Moving family to a Ski resort for the 20/21 Season

Johnny_Fontane

Hi there,

We're considering upping sticks for 3 months and moving to a ski resort in Europe. I can work exclusively from home and we would home school the kids.

Any suggestions on places to go? I have snowboarded all over Europe, would love to get to Austria, but costs are prohibitive I think in getting accomodation. And thats going to be the big cost. If we could get a house for €2k a month or so, would be great, anymore than that and it might be tricky.

Not against going to live somewhere that 15/20 minutes from a 'local mountain' and baseing ourselves there. So SW France, Northern Spain, obscure locations are not out of the question, but the plan would be to pack up the gear and head off for three months.

Anyone done anything similar?

blue note

I'm to jealous. Tempted to block you.

a148pro

Innsbruck? Aosta? One of the many resorts in the general chamonix area?

a148pro

You'd have to think that there's so much uncertainty at the moment a house owner would be mad not to take a season's booking - on the other hand, it may be that self catering is in very high demand this year

Pkiernan

Bulgaria?

maddness

Italy, Aosta valley. I’d be doing the same if I could, amazing thing to do if you can manage it.

a148pro

The only small problem with aosta might be while you're near around 5 resorts, I think each of them is a decent drive from each other, about an hour from recollection, even though close as the crow flies.

Madness knows that valley well so maybe he or google can tell you if aosta itself is a short hop from each. It has a resort above the town, pila, but you'd ski it in a long day.

Having said that I think any large town will be like that anyway.

maddness

Sorry I should have explained. The Aosta valley has 24 resorts in total but many are very small. The main resorts are Champoluc/Gressoney/Alagna, La Thuile, Courmayer, Cervinia and Pila. Aosta town is below Pila and linked by a cable car. I’ve skied them all except for Pila and they really are fantastic. Relatively quiet compared to many but in my experience the food, people and prices are all very good. If I was lucky enough to be doing this I would base myself in either Champoluc or La Thuile. Champoluc is linked to two other resorts and is a small quiet but lovely town. La Thuile is similar and linked to La Rosieere in France but only 30-40 minutes from Courmayer. Staying in Aosta might also be a good option as it is a town rather than just a ski town.
The lift systems are not as good as France or Austria but there is just a charm about skiing in Italy that I find hard to beat.

blue note

I had a mini honeymoon booked in cervinia that I never got to go on . I am grateful that we were able to get married before at all and still got to go to andorra for 3 days. In the scheme of things we were unbelievably lucky.

But ignoring how I'm supposed to feel, I'll admit that I feel like I've been cheated out of a few days skiing there and as a result it's top of my list of places I'd like to ski.

I'm also dying to ski a particular red run in soll that I finished each day looking at on my first week skiing. It isn't meant to be a particularly nice run and by the time I was sitting down having a beer it was covered in moguls. I saw some really funny looking crashes on it, but they might very well have hurt.

Johnny_Fontane

maddness wrote: »

Sorry I should have explained. The Aosta valley has 24 resorts in total but many are very small. The main resorts are Champoluc/Gressoney/Alagna, La Thuile, Courmayer, Cervinia and Pila. Aosta town is below Pila and linked by a cable car. I’ve skied them all except for Pila and they really are fantastic. Relatively quiet compared to many but in my experience the food, people and prices are all very good. If I was lucky enough to be doing this I would base myself in either Champoluc or La Thuile. Champoluc is linked to two other resorts and is a small quiet but lovely town. La Thuile is similar and linked to La Rosieere in France but only 30-40 minutes from Courmayer. Staying in Aosta might also be a good option as it is a town rather than just a ski town.
The lift systems are not as good as France or Austria but there is just a charm about skiing in Italy that I find hard to beat.

I know this area well. We once stay up above in the clouds in a Refugio that has since burned down. Mountain was closed the day we were leaving and only way down was to board with backpack. The key would be to try and find somewhere that is close enough, or even better has ski buses.

a148pro

Very few ski buses in Aosta from recollection. Italy not great for that. France or Austria better. But ski in best of all. What about the 3vs, there's a couple of lesser known satellite towns which might be viable.

maddness

a148pro wrote: »

Very few ski buses in Aosta from recollection. Italy not great for that. France or Austria better. But ski in best of all. What about the 3vs, there's a couple of lesser known satellite towns which might be viable.

There is a bus between La Thuile and Courmayer and another one to Pila. Not sure about the other resorts.
As for in resort busses you don’t tend to need them on Italy as the accommodation is in town as approved to outside like Austria.
Agree about the 3V’s, stay in Bride Les Banins or La Tania and acces the whole area.

Johnny_Fontane

Managed to find a place near Sion about 20 minutes from multiple mountains. Zermatt is an hour, 4 vallees, 20 minutes. Although seasonal ski passes for both is very expensive. There is a pass called the Magic Pass, that we are going to get, will give us access to about 30 resorts (or 5/6 near us) including Saas Fee (about 45 minutes). The pass is about €1,800 for the five of us. We generally spend over a grand for one week, so its good value.

Pete123456

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

Managed to find a place near Sion about 20 minutes from multiple mountains. Zermatt is an hour, 4 vallees, 20 minutes. Although seasonal ski passes for both is very expensive. There is a pass called the Magic Pass, that we are going to get, will give us access to about 30 resorts (or 5/6 near us) including Saas Fee (about 45 minutes). The pass is about €1,800 for the five of us. We generally spend over a grand for one week, so its good value.

I love the idea of doing this... my only concern would be where to live when I get back :pac:

Hockney

Very risky move with covid increasing all over Europe, no?

You could easily end up booking/prepaying accommodation for the season only for the runs to be closed.

I think this is a likely enough scenario given Europe's original outbreak regularly being blamed on an Austrian ski resort.

Proceed carefully is all I'll say.

That said I'd love to do it, if it were me I'd almost certainly head for Livigno. Duty free, accom shouldn't break the bank, good big town, lots going on.

Johnny_Fontane

Hockney wrote: »

Very risky move with covid increasing all over Europe, no?

You could easily end up booking/prepaying accommodation for the season only for the runs to be closed.

I think this is a likely enough scenario given Europe's original outbreak regularly being blamed on an Austrian ski resort.

Proceed carefully is all I'll say.

That said I'd love to do it, if it were me I'd almost certainly head for Livigno. Duty free, accom shouldn't break the bank, good big town, lots going on.

yes, there is a risk involved. But obviously, we know this! Airbnb is great for monthly rentals at great prices, but the clinch is that you simply have no comeback. The place we have booked is through a swiss friend, no deposit, but would have to confirm by Dec 15.

As for the ski resorts, absolutely a risk that they could be closed. I'm choosing to look at it the other way around. That this is their livelihood, that ski resorts don't really have another option and that the pressure they will bring to governments, will be overwhelming (particularly in Austria/Switzerland). And the greatest plus of all, may be, the complete lack of people on the slopes. If you will have to self isolate for two weeks, that rules out everyone from Ireland, UK, Russia etc., that means empty slopes. That as Mastercard would say, is PRICELESS.

But worst case scenario, we get to spend the winter in the Alps for the sake of a few grand.

a148pro

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

But worst case scenario, we get to spend the winter in the Alps for the sake of a few grand.

Absolute F U

Discussion here from some lads in / thinking of going to Switzerland this year:

https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=153795&sid=1b42cfb82085133d00240e87c2d79fe8

My tip - find resorts easily accessible by chairlift, and consider getting touring bindings that allow you put on skins and go uphill so you can get at least a few self powered runs in yourself whatever happens to the lifts. If doing that educate yourself re avalanches etc obv, and make some competent friends!

My parachute this year is going somewhere, possibly even Scotland, and going touring with a guide. A lot up in the air though.