DCSKIERS and EPIC skiers,
Looks like I will be leaving for ? in Europe with adult son for a week (Sat - Sat)in early January. Will meet up with daughter's family (2 adult and 3 small skiers) for a week of sking. Question is where...Austria, Switzerland, Germany, even France or Italy. Real problem is where?
Need more advice. Where is snow in early Jan most iffy?
Not looking for the toughest, just pleasant family skiing in real Alps. Kitzbuel? St Anton? Interlaken region? Kids will spend a lot of time in ski school, ages 5, 5 and 6. All have skied several times. Looking for experience, fun, sightseeing, etc. As any who have traveled to Europe with kids knows...hard to find a room with two large beds. Apartment? HELP!!!
Looking for info and on-line places to get honest info! Willing to pay, but only two arms and one leg...I can hop on the other to get around!
I need to be booking planes and daughter is having trouble getting info in this her first and only winter in Germany!
The Colonel

My favorite place on the planet is Zermatt. So much so, that my post-retirement soiree will be there in next March. You can ski Zermatt until May or June. Once you take the Glacier Express from Berne, you go through once-in-a-lifetime scenery, canyons, and glaciers. Then you arrive in the town. There are no cars. The last town you can drive to is Tasch, about 10 KM away. Electric buses but no cars. And yet the town is fairly substantial (about 6,000 permanent residents). A family paradise. You don't have to watch the traffic, the rush hours and the bums. Around you, there are 30 peaks over 13,000 feet. Including the Matterhorn. On a day, you can ski from the Klein Matterhorn, the highest cable car in the world, down 8 miles and almost 7,500" into town. And literally ski down the Ruhr ravine (a ski trail) into your hotel. On another day, you can take a run into Italy's Cervinia ski area, and savor another country's food and culture before heading back into Zermatt. On another day, take the cog rail into Gornergratt, and have lunch in a castle before skiing back to town. Or the funnicular that shuttles you at bullet speed up 4,000 feet. Or take one of the six or so gondolas. Some of the best restaurants of the 50 or so in town are not in town, but up 3 or 4 thousand feet up. Have some

There are a zillion places to stay, from hostels to a castle. And most of the hotels include a serious, hearty, Swiss breakfast.

Go to where ever has the best snow at the time you will be there.

I'd go to the Dolomites in Italy. Fly into Munich and it's a couple hours by car on the autobahn.

Why?

1) Scenery - the most spectacular mountain scenery you've ever seen.


2) Predictable snow - in bad snow years, the Italians know how to make snow a whole lot better than the Austrians

3) History = you can ski Belevedere (at Val de Fassa) scene of some of the fiercest WWII battles in Italy, and you'll see why the allies had such a tough time taking that ground. You also ski next to castles, at least in Val Gardena.

Where? take your pick of 12 areas with an interchangable Dolomiti Superski pass that gives to access to all 12 areas and about 470 lifts. I'd probably go to Val Gardena, or if you want to be upscale it's Cortina. Arabba is pretty low key and you can ski to both Cortina and Val Gardena pretty easily.

Details : http://www.dolomitisuperski.com/en-US/ski-holidays-11EN.html

Nice to hear from you Colonel. You've been missed. Have a great time wherever you go.

Congrats on retirement. Sound like a great way to go out. And Zermatt sounds amazing. I have not yet skied in Europe but when I go, it sounds like the place to go.

If it is not inappropriate to ask...at what age are you retiring. I am thinking of retiring in about 1.5 years when I reach 59.5.

I am 70 years young. I retired from my career government job at age 62 and immediately started a job working for a contractor serving the government. Went part time a couple of years ago.
The Colonel

I've skied a lot in France and a bit in Switzerland, and my husband was skiing in Austria this October. I'd say that in January, snow should be pretty reliable, but if you want to ensure good coverage, go to a high altitute resort and/or with glacier skiing. (The downside is that sometimes they close the glaciers due to visibility/wind.) I've gone to Les 2 Alpes in France for the past 2 years, most recently with my young son, who was 4 last ski season. He took a week of ski lessons with ESF, and it was excellent. An amazing ratio of instructors-to-kids for a bargain price, compared to US resorts. He was skiing confidently by the end of the week. I also know Les Arcs pretty well (which has excellent terrain) and spent a week at Les Menuires.
The main downside of French resorts is that it takes a while to get there if you're flying in from the states. On the other hand, it's super easy to get to Swiss resorts from the Geneva airport - there are trains that go literally to the ski slopes. So if you have a short amount of time, you might want to take access into account, in which case you might want to consider Switzerland (or Austria). We had an excellent experience with ski lessons in Switzerland too.
In any event, sounds like an exciting opportunity!