The idiots guide to DIY short breaks and last-minute powder chasing

Time was there used to be regular visitors to this forum who would come in and ask for tips on how to go about putting together their own ski holiday. There do not seem to be so many posters like that anymore, and I suspect judging from the number of people in ski gear you see on planes in winter a lot of people are doing these trips already. I have done a bunch of these trips over the last years and put in a lot of time researching them and thinking about them and thought I might post up my experiences here for the benefit of others.

Hopefully this will become a sticky and other people can contribute to it, by updating flight times, by suggesting alternative hubs and destinations (I am particularly interested in the Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada in southern Spain and perhaps other destinations such as Poland and Slovenia or the Balkans) and posting their own tips and experiences.

Pros and cons of DIY short breaks:

For the undecided among us.

Pros:

• Short breaks are much more flexible for people with busy working lives or families and and involve less time away from commitments /other halves
• you get to visit more ski resorts with two or three short breaks than you will with one annual week-long trip
• you get greater control over your accommodation and choice of resorts and in particular are not limited to packed into a sardines type accommodation
• you can go at the last minute when you know snow conditions are good
• Being honest, as we get older the necessity and capacity to ski for a full week is less. When I was in my 20s I couldn't imagine skiing for less than a week. When I first started doing these trips I thought four days was the minimum that would make it worthwhile. After a while I began to notice that I was simply too tired to ski hard for four days. On a trip two years ago I had to come off the mountain halfway through my third day exhausted, and last year I went on a two-day trip which I found absolutely fine (albeit there is obviously a disproportionate investment in terms of the cost of flights and the time getting to and from Dublin to a ski resort)

Cons:

• The trips are definitely less value for money - I would budget approximately a grand for a four-day trip, I suspect you could probably do a week-long package trip for slightly less
• it is definitely more stressful than a package trip, you have to put it together, make all the decisions, get from the airport to the resort etc

Flights:

In my view the starting point of these trips are your flights. Ideally you want a flight that allows you to get the most amount to skiing for the least amount of time off work or family commitments. What I've found is that a late afternoon or evening flight out of Dublin with a night time flight back is best as it allows for a full day's skiing on your return day.

Some people will opt for early-morning red-eye flights but bear in mind it is always going to take you five hours to get from your house to a ski resort and no matter how early you leave you be doing well to be on the slopes in the afternoon, particularly if you have to rent gear. One year I went with mates who went on a redeye flight with a view to getting an extra half day skiing and paid for there lift passes and gear in advance. I rocked out on the afternoon flight to find that, it being France, the shops they had paid for the passes and gear had closed for the afternoon and they couldn't actually collect them!

Personally I hate red eyes, they just aren't a holiday, although going from work to arriving at a ski resort after midnight, with a long drive in between having worked that day, can also be tiring.

Best airports for short breaks:

Having looked at and flown to a whole bunch of places over the years in my view the best hubs for these trips are Munich and the "Milan area" airports.

Munich:

Munich is served by multiple flights daily operated by Ryanair, Aer Lingus and Lufthansa. While there are some morning flights for those who want them them each of these airlines do a daily flight at about 16:30 to 17:30, which people living in Dublin can get without taking much time off work. They then fly back between 20.00 and 21.30, which allows for a full day skiing on the way back. I have ridden the last left up in resorts and still been back in Munich airport in time to have dinner before going in to the departures area. There are a bunch of ski resorts within three hours of the airport and some a little over two hours. In addition there is also a good train service and it is at least in theory possible to get to resorts by the train, albeit I think it is unlikely you can maximise your ski time as you would with car or transfer.

Milan:

The Milan area airports constitute three airports, Malpensa, Linate and Bergamo. Between the three of them they are served daily and sometimes twice daily by Aer Lingus and Ryanair. Again most of the flights leave Dublin in the early evening and leave Milan in the late evening, at times very similar to the Munich flights, allowing for most of your final day to be spent on the slopes. There are also a bunch of resorts accessible from these airports however they are a little bit further than those from Munich and probably involve an extra hours driving, depending on which airport you go to. Consider the Aosta valley resorts (Courmayeur, Cervinia, Pila, Champoluc, all about 2 - 3.5 hours depending on which airport and which resort).

The airports are listed above in order of their proximity to the Aosta resorts, with each one about 20 minutes further away than the next (i.e., Malpensa is 20 minutes closer than Linate, which is 20 minutes closer than Bergamo). If you are going to the Dolomites the reverse is true. Flights to Bergamo tend to be the cheapest. The only other thing I've noticed about these airports is that occasionally you can get a totally sold out flight or very expensive one next to very cheap ones, which I assume is due to a large group booking or school tour or something.

There are also some resorts in different directions from these barely known in the UK or Ireland like Madesimo or the resorts in the Piedemont. I've you're willing to do a longer transfer (3 and a half to four hours) you can access the Dolomites, which are stunningly beautiful to ski in. There are also a bunch of small resorts much more local to these airports which I've never been to but they are relatively low and I imagine they offer simple but rustically attractive skiing.

Because of the shorter transfer times, higher number of flights and also because cars rented in Germany during winter have winter tyres as standard (rarely available without significant extra cost in Italy), in my view Munich is the better choice. However, it has to be said that skiing in Italy is refreshingly charming compared to France or to a lesser extent Austria (although this is a personal opinion).

Other options:

Geneva:

There are other options for airports. By far the most obvious and easiest one to ski from is Geneva since there are a whole bunch of resorts within approximately an hour and a half from Geneva (Avoriaz, Megeve, La Clusaz, Chamonix, Flaine). However, there are fewer evening time flights to and from Geneva. What this means is that you will either have to overnight in a Swiss city (prohibitive, and involves spending money in Switzerland, which I just resent) or get a very early transfer departure out of whatever French resorts you are skiing in. This means red eye and one less day's skiing. The exception to this as Madness points out is if you are flying back on a weekend. There is a 4 o'clock flight back on a Saturday and a 2 o'clock flight back on the Sunday. This avoids a red eye back and the Saturday flight would allow a few hours skiing.

Nonetheless, Geneva is the by far the best option for a short transfer time and is the only one that I have actually managed to ski on the day I landed in (this can probably be done off the morning Munich flight). You get Winter tyres as standard provided you rent in the swiss side of the airport. There are also very good and cheap transfer options to the main resorts.

Zurich:

Another good option is Zurich because the flight times are similar to Munich. You also get Winter tyres as standard. Zurich is probably the best option for St Anton or Ischgl and I think is close to Verbier also. However, it involves spending money in Switzerland and the flights or car hire are never as cheap as Munich or Milan. There are also less flight options - I think Aer Lingus are the only ones to offer it direct. It does offer train options, including St Anton (difficult to do off the evening Aer Lingus flight) and I think you can get to Verbier by train.

Occasional flight airports:

There are also a number of other airports which would be better if they had more regular flights, such as Salzburg, Turin, Verona, Venice, Grenoble and Lyon. I am open to correction on any of these airports but they either only have one flight per week or maybe only two and therefore do not work as well for short trips as the ones mentioned above. Some of them have advantages in terms of being closer to certain areas (for instance the Dolomites which are stunningly beautiful to ski are perhaps four hours from Milan are very close to Verona and reasonably close to Venice. Also many of these airports only operate a regular schedule during summer.

Finally, airports such as Innsbruck or Bolzano are obviously closest to a bunch of resorts but to my knowledge are only served by charters (if anyone has further info on these options please post it).

It should be noted that skyscanner is an excellent resource for filtering flights by the time you want them to leave the given airport at and can sometimes make a trip possible that otherwise wouldn't be. Lufthansa for instance can get you to a whole variety of airports via connections from Frankfurt which may make a trip which might otherwise papers seem not doable possible.

Transfer:

This will be controversial but in my view by far the best option is to rent a car and drive yourself. Some airports, particularly Geneva, offer very cheap and regular transfers to ski resorts. However, most seem to be quite expensive amounting to a couple of hundred euro each way between the group. Cars can be rented for next to nothing during winter in Europe. I have done multiple trips getting cars for six euro a day in Italy and not considerably more in Austria.

I can understand why people are reluctant to drive to ski resorts but it is a lot easier than people might think. First of all, it rarely actually snows during your journey. Secondly, these countries are used to dealing with the snow and will have snowploughs running throughout any period of heavy snowfall. They need to keep resorts open in order for the resorts to be viable. Many resorts are on or just off trans alpine artery routes that need to be kept open. It is rare that a resort road is closed and even then it is usually due to avalanche risk above as opposed to the conditions on the actual road.

It should also be borne in mind that while people have a perception of tricky mountain hairpin roads, in practice a lot of resorts, particularly in Austria, do not feature these approaches. Mostly the ski resorts are at about 1000 m not far off major Alpine arteries which have motorways or good European roads through them. Occasional French resorts will be higher but even at that it is usually only the last half hour of the drive which is an difficult roads. If you have winter tyres it is fine to drive in anything but the deepest of snow.

In fairness, if you do not have winter tyres and it is snowing heavily I have never put on snow chains and personally I would not like to have to. What they do say in this situation is that you should practice doing this before you actually need to do as the side of the road in heavy snow with numb fingers is not the time, albeit I do not think it is realistic from many people in Ireland to practice this, or for people on a ski trip to take 20 minutes before they leave an airport to practice. Fundamentally, forecasts are very good now and you should know in advance if there is going to be snow and take appropriate steps. If you don't have winter tyres you have to pull in in the designated areas and put on the chains. Ensure the chains are in the boot before leaving the airport.

Having a car also gives you a huge amount of flexibility, it may free you up from the ski bus system and it may also allow you to visit neighbouring resorts which may be included on your lift pass anyway. All in all it makes for a better trip, although it has to be said, you are a bit tied up both in terms of inability to drink and also stress.

Car rental tips:

Use broker websites such as Expedia and economycarrentals, they are much cheaper. Bear in mind that all these car rental companies operate on the same basis. They get you in with a cheap car. They then try and get more money out of you by offering you an unnecessary upgrade, or scaring you about the excess levels on your insurance policy or the charge for collecting your car from another country if you break down. You don't need any of this crap. Buy an annual excess insurance in Ireland for 50 euro which will cover you for the excess on all your holidays in a year so you have piece of mind.

Also bear in mind that in Austria you need to buy a carnet at the border as road tax, it costs about a tenner and is sold in petrol stations either side.

Its also worth knowing that if you are flying in or out of a different airport it rarely costs much more to rent from one airport and drop off to another, which is particularly useful in Milan as there can be significant variations in cost of the flights to given airports on a given day.

Get a bigger car than you think you'll need as your mate will inevitably arrive with an extra bag. Also if you do drive with skis the bigger the better and an estate is ideal.

Another thing to bear in mind is that GPS sometimes sends you over mountain passes instead of on the main roads and some of those passes aren't open in Summer. Who said renting a car was the best idea??

Alternatives to car rental:

I would welcome anyone's suggestions on resorts that you can reach by public transport. St Anton has a train station right in the town and I managed to do it once from Zurich, but the evening Dublin flight is just a bit tight to catch it. I know the Zillertal resorts are served by train also but again I don't know how viable it is to do the evening flight and get in a day's skiing on the way back.

Further if anyone has better and cheaper suggestions for private transfer please post them.

Accommodation:

In the world of booking this kind of thing is a lot easier. Do note that if you are looking for accommodation a long time in advance you will often find very few options because most accommodation providers in the resorts will hold out for a full week's booking. However, if you simply wait until a couple of days before you are going, and once you have passed the Saturday or Sunday turnover day and the accommodation realises that it cannot get a week-long booking, you should get many more options. The resorts websites themselves also usually operate a service where you put in your details and you will get personalised offers sent you over a 24-hour period which I found very good in the past and includes a whole amount of accommodation you will not find on booking or elsewhere. While our instincts are to book in advance and worry if we haven't you always get somewhere and if you have a car you can always stay in one of the satellite towns to the resort you've targeted. I've booked a hotel while driving to Dublin airport. If you've any concerns go on booking any random evening during the season and see what comes up for that or the next night. Assuming its not half term or New Years you'll probably get loads of options.

When I go on these trips I like to get a break from work and family life and have often tried to find a good hotel in consequence. Unfortunately, I am usually disappointed and on balance I think you may be better off getting a bog standard B&B where you know what it will be like near the centre of town which allows you to eat well and access swimming pool facilities etc in better hotels at a fraction of the price.

Luggage:

This is probably worth considering as between the extra stress of a short trip , the haemoraging of cash skiing and the extra hassle of having to go to the carousel its worth knowing what's best in advance.

I used to be able to get everything I need, including ski boots (stuffed with t-shirts, socks etc), into a cabin bag which would come in about 10kg if anyone ever weighed it. However, Ryanair in particular have now changed their policy on this and are likely to screw you if you turn up at the gate with one of these bags. They also used to do a 10kg check in bag for 10 or 15 euro but I think that limit has also changed. I will know more about this this season but from flying a few weeks ago I think the best value may be to pay for priority boarding and you get a 10kg carry on bag, if not two, included. If you pay for the bag to be checked in they seem to have reduced the weight to 8kgs, which is more than ski boots and gear, and as you have to tag and drop you will get screwed for the extra weight. Lufthansa's cabin bag policy is smaller but isn't big enough for ski gear. I'm not sure how vigorously they enforce it. I also don't know the up to date position on Aer Lingus. If anyone has any thoughts on this please post.

Cost:

A quick note on cost estimates:-

flights - about €200. Have gotten them for less than €80 even booked the night before, have rarely paid more than about €275. Paddy's weekend is the exception and is always expensive

car rental - €100 between the group including tolls petrol, carnet

accomodation - €100 per night per head BnB (can be done for €50 or even less at times)

ski pass - €50 per day

Ski gear - €30 per day
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Ok, so hopefully that helps someone and hopefully other people build on it. I had meant to post about last minute powder chasing and will in due course as it was this that made me do these trips in the first place.

In the meantime - there's feck loads of snow in Europe, Solden, Obergurgl, Hintertux and Cervinia all seem to be offering a decent amount of skiing. Lets get moving people! Get busy before the next bust, it is just around the corner!!