Late Season Ski Resorts

Krusty_Clown

Hi There, normally we're early January skiers, but the young fella has junior cert this year, so taking him out of school for a week isn't really on the cards. Can anyone recommend a ski-resort that has good snow-cover as late as 27th March?

Would travel to anywhere in Europe, so any suggestions would be welcome. I found this article in the Sunday Times magazine that recommends:

Tignes, Val d’Isère and Val Thorens, in France; Zermatt and Saas-Fee, in Switzerland; Obergurgl and Lech-Zürs, in Austria; and Cervinia, in Italy.

Anyone have any other experiences/recommendations?

gavkm27

March 27th is'nt really late season,i'd consider late season mid April onwards,by 27th of march you have the deepest snowpack - 4 months+ of snow on the ground,all the resorts you mentioned are Garunteed to have this and cold temps late March,also all mentioned are Glacier resorts that are open most of summer also.
You also benefit from the lack of crowds at resorts at this time,but depends on easter hols etc.
I've been to Tignes/Val D'isere and they are great resorts with tons of snow

Fattes

Plenty of snow still left around at that time of the year with allot of end of season silliness going on. A couple of festivils and quiet slopes.


Austria your best bet is Mayrhofen (Snowboming festival is normally on the last week of March)

Obergurgl can be kind of quite for a young lad and the ski area is not huge.

Switzerland: Sass Fee and Zermatt are both great and open all year round. You get allot of pro riders using them for video shoots near the end of the season. Verbier does not close normally till the second week of April


France: Tignes, Val Disere and Les Deux alps both will have plenty to offer in late March.

EileenG

End of march should have good snow all over unless it's a miserable season. Just read the snow reports.

I'd have a go at Andermatt if you get cheap flights to Zurich.

Les Arcs is great if you have children, they are officially family friendly. Also so handy if you are travelling by train from Paris.

I've skied Tignes in May and had plenty of snow.

Krusty_Clown

Thanks for all the responses. The reason for my nervousness is that I have ski'ed around Paddy's day a couple of times (Livigno, Cervinia, Pas de la Casa) and experienced poor conditions (ice, slush, grassy patches and tree stumps). I don't mind this too much myself as I've been skiing for a number of years, but for the kids who only have a few years under their belt and would be skiing on the lower slopes in ski school for the first few days, it wouldn't be a lot of fun.

With four of us travelling, and non-negotiable dates (school holidays), we can't really leave it until the last minute, so i'm looking for an 'old reliable' resort that has a good history around late March.

I have only ever skiied through Switzerland, and never located there, so it might be worth a look for a change, but when you're paying for four, it adds up pretty quick. Andermatt looks good. Thanks for the tips.

EileenG

If you are nervous, my tip is to examine piste maps before you go, and make sure you pick resorts where it is possible to ski the upper slopes which still have good snow, without having to ski down through rubbish to get home. Pick resorts that have telecabines or chairs that will take you down, or some other way of avoiding the nasty lower slopes late in the day. That last 20 minutes of skiing crap can ruin a good day's skiing.

Fattes

Krusty_Clown

Little late season support for you


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