Ski season 2015/16

Puibo

Just been having a look for next years season and there isnt a whole pile on offer. Seems pretty expensive at the moment too.

Does anybody know when directski release all their dates for 2016.

maddness

I've been looking too, very little value yet.
A couple of deals but only small discounts.

Puibo

I think what i will do this year is book flights and accomadation with DS and do the rest myself.

I would be flying from Cork and as far as i know there is no direct flight to Salzberg.

Timmaay

Been 1/2 looking myself last few days, will most likely do a diy trip with a chalet etc, are we better off trying to get in early booking that or does it make any difference? Looking at going to go somewhere like the 3 valleys, want somewhere with very good on piste skiing (plenty of long reds!), and fairly snow sure, not hugely worried about the cost of pints/eating out etc once the supermarkets ain't crazy expensive!

maddness

Timmaay wrote: »

Been 1/2 looking myself last few days, will most likely do a diy trip with a chalet etc, are we better off trying to get in early booking that or does it make any difference? Looking at going to go somewhere like the 3 valleys, want somewhere with very good on piste skiing (plenty of long reds!), and fairly snow sure, not hugely worried about the cost of pints/eating out etc once the supermarkets ain't crazy expensive!

Meribel is perfect then.

mahoney_j

Going to book flights to Munich and after that mist of Austria is an option.st anton,ischgl mayrhofen or sallbach on the hit list .def going Diy ,big savings to be made.3 valleys looks really good but price ,après ski ,value for money it's hard beat Austria

Timmaay

Still gotta do the Austrian aples, but my problem now is I've set the bar high after morzine and tignes last year ha, those traditional French resorts might be in general expensive but can certainly be done on a budget still, groups like the ucpa are fantastic, all in tignes last year cost me about 900 quid, including ski lessons. I'm a hard core skier I'll admit, the apres ski more an after thought ha.

mahoney_j

Timmaay wrote: »

Still gotta do the Austrian aples, but my problem now is I've set the bar high after morzine and tignes last year ha, those traditional French resorts might be in general expensive but can certainly be done on a budget still, groups like the ucpa are fantastic, all in tignes last year cost me about 900 quid, including ski lessons. I'm a hard core skier I'll admit, the apres ski more an after thought ha.

Lots of great resorts in Austria Tim with huge varied Skiing .mayrhofen is huge with over 650 km of skiing on one pass.ski welt also very big although snow can be hit and miss in parts due to lower altitude but is a really fun area .would love to do val thorens though looks really good

mahoney_j

Timmaay wrote: »

Still gotta do the Austrian aples, but my problem now is I've set the bar high after morzine and tignes last year ha, those traditional French resorts might be in general expensive but can certainly be done on a budget still, groups like the ucpa are fantastic, all in tignes last year cost me about 900 quid, including ski lessons. I'm a hard core skier I'll admit, the apres ski more an after thought ha.

Lots of great resorts in Austria Tim with huge varied Skiing .mayrhofen is huge with over 650 km of skiing on one pass.ski welt also very big although snow can be hit and miss in parts due to lower altitude but is a really fun area .would love to do val thorens though looks really good

Timmaay

mahoney_j wrote: »

Lots of great resorts in Austria Tim with huge varied Skiing .mayrhofen is huge with over 650 km of skiing on one pass.ski welt also very big although snow can be hit and miss in parts due to lower altitude but is a really fun area .would love to do val thorens though looks really good

Pity the ucpa only in France.

Puibo

How does Austria compare with France in terms of value for money, crowds etc?

a148pro

Italy twice last year. Had been twice before but Italian laissez faire half arsedness annoyed me too much.

Now I'm a bit older, bit more chilled and more into my grub and wine. Italy ticks all these boxes, is cheaper and the people are a lot more charming than France or Austria.

Plus its been hit pretty hard with snow the last two years.

mahoney_j

Puibo wrote: »

How does Austria compare with France in terms of value for money, crowds etc?

Value for money no comparison ,Austria hands down .people nicer more chilled .skiing terrain possibly better in France .crowds would be same in both.busy times and quite

Timmaay

Prices up for the UCPA/action outdoors! http://www.action-outdoors.co.uk/

looking seriously at 1st week of Jan in VT or VDI.

Puibo

Probably going to book in the nrxt week or so. Saalbach was top of the list but probably going to go with mayrhofen.

Has anybody stayed anywhere else in the valley that has good apres and decent skiing obviously!!

fmlarnapairce

hard to beat ischgl for the overall experience, i.e. maybe not the best in each category (i.e terrain, lifts, price, craic) but overall the best when you put them all together. For a small resort, engelberg!
DIY all the way, I never found any particular savings to be made by waiting for prices to drop. Book early and get best flight prices, and the pick of the best accommdation whatever resort you choose to go.

StaticAge11

Looks like I'll be hitting Austria for the first time in January! Which resort is another question!

crossfat

Any comments on what's the best use of kilternan?
I'd be a decent boarder but want to give skiing a better go this yr. I could parallel turn and that skiing but want to get better. Go to the park etc...

I live in cork. Should i become a member? Do day courses?

Puibo

crossfat wrote:

Any comments on what's the best use of kilternan? I'd be a decent boarder but want to give skiing a better go this yr. I could parallel turn and that skiing but want to get better. Go to the park etc...

crossfat wrote:

I live in cork. Should i become a member? Do day courses?

Try the place up in the glen maybe. I know they do lessons. Havent been there so I cant say if its any good.

cormee

StaticAge11 wrote: »

Looks like I'll be hitting Austria for the first time in January! Which resort is another question!

Zell am See is a pretty good resort, plus Kaprun is a short trip away on the bus.

prunudo

StaticAge11 wrote: »

Looks like I'll be hitting Austria for the first time in January! Which resort is another question!

Mayrhofen all day long, but that's just my personal preference. It depends what you want out of a holiday but I find it ticks all the right boxes, nice town, good slopes, great après and cheap enough food & beer

Timmaay

Anyone doing the UCPA this year? Going either 1st or 2nd week of Jan here, probably Val thorens, going to book soon before flights rocket or it sells out!

Quii

Gonna do Söll again this year I'd say! Cork - Munich flights are mega cheap at the moment, gonna do the rest DIY!

TK Maxx have already started getting some bits in!

prunudo

And so it's started, I know it's way to early to get excited but look at this
Mayrhofen today

Eurovisionmad

jvan wrote: »

And so it's started, I know it's way to early to get excited but look at this
Mayrhofen today

That is so fab for this time of year! :O

AlternateID

Eurovisionmad wrote: »

That is so fab for this time of year! :O

I'm hopping El Niño will be good for us this year.

Hintertux had 36" this week.

Eurovisionmad

AlternateID wrote: »

I'm hopping El Niño will be good for us this year.

Hintertux had 36" this week.

Yeah I was hoping that would be good, not too much proof that it does but sure anything for extra snow!

fannymagee

AlternateID wrote: »

I'm hopping El Niño will be good for us this year.

Hintertux had 36" this week.

Southern Hemisphere is having a good season- lookin good for us!

murra

Anyone have any advice on DIY? Have booked through Direct Ski last two years but it has been expensive.

Flights are no issue, but where is the best place to look for accommodation and ski pass/equipment etc.

Cheers.

Timmaay

murra wrote: »

Anyone have any advice on DIY? Have booked through Direct Ski last two years but it has been expensive.

Flights are no issue, but where is the best place to look for accommodation and ski pass/equipment etc.

Cheers.

Booking.com will give a good idea of what's around the area your looking at, but make sure ya look at whatever resorts local tourist website, they usually have a list of local accommodation. For ski passes just Google whatever resort and book straight through their official website, you almost never can get discounts on ski passes so don't waste your time looking around for one ha. Ski hire spend abit of time Googling different prices, the French resorts seem to be something around 80quid/week, cheaper places as low as 60, but often "full prices" are the likes of 140euro etc ha.

You got any idea where you are going, what level and when in the season?

maddness

murra wrote: »

Anyone have any advice on DIY? Have booked through Direct Ski last two years but it has been expensive.

Flights are no issue, but where is the best place to look for accommodation and ski pass/equipment etc.

Cheers.

I book at least one ski trip every year DIY and have learnt a lot from doing so.

What are you looking for from the holiday?
Where do you want to go?
When?
Family or lads/girls trip.
What's important to you? Skiing, après ski in ski out etc.

Puibo

Can you ski down to the town in mayrhofen from the Penken side to avoid the lift?

DoraDelite

Afraid not!

sheesh

murra wrote: »

Anyone have any advice on DIY? Have booked through Direct Ski last two years but it has been expensive.

Flights are no issue, but where is the best place to look for accommodation and ski pass/equipment etc.

Cheers.

Select your resort and go unto the tourist board's website and look for hotels or tripadvisor if you want something nice.

if you have a particular resort in mind ask here and people might know of a place. Alot of resorts or ski areas will also have their own websites.

Equipment: I've booked it online as you get a discount
Again ask for recommendations.

Skii pass I think it is hard to get discounts on ski passes but some hotels do them. ski pass I usually just get it there I might get it in the ski hire shop and they might give you a (small) discount on other stuff.

Transfers there are taxi services that do transfers but if you have about 4 people have a look at hiring a car. it allows you to go to nearby lifts easily.

AlternateID

Puibo wrote: »

Can you ski down to the town in mayrhofen from the Penken side to avoid the lift?

New lift going in at the moment. It can only an improvement. Bottom station was demolished last April.

DoraDelite

That's great news, hopefully it's much better, it was the one thing I hated about Mayrhofen.

murra

maddness wrote: »

I book at least one ski trip every year DIY and have learnt a lot from doing so.

What are you looking for from the holiday?
Where do you want to go?
When?
Family or lads/girls trip.
What's important to you? Skiing, après ski in ski out etc.

1. Cheapishhh, good intermediate level slops, Good apre Ski. We have been to Andorra the past two years and it was great but would like to try somewhere different and possibly a bit more changing with better apre ski.

2. Pretty flexible on where we go, just not Andorra as we have been there twice already. Somewhere like Meribal Valley looks decent.

3. Looking at going around the 20th February for 1 week

4. 8 lads half of which will take the skiing seriously, the other half very well may be seen sliding down slopes half cut.

5. Guaranteed snow, Good slopes, good apre ski and cheap lift pass/equipment.

Not so demanding haha. I've looked up flights etc but struggling with the accom and equipment/lift pass stuff. Cant see how it can be cheaper than going package.

maddness

murra wrote: »

1. Cheapishhh, good intermediate level slops, Good apre Ski. We have been to Andorra the past two years and it was great but would like to try somewhere different and possibly a bit more changing with better apre ski.

2. Pretty flexible on where we go, just not Andorra as we have been there twice already. Somewhere like Meribal Valley looks decent.

3. Looking at going around the 20th February for 1 week

4. 8 lads half of which will take the skiing seriously, the other half very well may be seen sliding down slopes half cut.

5. Guaranteed snow, Good slopes, good apre ski and cheap lift pass/equipment.



Not so demanding haha. I've looked up flights etc but struggling with the accom and equipment/lift pass stuff. Cant see how it can be cheaper than going package.

The middle of February is going to be very expensive wherever you go as its in the middle of European schools mid terms. Leave it a couple of weeks later or earlier and you will save a lot.

If you are going for a week it's far easier and usually cheaper to go with a tour operator like Crystal ski.
If you want France there is loads of options for what you want, Morzine, Alpe d'Huez, Les Deux Alpes, Meribel, Les Arcs/La Plagne are all great resorts but lifts passes are not cheap in France.
Italy is generally cheaper than France for food, beer and lift passes. Sauze d'Olux is a great spot, Livigno is good for beginners and early intermediates but the transfer is very long. Cervinia is another nice resort and La Thuile has great slopes but is quiet at night.
I don't know too much about Austria but its probably that bit better value than France, have a look at Soll and Mayorhoffen.

DoraDelite

I'd go with either of the two Austrian resorts that Madness mentioned above for two reasons, Apres Ski and cheapish! France is a non-runner really in terms of decent apres ski, at least in any of the resorts I've been in (I've been to 4 different ones more than once), Austria is miles ahead on apres ski.

I will only ever go to France if I'm on a serious ski only week.

I think some places in Italy can be good also, I enjoyed Livigno a few years back when I was at the beginner/intermediate stages, it's a lively little place but a b*tch of a transfer.

cormee

murra wrote: »

1. Cheapishhh, good intermediate level slops, Good apre Ski. We have been to Andorra the past two years and it was great but would like to try somewhere different and possibly a bit more changing with better apre ski.

2. Pretty flexible on where we go, just not Andorra as we have been there twice already. Somewhere like Meribal Valley looks decent.

3. Looking at going around the 20th February for 1 week

4. 8 lads half of which will take the skiing seriously, the other half very well may be seen sliding down slopes half cut.

5. Guaranteed snow, Good slopes, good apre ski and cheap lift pass/equipment.

Not so demanding haha. I've looked up flights etc but struggling with the accom and equipment/lift pass stuff. Cant see how it can be cheaper than going package.

If you like the look of 3V/Meribel (which you should!) from a skiing point of view, and your other main concern is apres-ski, have a look at Val Thorens - it's also in the 3V but has more of a party reputation. Downsides are - it's up way higher (colder, possible more extreme conditions), above the tree-line, and is ugly as f*.

I'm heading there this year, if it had been my choice though, I'd have picked Meribel, because all I require for apre-ski is a nice bar that serves beer - no table dancing necessary.:D

Seifer

High production avalanche safety video currently at the top of /r/skiing: https://vimeo.com/144545554

Solid advice being provided and worth a watch even just for the cinematography.

Rew

cormee wrote: »

I'm heading there this year, if it had been my choice though, I'd have picked Meribel, because all I require for apre-ski is a nice bar that serves beer - no table dancing necessary.:D

The Round Point above Meribel is pretty rocking for apre's, id higly recomend it. There is a Folie Douce there now as well if you like paying way over the odds for your booze :-D

NoCrackHaving

murra wrote: »

4. 8 lads half of which will take the skiing seriously, the other half very well may be seen sliding down slopes half cut.

I never understand why people do this to be honest. Skiing is never a cheap holiday compared to a city break or a beach package. If your only plan is to get pissed you could do a lot more cheaply in places with better nightlife. I just can't see why you'd spend so much money, seems like a very expensive drinking holiday to me...

Seifer

NoCrackHaving wrote: »

I never understand why people do this to be honest. Skiing is never a cheap holiday compared to a city break or a beach package. If your only plan is to get pissed you could do a lot more cheaply in places with better nightlife. I just can't see why you'd spend so much money, seems like a very expensive drinking holiday to me...

Same here. I wouldn't be a massive drinker here but I do like a couple of pints every couple of weeks. When I go skiing I'll have a beer / glass of wine with dinner and that's it. 51 other weeks in the year to feel like shít with a hangover; not gonna waste my week in the snow.

Fattes

Season officially started today, lifts open tomorrow but where there is powder there is a way.

prunudo

Fattes wrote: »

Season officially started today, lifts open tomorrow but where there is powder there is a way.

Haven't seen you on here for a while, welcome back.

Eurovisionmad

Fairly spectacular turnaround for VT as well!

a148pro

jvan wrote: »

Haven't seen you on here for a while, welcome back.

diddums, come back the fcuk fattes, how are we expected to spend all year in Ireland talking about skiing without you?

Eurovisionmad

9 days now until I head off to Pas De La Casa, all looking good, could do with a few more black slopes open, but sure look ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Timmaay

25days until take off in Chamonix, can't wait!

CardinalJ

30 days to Mayrhofen, where its snowing right now.