of the places you've been so far OP have been at a decent elevation so are pretty snow sure.

Austria is (generally speaking) lower altitudes so if we have a poor season snow-wise, they can suffer.

The link below is just from a search on 'Snow Sure Austria' - of course there can be no guarantees.

https://www.skisolutions.com/blog/snow-sure-ski-re...

Note it mentions Lech and Zurs. They are both fabulous, but included on the St Anton am Arlberg lift pass. It's been a while since I was there but yes, last time we were in St Anton we actually spent most of our time over in Lech and Zurs as both were excellent for us as a bunch of intermediates.

Heated chairlift seats in Zurs too! https://www.skiarlberg.at/en/Lech-Oberlech-Zuers/S...
Agreed, just make sure you're not back too late to get across to SA - the queues back over at the end of the day can be brutal
I have skied in Zurs for over 20 years, it is not cheap. If you go to Warth at the opposite end from St Anton it is all connected and far more reasonably priced.