Skiing In April

Lhotse

Just wondering if anyone knew of an operator out of Dublin that provided ski holidays in April. I've never gone away this late in the season before and judging by the websites of all of the major operators, they appear to stop offering ski holidays in mid-March. Will I be forced into a organising a DIY holiday?

robinph

I'm sure I've had a package trip organised over the first or second week of April before, but we probably didn't book it until March. They may well have some availability but are not prepared to commit to scheduling the flights/ hotel bookings until they can make a better guess about the weather.

Static M.e.

In April you are probably better organising it yourself. April can be good or bad depending on the year\conditions.

Doing it yourself isn't has hard as you might think it is, most of the time you get much better deals with greater choice.

If you have to DIY look at some of the resorts which are higher up such as Zermatt in Switzerland, Ive been told you can practically ski there for 9 months of the year. In April you should have no problems. Im sure its the same for Les Arcs as well

death1234567

I went skiing with Highlife last april in 3 valleys. Its good but the snow isn't great and the towns are quiet.

anymore

Static M.e. wrote: »

In April you are probably better organising it yourself. April can be good or bad depending on the year\conditions.

Doing it yourself isn't has hard as you might think it is, most of the time you get much better deals with greater choice.

If you have to DIY look at some of the resorts which are higher up such as Zermatt in Switzerland, Ive been told you can practically ski there for 9 months of the year. In April you should have no problems. Im sure its the same for Les Arcs as well

Yes, now DIY is simple especially from Dublin or Cork. Fly into Munich, hop on to train to Austria, Use booking.com or some such site to book accomodation. It can all be done in 15 minutes on internet. Towns will be very quiet in April and many premises may be closed in the 3rd/4th week of April. The bounus is that there are few queues for lifts, T bars and resort restaurants.

Lhotse

Thanks for the advice all.
Anymore - can you recommend a resort that is easy to get to from Munich Airport but also high enough to have decent snow in April?
Have only skied in France, Switzerland and Italy before so I'd be interested in seeing Austria this year.

anymore

Lhotse wrote: »

Thanks for the advice all.
Anymore - can you recommend a resort that is easy to get to from Munich Airport but also high enough to have decent snow in April?
Have only skied in France, Switzerland and Italy before so I'd be interested in seeing Austria this year.

I have skied Hintertux in the second week of May this year, and in the October the previous two years and have not been disappointed yet. You may get the odd day when temperatures and wind on top are severe and occassionaly the lifts might not be running for a few hours if the conditions are too severe. Howver it might also be very sunny. Have a look at the site snoforecast.com

Lhotse

Looks good anymore but how did you make it back to Munich airport for the Aer Lingus flight - it departs at 11.30am. Either get the train the night before, rent a car or pay for a private transfer? Either way, it's adding to the cost of the trip.

Fattes

If you have your heart set on Austria Hintertux is the best glacier and you will probably still be able to ski down to the village.

Conditions to Mid Station will be epic

Other options

Tignes -

Saas Fee

Zermatt and Engelberg

Lhotse

Just for anyone else interested in this - Lufthansa fly Munich to Dublin in late afternoon so this is a DIY goer after all.

anymore

Lhotse wrote: »

Looks good anymore but how did you make it back to Munich airport for the Aer Lingus flight - it departs at 11.30am. Either get the train the night before, rent a car or pay for a private transfer? Either way, it's adding to the cost of the trip.

Ah !!!! Twice Ive typed really long replies and they've disappeared !
Yes I take train to Munich at end of final day and stay in cheap airport hotel rather in than in the mayrhoffen area for final night - it works out really well.

Pending

Try Obertauern in Austria, it usually has snow late in the season, although the runs aren't that challenging. I discovered it by checking the snow reports and then looking for easy travel options. It's an hour from Salzburg by car or has an easy rail/bus link. Also accessible from Klagenfurt airport, which is often cheap with ryanair via stansted.

I've also skied the Stubai glacier the first weekend in May, but that was a few years ago when even blues seemed a challenge, so I can't comment on what it's really like to ski.

Best option is check the snow reports on the uk ski club site and book a last minute flight on skyscanner. Just turn up in the resort and get accommodation on arrival - that late in the season you will have no problem, just turn up at the tourist office.

Lhotse

Howareya lads, just back from a week in Hintertux/Mayrhofen. Had a blast. Flew into Munich with Aer Lingus and return flight with Lufthansa as they had nicer flight times. Rented a car and drove down - car was very handy as the zillertal ski areas aren't well connected - the hintertux glacier is 30mins from Mayrhofen. Got to ski Rastkogel and Finkenberg too so that was a bonus. Overall, found it to be pretty good for late in the skiing season. Weather was mostly very sunny - one day was a total whiteout it passed within 24hours so no big deal. The Volvo Snowbombing festival was on in Mayrhofen so that was absolutely wild, the mountains were empty especially in the mornings which was great. Cheers for the advice all, it was a great help.