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Skiing Holidays in Europe

My husband and I are hoping to do a ski vacation somewhere in the Alps between Christmas and New Year's this coming holiday season. We'll only be able to do one location. We'll have 4-5 days on the ground once we get settled. We don't want any place too ritzy. Zermatt seems a bit out of our element. I speak French fluently and Italian and German somewhat. We've been to many alpine locations in summer and want to try skiing. I'm an intermediate skier and my husband is an expert. We like to ski together most of the time. Any suggestions?? We'd even try eastern European locales if well recommended. Thanks!

Posted by
2779 posts

Penny, generally speaking you can say the following about the Alpine skiing countries: Switzerland: Great skiing country but very expensive and no apres-ski (the fun after a long skiing day, the party around the car parks, the music, the lunch-time dancing on the little huts on the montains etc.) Good for ambitous skiers who don't like to party at all.Austria: The number one skiing party country, most popular by European skiers, very high share of younger people. Prince Charles and his sons used to ski the Arlberg area (Lech, Zürs, St. Anton). Italy: The Dolomites are a stunning part of the Alps and skiing there is can be quite challenging. Apres-ski is second only to Austria (the area used to be Austrian until WW1). Ski passes are very expensive. France: The French make their skiing resorts pretty much the way the Americans do: With bulldozers, explosives etc. You can then ski down something that looks like (to be continute)...

Posted by
2779 posts

...that looks like Interstate 5 in the Los Angeles LAX airport area. They also put up high-rise concrete buildings to accommodate you right next to the slopes. There is absolutely no night-life, at least for European standards. Prices, however, are low to moderate. Bavaria (Germany): Thanks to global warming no more snow in the German alps, so let's skip it here. I've done all of those countries myself which is why I can comment on them - and which is why I won't comment on the Tatra mountains in Eastern Europe. Never been there. By the way the apres-ski in Vail, CO is probably as close to the Austrian one as it can get in the US.

Posted by
157 posts

Most ski areas in Europe are huge interconnected places with multiple lifts/villages, etc. That means there is the perfect slope for every ability. In skiing over 20 areas, I have yet to find a bad one!

The problem is that skiing that early in the season has become a bit problematic with snow cover. That might lead you to a place with a year-round glacier (like Hintertux or Stubai). You might also find you have to take lifts over bare ground to reach limited skiing.

The French, Italian or Austrian Alps would be my choice, Switzerland is a bit expensive, snow is unreliable in German Alps that time of year.

Enjoy!