Best Ski Trip In Europe?
 

Preliminary plans for a first time ski trip in Europe - what was your favorite ski trip and where?
(does not matter where or cost yet, once we figure out where we are going we can go from there).

THANK YOU FOR SHARING!

We could probably help more if you could provide a bit more info. For example - what level of skiers are you? How important is the scenery? - how important the night life? Do you want serious off-piste or are you happy on groomed runs? etc.

That said, we'll be leaving for our 11th ski trip to Europe in a couple weeks. We are advanced skiers who care more about good cruising runs amidst spectacular scenery than challenges. (I'll leave the challenges for skiing close to home where an injury isn't such a major problem.) We also look for good hotels with upscale cuisine and fine wines.

Places we particularly like: Grindelwald, Ischgl, and Val Gardena/Sella Ronda - have been to each at least twice. Cervinia was nice but a notch lower than those three. I would not go back to either Meribel or Lech. That covers the places we've been - we'll be heading back to Grindelwald this year, our 4th trip there.

If you are confident intermediates or better, I think the best of the several places we've been is Val Gardena and the Sella Ronda. We've stayed in Selva and Corvara and each was very nice in its own way. The Sella Ronda is unique in the world.

I have skied several places in Europe. My two favorite ski areas are Cortina, which is near Val Gardena/Sella Ronda and Verbier. In Verbier I skied an average of 20,000 verticle feet a day. In Cortina I skied the Sella Ronda. Yes, they are my two favorite European ski areas! In Cortina when you are skiing always make sure you have 2 € for the horses! The horses pull skiers across a very flat section into Armentarola.

These two areas are so big with so much skiable terrain. I would suggest hiring a guide to make the most of your experience.

I did not care for Engelberg - too foggy & small. I did not care for Innsbruck. Kitzbuhel was nice but when I was there the snow conditions were very poor. It was the same thing with Andorra. The entire country is one big ski area. Unfortunately, the year I was there there was no snow. It would have been incredible if there had been snow....

Hi cheribob!
What do you mean by <i> I would suggest hiring a guide to make the most of your experience</i>? We will be skiing first time Val Gardena (staying at Selva) middle of March and its our first time there, although last December we skied Austria's Tirol and Salzburg region.

Hi Flyfish!
I posted a question a while ago (click my name) about skiing in the Dolomites and I was wondering if the terrain is OK for a beginner snowboarder (son), even though he snowboarded several times in Austria a couple of months ago. He is very good skier and my husband &amp; I are advance intermediate. We have 5 days and do you think we should stick to Val Gardena the whole time?
Thanks.

Hi Joy -

The &quot;jewel&quot; of skiing in Val Gardena is the Sella Ronda, a circuit that takes you around the Sella Massif, transiting a number of villages and mountain passes. It can be skied in both directions (clockwise &amp; counterclockwise) by following the appropriately colored arrows (green and orange, but I forget which goes which way). It can take most of a full day, with a reasonable amount of stopping in the various rifugios and general sightseeing. You definitely do not want to ski in Val Gardena without doing the Sella Ronda at least once. Based on your skiing experience, you and your son should both be fine pretty much anywhere in the area, but be aware that, as with many European resorts, the pistes can involve some flat areas that can be very frustrating for boarders.

Selva is a nice town, if somewhat busy because the main road goes right through it. We stayed at the Hotel Sun Valley and liked it very much. It's very well situated for accessing the Sella Ronda. You should also explore the Seceda area, northwest of Selva - get there via the Ciampinoi gondola, then down to the underground ski train. There is a great red run that leaves from the top of Seceda and heads down the back side of the ridge, ending in Ortisei. It has one of the best rifugios in the area near the bottom.

We also like the network of mostly blue runs that is off the main Sella Ronda circuit behing the town of Corvara. No challenges to be found anywhere, but some very nice relaxing cruising. If you're feeling like a day-long journey, that area provides access to the Lagazuoi tram and its magnificent red run down an isolated valley. You'll need to take a bus to get there, but it's well worth the extra effort.

I hope that's some help - if you have any other questions on the area don't hesitate to ask. Finally, here's a photo of Selva and the Sella Group massif from the balcony of our room at the Sun Valley: http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...a/122_2236.jpg

It's a great resort - you're going to love it.

Thank you so much Flyfish for sharing your insights about the Dolomites, particularly the Val Gardena region. We will definitely do Sella Ronda and Seceda. I was really hoping you'd see the thread I posted before you leave for your own ski trip in Switzerland because I was a little anxious about the snowboarding bit.

I will look into your hotel because the picture you posted was fantastic!! Was that taken during peak ski season??

I think 5 days would be enough for us to taste the flavor of the Dolomites. We will definitely do the leisure run behind Corvara. I am getting quite excited.

Thanks again Flyfish for your help!! Hope you have a fantastic time in Grindelwald!!

And sorry donnae for hijacking your thread.

Hi again Joy -

I went back and looked at your earlier post regarding the Dolomites. Sorry I didn't see it at the time - I was at a conference in Jacksonville all last week, and posts move so quickly here that it had disappeared by the time I had a chance to check back in.

We virtually always go to the Alps in the first two weeks of March, so that photo would have been taken around then. We're going to be a week or so early this year because Grindelwald is at a lower altitude and I've found can be a bit &quot;iffy&quot; in mid-March, particularly if you get a foen (warm wind) from the Med. I distinctly recall skiing there in a t-shirt in 70-degree weather about 10 years ago. It sounds like fun, but it's mostly hard work!

I have one more photo for you - this one looking down into Corvara from those gentle blue slopes I mentioned. The big peak to the right is Sassongher, and Selva would be off to the left, over the pass, which is just out of view.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...6_2614_2-1.jpg

Oh my goodness, FlyFish, that last photo is incredible!! It makes me want to go to that area NOW!! You are making us (and I'm sure when my husband sees this later tonite) salivate with excitement!!

Thank you again for sharing all your experiences with us. They are truly invaluable.

Have a wonderful trip!!

Joy