Arosa, Flims Laax, Obergurgl Hochgurgl?

[Menno]

The first and second photo above I don't recognize.

The second photo above is the Furggsattel lift on Zermatt side, departs from Trockener Steg. It's a 6-seater with the pylons built into the ice of the glacier!

Here's a report with lots of photos from Zermatt and Cervinia.

http://www.alpinforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19420

Slopes above Cervinia

http://www.funiculaire.de/alpinforum/Sais06/ZerCer/Zerm35.jpg

Cervinia: talking about enough room on the slopes...

http://www.funiculaire.de/alpinforum/Sais06/ZerCer/Zerm72.jpg

What are those specs on the slope???

[Shred Gruumer]

Danka Shain !

Prices back from Zermat and Gstaad bieng the highest was $1000 more than Arosa.. so far that would be my pick but not ruling out cortina or Val Gardena..

So how bout time of year.. I wanted to stay last week of Jan maybe first week of Feb just to be in the non crowded schule vacations! but if its a non crowded place.. when would you suggest to go..

anythoughs on timing?

Shred

[Menno]

Keine ursache ;)

If price is an issue, then go to Cervinia.

The slopes are the same, the skipass price is the same, but there's 3 important differences:

1) Hotel prices about half of those of Zermatt.

2) Cervinia is south-facing, a big bonus in the early season.

3) The food....

Cervinia is in the Valle d'Aosta region. I've been there a few times. The food is (simplified description) a crossover between the french and the italian cuisine. But the rations are those of a mountain region. Have been to all the regions in the alps, and valdostan food is the best...

[Shred Gruumer]

:D

Cervina is available so I'll see where that will fall into pricing..

Yep still looking for feedback on the whole when to go...thing..

But I don't speak Gino or Vinny to good bada bing!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Menno]

If you have the choice, go second half of march. That's the best time of year in Europe. Snowdepth is at its maximum. Longer days with lifts open till 17:00.

Mid-february till mid-march is the peak holiday season. Prices of appartments are 2-3 times higher than outside that period. Moreover: lift queues are very bad. And slopes are packed.

For some strange reason the first half of winter in Europe is always less good than in the US. The end of season in Europe is later though.

In Val Thorens and Tignes (both France) the season lasts till the first week op may (including).

http://www.cervinia.it/default_eng.aspx

[Hans]

Best spot to be. Has won this years price for the best resort in Europe. Especially the slopes are not for beginners. The apresski is very lively with live bands/music. Very snowcertain. So Shred if you have the chance go for this resort.

[Shred Gruumer]

Yep, heard this place is party central and attracts alot of starts

Big Place... probabley to big and busy and snobby for my liking..

[Menno]

Best spot to be. Has won this years price for the best resort in Europe. Especially the slopes are not for beginners. The apresski is very lively with live bands/music. Very snowcertain. So Shred if you have the chance go for this resort.

Is that the price for the best resort from that German magazine?

The only resorts to which they take a serious look, are the ones that are not too far from Muenchen and German-speaking.

BTW: depends on what you are looking for. Ischgl is very very busy, also busy on the slopes. If you don't like the turbulent apres-ski for which Ischgl is renowned, you can always go to Samnaun. I've been there, and at least it has some mountain atmosphere. Plus it's tax-free! Not only alcohol, but also sport-gear much cheaper than elswhere.

Looking at snowdepths right now, Ischgl is not so snowsure BTW: only 5 cm in the valley and 130 on the upper slopes.

Compare that to Cervinia: 130 till 340 cm...

[Bobby Buggs]

I did not Like Zermat. Cervinia was much better snow on the same day. If I were to go back I would stay right at the lift hotel in Cervinia. The lift goes right through the base of the hotel.

The most fun I had in Switzerland was at Verbier. Check that out.

[Menno]

Here's a report from someone who was in Cervinia last week.

Unfortunately for you in Dutch (suppose you can't read that), but lots of photos.

http://www.prikpagina.nl/read.php?f=97&i=146870&t=146870

Conclusions

• Mooi gebied, maar (Cervinia kant) niet super uitdagend voor gevorderde skiërs. Wij vinden een beetje cruisen wel lekker, dus wij misten de uitdaging niet. We hebben geen verstand van snowboarden, maar aan de Italiaanse kant zag je weinig boarders. Waarschijnlijk vanwege de vele blauwe pistes.

Nice area, but not extremely challenging for advanced skiers.

• Pittig geprijsde skipas, skihuur juist goedkoop.

Skipass (combipass Zermatt-Cervinia, smaller Cervinia pass also available) pricey for European standards; ski rental attractively priced.

• Het dorp Cervinia is niet echt mooi om te zien, maar wel voldoende mogelijkheden voor lekkere diners.

Cervinia is not the prettiest village, but lots of possibilities for good dining.

• Eten kan je goed in Cervinia en op de pistes, maar er ontstaat wel snel chaos in restaurants als het maar enigszins druk wordt.

Good food quality on the slopes in Cervinia, but it can become a bit chaotic once a bit more people are around.

• Catering is helaas niet spectaculair goedkoop.

Catering not very cheap (whatever than may mean).

• Toiletten aan Italiaanse kant zijn erg slecht, aan de Zwitserse kant zijn ze vaak prima.

Toilets on Italian side bad; on Swiss side often OK.

• Het Zermat gebied vonden we wat druk, er zijn dan vooral lange wachttijden bij de grote gondels.

Zermatt are was quite busy; especially long waiting times for the big cable cars.

[V*L*A*D]

When in CH, try to stay as far east as possible, in the Engadine: Scuol is a gem, and samnaun,(I'm biased) offers some of the best overall bang-for-buck in CH. You can ride back and forth over the border to/from Austria, as well.

St. Moritz is to be avoided unless you feel some bizarre need to spend copious quantities of cashish while rubbing elbows with the Bogner-and-Sable set.

Had a coolold guy working for me this season who typically worked there, sounds like a good place to teach- tips were great, he informs me.

Don't rule out central Europe, esp. in Winters such as this past-

Szrenica, Poland, was phenomenal when much of the Alps were dry.

-Jay

[Steve Prokopiw]

I have no personal opinion as I have never been to Europe, but a hardboot client I had in Vail liked Lech and the general area because he was able to have his custom Stroltz hardboots made in just a couple of days for 260.00 US(about 4years ago) This would have been about 1200.00 in the states and would have taken up to two months.So that is where I will go if I get the opportunity.Of course I would have to check to see if they still do that but he loved his boots and liked Lech.

[Przemek/Brooklyn]

I am polish and grow up in polish mountains and i dont think they are good for carving at all, no proper trails and not enough lifts. Mountains are beatifull and food and beers are great, when i go to PL i usualy go for freeride in forest after they have a dump, locals didnt figure out the value of powder yet. But carving is not good idea. Zakopane is in tatra mountains withch are the bigest in PL but lack of proper numbere of lifts (national park issue) and get overcrovded so easy.

Snowwise last year was a blast but this year was quite bad.

[V*L*A*D]

Snowwise last year was a blast but this year was quite bad.

...ummmm.... yeah... the cover was really thin in Poland three weeks ago....

(That's the source of the Elbe River in the background....Me in the foreground)

[V*L*A*D]

...yeah...the snow really sucked in szrenica......

[V*L*A*D]

...Szrenica, Poland, March 1st 2007 (That's my better half...a Polish-American Snowboard instructor who had to strap on the ole' planks to keep up with the demand for Ski lessons this season...)

[Menno]

Well, you can do what you want to promote a certain area, but you need to remain fair.

If you google for just 5 minutes on Zakopane, you will find the truth about skiing / boarding there.

And that is hor-ri-ble waiting lines for the cable car, about 2 hours (!!!) is no exception at all.

http://www.goski.com/resorts/plzakopane/resort_welcome.html?cntry_or_state=find&rorc=poland&from=state&bc=RIR

"If you want to know what it feels like to wait in line Q'ing for 3-5hours to get on a rustic, archaic and well passed its time cablecar (built circa 1937), with a capacity of 30 people every 12 mins to take you to the summit, then go to Zakopane and take the (State owned, maintained and managed) cablecar at Kuznice to Kasprowe Wierch."

[V*L*A*D]

Well, you can do what you want to promote a certain area, but you need to remain fair.

If you google for just 5 minutes on Zakopane, you will find the truth about skiing / boarding there.

And that is hor-ri-ble waiting lines for the cable car, about 2 hours (!!!) is no exception at all.

http://www.goski.com/resorts/plzakopane/resort_welcome.html?cntry_or_state=find&rorc=poland&from=state&bc=RIR

"If you want to know what it feels like to wait in line Q'ing for 3-5hours to get on a rustic, archaic and well passed its time cablecar (built circa 1937), with a capacity of 30 people every 12 mins to take you to the summit, then go to Zakopane and take the (State owned, maintained and managed) cablecar at Kuznice to Kasprowe Wierch."

That would be all well and good, menno, ifI posted shots of zakopane. The shots I posted are of szrenica, many hours to the Northwest of Zakopan. I did point out the exceptional racing terrain of Zakopane, in contrast to what another poster stated about it's terrain.

We never waited in lines when racing or coaching there.

have you ever actually ridden there, or is this based strictly on virtual riding? "passed its time".

[Przemek/Brooklyn]

I agree Poland has great mountains, good steeps, good terain, great freeride when there is snow. But there is too many people on the narow slopes for carving, less then proper grooming (this aspect is improving), long lines to few old lifts. (a lot of T-bars)

There is a big difference between organized event and individual riding.

Anyway it is good to heare you have good time in Sudety (szrenica)

I am from Beskidy mountains (diffrent group east from sudety)

and i know winter was less then good this year (first real snow came in mid january and melted quickly)

[V*L*A*D]

Czesc!- The Polish people are great, as well. We really enjoyed blasting over the border to ride with them.

the alps were abust for much of the early season, so we stayed North.

I never refer to the krkonose/karkonose as "sudety", myself, as I have enough trouble with slavs thinking I'm "skopczac";)

The Karkonose had killer conditions this season, as long as one stayed above 800 m.

let me know when you cross the river, I'm right over in orange county for the warm months.

Do zobaczenia-

jay

[V*L*A*D]

Menno posted: "Well, you can do what you want to promote a certain area, but you need to remain fair.

If you google for just 5 minutes on Zakopane, you will find the truth about skiing / boarding there.

And that is hor-ri-ble waiting lines for the cable car, about 2 hours (!!!) is no exception at all. "

one man googles what another man rides;)

[Shred Gruumer]

Gezz super hard to decide... its like here... now it all depend on what time I should go...

'

Now im thinking mid to late February with all the rest of the 300,000 people.

??????

[Menno]

Gezz super hard to decide... its like here... now it all depend on what time I should go...

'

Now im thinking mid to late February with all the rest of the 300,000 people.

??????

One advice: don't do that.

It's really a waste of money and time to fly all the way from the US to Europe, just be find yourself on overcrowded slopes and standing in long liftlines.

The difference between peak and offpeak season is much much more pronounced in Europa than it is in the US.

If you want to go to Europe, either go last week january/first february; or even better go second half of march.

[felix]

Yip if you go to Europe watch out for holiday seasons. Don't even bother to go when eiter the Netherlands, or Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany got holidays. Also don't go if 3-4 big Länder of Germany (like Niedersachsen, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg) got holidays at the same time.

If you go late March watch out for easter - try to go not the week after easter as it will be again very crowded. For this year the upcoming week seems to be the best for the whole year one could have choosen (at least in Austria) but normally end of january and first week of Feb should be allright too.If snow arrives early the best weeks are however the first three weeks of december when skifields will open all slopes just so that people can be assured that lot of snow is their for christmas - even if no skiers at all are on the slopes except on weekends.

[Whitey]

I have been twice in Zinal/Grimentz area in Switzerland. Eventhough it is not very big, it has absolutely killer slopes. Next year I will go there at least for two weeks :rolleyes: