Who's going skiing and where 2020

[OscarIndia]

Marcellus said:

dmahon said:

I won’t mess up the board with a new thread and it seems there are lots of knowledgeable people here re ski resorts so hopefully I can jump in.

We have been talking about buying a holiday home and have this idea of somewhere with access to skiing and snow in the winter, and maybe somewhere with a bit more sun and outdoor activities in the summer. We have been to Interlaken in both summer and winter and it was great. Haven’t looked into it much but I imagine painfully expensive in Switzerland.

I wondered is there anywhere I should check out based on this limited info?

A lot of decent resorts are now trying to position themselves as more all year resorts.

Reality is for tourists they're "Christmas to Easter" then "July & August" perhaps extending into the Interseasons (June and September) with shope staying open.

I've not been to Interlaken in the Summer for a long time but other resorts that I know of that have a good Summer seasons are Grand Massif (particularly Samoens), Portes du SOleil (Particularly Morzine), Chamonix (has more visitors in the SUmmer than the WInter allegedly).

I don't think Espace Killy has that good a summer season, nor does the Trois Valleys, the mid Tarantaise seems to be OK (particularly Bourg St Maurice), in the southern French Alps Alpe d'Huez seems to be busier than Les Deux Alpes.

The common factors as to what makes a good all year round resort seems to me to be if they have a river running through them, is they have leisure facilities such as swimming lake/pools, if they've got some notable road bike climbs (ie HC on the TdF) or an other tourist attractive (ie Mont Blanc in Chamonix).

All of this is anecdotal stuff based on driving round seeing clients in all of them over the non Winter Season.

That's a fairly good summary, many of the higher resorts are on a shale base which does not lend itself so well to summer activities.
I've heard it can be difficult buying in Switzerland as they seem to have restrictions on foreign ownership.
We bought in Les Gets as it has a thriving summer season as well as winter, also at the time the prices were massively lower that the Three valleys or Tignes/Val d'isere.
It has the added bonus of only being an hour from Geneva so transfers are not so painful.
We had thought of a 5 year plan, but 10 years in we have no intention of moving anywhere else!

[designforlife]

Property is pretty cheap in Liptovsky Mikulas (the town that serves the Slovakia resort of Jasna).... well worth a look, I have a couple of mates that own rental property and businesses out there, they've done very well out of it.

Jasna is also a pretty decent resort, some great off piste to be had when they get the snow, and beer/food is cheap as it comes.

[Condi]

ElectricSoup said:

Slovenia. Poor man's Switzerland. Also has a Mediterranean coast to enjoy in the summer. You can buy 4 bedroom houses in acres of land within driving distance of ski slopes, lakes and the coast for well under 100k Euros. I'm thinking of retiring there. But don't tell anyone, I don't want bloody British migrants pushing up property prices.

For example: https://www.sloveniaestates.com/property-details/c... (check out picture 9...)

Lots of good places in the Baltic/Med regions if you want somewhere cheaper than the Alps.

Much better in summer too with the Adriatic and Italy not far away.

Becoming more popular as a retirement destination - you best buy quick.

[Bill]

dmahon said:

I won’t mess up the board with a new thread and it seems there are lots of knowledgeable people here re ski resorts so hopefully I can jump in.

We have been talking about buying a holiday home and have this idea of somewhere with access to skiing and snow in the winter, and maybe somewhere with a bit more sun and outdoor activities in the summer. We have been to Interlaken in both summer and winter and it was great. Haven’t looked into it much but I imagine painfully expensive in Switzerland.

I wondered is there anywhere I should check out based on this limited info?

What sort of things do you want in summer? And are you prepared to travel to the skiing?

I've been to Morzine, Chamonix and Cortina in the summer which are all fantastic, but have different strengths. I suspect you will have to write Switzerland off as an ownership prospect, which is a shame as Interlaken is also fab.

[malks222]

depends whether you want to compromise with a better summer or winter. a place in the mountains is my dream and I do look up property.

I can’t decide if I would rather a dedicated ski place where winter is perfect. or somewhere summer is better and need to drive/ bus trips to the snow.

although in the summer we did go to lake annecy for a holiday, which was amazing. I could happily retire to that place- annecy lovely little town, lake for swimming/ boating/ cycling around, mountains very near by with good selection of skiing within an hour drive......... now where’s those winning euro millions numbers

[brickwall]

dmahon said:

I won’t mess up the board with a new thread and it seems there are lots of knowledgeable people here re ski resorts so hopefully I can jump in.

We have been talking about buying a holiday home and have this idea of somewhere with access to skiing and snow in the winter, and maybe somewhere with a bit more sun and outdoor activities in the summer. We have been to Interlaken in both summer and winter and it was great. Haven’t looked into it much but I imagine painfully expensive in Switzerland.

I wondered is there anywhere I should check out based on this limited info?

As others have said, a couple of areas have a better ‘summer offering’ than others:
- Portes du Soleil (especially on the French side - Châtel, Morzine, Les Gets)
- Grand Massif (Samoens and Les Carroz more than Morillon)

Buying in Switzerland isn’t materially harder than France, and is certainly easier than Germany. Properties are marked as “available for foreigners to buy” - you’ll see it as a tick box on every estate agent website. Mortgage options are plentiful.
Current exchange rates make Switzerland very expensive though - Morgins (in the PDS) is probably 30-40% more expensive than Châtel right across the border, despite Châtel probably being the superior resort.

Verbier is great, but crazy expensive - you probably need CHF 3-5m to buy something nice; vs €1-2m in Morzine goes a long way.

[ElectricSoup]

Condi said:

ElectricSoup said:

Slovenia. Poor man's Switzerland. Also has a Mediterranean coast to enjoy in the summer. You can buy 4 bedroom houses in acres of land within driving distance of ski slopes, lakes and the coast for well under 100k Euros. I'm thinking of retiring there. But don't tell anyone, I don't want bloody British migrants pushing up property prices.

For example: https://www.sloveniaestates.com/property-details/c... (check out picture 9...)

Lots of good places in the Baltic/Med regions if you want somewhere cheaper than the Alps.

Much better in summer too with the Adriatic and Italy not far away.

Becoming more popular as a retirement destination - you best buy quick.

Don't worry, Brexit will put the kybosh on that. Fortunately for me I've got another EU nationality to use.

[foiled]

Looking at skiing options for February half term 2021 for me, the missus and 3 kids (16,14 and12)

The wife and I used to ski before the kids, but we haven’t been for the past 17 years and fancy a change from the usual summer holiday.

1. Where would be good to go for beginners? And especially good kids ski school. We don’t need extensive ski areas as we are either complete beginners or very rusty.

2. Is £8-10k the going rate for a family of 5 for a week skiing? By the time I’ve added ski school, ski hire etc, all the main ski companies are £8k+
Even going diy with an Airbnb and easyJet quickly adds to £6.5k+, or am I doing some wrong?!

Thanks

[feef]

foiled said:

Looking at skiing options for February half term 2021 for me, the missus and 3 kids (16,14 and12)

The wife and I used to ski before the kids, but we haven’t been for the past 17 years and fancy a change from the usual summer holiday.

1. Where would be good to go for beginners? And especially good kids ski school. We don’t need extensive ski areas as we are either complete beginners or very rusty.

2. Is £8-10k the going rate for a family of 5 for a week skiing? By the time I’ve added ski school, ski hire etc, all the main ski companies are £8k+
Even going diy with an Airbnb and easyJet quickly adds to £6.5k+, or am I doing some wrong?!

Thanks

Is driving out an option?

This new-year I took 4 of us to Avoriaz. It came to just under £2200

That includes :
Eurotunnel
Fuel
tolls
Overnight stop each way (Dijon out, Reims back)
resort carpark
private let via HomeAway
4 lift passes

Doesn't include:
ski hire
lessons
food

[ElectricSoup]

foiled said:

Looking at skiing options for February half term 2021 for me, the missus and 3 kids (16,14 and12)

The wife and I used to ski before the kids, but we haven’t been for the past 17 years and fancy a change from the usual summer holiday.

1. Where would be good to go for beginners? And especially good kids ski school. We don’t need extensive ski areas as we are either complete beginners or very rusty.

2. Is £8-10k the going rate for a family of 5 for a week skiing? By the time I’ve added ski school, ski hire etc, all the main ski companies are £8k+
Even going diy with an Airbnb and easyJet quickly adds to £6.5k+, or am I doing some wrong?!

Thanks

You're not doing anything wrong, that sounds par for the course in France etc.

Try looking at Italy and Slovenia. I manage to get a week's skiing for 4, inc half board, car rental, ski passes, ski hire etc for £2-2.5k in Feb half term in Slovenia. Resorts are ideal for beginners and intermediates too. Fly Ryanair to Trieste, rent a car, lots of cheap accommodation available near the bigger resorts of Kranjska Gora and Krvavec. Job jobbed.

I seem to say this a lot on this thread, but seldom anyone responds!

[JEA1K]

Just had a week in Cervinia. No fresh snow but pistes in really good condition and so quiet. Zermatt side much busier but still far from heaving. First time I've stayed in Cervinia .... rode over from Zermatt some 13 years ago but will definitely be back there. Very different from my usual places but thats not a bad thing ... town centre is compact and pedestrianised with a few bars and loads of restaurants dotted about.

Think we'll give it a try at the start of December for along weekend. Now 8 weeks to wait until St Anton .... lets hope this winter turns around and we get some snow.

[OscarIndia]

foiled said:

Looking at skiing options for February half term 2021 for me, the missus and 3 kids (16,14 and12)

The wife and I used to ski before the kids, but we haven’t been for the past 17 years and fancy a change from the usual summer holiday.

1. Where would be good to go for beginners? And especially good kids ski school. We don’t need extensive ski areas as we are either complete beginners or very rusty.

2. Is £8-10k the going rate for a family of 5 for a week skiing? By the time I’ve added ski school, ski hire etc, all the main ski companies are £8k+
Even going diy with an Airbnb and easyJet quickly adds to £6.5k+, or am I doing some wrong?!

Thanks

Is that fully catered or self catering?
As an example
My Place in Les Gets Would be 3500 Euros for the week, sleeps 10 self catering
Ski School would be around 300 Euros for the week each
Allow 200 euros per person ski hire(You'll get change from that)
Easyjet if you get in early can be £200 per person up to £450ish if later on
Ski pass, if taking lessons can come as a bundle with lessons, ski pass and ski hire. Easily the cheapest way of doing it.
Car Hire 400 euros?
Just some idea for you!

[jonny996]

Ten thousand pound!!!!!!! that scares the hell out of me.
I will give you a break down of my half term and as this is PH's I will put a man maths spin on it.

Flights £500, get up early on release day.
Hire car £100, book as early as flights.
Ski Pass £650 for family pass.
Private ski school £750 (that is the first time I have paid for it as Mrs is learning this year) they will take up to 6 students for that costs if you want.
Ski hire zero, we have our kit over there.
Food net zero as we would be eating anyway if we stayed in UK.
So that tops out at £2K,
if you have £10K to spend on a ski holiday, why not rent a place for the whole winter or but a cheap place with a interest only mortgage & use it lots, your kids will soon be at the age they will want to go to it on their own.

[ElectricSoup]

jonny996 said:

Ten thousand pound!!!!!!! that scares the hell out of me.
I will give you a break down of my half term and as this is PH's I will put a man maths spin on it.

Flights £500, get up early on release day.
Hire car £100, book as early as flights.
Ski Pass £650 for family pass.
Private ski school £750 (that is the first time I have paid for it as Mrs is learning this year) they will take up to 6 students for that costs if you want.
Ski hire zero, we have our kit over there.
Food net zero as we would be eating anyway if we stayed in UK.
So that tops out at £2K,
if you have £10K to spend on a ski holiday, why not rent a place for the whole winter or but a cheap place with a interest only mortgage & use it lots, your kids will soon be at the age they will want to go to it on their own.

Where are you sleeping, at the bus stop?

[OscarIndia]

ElectricSoup said:

Where are you sleeping, at the bus stop?

Looks like he has his own place as his kit is already there.

[ElectricSoup]

OscarIndia said:

ElectricSoup said:

Where are you sleeping, at the bus stop?

Looks like he has his own place as his kit is already there.

So for those of us without our own accommodation, topping out at £2k is a bit misleading...

[jonny996]

ElectricSoup said:

So for those of us without our own accommodation, topping out at £2k is a bit misleading...

What I said is if you have £10 budget why not rent a place for the season.

[foiled]

feef said:

Is driving out an option?

This new-year I took 4 of us to Avoriaz. It came to just under £2200

That includes :
Eurotunnel
Fuel
tolls
Overnight stop each way (Dijon out, Reims back)
resort carpark
private let via HomeAway
4 lift passes

Doesn't include:
ski hire
lessons
food

Avoriaz looks nice but prefer not to drive from South Wales, as the Eurotunnel isn't exactly close, it's the equipment hire and ski lessons that the 5 of us need that I think bumps up the price considerably. I just need to comit to going every year, then eventually if would get a bit cheaper!

ElectricSoup said:

You're not doing anything wrong, that sounds par for the course in France etc.

Try looking at Italy and Slovenia. I manage to get a week's skiing for 4, inc half board, car rental, ski passes, ski hire etc for £2-2.5k in Feb half term in Slovenia. Resorts are ideal for beginners and intermediates too. Fly Ryanair to Trieste, rent a car, lots of cheap accommodation available near the bigger resorts of Kranjska Gora and Krvavec. Job jobbed.

I seem to say this a lot on this thread, but seldom anyone responds!

Kranjska Gora looks good, and some nice looking inexpensive chalets near the slopes, 2 hour transfer from Trieste looks manageable too.
Thanks for the tip, I'll delve a bit deeper tonight

OscarIndia said:

Is that fully catered or self catering?
As an example
My Place in Les Gets Would be 3500 Euros for the week, sleeps 10 self catering
Ski School would be around 300 Euros for the week each
Allow 200 euros per person ski hire(You'll get change from that)
Easyjet if you get in early can be £200 per person up to £450ish if later on
Ski pass, if taking lessons can come as a bundle with lessons, ski pass and ski hire. Easily the cheapest way of doing it.
Car Hire 400 euros?
Just some idea for you!

So that adds up to 7400 euros for the 5 of us plus lift passes and lessons, so my £8k quotes aren't that far off at all.
Although, I suspect your chalet in Les Gets is nicer than the ones with the tour company's

[OscarIndia]

foiled said:

So that adds up to 7400 euros for the 5 of us plus lift passes and lessons, so my £8k quotes aren't that far off at all.
Although, I suspect your chalet in Les Gets is nicer than the ones with the tour company's

But if you are all taking lessons you'll probably be able to get the all inclusive lesson pack, so take off £200 per person.

[Speed 3]

foiled said:

Avoriaz looks nice but prefer not to drive from South Wales, as the Eurotunnel isn't exactly close, it's the equipment hire and ski lessons that the 5 of us need that I think bumps up the price considerably. I just need to comit to going every year, then eventually if would get a bit cheaper!

I know its further from SW than we do from Surrey but I'd drive all day long over flying with my family and we bump into people that week from all over the North & West of England and Wales that have driven. It works out half the price of flying for us so probably 60% for you and the car gives you so much flexibility. If you can share driving you can always drive through the night to save a couple of hundred quid which many do (we hotel outbound, non-stop back). One year we were stuck on a closed motorway coming back on the Saturday which sounds like a pain but all those heading to Geneva for flights wouldn't have made them nor be able to get on any other flight anytime soon; we had a couple of hours delay in a warm SUV watching DVD's, Eurotunnel just turns into a first come, first board at peak times, irrespective of your booked time.

We went to Samoens in the Grand Massif for a few years to teach the kids and that is a perfect character/family resort and mid range on price. Generally paid €1000/wk for a decent 2-bed apartment (through Homeaway), ski school around €240 each in group lessons. Beauty of self catering & car is you can keep food costs down by taking stuff, using the supermarkets and cooking yourself (plus packed lunches which can stay in the car). Lift passes generally around €240 each in France. Equipment hire shouldn't be more than €120/week for blue class kit.

Resorts suitable for beginners are cheaper in places like Bulgaria & Slovenia but I don't have any experience of them. Italy is much cheaper than France on-slope, similar on kit, passes & lessons.