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Snow patrol: the ski season starts here
Will it be Armenia or Zermatt? Glacier skiing or deep-powder boarding?
Here's how to make the most of the coming season on the slopes
Susan Greenwood
The Observer, Sunday 23 October 2011
Grab some air: the ski season takes off. Photograph: Richard Price/Getty Images
Get in early
The mantra for early-season skiing is go high, go glacial and don't
ride your own skis lest those delicately snow-covered rocks act as an
angle grinder to their base. Bearing this in mind, it's worth taking a
look at Sölden (soelden.com) in Austria. The resort opened its glacier
on 3 September and is holding the first leg of the Ski World Cup this
weekend. With three skiable peaks rising up to 3,370m, snow is a safe
bet: last season saw 1.84m on the upper slopes by December.
Ifyouski.com has a week's accommodation in catered chalet Eishaus,
including flights departing Gatwick on 16 December, for £529pp based
on two sharing.
Another famously glaciated resort is Saas-Fee (saas-fee.ch), which
sits at 1,800m with high skiing up to 3,500m. Chocolate boxes were
invented so Saas-Fee would have somewhere to put its picture -
glittering nightlife is best left to neighbouring resort Zermatt while
you tackle the T-bars from 17 December. Ski Total (skitotal.com) is
offering £150 off per couple on a seven-night stay at Chalet Hotel
Ambassador. Half-board accommodation, flights from Southampton and
transfers costs £854pp based on two sharing, departing 23 December.
French resorts took a hammering last season with a paucity of snow
across the board. But Tignes (tignes.net) in the Espace Killy
frequently emerges as the place to kick off your season with the
3,455m Grande Motte glacier guaranteeing time on piste and Val Claret
at 2,100m making "ski-in" a definite possibility. Inghams
(inghams.co.uk) has seven nights at the four-star Hotel le Levanna in
Tignes, departing on Friday 16 December, from £759pp on a half-board
basis, including flights.
In 1999, Mount Baker (mtbaker.us) in the Northern Cascades held the
world record for the most snowfall in one season - 29m - and it
frequently enjoys deep powder as early as November. Located two hours
from Seattle, it's not a large resort, with only nine chairlifts, but
if you want rooster tails before Christmas this is the place. There
are direct tour operators in Mount Baker, but BA (ba.com) has return
flights to Seattle departing 3 December for £527, while lodging at
Snowline Condo in Mount Baker for those dates costs £456
(mtbakerlodging.com).
Keystone (keystoneresort.com) in Colorado will be throwing open its
doors from 4 November, with sophisticated snow-making, a fantastic
snowpark and protective tree runs offering great early skiing. The
resort lacks the buzz of Breckenridge and Vail (with which it shares
the Epic ski pass), but it has a cosier feel and lots of expert
terrain. A seven-night Keystone package with Ski Safari
(skisafari.com), based on two people sharing and including flights
with BA departing 6 December, room-only accommodation at The Inn and
transfers comes in at £965pp if you book by 24 October.
Tignes in France, dwarfed by the Grande Motte glacier. Photograph:
Getty Images Exciting new destinations
Ski touring, once the preserve of hardy mountain types, has seen a
growing popularity over the past few seasons with its green
credentials (no lifts), offers of endless untracked powder and the
thrill of a new challenge. Norway has emerged this season as one of
the most exciting destinations for touring with the lure of skiing in
waist-deep powder against a backdrop of fjords. Strandafjellet
(strandafjellet.no), midway between Geiranger and Ålesund, is a good
off-piste base and offers amazing skiing on the cusp of
Geirangerfjord. The Ski Club of Great Britain
(skiclub.co.uk/freshtracks) has a tour this season to the Lyngen Alps
above the Arctic Circle, and if you fancy something more, well,
Norwegian, then local company Breogfjell (breogfjell.no) has a
three-day tour from its cabin base in Sogn. The area houses the
biggest glacier in mainland Europe as well as the longest fjord and
the most alpine mountains in Norway so you can expect some spectacular
skiing.
Turkey started being explored last year so it was only a matter of
time before attention was turned to the potential of neighbouring
Georgia and Armenia. Jagged Globe (jagged-globe.co.uk) has added a
15-day tour to its ski roster which takes in Mount Aragats as well as
Georgia's Mount Kazbek. "The potential for Armenia is amazing," says
Tom Briggs, managing director of Jagged Globe. "We thought we'd
combine it with Georgia which also has some really exciting touring."
Georgia's main resort of Gudauri makes up for its slow chairlifts and
rustic accommodation with deep snow and acres of rideable terrain.
An emerging resort for 2012 is Kopaonik in Serbia which in March hosts
the Big Snow Festival (facebook.com/thebigsnowfestival), previously
held in Andorra. It only has 62km of piste, but the town is vibrant,
its snow record is reliable, much of the accommodation is slopeside
and it has a range of runs. But the deal maker is lift pass prices of
around half those in western Europe, with food and drink costs a
fraction of what you'd pay in the Alps.
In 2014 Sochi in Russia hosts the Winter Olympics and already hosts a
leg of the Freeride World Tour each year. Consequently there's a
temptation to visit the area while it undergoes its transformation
from four ski lifts to Olympic mega-resort. Crystal
(crystalski.co.uk/ski-resorts/russia-ski-holidays) is offering
holidays to Gasprom at the Hotel Polyana with days at Rosa Khutor and
Mountain Carousel as well. The off-piste, with a vertical drop of
1,700m, is worth the trip alone.
THe Northern Cascades, two hours from Seattle, often has deep snow in
November. Photograph: Getty Images The latest resorts
It appears we are entering the golden age of skiing with many resorts
celebrating their 50th anniversaries. Stratton Mountain (stratton.com)
in Vermont is commemorating its big 5-0 (during which time the resort
has been home to many snowsport legends, not least Jake Burton,
founder of Burton Snowboards) by opening four new runs.
Avoriaz (avoriaz.com), in the Portes du Soleil (portesdusoleil.com),
also turns 50 this season and seems to be getting better with age. The
car-free resort is opening seven new residences with a total of 369
luxury apartments overlooking the slopes, with the new Amara district
also offering a wellbeing centre with pool, spa and gym. The final
piece of the puzzle, the Aquariaz tropical aqua centre, is due to open
next July. In the meantime, you'll have to make do with a new ice rink
in the centre of town. Elsewhere in the Portes du Soleil, Chatel
(chatel.com) has invested 7m in its lift system and snow cannons to
herald a slicker and snowier 2012.
Over in the US, Northstar-at-Tahoe (northstarattahoe.com) has seen a
$30m investment from Vail resorts, using the money to build a new lift
- the Promised Land Express - and consequently increase skiable
terrain by 10%.
If backcountry not park is your thing, Chamonix (chamonix.com), the
epicentre of off-piste skiing, sees the opening of its first dedicated
avalanche training school this season. The Avalanche Academy (0033
78730 3104) uses practical sessions and video analysis to help you
tackle some of the massif's more extreme terrain. One-day courses
start at 80.
Flashy accommodation
Instead of slapping "chalet", "France" and "ski" into Google in the
hope of finding decent accommodation, a new website promises to make
life a lot easier. More chilled in fact. Chilledlife.com is a website
and community where you post your requirements to all chalet and
apartment owners who then come back to you direct with deals.
Val Thorens has long been at the forefront of snowboarding with its
progressive park and snowboarder-friendly terrain. Crystal is taking
this one step further with the launch of their Riders' Lodge
programme. The 16-sleeper lodge has a relaxed vibe and staff who will
show you all the sweet spots. A week including flights, transfers and
half-board accommodation starts at £599
(crystalski.co.uk/riders-lodge).
Ski Wildfire (skiwildfire.com) is opening its new flagship Eagle Lodge
chalet in Breckenridge in time for Christmas. The luxury accommodation
has everything from laptops and hot tub to a media den. It's also a
mere 380m from the fast Peak 8 Gondola.
Not everyone wants to stay in a chalet though. There are already five
igloo villages in Swiss ski resorts but Zermatt (zermatt.ch) is upping
the ante with its Mammut Iglu Camp (iglu-dorf.com/iglucamp) - two days
of freeriding with a mountain guide before camping in your own igloo.
Takes ski-in, ski-out to new levels.
A lunchtime stop in the Alps Early-bird deals
It's always a gamble booking before the snow has started to fall. But
there are deals to be had if you're happy to sacrifice spontaneity.
Valley Fever (valleyfever.co.uk) has reduced rates on its two chalets
in Argentière, France. A pre-Christmas fully catered week starts at
£350pp per week including transfers, saving £125 off its usual low
rate.
Whistler in Canada is offering a 36% discount on its terrific Stay &
Ski packages which include lodging and lift tickets if you book before
16 November (whistlerblackcomb.com).
If you ski in Cortina in the Dolomites before 23 December, you get one
day's accommodation and lift pass free - so ski four, pay for three
and so on (dolomiti.org/dengl/cortina/index.html).
Mountain Mavericks (mountainmavericks.com) is an owner-run company in
Morzine, France, which has 30% off any date between 10 and 26
December. Book before 4 December and a festive getaway needn't be so
expensive.
Will it be Armenia or Zermatt? Glacier skiing or deep-powder boarding?
Here's how to make the most of the coming season on the slopes
Susan Greenwood
The Observer, Sunday 23 October 2011
Grab some air: the ski season takes off. Photograph: Richard Price/Getty Images
Get in early
The mantra for early-season skiing is go high, go glacial and don't
ride your own skis lest those delicately snow-covered rocks act as an
angle grinder to their base. Bearing this in mind, it's worth taking a
look at Sölden (soelden.com) in Austria. The resort opened its glacier
on 3 September and is holding the first leg of the Ski World Cup this
weekend. With three skiable peaks rising up to 3,370m, snow is a safe
bet: last season saw 1.84m on the upper slopes by December.
Ifyouski.com has a week's accommodation in catered chalet Eishaus,
including flights departing Gatwick on 16 December, for £529pp based
on two sharing.
Another famously glaciated resort is Saas-Fee (saas-fee.ch), which
sits at 1,800m with high skiing up to 3,500m. Chocolate boxes were
invented so Saas-Fee would have somewhere to put its picture -
glittering nightlife is best left to neighbouring resort Zermatt while
you tackle the T-bars from 17 December. Ski Total (skitotal.com) is
offering £150 off per couple on a seven-night stay at Chalet Hotel
Ambassador. Half-board accommodation, flights from Southampton and
transfers costs £854pp based on two sharing, departing 23 December.
French resorts took a hammering last season with a paucity of snow
across the board. But Tignes (tignes.net) in the Espace Killy
frequently emerges as the place to kick off your season with the
3,455m Grande Motte glacier guaranteeing time on piste and Val Claret
at 2,100m making "ski-in" a definite possibility. Inghams
(inghams.co.uk) has seven nights at the four-star Hotel le Levanna in
Tignes, departing on Friday 16 December, from £759pp on a half-board
basis, including flights.
In 1999, Mount Baker (mtbaker.us) in the Northern Cascades held the
world record for the most snowfall in one season - 29m - and it
frequently enjoys deep powder as early as November. Located two hours
from Seattle, it's not a large resort, with only nine chairlifts, but
if you want rooster tails before Christmas this is the place. There
are direct tour operators in Mount Baker, but BA (ba.com) has return
flights to Seattle departing 3 December for £527, while lodging at
Snowline Condo in Mount Baker for those dates costs £456
(mtbakerlodging.com).
Keystone (keystoneresort.com) in Colorado will be throwing open its
doors from 4 November, with sophisticated snow-making, a fantastic
snowpark and protective tree runs offering great early skiing. The
resort lacks the buzz of Breckenridge and Vail (with which it shares
the Epic ski pass), but it has a cosier feel and lots of expert
terrain. A seven-night Keystone package with Ski Safari
(skisafari.com), based on two people sharing and including flights
with BA departing 6 December, room-only accommodation at The Inn and
transfers comes in at £965pp if you book by 24 October.
Tignes in France, dwarfed by the Grande Motte glacier. Photograph:
Getty Images Exciting new destinations
Ski touring, once the preserve of hardy mountain types, has seen a
growing popularity over the past few seasons with its green
credentials (no lifts), offers of endless untracked powder and the
thrill of a new challenge. Norway has emerged this season as one of
the most exciting destinations for touring with the lure of skiing in
waist-deep powder against a backdrop of fjords. Strandafjellet
(strandafjellet.no), midway between Geiranger and Ålesund, is a good
off-piste base and offers amazing skiing on the cusp of
Geirangerfjord. The Ski Club of Great Britain
(skiclub.co.uk/freshtracks) has a tour this season to the Lyngen Alps
above the Arctic Circle, and if you fancy something more, well,
Norwegian, then local company Breogfjell (breogfjell.no) has a
three-day tour from its cabin base in Sogn. The area houses the
biggest glacier in mainland Europe as well as the longest fjord and
the most alpine mountains in Norway so you can expect some spectacular
skiing.
Turkey started being explored last year so it was only a matter of
time before attention was turned to the potential of neighbouring
Georgia and Armenia. Jagged Globe (jagged-globe.co.uk) has added a
15-day tour to its ski roster which takes in Mount Aragats as well as
Georgia's Mount Kazbek. "The potential for Armenia is amazing," says
Tom Briggs, managing director of Jagged Globe. "We thought we'd
combine it with Georgia which also has some really exciting touring."
Georgia's main resort of Gudauri makes up for its slow chairlifts and
rustic accommodation with deep snow and acres of rideable terrain.
An emerging resort for 2012 is Kopaonik in Serbia which in March hosts
the Big Snow Festival (facebook.com/thebigsnowfestival), previously
held in Andorra. It only has 62km of piste, but the town is vibrant,
its snow record is reliable, much of the accommodation is slopeside
and it has a range of runs. But the deal maker is lift pass prices of
around half those in western Europe, with food and drink costs a
fraction of what you'd pay in the Alps.
In 2014 Sochi in Russia hosts the Winter Olympics and already hosts a
leg of the Freeride World Tour each year. Consequently there's a
temptation to visit the area while it undergoes its transformation
from four ski lifts to Olympic mega-resort. Crystal
(crystalski.co.uk/ski-resorts/russia-ski-holidays) is offering
holidays to Gasprom at the Hotel Polyana with days at Rosa Khutor and
Mountain Carousel as well. The off-piste, with a vertical drop of
1,700m, is worth the trip alone.
THe Northern Cascades, two hours from Seattle, often has deep snow in
November. Photograph: Getty Images The latest resorts
It appears we are entering the golden age of skiing with many resorts
celebrating their 50th anniversaries. Stratton Mountain (stratton.com)
in Vermont is commemorating its big 5-0 (during which time the resort
has been home to many snowsport legends, not least Jake Burton,
founder of Burton Snowboards) by opening four new runs.
Avoriaz (avoriaz.com), in the Portes du Soleil (portesdusoleil.com),
also turns 50 this season and seems to be getting better with age. The
car-free resort is opening seven new residences with a total of 369
luxury apartments overlooking the slopes, with the new Amara district
also offering a wellbeing centre with pool, spa and gym. The final
piece of the puzzle, the Aquariaz tropical aqua centre, is due to open
next July. In the meantime, you'll have to make do with a new ice rink
in the centre of town. Elsewhere in the Portes du Soleil, Chatel
(chatel.com) has invested 7m in its lift system and snow cannons to
herald a slicker and snowier 2012.
Over in the US, Northstar-at-Tahoe (northstarattahoe.com) has seen a
$30m investment from Vail resorts, using the money to build a new lift
- the Promised Land Express - and consequently increase skiable
terrain by 10%.
If backcountry not park is your thing, Chamonix (chamonix.com), the
epicentre of off-piste skiing, sees the opening of its first dedicated
avalanche training school this season. The Avalanche Academy (0033
78730 3104) uses practical sessions and video analysis to help you
tackle some of the massif's more extreme terrain. One-day courses
start at 80.
Flashy accommodation
Instead of slapping "chalet", "France" and "ski" into Google in the
hope of finding decent accommodation, a new website promises to make
life a lot easier. More chilled in fact. Chilledlife.com is a website
and community where you post your requirements to all chalet and
apartment owners who then come back to you direct with deals.
Val Thorens has long been at the forefront of snowboarding with its
progressive park and snowboarder-friendly terrain. Crystal is taking
this one step further with the launch of their Riders' Lodge
programme. The 16-sleeper lodge has a relaxed vibe and staff who will
show you all the sweet spots. A week including flights, transfers and
half-board accommodation starts at £599
(crystalski.co.uk/riders-lodge).
Ski Wildfire (skiwildfire.com) is opening its new flagship Eagle Lodge
chalet in Breckenridge in time for Christmas. The luxury accommodation
has everything from laptops and hot tub to a media den. It's also a
mere 380m from the fast Peak 8 Gondola.
Not everyone wants to stay in a chalet though. There are already five
igloo villages in Swiss ski resorts but Zermatt (zermatt.ch) is upping
the ante with its Mammut Iglu Camp (iglu-dorf.com/iglucamp) - two days
of freeriding with a mountain guide before camping in your own igloo.
Takes ski-in, ski-out to new levels.
A lunchtime stop in the Alps Early-bird deals
It's always a gamble booking before the snow has started to fall. But
there are deals to be had if you're happy to sacrifice spontaneity.
Valley Fever (valleyfever.co.uk) has reduced rates on its two chalets
in Argentière, France. A pre-Christmas fully catered week starts at
£350pp per week including transfers, saving £125 off its usual low
rate.
Whistler in Canada is offering a 36% discount on its terrific Stay &
Ski packages which include lodging and lift tickets if you book before
16 November (whistlerblackcomb.com).
If you ski in Cortina in the Dolomites before 23 December, you get one
day's accommodation and lift pass free - so ski four, pay for three
and so on (dolomiti.org/dengl/cortina/index.html).
Mountain Mavericks (mountainmavericks.com) is an owner-run company in
Morzine, France, which has 30% off any date between 10 and 26
December. Book before 4 December and a festive getaway needn't be so
expensive.