Any good recommendation of Ski Resorts? I am living in the Zurich area and would like to book a ski holiday for xmas this year. Thanks.

Hi, this type of question is a bit like saying - I want to buy a new car what should I buy? This really depends on what you want........
. How good a skier you are - types of skiing you want - cruising the blues, steep and deep
. what sort of ambience you are looking for - party town, romantic, family friendly
. what languages you speak - e.g do you want a resort where everyone speaks English or are you ok with a french/german flavoured resort
. huge international resort or quaint small lesser known
. hotel vs. appartment vs. day trips
. other activities you want e.g winter walking, ice-skating
. how far do you want to travel, should this be accessible by train

There is a really good ski resort finder on MySwitzerland.com where you can select resort size, locations, ambience etc. with lots of information about Swiss resorts and links to info re the towns and ski areas and other activities that are offere.

You can then ask for EFers experience of different resorts you might choose between then you will probably get some helpful insights.

Hi,
Id recommend Lenzerheide. 1.5hrs from Zurich, a real swiss mountian village. great skiing for all levels and never really gets too busy. If you want any advice on hotels, ski schools ect. please dont hesitate to ask.

regards
Lucas

I'm skiing out of Laax this season about 2hrs by car or you can take the train to chur then a bus up the hill which is about 2hrs as well.

Film/laax/felara is a larger area, ATM open at weekends for the glacier.

when is the ski season starting??? I am waiting like hell.

I've heard that many swissers go to austria, voralberg or something like that. It's much cheaper..........

The ski season has kind of already started.

Certain high resorts have had the glaciers open since beginning of this month or some earlier.

Other resorts have opened certain sections, whereby the snow has fallen high enough or they can make snow on certain runs, accounting for 10-25% of the resort.

Saas Fee for example has a nice amount open, I was there last weekend, and can get a good day in there if want to make the journey.

In terms of full kick off for the season, the resorts tend to ear mark 1 December, however, this is likely to be delayed, like last year. There was no snow at all last year until mid December, very late.

This year we had a dumping late October, and it was assumed it would continue from there but no more has come. It is supposed to start falling as of Sunday and into next week in a lot of the resorts so.....I am hoping by mid December again everything should be fully up and running.

I hear the USA and Canada have some great and good value for money resorts, and Zurich Airport is really quite pleasant ;-)

Popova Sapka

Brezovica

We dont start skiing here in Lenzerheide unitll the 1st Dec, if we have snow that is. Last year was the same situation up here. Nothing and then on the 8th Dec we got over a meter and the lifts opened the weekend after. Atleast this time the ground is nice and frozen so hopefully the avi conditions wont be as bad.

Eh? Wrong tense. Been skiing for over a month already, and this year the season started later than normal for me.

Yea, I saw quite a few skis and boards on the trains this weekend, although I haven't got out yet. The weather is getting colder this week and there's a lot of precipitation about so it won't be long before I get out.

I agree the question of where to go depends on so many factors. I've skied and snowboarded over 100 resorts in Switzerland and Austria on day trips, family outings, trips out with the boys etc, and it is impossible to say that one resort or another is overwhelmingly superior to another. It just depends on what you are looking for and what the weather gets up to.

Incidentally, Austria is very do-able from Switzerland (and much cheaper). I'm off to Pitztal and Kitzbühel before Christmas for a short break, and have even done day trips to St Anton and Ishgl from Basel and been on the slopes by 9am.

Anyway, I've compiled details of all the places I've been to at www.swisswintersports.co.uk so hopefully that can give you some ideas.

Sorry but I didn't really like Lenzerheide. Bit limited in the amount of slopes and the atmosphere was a tad old and fuddy duddy...

Davos is the bomb !!!

http://www.davos.ch/en.html

I picked up a catalogue from Aldi the other week. There are some GREAT dealy in there. A big variety of weekend getaways too...

All in all though, just get out there as much as you can. We tend to wait untill the weather is just right. All that driving and the cost too. We like it to be completely worth it. Makes such a difference too when the sun is shining compared to when it's blowing a storm and you can't see one meter in fornt of you....

Yea, we booked our place in Austria for our pre-Xmas ski holiday via Aldi, back in July. Aldi prices are fabulous and we have had some great breaks via Aldi, sometimes well under half price of what the counter price is.

However this time, just two weeks ago, they cancelled our July booking and said they were overbooked. They did offer us an alternative, not as good and no refund, but we have made all of our plans so we had no choice but to take it.

So, yes Aldi prices are good, but even booking well in advance doesn't sound like it guarantees your booking will be honoured.

For good value I do recommend youth hostels in Switzerland. Great hostels in loads of the main resorts and some lesser ones. Last Christmas we stayed in the Youth Hostel in St Moritz and it was like staying in a luxury three star hotel (see here).

Re the original question - where to book for a Xmas ski vacation...... I would recommend somewhere which is reasonably high (snow guaranteed), not too far from Zurich (e.g. 2 or 3 hours), lots of different ski areas (e.g. 4), good apres ski (bars with atmosphere, lunatics in ski boots), and memorable (the X factor).

For me , this means Davos, or Zermatt, or Verbier...)

For tips re Davos PM me...

Agree with Maximus. St Anton and Saas-Fee probably also fit the bill.

Ace1 - Any recommendations for good snow in the Berner Oberland which might be accessible for a day trip from Basel this coming Sunday (Dec 2)?

Sorry, I don't have access to any more info than you. Someone recently posted this link to myswizerland.com which is probably the best single source of such information.

Engelberg should be good, as it was already in half-decent shape and there has been/will be lots of fresh snow this week. But (mostly) not in the Berner Oberland, although easier from Basel than most that are.

the myswitzerland.com Winter sports report is exactly what I was looking for. Brilliant. Thank you.

Hi

Good Ski Resorts in Switzerland include:

Near to Zurich - Flumserberg (but depends on level, great for beginners and intermediates), Engleberg (intermediate/advanced)

Further a field but still in Switzerland: Flims-Laax, Arosa, Zermatt, Saas Fee, Davos, St Moritz, Verbier (especially great for advance skiers and those who enjoy off piste and good Après Ski).

Other recommendations:

France: Alp d'Huez, Les Arcs, Les Deux Alpes, Val d'Isere, Tignes, Val Thorens, Courchevel, Chamonix (all these resorts have a good mix of skiing for all abilities and a good night life if you like Apès Ski), Morzine, Avoriaz and there are of course many many more....

Italy: Bormio, Courmeyer (I don't know Italy very well)

Hope this proves useful.

Which one wöuld be the best option for:

- a beginner-middle level
- who lives in Zurich
- who doesn't want to spend too much

Thanks