Figuring Out Where To Go

Oct 2024 – Needless to say, the Alps are big. Not only are they big, but they’re accessible by a large amount of people from not that far away. If you have been or you haven’t been into this mountain range before, the sheer size and number of ski and snowboard areas to visit have probably intimidated or confused you a little bit, at some point. During my first European winter, I think we just threw a dart at a board (metaphorically speaking) and went.

Ever since then, I’ve always kind of had a mental checklist of “yes vs. no” or “this or that” going on inside my own head whenever I’m trying to plan out the family’s snow trips for the year. We’ve been lucky enough to experience enough places to have developed sort of a baseline for what we do and don’t like as a group (hello fur hats in Madonna)…and I thought I’d try to share with you all some questions you can ask yourselves to hopefully give you some internal direction on where you should plan to go and what you should plan to avoid.

So, hereafter begins the questions!

1. Do you even do Night Life?
There is a reason this is my first question and that is simply due to the fact that many ski towns in the Alps are 100% known for their nightlife. If you’re really into a late night Après party, that can really narrow down your list of Alpine areas to plan to visit…or if you’re the opposite, can help you decide which places to avoid. I don’t warn non-late night types against visiting party towns, there may just be a bit more noise outside than what you’re used to if you’re trying to quiet down by 2300.
Yes! Night life is a must! – If this is you, then places like Sölden, Ishgl, St. Anton, and even Zermatt will provide you with everything you could need from 4-meter tall laser robots to packed bars and clubs well into the night.
I like to wakeup without a hangover – If you don’t like taking shot-after-shot of “Willi” Schnappes at 0200 and would rather be cozied up in your bed earlier in the night, smaller villages like Flumserberg, Sainte-Foy, or Reit im Winkl will provide you with Alpine beauty without the lasers and Euro-techno to go to sleep to. To make it easy, when browsing online, don’t look for places with over 100kms of slopes. Those tend to attract major crowds and, thus, accommodate more lifestyle types.

2. How far is too far? This one is a bit more practical and common sensical to plan around. Regardless of what you like to do on or off the slopes, some people really don’t want to drive 7-hours to get from one place to another whereas others have absolutely no concern with driving all day to make it to the snow. I don’t even mention flying because it’s not a factor for me when planning. However, if you live in the UK, either that or the Eurostar may be your only option.
I’ll drive across Europe. Distance doesn’t matter – This doesn’t really make selecting the location easy for me to describe…for those who don’t care about the length of time it takes to get somewhere, there really is no limitation. Google to your heart’s content and keep asking the questions I’ve listed here!
I like to keep my driving under X amount of hours – If you are constrained by any number of reasons to a length of time to drive, really just conduct your searches within that distance on the map from where you live in Europe. I don’t like to go past 5 hours, personally…so I’ll generally keep my searches within the borders of Tirol, Südtirol, or Bern. You can plan in a similar fashion. As a driving alternative, finding destinations with centrally-located train stations can be a good way to avoid a drive altogether. St. Anton, Kitzbuehel, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen are examples of places with accessible slopes relative to their station.

3. Pistes or Off-Piste? To me, this is one of the better things to plan with as it directly affects what you enjoy doing when you’re on skis or your board. There are those who really don’t like to venture off the groomed runs and they get their most enjoyment from being the first chair up to glide down those freshly made grooves on the trails, and there are those who look for every single opportunity to make fresh tracks in the snow outside of the trail boundaries.
Off-piste all day – If you ride the chairlift up trying to spot the best path to take through the trees or you look for big untouched pillows of newly fallen (or still frozen) snow, then you need to find places known for freeriding or off-piste sections. While the results may not be as various as on-piste ones, there are still plenty of places to choose from which are known for their freeride opportunities. I can personally recommend Nendaz, Sainte-Foy, and Madonna di Campiglio as they all have enormous opportunities to chase when the conditions are right. There are others, but these had the bigger areas I’ve experienced. If you’re really feeling crazy and are willing to fly, going to the isolated village of Riksgränsen will give you a freeride experience like nowhere else.
I enjoy the marked trails – the simplest way to plan around this I can provide is to look for the areas with bigger numbers in terms of total kilometers of trails/pistes. If the totals are under 30km, you may become a little bored after two days depending on how quickly you can move down the slopes. On the other hand, if you are a skilled skier or snowboarder, you might want to find a place with over 100kms like St. Anton and Val Thorens depending on how long you’re going to stay. Covering 100km in two days is not an easy task. This brings me to my next question…

4. How long will you stay? You should be taking this into account when figuring out where you want to go. If you’re planning for a weekend vs. planning for a week-long trip, you should ensure you get the most out of what you’re spending in terms of money and time. Going to massive places without the time to see it all can leave you feeling like you missed out on something or didn’t get what you paid for. This as opposed to potentially feeling bored or “meh” if staying somewhere smaller for a longer period of time. Again, this combined with the above and following questions should help you a little.

5. What can I spend? Unless you’re the CEO of a startup that’s being acquired by Elon Musk or Mark Cuban or you just sold stocks in Netflix that you bought when it made it’s IPO, money is probably something you’ve got to take into consideration. You work hard for it so you shouldn’t see it squandered or not spent in a manner that best suits you. Since there’s a lot of factors to consider just in spending your own money, I’ll take the simplest approach and talk lift tickets and basic restaurant standards.
I work hard for my cash and I spend it hard – If you save your money and spend it like you’re one of my examples above, then you should be going for the biggest and the best the Alps has to offer. Places like Zermatt (322CHF/5-days) and St. Moritz (289CHF/5-days), Switzerland will definitely push your wallet to its breaking point, not only due to the cost of lift tickets , but also in the villages themselves which are insanely beautiful but also quite posh and wealthy in their own right. When a skitown has Louis Vuitton and Gucci boutiques, you know what you’re in for as far as spending goes in the rest of town. Needless to say, though, in these alpine towns, the slopes and all of their infrastructure are top-notch. As a last note for this, as always, if eating out in Switzerland, you will be paying a lot for it regardless of type of restaurant.
I try to save when I can, even on a ski trip – If you don’t like to go crazy and spending actually is a factor that you have to consider, it may be best to stick to Austria, Germany, some smaller areas of France, and Italy. Places like Sestriere are some of the larger but cheaper to visit coming in at only 226 Euros for 5-days in the 2024-2025 high season as opposed to 366 at St. Anton. Other places like Scuol allow you the chance to go to Switzerland but not crush your wallet. PRO TIP FOR SAVERS WITH KIDS: when looking at ticket prices, ALWAYS look to see which birth year is considered a child’s ticket price. A few of our last trips I got massive surprises when I realized my son was young enough to basically ski an entire week for free! Malbun offers up an entire no-cost training area for kids as well: complete with magic carpets and a tow-line. Also, staying in apartments or chalets with its own kitchen can help you reduce your overall cost.

When I’m done skiing or snowboarding… – This is one to consider if you’re either one to not stay the entire day on the slopes or if you’ve got family along with you and you want non-snow stuff to do. A lot of ski towns in the Alps have awesome indoor pools complexes or Mineralthermes to calm down and relax in, both for adults and kids. Cortina, Kaprun, and lesser-known Hirschegg offer up good Spa/Mineraltherme experiences to take advantage of after a few hours on the slopes. Ice skating next to the slopes at Malbun and Scuol or letting your kids try Skijoring at places like St. Moritz are great ways to take an afternoon to do other things next to the mountain.

There is a multitude of other questions to ask ones’ self regarding how to find the best place. While I hope many of these questions that I’ve posted above can stir the creative juices a bit, you’re truly the only one who knows you, knows your personal situation, knows your skills, and knows your finances best. I value all of the questions above because, oftentimes, I ask myself the same ones when making a winter plan year in year out.

I hope the info above was able to help! Good luck!

Bis zum näschtes mal!

THE SNOWBOARD DAD IN EUROPE