The Straight Story On The Continental Skiing Scene For Seniors.

I have coached in pretty well all of the European skiing countries. SeniorsSkiing asked me could I recommend resorts to suit mature American skiers, especially first time visitors to the Continent. Here goes.

The range of possibilities is vast. France plasters its slopes with lifts, Italy takes a more environmental view and installs fewer but longer lifts up valleys, offering equally long descents. Gressoney St Jean in the Aosta region (about an hour from Turin) is a classic example, it also links to Champoluc and Alagna.

Other Examples

A friend went to Waidring in Austria every year for ten years. Great people, great snow, warm welcomes. They have a tradition called gemutlichkeit – geniality or friendliness. It is tiny – 10 lifts,16 trails all told, half of them intermediate, half of them beginner.

Compare that to Val Thorens-Meribel-Courchevel – 163 lifts, 373 miles of trails, 192,000 feet of vertical descent. Start in Val Thorens, ski to Courchevel, and you may not have time to get back. Hugely popular with Brits (far too popular for me, I hate lift queues)

What’s On Offer?

Different resorts in every country target different types of skiers – though they hope to get everybody.

Take the Chamonix Valley for instance, steeped in mountaineering history. Each of its resorts offers a spread of challenge but with a bias.

The lowest resort, Les Houches: charming, easier, all trails are in wooded areas, amply supplied with atmospheric mountain restaurants.

Almost an hour’s ski bus ride from Les Houches – is Le Tour. Almost treeless, big sweeping terrain, as well as plenty of intermediate trails it offers some easily accessible off-piste.

In between you have Le Brevent – high, steep, not easy; or Argentiere, home of the “hard men”, some of the blues would classify red (black) in other places.

When conditions permit, from Chamonix centre a telecabine takes you to the 22 km Vallee Blanche in the high mountains, and you only need to be intermediate, but you’ll need a professional guide: don’t try it on your own.

So How To Choose?

The internet is full of “the three best French ski resorts”; or “the ten best Austrian ones”; it’s endless.

What we need is a selection process. How does this seem:

• How pricey is it? There are big differences. If you select Kitzbuhel (fashionable) everything is more expensive than Kirchberg which is just a few miles up the road and accesses the same trails. Some resorts are designed around high net worth folk seeking luxury.
• What duration is the connection time between your airport and the resort. It can be up to four hours or as little as only one. Does it matter to you?
• Many European resorts are inter-connected, ask them what standard of skiing do they mostly offer. They’ll tell you they have everything, but insist on knowing what they mostly offer.
• Within the connected areas ask them the approximate skiing times to get from one resort to another, and back: it can seriously affect your day – and how tiring it might be.
• Ask them if skiing guides available who can show you early in your visit the general shape of the place. Many of the chalet owners and hotels offer this service – not teaching, just showing you around.
• When are the school holidays? In France they go on for weeks. Lift queues can be horrendous. Outside of them, you can often just walk on. And remember, in some European countries lift queue etiquette and politeness is conspicuous by its absence; France is one of them.
• Consider less popular countries that don’t have inter-connected valleys – Slovenia (home of Elan skis) has some nice small resorts; Bulgaria has more than you might think and inexpensive.

My personal favorite? Baqueira in the Spanish Pyrenees. Two hour connection from Toulouse airport. Nicest folk you’ll ever meet (I go to the Hotel Tuc Blanc, and I’m not paid to say so). Watch out for school holidays though, it’s just across the border from France, but the Catalans queue politely.

One Last Tip.

Never do “the last run down”! Everyone wants to get one more “last run” in. They do it on the return to the valley.

Don’t. They’re all tired; they’re skiing at their worst; there are crowds of them; the trails down lower are worn out or slushy. If you want “one last run” stay higher (the areas they’ve just left!) have better snow, fewer people, quieter mountains, and go down to the valley on the lift.