Wanna ski in Europe, but have no idea where to go? Even though there are plenty of good ski resorts in Europe, few of them are absolute pearls. This short article introduces three awesome ski resorts in Europe.

Wengen, Switzerland

Few years ago I went mountain biking with my mate in Wengen. He had been working in Wengen, and I asked if we could ride some trails together. Oh boy, it was great! I really enjoyed that week, but I also noticed that Wengen must be a good ski resort as well. I thought I MUST come back in winter.

One of the best races of Alpine World Cup is skied in Wengen. If you feel like you have seen enough crowded ski resrots, such as Meribel and St. Anton, check out Wengen. It’s not a luxorious ski resort, but it provides probably one of the most spectacular mountain views in Europe. Wengen is a car free village, which makes it pretty quiet and peaceful. The village is located high and it provides awesome views to the well-known mountain peaks of Jungfrau and Eiger. Wengen provides pistes from very easy to extremely challenging, but mostly Wengen is easy to ski. In the walking street of Wengen, which is located in 3440 meters, you can buy all the usual stuff, such as clothing, Swiss cheese and chocolate. In the evenings you can go curling, ice-skating or enjoy fondue in lovely restaurants.

Andorra

In the mountains of Pyrenes there is a little country called Andorra. Surrounded by Spain, Andorra is located in the mountainside, close to Barcelona. As the two biggest ski resorts of Andorra, Pas de la Casa and Soldeu, Grand Valira with 193 kilometers of pistes was born. More than 100 million euros were used to build ski industry in Andorra, and it can be seen in the high quality supply. If you are interested in mixing skiing and beach, Andorra is a great place to go. Think about spending first five nights skiing in Andorra, and then two nights enjoying the beach and ocean in Barcelona. How cool is that?

La Grave, France

In case you are fed up with the every day hassle in big ski resorts, and you would like to enjoy the backcountry day after day, you should really visit La Grave in France. About ten years ago many of my friends used to spend seasons in Chamonix, but soon they got sick and tired with the crowded lifts, pistes and even off-pistes. It was not anymore fun to fight for powder. If there was new snow in Chamonix, mornings turned to nightmare. If you missed the first cabin, you missed the powder. Only one chance.

Some of our friends discovered the tiny La Grave ski resort. Soon we heard stories like “there is no hurry in La Grave” or “in La Grave you can find powder days after the last blizzard“. Those stories were true. There was no hurry in La Grave because it was not as popular as Chamonix. If you are interested in skiing the backcountry, and you are looking for the best places to ski in Europe, go to La Grave. All the stars (like the late Doug Coombs) are there, why not you?