When I was looking over this blog recently, it occurred to me that while we’d mentioned and recommended various ski holidays in resorts around Europe, from France to Switzerland, that we’d overlooked Andorra. Internationally recognised as one of the best value ski holiday destinations available, Andorra is just about hidden on the border between France and Spain, this tiny principality is also a tourist and tax haven. is rarely mentioned in the international travel media, and instead caters to some more specialist tourism markets, namely skiing.

How to Get There

Dwarfed by its more well-known neighbours, Andorra is probably one of the most difficult holiday destinations to get to in Europe. As there is no airport in Andorra, many visitors fly into the either Toulouse airport or Barcelona airport, and then embark on a three hour car journey, or opt to take a helicopter ride to Andorra, which can hold up to four people, and will take around 35 minutes. Another option is to take a train to either L’Hospitalet station in France, which stops 1.85 miles from the Andorran border or Spain’s Puigcerdà station, which stops 50 miles away and then take a care direct from the station to Andorra.

So Why Go?

Skiing holidays in Andorra offer an eclectic range of resorts and activities for people of all ages and abilities. Andorra’s most famous ski resort is Arinsal, a mountain village which is located at a height of 1550 metres, with the top of slopes at 2560 metres. Located on Vallnord, a ski and snowboarding resort in the Pyrenees mountains, Arinsal is linked to the nearby Pal resort by a cable car that can hold up to 50 people. Boasting a 63km ski area, 31 lifts, a varying number of slopes, including five green, sixteen blue, sixteen red and five black slopes, Arinsal can accommodate a great number of skiers, and is particularly suitable for families and groups, including intermediate and beginner skiers.

But What About Apres Ski?

Andorra, and Arinsal in particular, are just as well known for their off slope activities as they are for their on slope sports. Arinsal has an excellent amount of lively and family friendly bars, restaurants and shops to keep you busy after a hard day’s work off-piste. Several of the village’s best shops, which sell ski and snowboarding accessories and clothing, as well as several others, can be found at the top of the gondola, which is located at the base of the slopes.

Arinsal’s nightlife is also worth noting, as its bars are noted for being loud, busy and very lively. Earlier this year, the town was the venue of The Big Snow Festival, a week long musical extravaganza, organised by the people behind The Big Reunion. The festival, which is the first of its kind in Arinsal, was a huge success, and the line-up for 2011’s festival, which will take place from March the 13th-20th, includes Tim Westwood, Judge Jules and Example. With more acts still to be announced, and a St Patrick’s Day party being advertised as the event’s big theme, Arinsal could just be the place to ski next year.

Boasting more than 6000 ski runs over 25,000 hectares, France is home to the largest ski areas in the world. The high altitude resorts enjoy excellent snow conditions, some of them even offer a “snow guarantee”. A number of ski areas are open from late November until early May.

The French Tourism Ministry has awarded the “Famille Plus Montagne” label to ski resorts that make an extra special effort to welcome families with children, in terms of services and infrastructure, activities and entertainments, child care and much more.  All the following seven family ski resorts have been awarded the Famille Plus Montagne label.

This article is not an in-depth review such as Krippenstein ski resort review, but a general introduction to the seven best family ski resorts in France. And yeah, this is only our opinion. If you disagree or think differently, please tell us your opinion by leaving a comment.

Family Ski Resort #1 – La Clusaz

La Clusaz has developed over the years, whilst still retaining the charm of an authentic mountain village. Respectful of its traditions, yet forward thinking, La Clusaz has built a reputation for itself that is very different to that of the other French ski resorts. Home to eight world champions and talented freestylers, with its fabulous 400 hectare ski area, a large variety of runs and vertical drops, La Clusaz is undoubtedly the ski resort of all snow sports.

La Clusaz is just 4 hours from Paris by TGV high speed train and 1 hour from Geneva. La Clusaz is an active ski resort with their around 200 free snow sport, sporting and cultural events and activities throughout the winter. As a new thing La Clusaz is going to introduce bowling on ice this season. Set at the heart of La Clusaz, the ice rink covers more than 1000 m2 of ice.

La Clusaz information

Access from airport (Annecy-Meythet): 36 km

Access from railway station (Annecy): 32 km

Heights: 1100 m – 2600 m

Number of ski lifts: 56

Number of slopes: 84 (132 km): 7 black, 24 red, 29 blue, 24 green

Cross country skiing: 84 km

Ski passes: 30 euros / day, 158 euros / 6 days

Linked ski area: Les Aravis (220 km of slopes)

Web: www.laclusaz.com

Family Ski Resort #2 – La Rosière

In the heart of the Haute-Tarentaise, at 1850 meters above the sea level, on a “balcony” facing to South, La Rosière is a friendly family ski resort built respecting mountain architectural traditions. Linked with La Thuile in Italy, it is the only Savoyard ski resort to offer an international ski area of 150 km pisted runs. With the label “Famille Plus Montagne” La Rosière offers a large choice of after ski activities and entertaining nights to spend with family.

La Rosière has several themed weeks, such as Christmas, local produce, air, retro, well-being, the mountains and children. There are also many new snow sports activities in La Rosière, such as snowkites, speed riding, snowpark, boarder cross and snow cross.

La Rosiere information

Access from airport (Lyon St Exupéry): 210 km

Access from railway station (Aime): 23 km

Heights: 1860 m – 2650 m

Number of ski lifts: 37

Number of slopes: 73 (150 km): 12 black, 32 red, 23 blue, 6 green

Ski passes: 36,6 euros / day, 171,9 euros / 6 days

Web: www.larosiere.net

Family Ski Resort #3 – Les Arcs

Les Arcs is a family ski resorts with amazing mountains and plenty of character. Generous with superb panoramic views and bags of sunshine, overwhelming and audacious with all the different styles of skiing on offer and adventures in which to indulge day after day. Les Arcs is “magical” for children by offering a huge range of activities from which to choose. Les Arcs / Bourg Saint Maurice is probably in its best during holidays such as Christmas.

As a new thing Les Arcs offers 50% discount on ski passes on Saturdays for those who have downloaded and printed a discount voucher form Les Arcs website. The resort of Les Arcs has built the largest high altitude reservoir in France (400 000 m3) to supply the artificial snow network across the whole ski area.

Les Arcs information

Access from airport (Geneva): 150 km

Access from railway station (Bourg St Maurice): 15 km

Heights: 1200 m – 3226 m

Number of ski lifts: 54

Number of slopes: 106: 19 black, 32 red, 54 blue, 1 green

Ski passes: 43,5 euros / day, 209 euros / 6 days

Linked ski area: Paradiski (425 km of slopes)

Web: www.lesarcs.com

Family Ski Resort #4 – Les 2 Alpes

This famous Isère destination at the heart of the Oisans, is part of a generation of resorts that were created from scratch. At an altitude of 1600 meters, it was built over high mountain pastures, shared between the villages of Venosc and Mont de Lans.

A dream was to become a reality here during the 1930s. The development of the plateau, originally carried out by private individuals, with the aim of creating a large winter sports resort, was achieved in 1946. 62 years later, the resort of les 2 Alpes has become a high altitude town continually developing, improving and changing for the better.

Les 2 Alpes includes a glacier at 3600 meters of altitude, which means natural snow is guaranteed. There is a kind of boom of freeskiing going on in les 2 Alpes, or at least the linked resort La Grave is known as a playground of hard core freeskiers. Les 2 Alpes is introducing a new teaching concept for ski school this season. The Ski-Voice is a radio system that enables instructors to communicate directly with their pupils (up to six people at once).

Les 2 Alpes  information

Access from airport (Lyon St Exupéry): 160 km

Access from railway station (Grenoble): 70 km

Heights: 1300 m – 3600 m

Number of ski lifts: 51

Number of slopes: 104 (225 km): 14 black, 18 red, 45 blue, 25 green

Ski passes: 38,7 euros / day, 189 euros / 6 days

Cross country skiing: 20 km

Linked ski area: La Grave (220 km of slopes)

Web: www.les2alpes.com

Family Ski Resort #5 – Les Menuires

Located at an altitude of 1850 meters, at the heart of the largest ski area in the world, the 3 Valleys, the Savoyard resort of Les Menuires enjoys an exceptional setting. Its varied ski area offers both gentle and wide open slopes that are perfect for beginners, as well as more technical slopes for advanced skiers.With unforgettable descents, fast and comfortable access to the slopes thanks to an ultra-modern network of ski lifts, Les Menuires offers pretty good skiing in good safety.

Les Menuires is a family ski resort with activities to suit everyone. There is a sports center with well-being areas and aqua club, ice rink, snow scooters, paragliding, ringo tubes, walks and snowshoe outings. It is also good to notice that Les Menuires is the most competitively priced ski resort in the 3 Valleys area. Les Menuires also offers a chance to book early for less, so hurry up..

Les Menuires is introducing a totally new 6-seated detachable chair lift, the Sunny Express, replacing three older chair lifts and a drag lift in the Reberty – Les Bruyères sector. The length of this new ski lift is 2.6 km and it climbs 700 vertical meters.

Les Menuires information

Access from airport (Lyon At Exupéry): 183 km

Access from railway station (Moûtiers): 27 km

Heights: 1850 m – 2850 m

Number of ski lifts: 37

Number of slopes: 61 (160 km): 7 black, 25 red, 25 blue, 4 green

Ski passes: 36,5 euros / day, 177 euros / 6 days

Linked ski area: Les 3 Vallees (600 km of slopes)

Web: www.lesmenuires.com

Family Ski Resort #6 – Serre Chevalier

Serre Chevalier is home to one of the largest ski areas in France, le Grand Serre Che. The area includes 250 km of runs from an altitude of 1200 to 2800 meters for beginners and experts alike. Set between the Lautaret mountain pass and Briancon, Serre Chevalier is a south-facing valley dotted with hamlets and villages ranging from the traditional to the ultra modern.

Serre Chevalier is host to a wide range of activities for the whole family, including sports, relaxation and culture. Located at the foot of the most beautiful summits in the Ecrins National Park, Serre Chevalier is bathed in light. The air and water are pure, the sky is blue and the sun shines for more than 300 days a year. What could be better?

Serre Chevalier information

Access from airport (Grenoble St Geoirs): 120 km

Access from railway station (Briancon): 6 km

Heights: 1200 m – 2800 m

Number of ski lifts: 65

Number of slopes: 108 (250 km): 14 black, 39 red, 31 blue, 24 green

Ski passes: 40,5 euros / day, 194,5 euros / 6 days

Web: www.serre-chevalier.com

Family Ski Resort #7 – Val Thorens

Val Thorens is an interesting family ski resort. It guarantees an excellent quality snow cover all winter long. With five pistes’ summits higher than 3000 meters, and 99% of the ski area higher than 2000 meters, the snow in Val Thorens is guaranteed for up to May.In fact, Val Thorens is the highest ski resort in Europe, set an altitude of 2300 meters.

The ski lifts in Val Thorens are one of the most efficient in the world. And what’s best, whatever the accommodation, you don’t have to walk more than 100 meters to access or come back from the slopes. Val Thorens is part of Les 3 Vallée, the largest ski area in the world (600 km of runs that connect the resorts of Courchevel, la Tania, Méribel, St-Martin, les Menuires and Val Thorens).

This year Val Thorens is putting efforts on providing something new to beginners as they have invested more than 1.5 million euros to create a new 40 hectare, easy skiing are that is totally free of charge for beginners. The area is equipped with four new moving walkways, 2 of which are covered and high speed (fastest in France). Easy to use, they will improve access to all areas at the foot of the slopes.

Val Thorens information

Access from airport (Lyon St Exupéry): 193 km

Access from railway station (Moutiers): 37 km

Heights: 1800 m – 3230 m

Number of ski lifts: 28

Number of slopes: 69 (140 km): 8 black, 27 red, 26 blue, 8 green

Ski passes: 37,5 euros / day, 175 euros / 6 days

Web: www.valthorens.com

More and more skiers, especially freeriders from all over the world are coming to the Salzkammergut to ski Krippenstein. They don’t really come for the view, which still is spectacular with Dachstein to the south and Hallstätter See to the north. But there is something special about this place, and that is the snow. The snow is not better than in other ski-resorts in the Alps and there probably isn’t an above of average number of days with snowfall. But when it snows, oh my…

If a snowstorm comes through from the right direction (which is northwest to north, by the way) just “it is snowing” is no adequate word for the event of incredible amounts of white stuff getting dumped in the area north of Dachstein. And in the middle of this area lies Krippenstein. I have never experienced snowfall as strong as in Krippenstein anywhere else in the Alps and I have been to places which are famous for their strong snowfalls like Arlberg, Engelberg, Nordpark or Andermatt during heavy storms. It just makes you smile even if you are not skiing or snowboarding. Combine that with some nice terrain, lack of crowds and you have a pretty good resort for powder-skiing.

Krippenstein Resort Review: General Info

Krippenstein is different to many other resorts in many respects. One reason is that the infrastructure is not designed for skiing, but for the use during summer and for the Austrian military, which has a base just a bit south-west of the ski-resort.

There is just one important lift, “Dachstein-Krippensteinbahn”. It is a tram with three sections. The first two sections were renewed in 2007 and have pretty modern, comfortable, fast and quite big gondolas. Even on busy days you won’t have to queue for long. If it is very crowded you may not make it into the first gondola which leaves after you enter the station but you’ll always make it to the next one.

The first section takes you from the valley-station at 609m above sea level to the middle station, which is called “Schönbergalm”, at 1350m. There’s a lot of infrastructure here but all the buildings are closed during winter. The second section takes you from there to the top station, which is located pretty close to the summit of Krippenstein at 2100m. The station itself is big and has been a hotel once, but it has been closed for a long time. If you step outside of the station, you can not miss the “Lodge” which is restaurant, hotel and information centre. It is a nice place to have lunch, or a coffee on the terrace with a great view towards the Dachstein or a beer after your ski-day before you make one last decent to the valley. They also serve, hands-down, the best Topfenstrudel (traditional Austrian quark strudel) I’ve ever had. The third section goes down from the top station, towards the Gjaidalm , it has no real use for skiing, but it is a nice old gondola and there are some nice views from it. The Gjaidalm is a private hut, but run in a way that resembles an alpine club hut. It is big, and can get crowded in spring since it is close to the popular skitours towards the Dachstein.

If you ski down on the piste, you will suddenly enter a little village, which is called Krippenbrunn . It consists of a few houses which are all available as accommodation for tourists, and one restaurant and a bar. Krippenbrunn is a popular place to stay at during the season so the restaurant can get pretty crowded at lunch break and in the evening but they offer acceptable and cheap food and drinks.

Tired of dropping cliffs? Try roofs in Krippenbrunn.

There is a special military gondola, which comes from Obertraun and goes through Krippenbrunn to the military barracks behind the Gjaidalm. This gondola is not included in the ski pass and it can not be used as for skiing. You can get single rides on it in the spring and start touring towards Dachstein from the top though.

There is one chairlift at the resort, at the top, which is pretty short and two beginner t-bars, one at the top of the resort, close to the chairlift and one, which chronically lacks snow, down in the valley.

Piste skiing at Krippenstein

As stated above, there is only one real piste. It is a long one, 11km in total. It starts at the top station and goes east for a while, than it turns north and continues through Krippenbrunn towards the valley. It is a nice run, manageable for beginners, but long and demanding enough for more experienced skiers. The snow is usually quite good because it is pretty north-facing and well-groomed. There is another short run from the top station towards the chairlift, which is not really worth mentioning. But you do not come to the Krippenstein to ski on-piste all the time…

Krippenstein Resort Review: The off-piste

There are three really nice and long more or less official off-piste-runs, which are marked with sticks, some shorter variants of them, and countless hidden descents, which are hard to find. Because all of them are north-facing, the snow stays nice and soft for quite some time, especially in the higher parts.

But some words on the special dangers at the Krippenstein at first. The rock in the whole area is limestone, which is heavily karstified due to millennia of chemical weathering. This means that the whole mountain is full of holes and dolines like a piece of Swiss cheese. Some of them are big caves, which attract a lot of tourists in the summer, the dangerous ones are smaller, just a few meters wide. They can be really deep (40m and more) and are basically like crevasses on a glacier in winter, except that because they contain warm air don’t really get covered with snow that well. Falling into one of those holes could be fatal, so you should be very careful if you leave the marked runs. Hire a guide if you are not sure where you can ski safely. Getting lost is also easy if you leave the marked runs.. and that would be very bad because there are huge cliffbands in the area, and slopes which look really good from above may not lead down to the valley. Only a few people ski off-piste, especially on storm days, so there may be no-one to help you if things turn bad. Because of that you should never ski alone and always carry avalanche safety equipment and know how to use it.

Off-piste runs at Krippenstein

The three main off-piste runs, which are marked, but not controlled and not checked for safety, are Angeralm, Schönbergalm and Imisl/Eisgrube (I call the upper part Imisl and the lower part Eisgrube, some people call it upper and lower Imisl).

The combination of Imisl and Eisgrube is the easiest of the three. From the top station, you follow the piste until it crosses the cables of the third gondola section. There is a sign somewhere which shows the exact starting point. The first part is more or less flat and can be bad for snowboarders if there is a lot of fresh snow. There are some sections which are a bit steeper until you reach the start of the Eisgrube, which is a bit east or skier’s right from Krippenbrunn. You can exit here to Krippenbrunn and the piste, and you can also access the Eisgrube from Krippenbrunn if you follow the piste for a few meters until it turns right, and then left pretty soon. Just head straight ahead, instead of following the bend to the left. There is also a sign.

Eisgrube is steeper than Imisl and because it gets skied a lot it turns into a mogul run more or less during the season. It is still great to ski if there is fresh snow (or if you like mogul-skiing), and it is big enough that you will find some untracked parts even some days after a snowfall. You end up pretty low on the piste, from where you have to continue down to the gondola.

Angeralm is a difficult run, especially at the beginning and at the exit. It starts at the top station, just turn left after you leave the building. You can see the upper part of the run from the second gondola section. Its steep at first with some pretty narrow areas, then it opens up in a wide and open slope with scattered trees.

There is the marked run to the left, and an unmarked one further right which requires a traverse to get there and another to get back again. If you ski down, you will notice orange “EXIT”-signs on trees at some point, which all point skiers left. You have to follow them to get to the exit. Do not ski past them. The exit is pretty bad, especially if there is not much snow or if it has been a long time since the last snowfall. It is steep, there are lots of trees and rocks, there is not much snow and it gets skied out pretty bad. If you are not a good skier or snowboarder, you will be in trouble here, at least the first few times. But it is short, and can be sidestepped if the conditions are really bad. After the exit, you come to the lowest part of Eisgrube, from where you get back to the piste and the gondola.

Schönbergalm is an intermediate run skiing wise, but it is really wide and has a lot of variations, which makes it easy to get lost there, especially if it is foggy and you leave or lose the marked run. You reach it with a traverse and a hike of about 15 minutes from the top station.

First, you ski down towards the beginner t-bar, which you cross at the upper end. From there you continue east. In general, there is a cat-track, but it takes some days after a big storm before they groom it properley. If there is no track, you should only go there if you know the way, because there are no marks until you reach the little hut which marks the start of the descent. Again, it is easy to get lost on the traverse in the fog, and there are dolines all over the area, so be careful. The hut at the start of the Schönbergalm run is open, so you can have a break in it if it’s really cold and windy and you feel like it. From the hut you ski more or less directly to the middle station, from where you can get the gondola to the top again. There is a bigger cave a little bit skiers left of the marked run which you can easily visit on your way down. You can see it from the gondola, which makes it easy to find. It may not be really big but it gives a taste of what can be seen at the Krippenstein in summer when the big caves are open for the public.

As stated above, there are lots of runs which are not marked, like Himmeleck, Minigolf, Little Face, Gelber Stein, Gamsjäger nein danke (which is my favourite at least in its name), Krippenbrunn direkt and a lot more. Some shorter stuff from Imisl towards the piste can be seen from the third gondola section, but in general most of the runs are hard to find and not always in good condition. I would recommend hiring a guide if you want to see more of the terrain that Krippenstein has to offer.

Avalanche danger could be considered low in general on the marked descents since they get skied regularly after each snowfall and the runs aren’t very big or steep. They’re also mostly protected from strong winds. But you can never say that anything is safe, so make your own conclusions, or get a guide. Here are just a few things I’d like to point out:

• Be careful at the Start of the Angeralm and Schönbergalm routes right after a storm, there is always windblown snow and the terrain is fairly steep.
• Stick straight to the markings at the beginning of the descent of the Schönbergalm. There are dolines and holes all over, especially to the left.
• Do not ski close to the cliff-faces skiers left in Angeralm and skiers right in Imisl/Eisgrube (especially at the start of Eisgrube), even if it looks pretty good and there are tracks. There are avalanches coming down from the top of the Krippenstein regularly, especially after or during storms, and when temperatures rise.
• Do not ski Schönbergalm late in the afternoon. If you miss the last gondola, you are in trouble, because you can not get down to the valley from the middle station on skis.
• Do not follow tracks which go straight instead of following the EXIT-signs at the end of the Angeralm. There is one possibility to get down there safe (except the normal exit) and it involves a 3m drop. And there is always just enough snow for one or two skiers. You will not find it if there are no tracks, and if there are tracks it is already skied and you have to downclimb it, or to go back up to the normal exit. Both of those options suck, believe me.

Here are the links to the local avalanche-bulletins (you may take a look at those from Salzburger Land and Styria too, because Krippenstein is located very close to the border):
Upper Austria
Styria
Salzburger Land

Ski-touring near Krippenstein

A lot of people ski-tours in the area, especially from Krippenstein towards Dachstein. As nice as the tours may be landscape-wise, most of the classic ones do not offer great descents. There are some nice ones, for example down to Hallstatt if there is enough snow, but the plateau between the Dachstein and the Krippenstein is pretty flat, and you skin from the Gjaidalm to the Dachstein ski-resort on a cat-track most of the time. In spring, lots of people take the gondola up to the Krippenstein, skin from there to the Dachstein (you can not reach the summit with skis), ski back to the Gjaidalm on the cat-track and continue from there on the piste to Obertraun.

Krippenstein accomodation/après-ski

You can stay in Obertraun or in Hallstatt, but I would recommend staying at the mountain, at the Lodge, the Gjaidalm or in Krippenbrunn. Unlike at other resorts, it is not really expensive (especially in Krippenbrunn) and you will not have to drive to the mountain in the morning. There are ski-buses, but you can not reach the first gondola with them. There is also a kind of a hostel in between Obertraun and the ski-resort.
There is no real après-ski at the Krippenstein. You will meet lots of people in the Lodge, after the last ride up with the gondola and sometimes there are nice spontaneous parties in the Bar in Krippenbrunn. Obertraun is a small village with less than 1000 inhabitants, but if you really want to party you can try the Haifischbar…

Best times to visit

The season starts in mid December and ends at some point in April. I would say that in general, February is the best time to ski the Krippenstein. Since the terrain in the upper parts of the mountain is quite rough and rocky it requires a lot of snow to be really skiable; I would say at least 2m base is needed at the top station. This amount can be reached in January, but not always. In a normal season, there are between 3 and 5 meters of snow at the top station by the beginning of March. Later in the season, it can get pretty warm at the lowest parts of the resort, but still be chilly enough at the top. I had one of my best skiing days in Krippenstein at the end of March, even when I had to carry my skis back to the gondola through pouring rain for about 15 minutes after each run. The higher elevation bit was still really great and you can always avoid going down into the valley by skiing Schönbergalm.

How to get there

You can get to the Krippenstein by car or by train. Do not forget to check the road-conditions if you choose the car! The nearest bigger airport is Salzburg and some cheap flights exist. From Salzburg you have to drive over the Pass Gschütt which can be difficult in heavy snowfall! If it really snows a lot, which it does sometimes in the area, the road from Hallstatt to Obertraun will be closed because of avalanche danger. Very rarely the train connection gets cut off also.

Stuff to do without skis

Hallstatt is definitely worth a visit. It is a really nice village with a long and rich history and culture, lots of nice old houses, some parts of them are build on wooden piles into the lake.

Hallstat during snowfall

The famous big caves in the area are closed during winter, but you can see the small cave in the Schönbergalm descent and you can visit the old salt mines in Hallein and Bad Aussee.

Got a comment or a question that wasn’t answered in this article? Go ahead and drop a note!

Check out Saas Fee ski resort, one of the popular resorts in Europe. Saas Fee provides good skiing for everyone; for families, alpine racers, backcountry enthusiasts, snowboarders, telemarkers and traditional skiers. Saas Fee is a good ski resort which you should really check out.

Just like in Zermatt, cars are banned in Saas Fee too. Cars are left in front of the gates of Saas Fee and, the town itself is car free. Notice that you don’t have to walk everywhere with all your baggage. Electric shuttle buses drive you from the huge parking house to your hotel and back.

Saas Fee has lots of ski lifts, which means that you don’t need to stand in queues as much as in some other ski resorts. Ski lifts in Saas Fee are modern and they are in good condition. Saas Fee provides over 20 pistes from which you can find some good runs. Saas Fee provides steeper pistes for advanced skiers as well as easier pistes for beginners, children and those who just don’t prefer steep and fast pistes.

In Saas Fee you can see lots of families and juniors, but also alpine racers and powder hunters. Pistes in Saas Fee usually stay in good condition for the whole day, and in the backcountry you can find untouched powder days after the last dump.

The town of Saas Fee is small and beautiful, a typical Swiss alpine town. Saas Fee town is clean and there are a couple of supermarkets, few restaurants and tourist shops. Saas Fee is a safe and trustworthy ski resort for most of the skiers, but it does not provide anything unique or special. Therefore some skiers might get bored in few days in Saas Fee.

Saas Fee is the favorite ski resort of many alpine ski teams. Saas Fee is located in the end of the Saas valley in Switzerland and it is surrounded by 13 over 4,000-meter peaks. One of those peaks is Dom (4,545 m.), the highest mountain of Switzerland. The easiest access to Saas Fee is by flying to Geneva, Milan or Zürich from where you can take a bus or rent a car and drive to Saas Fee (about 250 km. from each city). If you wish to visit Swiss cities, Bern (the capitol of Switzerland) is located only 110 km from Saas Fee.

During your stay in Saas Fee you can visit several beautiful and interesting restaurants located near to slopes. On night time you can spend your time in discos like Popcorn.

Saas Fee facts

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?

I got a room in a nice little hostel, hosted by an American couple. I arrived in Chamonix in late January 1997. It was already night when I arrived, so I did not see much peaks around the valley. In the morning the sky was clear as I opened the window. I was shocked. I had never seen such high peaks and massive mountains so close. In that moment I knew it. I had arrived to the right place. I felt being at home.

I knew nobody in Chamonix and I arrived there alone. I understood I need to get together with other skiers in order to find my way to the backcountries, because that was the reason number one why I was there. I started skiing with an Englishman staying in the same hostel. We went skiing in Argentiere which is few kilometers to North from Chamonix village. I got my first touch to big mountains on the very first day. How did I feel? It was staggering. I was more than happy. It had been my dream for years and on that day I was living my dream.

I continued networking down in the Chamonix valley. I went to bars and searched for other Finns. Soon I found myself skiing with other skibums who took me to awesome places in the mountains. I was grateful. We went skiing fresh powder in large powder fields and we survived very steep and icy couloirs. We went skiing deep powder in “magic” forests and we had competition like “the last one down in the valley is gay!” We spent our evenings in a bar watching big mountain skiing on screen and drinking beer. It was exactly what I was looking for. I was happy to be in Chamonix. During my first season I spent two months in Chamonix and during later seasons I spent 2-3 months in there.

Chamonix ski resort in review, what’s good and what’s not?

Chamonix is a great place to ski if you are experienced and you are looking for backcountry skiing experiences. There are pretty nice pistes in Chamonix as well, but for on-piste skiing Chamonix is not the best one. For those interested in climbing and mountaineering Chamonix is a must to visit. European climbing and mountaineering culture has developed mostly in Chamonix area because of Mont Blanc. If you are interested in feeling the mountaineering culture and understanding more about it, Chamonix is again worth to visit. Mont Blanc massive provides spectacular views and awesome objects for photographing.

Diverse nature of Chamonix gives very many experiences all year round. Shortly said, you should go to Chamonix if you are interested in backcountry skiing, mountaineering, photographing, nature, mountain biking and trekking.

Ok, when should you go elsewhere? I would say that other ski resorts provide you better experiences if you are looking for on-piste skiing, family skiing and nightlife. I have to mention it right away that nightlife in Chamonix is almost dead compared to St. Anton, Les 3 Vallée and other famous ski resorts. So, what is there in Chamonix? Let’s have a detailed look.

Chamonix is located directly under the highest peak in Western Europe, Mont Blanc (4807 m.), and it is surrounded by very steep and high peaks. Mountains around Chamonix valley provide an endless amount of routes to ski and climb. There are approximately 50 lifts in Chamonix and the ski area are a little bit scattered. There are busses circulating between the ski areas, and it seems to be the best and easiest way to move between ski areas. Busses are free for those who have a ski pass.

Chamonix ski areas provide something for everyone

One of the Chamonix ski areas, Les Grands Montets, has sometimes been called as the best unique ski area in the world. While Les Grand Montets provides great skiing for experienced, less experienced and beginners can find good slopes in Le Tour ski area. Beginners, who have never been skiing before, should start in Planards ski area in the middle of the valley. Pretty good off-piste skiing and very nice forests can be found in Le Brevent and Flegere ski areas. Those area located in southern mountain faces are very popular and easy to access from Chamonix village.

For very experienced skiers, mountain climbers and backcountry skiers a lift from the village gives a ride up to L’Aiguille du Midi (3842 m.), one of the most staggering places to ski. All the slopes coming down from this peak are glaciers and sometimes risky (due to crevasses), so it is reasonable to hire a local guide to help skiing in from this high peak. If you feel skiing from L’Aiguille du Midi is too big challenge, you can always go there the awesome mountain view and shoot photographs. You can always take a lift back to valley.

Shopping in Chamonix ski resort

Chamonix village, with 10.000 inhabitants, provides a number of shops and restaurants where you can spend your evenings. You can get information of the interesting history of Chamonix from skiing and alpine museum. Additionally Chamonix provides a swimming hall, indoor climbing and few atmospheric after ski bars. Even though after ski is quiet, but that is just a positive thing because you need to be fresh and ready to go every morning. Powder fields are destroyed in one hour after the ski lifts have been opened, so there is no time to sleep late in Chamonix.

Chamonix facts

Images source.

European Ski Resort #5: Andorra

Andorra provides a bit different skiing than the ski resorts in the Alps. Andorra is located in southern Europe and it provides good skiing for beginners and a little more experienced skiers. Andorra is a small country and it is known from duty free prices in resorts. Lively nightlife, extensive snow making and southern sunshine provide a great experience in Andorra ski resort.

European Ski Resort #4: Serre Chevalier, France

Serre Chevalier is a budget resort for families. This less crowded resort provides good skiing for families. Because of the quiet nightlife, Serre Chevalier is a good candidate in the list of good family skiing resorts. Serre Chevalier provides also other activities, such as horseback riding and snow-shoe walking.

European Ski Resort #3: Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

One of the most glamourous European ski resorts is Cortina in Italy, the leading ski resort in the Dolomite Region. It is very stylish and chic, and it is known to be one of the classiest and costliest of all European ski resorts. In addition to skiing for beginners and experienced, Cortina provides also various off-snow activities. Cortina provides fine dining, shopping, and a scene in which skiing and money come together.

European Ski Resort 2: Zermatt, Switzerland

Spectacular views, beautiful mountains and a lovely village. Zermatt is one of the most beautiful European ski resorts I have ever seen. It is a resort to which you should go on Christmas time, because on that time Zermatt turns to a dreamland with full of snow-covered houses, candles and lights. Take a horse ride in the car-free village or go just window-shopping on the walking street. Zermatt, a resort not for beginners, is located under the well-known mountain, Matterhorn. The Christmas in Zermatt with a whole family can provide you and your family an experience you will never forget.

European Ski Resort #1: Cervinia, Italy

All I can say is that Cervinia rocks! Cervinia is a ski resort I prefer when skiing with my family. It is right next to Monte Rosa and Grand Combin, those two magnificient mountain peaks of the Alps. Cervinia ski resort provides long and sunny slopes and good skiing spiced up with some charmy Italian lifestyle. Cervinia, the neighbor of Zermatt, has altitude of 2000 meters. Some of the ski lifts in Cervinia get even up to 3500 meters. Pack your skis and take your family to Cervinia ski resort. They will love it!

In this post I will discuss the lift systems, slopes and off-piste skiing in the Jasna ski resort area. In the next post I will give some practical tips of what it pays to do (IMHO) and what not to do at the Jasna ski resort. The last post of the series includes more thoughts about Slovakia and skiing in Slovakia in general.

Jasna ski resort is probably the most developed ski resort in Slovakia. Jasna has vertical meters of about 1100 meters (~3300 feet) and a quite modern lift system with four-person Doppelmayer lifts. The new Poma lift offers ride to the top of the Chopok mountain, linking two previously separated ski resorts of Chopok-South and Chopok-North. This gives the skier in Jasna ski resort a lot more options as e.g. the snow situation can vary a lot between the two sides of the mountain (mainly due to current wind direction). Anyhow, before the new lift (pre-2007) you had to hike some 170 meters of vertical to the top, which most people cared not to do – leaving plenty of seldom-skied off-piste possibilities. The good news, as heard from a friend that spent five weeks in Jasna last winter, is that locals still don’t rush to the off-piste in large masses.

The top lift basically allows you to get on the Low Tatra (Nizke Tatry) ridge and hike horizontally along the ridge – giving plenty of possibilities for nice backcountry skiing both sides of the Ridge in Jasna. North facing aspect even has some really steep (~50 degrees) shortish chutes/couloirs of about 250 meters or 700~800 feet of vertical. Beware of the conditions and rocks though! South side offers mellower and longer descents, often in more “corn” type of snow, given its aspect towards the sun.

Jasna ski resort has even officially named freeride zones (see map 1 and map 2). Officially you are only allowed to ski in these “zones” outside of the slopes. Other parts of the ridge belong to the national park and are protected. However, we never got any attention/notes for exploring the ridge further. You also see some local ski tourers here and there. But please pay attention and respect the nature: in the ridge line you often see wonderful Tatra Chamois, of which only about 250 still exists in the whole Tatra area (and in the whole world of course!). I really hope the growing tourism and ski area will not disturb the peace of those beautiful creatures or the whole high mountain biotype of the ridge. I see some more regulation coming in the future as an obligatory way to protect the very small and fragile area. So, go now, respect the locals, don’t leave any trash/other marks behind you, and move fast…