Where in Europe?

[nigelc]

Going to Europe in Jan for a few weeks to visit family - I thought I would get in a weeks snowboarding as well. So where is a good place to go. I don't want to spend all my time travelling so I need somewhere close to a major airport and I would prefer ski in/out accommodation. Any recomendations?

[rikytheripster]

3 valleys comes to mind, as its a huge expanse and the pass will cover val thorens, merribel and courcheval. not sure how far away from airport though. although u could fly straight to courcheval although its a small airport and think will be expensive.

[GeoffV]

is a great place, there are 4 different mountains and of course the famous Hahnenkamm. Here is a link to the site Kitzbühel site

I've flown in to Munich and if I recall the drive was around 2 hours weather permitting. You can also take a train in from the airport.

Stoked might have more suggestions as well since his' from there. Zell Am See is also a great place.

[Guest Randy S.]

Where is your family? If in Britain, look into package deals through travel companies. It is one of the cheapest ways to go skiing in Europe. They cover flights/hotels/meals/tickets/everything. I no longer know which are the best companies, but it shouldn't be hard to figure out. Even if you want to meet up with the travel company in Geneva, its hard to beat their prices. Saturdays is the typical changover/transfer day.

Otherwise just get yourself to Geneva or Lyon and you can get to any of the French resorts easily. Trois Vallees (stay in Meribel or Courcheval), Tignes/Val d'Isere and Chamonix would be some of my choices.

[Menno]

Your best chance is to try here:

http://www.extremecarving.com/forum/viewforum.php?f

That said, here's some recommendations.

It really depends on where your family is located.

You're vrey lucky with your timing, as january is off-season so you don't need to book ahead. You can pick the resort with the best conditions at the latest moment. You only need to choose the region where you want to go because you have to book a flight.

I have been in most of the resorts in Europe, bigger and smaller.

The best are:

-3 Vallees (Fr; (Grenoble or Lyon airport)

-Tignes (Fr; (idem)

-Alpe d'Huez (Fr; Grenoble airport)

-Zinal (CH; Geneva airport)

-Ischgl (Aut; Innsbruck airport)

-Soelden (Aut; idem)

-Cervinia (It; Turin or Milan airport)

My personal favorite would be Tignes. the area is about the same size as 3 vallees, but the atmosphere is much more sportive. Especially in valtho, you will find too much persons with too much money, and too little taste.

[nils]

please don't come to zinal its overcrowded already ( u can verify this in the EC movies)...

That said, lyon and geneva are the two closest international airports that might take you to the northern french alps. Then if you target italy, Milano and Torino are the two places...

You forgot to mention what kind of mountains you were after? powder? off piste? long slopes? carving? challenging carving? family slopes etc...?

I personnaly hate our cash machine resorts such as all the big names u have above like 3 valleys etc> mountain is usually overexploited there, and often ugly.

Austria and German switzerland have smaller friendlier resorts to my opinion compare to the big french resorts.

Here is my fav's

Powder: la grave, Alagna ( shhhhh), cham

Carving: Z***l (shhhh)

Try asking your question on our forum with more precisions of what you intend to ride :)

Nils

[nigelc]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have posted over on the EC forum - thanks Nils. I guess I am after what we don't have in NZ: long slopes,dry cold conditions,ride in/out accomodation and uncrowded slopes. I ride an alpine board and my wife also rides alpine and skis. We are both intermediate and looking to improve. In NZ we are used to going off trail in less than ideal conditions but we are not so good at powder so maybe a mixture of groomers and off-piste would be good. I can do ice till the cows come home but was looking for a change!