Target The Resort
If you want to go to the best resort, stay in the best hotel right next to the lifts, and go out nightclubbing every night, then you will have to pay top prices.
There are plenty of books, magazines and websites that will assist you in your choice.
This is not the website for you.
As an advanced skier you will obviously need a resort with plenty of red and black pistes and possibly some off piste tracks too.
This doesn't mean that it has to be expensive. What it does mean is that you have to be selective in what you want from your holiday.
Question:- Are you there just to ski? or is the apres ski just as important for you?
Question:- Do you need doorstep skiing? or are you willing to take a free ski-bus to the lifts?
Question:- Does the resort need to have all amenities? or will a small village do?
Question:- Is your group of mixed abilities?
or can you choose a resort with mainly black pistes?
Possible Answers to these questions below.
Are you there just to ski? or is the apres ski just as important for you?
If you are only interested in the skiing (and maybe the occasional beer!) then you can choose a resort with maybe just one bar and maybe a bar in the hotel too! To keep it even cheaper if you have gone self catering, your whole week's drinks could be bought from the supermarket and consumed in your apartment. To keep it even cheaper, if you have driven there you could buy your drinks from the cheap 'duty free' supermarkets in Calais!
If you want the nightlife with dozens of bars and plenty of disco's, etc. Then expect the holiday to be much more expensive.
Do you need doorstep skiing?or are you willing to take a ski-bus to the lifts?
The most expensive accomodation is right next to the lifts (or in the centre for nightlife)
Choose accomodation well away from these and prices tumble. The majority of resorts run a free ski-bus service, so this will cost nothing except maybe having to take breakfast half an hour earlier!
Sometimes you can get doorstep skiing and keep it cheap! Several years ago I skied in Austria and my hotel was near the top of the mountain - I could ski DOWN to anywhere from my hotel door. The only problem was that apart from the hotel and a few farm houses there was nothing else in the resort. We had to take the cable car down to Zell am Zee for nightlife - and the last one came back at 9 pm !!!
One of the best HOLIDAYS that I had been on was skiing in Soll in Austria - but staying in a little village round the corner called Itter. We had to take a half hour free bus journey in everyday (FORTUNATELY it left from directly outside our hotel and stopped right outside the lift station- most skiers IN Soll had to spend the same amount of time walking to the lifts !!!).
We purchased the Grossraum ski pass which covered two valleys and one day skied from the last village; Going, down into Ellmau, then into Scheffau, then into Soll and finally back to our hotel in Itter. The intention had been to keep going down the second valley into Hopfgarten, Westerndorf and finally Kitzbuhel, but one of our group was a bit inexperienced and held us up. We put him on the ski bus back to the hotel after his 15th tumble !!! - He hadn't even made Ellmau!!!
Does the resort need to have all amenities? or will a small village do?
I think I answered this one above, but to add further illustration.
Some of the best SKIING that I've ever done was in Colle di Tenda, Italy. From the top of the mountain we could ski down into Limone (France) and Limonetto. We also took a day off to take an hour and a half bus ride into Monte Carlo!
The variety of pistes and the snow conditions in Colle were superb, but the hotel was a good 15 minute walk to the lifts. As far as I can remember, there was only two (or three) hotels in the resort, a restaurant, a sports shop. and the Customs post! We were high up on the mountain. It was bleak. But it was cheap! AND the skiing was fantastic!
Is your group of mixed abilities? Or can you choose a resort with mainly black pistes?
The majority of resorts cater for skiers of mixed abilities, but because of this it means they have to have more lifts and more pistes. The lift pass (and often the acccomodation) is therefore much more expensive.
If your party is all experienced skiers then go for a smaller resort with mainly black and red pistes and less lifts and the lift pass will be comparatively cheaper.
However, if your party is mainly beginners and improvers then picking a resort with no (or few) blacks and reds will also keep the price down.
So, you are left with a difficult choice; do you restrict the trip to only experienced skiers, or do you go for a more expensive lift pass and include novices in the party.
WELL, this could still work out just as, or more, inexpensive, because what you lose on lift pass you could gain by having cheaper accomodation costs. For example, you could now be filling a ten bed chalet instead of accommodating only eight and splitting the full cost proportionately.
For more information choose 'Resorts' from the top menu bar and see how the authors and other contributors rate the European resorts that they have visited.
Footnote: Accurate reports on snow conditions which are regularly updated can be found on the Ski Club of Great Britain's website !
Your comments would be appreciated, good or bad, on any resorts, accomodation or skiing in general. It is intended at the end of the season to award two prizes to contributors - for the best contribution and one randomly chosen contribution. The value of the prizes will be announced later and obviously depends on the success of this site.