US Edition Unless otherwise stated, prices are per person, based on two sharing a double or twin room for a week and include half-board, flights and transfers.
Families
Comprehensive child care, La Plagne, France
Ski Famille is renowned for its range of child care, tuition and chalets adapted to the needs of families. The latest chalet, Delphine, sleeping 20 in La Plagne, is no exception. It makes a particularly good choice as most rooms are family suites, the slopes are only metres away, there’s an airy playroom and an outdoor hot tub, so parents and children can relax in style. Delphine is conveniently based on the edge of the piste in Plagne 1800, with easy access to the vast Paradiski area.
● From £749 for seven nights’ chalet board. Child prices vary according to age; child care is extra.
● 01252 365495; skifamille.co.uk
Dedicated baby and toddler weeks in Gressoney, Italy
The UK’s largest family specialist Esprit Ski is introducing BAT (baby and toddler) weeks this season, offering substantial reductions during five off-peak weeks for families with younger children. The incentives include free infant places, half-price nursery for infants up to two years old and half-price activity clubs for toddlers from two to four years old. BAT packages run throughout January and the week beginning February 20 and are available in all of Esprit Ski’s 13 resorts.
Pick of the bunch is Gressoney, which is part of Italy’s giant Monterosa ski region. The village is quiet and Esprit Ski’s family-friendly Chalet Hotel Valverde is conveniently situated next to the resort’s main chairlift and a snow park for children, with a play area, bobsleigh track and skating rink. A bonus for this winter is that nine pairs of rooms now have interconnecting doors.
● From £589 for seven nights’ chalet board.
● 01483 345759; espritski.com
Fun with teens in Avoriaz, France
When the kids have outgrown child care, you need a resort with teen cred. With six terrain parks for beginners to advanced riders, Avoriaz offers some of the best freestyle terrain in the Alps, plus there’s a giant water park, Aquariaz, to keep them entertained off the slopes. Avoriaz is also the unofficial snowboard capital of the Alps, and has equal appeal for freestyle skiers. The British Avoriaz Alpine Ski & Snowboard School runs five-day afternoon junior camps (€280/£206; avoriazalpineskischool.com) covering on-piste and freestyle skills for all standards of skier or snowboarder aged 11-15.
For teenagers who don’t want set meal times, self-catering is the most cost-effective option. Erna Low offers Atria-Crozats, adjoining ski-in/ski-out residences with modern four-star apartments.
● From £781 for seven nights in a two-bedroom unit sleeping up to seven, excluding travel.
● 020 7584 2841; ernalow.co.uk
Food lovers
Chefs festival in Courmayeur, Italy
Each January Heston Blumenthal joins forces with Momentum Ski to host the three-day Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience. The fun begins at Heathrow with breakfast in Heston’s Perfectionists’ Café. To follow there are dinners in Courmayeur cooked by fellow Michelin-starred chefs Sat Bains and Marcus Wareing, plus wine-tastings and informal lunches.
Eating is interspersed with steering a full belly around Courmayeur’s largely intermediate slopes. The festival takes place from January 8 to 11, with packages including b&b in the Grand Hotel Royal e Golf which boasts a one-Michelin-star restaurant.
● From £3,850 for three nights and three gourmet dinners, two half days of instruction or guiding and a three-day lift pass. Add lunches for £300.
● 020 7371 9111; jessica@momentumski.com
Experience gastro heaven in Val Thorens, France
Those who haven’t visited Val Thorens for a decade and remember it as a lunar-like outpost are in for a real surprise. As well as being the highest, and therefore most snow sure, resort in the Trois Vallées ski area, with slopes suited to all levels, this resort has grown into France’s leading mountain destination for foodies.
While away a lazy – albeit expensive – afternoon on the sun terrace at Jean Sulpice (0033 479 400071; jeansulpice.com), presided over by the chef of the same name, who has two Michelin stars. Refuel in style at Le Chalet de la Marine (0033 674 284882; chaletmarine.com), a Savoyard chalet with a fireplace, sheepskin rugs and mouthwatering cuisine – including scallops with black truffle, lamb confit and honey-glazed pork.
For gourmands wanting to sample the cream of the restaurants, self-catering makes sense. Ski Collection has some of the best prices for Koh-I Nor, one of the most lavish five-star hotel complexes in the Alps. Sample gourmet cuisine at the international restaurant, simpler fare in the brasserie or local specialities in La Cave.
● From £1,056 for seven nights in a one-bedroom apartment sleeping two people. This self-drive price includes Eurotunnel crossings.
● 0844 576 0175; skicollection.com
Beginners
Learn from a British instructor in Champoluc, Italy
Ski 2 has everything covered for a first-timer’s snow sports holiday, from tuition and equipment hire to lift passes and lunches. Based in Champoluc, part of the Monterosa ski area, the operator runs a British ski school exclusively for guests and has its own ski and snowboard hire facilities. Lunch vouchers, which are included in the price of the holiday, are redeemable at several mountain restaurants. Ski 2 has a wide range of hotels and self-catering apartments to choose from, most of which are a short walk from the main gondola. The four-star Hotel Relais des Glaciers has an extensive wellness complex for those 16 years of age and over.
● From £1,065, including lift pass and return transfers (but not flights). Adult beginner ski or snowboard lessons (five mornings) cost from £140; private lessons start at £42 an hour.
● 01962 713330; ski-2.com
Take your first turns in Méribel, France
Beginners can start to slide with ease thanks to a combination of gentle nursery slopes and excellent tuition in Méribel. Parallel Lines, a British snow sports school, offers a specific First Tracks group course for complete beginners. By the end of the week, first-timers will be completing the long Truite green run back to the resort from Mottaret, and may even have tackled a blue. The courses run either Sunday or Monday to Friday.
Méribel’s own ski area is suitable for all levels and is the most convenient base for exploring the rest of the Trois Vallées. It also has one of the widest choices of quality chalets of anywhere in the Alps. Fish & Pips has six catered chalets that are all finished to a high standard, and the company is renowned for its cuisine. Chalet Le Christophe is just 20m from a chairlift. It sleeps eight in four en suite bedrooms and its open-plan living area has a fireplace.
● From £395 for seven nights’ chalet board. Instruction with Parallel Lines costs €210 for five two-hour morning lessons or €239 for six mornings.
● 0845 474 1054; fishandpips.co.uk. 0844 811 2779; parallel-lines.com
Try less well known Baqueira-Beret, Spain
The beginner-friendly slopes and reasonable prices at Baqueira-Beret in the Spanish Pyrenees offer an attractive alternative to nearby Andorra for novices. Inexpensive instruction is available on the excellent nursery slopes, and there are easy greens and blues. BBSkiSchool is the only British-run school in the Pyrenees. The standard of teaching is as high as any in the Alps, but rates are considerably cheaper.
Ski Miquel is the largest operator here, with its own simple but comfortable chalets, plus hotels and self-catering apartments to suit all budgets. Chalet Salana has an outdoor hot tub, sleeps 28 and is the best-value accommodation in the resort.
● From £507 for seven nights’ chalet board. Group lessons with BBSkiSchool £126 to £150 for five mornings of three hours.
● 01903 233323; bbskischool.co.uk. 01457 821200; skimiquelholidays.co.uk
Adventurers
Heli to the High Atlas in Morocco
Just 25 minutes away from Marrakesh, the High Atlas Mountains offer the only heli-skiing opportunity in Africa. Heliski Marrakesh, run by Hervé Favre, founder of ski school Evolution 2, offers spectacular drops including one from the top of Toubkal, North Africa’s highest peak at 4,187m.
Accommodation is a luxury boutique hotel and, after breakfast, explorers clamber aboard a heli and head for the hills. Snow conditions during spring are similar to those found in the Alps and the terrain includes steeps, valleys and couloirs. Trips run from mid-February to mid-April and offer up to four 1,000m descents, before a return to the hotel for lunch.
● From £816, including two nights’ full board at the Kasbah & Spa Agounsane and two days’ heli-skiing. Travel not included.
● 0033 760 361806; heliskimarrakech.com
Access off piste by boat in Norway
A beautiful landscape, where peaks rise more than 1,000m directly from icy blue fjords, greets visitors to the Lyngen Alps. On a peninsula that sits 480km inside the Arctic Circle, this unspoilt wilderness offers a quiet alternative to heli-skiing – with a boat rather than a helicopter.
Lyngen Lodge, a boutique lodge hotel that sleeps up to 16 guests, runs the Summit to Sea programme offering six days’ ski touring in the company of mountain guides. Each morning, guests climb take a water transfer to beaches and piers, from where they ski up to the summit of one of the many dramatic peaks, before enjoying wonderful views on a long descent back to the sea. There are also days of accessing the mountains from the lodge.
● From £2,430 for seven nights’ full-board accommodation with six days’ guiding. Travel not included.
● 0047 476 27853; lyngenlodge.com
Enjoy deep powder in Hokkaido, Japan
Each winter, a mighty 14m to 18m of snow falls on Hokkaido, Japan’s most northerly island, and it’s some of the lightest and fluffiest in the world. The wild and rugged terrain is home to 98 resorts and Ski Safari offers a 14-night itinerary to three of the best and largest. Four days in Niseko – with views of volcanoes and fantastic Japanese food – at the ski-in/ski-out, four-star Green Leaf Hotel, is followed by two days in Rusutsu, renowned for its tree slopes, and three days in Furano, one of Japan’s most famous resorts. Accommodation is in resort-style hotels with their own restaurants and onsen (hot baths). The trip finishes with a day in Tokyo.
● From £2,279, b&b.
● 01273 224060; skisafari.com
Bargain hunters
International appeal at reasonable prices in Bansko, Bulgaria
For lively après, excellent tuition and a modern lift system, at very reasonable prices, it has to be Bansko – one of three resorts in Bulgaria that have international appeal. The town has a wide choice of accommodation including low-priced hotels and apartments. A pint of local beer costs little more than £1, a three-course meal for two £12, a six-day lift pass £123, and lessons (six days of four hours) £124. It all sounds good – and it is – but don’t expect sophistication or large ski areas. Balkan Holidays offers the three-star Hotel Mura, a good-value, no-frills option with a sauna, steam bath and hot tub. The main gondola is a 15-minute walk away, or there’s a free shuttle service.
● From £330 for seven nights’ b&b, with BOGOF lift passes if you pre-book and 10 per cent discount on equipment rental.
● 020 7543 5555; balkanholidays.co.uk
Big area, small price tag in Flachauwinkl, Austria
Staying in little-known Flachauwinkl gives plenty of lift-linked terrain at bargain prices. This small, modern resort has 65km of runs and, with its 1.5km terrain park, a growing reputation among freestylers. It lies at the centre of the three-valley Salzburger Sportwelt lift network and the lift pass also covers other ski areas in the Ski Amadé region.
Tour operator Snowtrex offers the self-catering Wieslbauer apartments, located in a quiet spot just 200m from the nearest lift. London Gatwick to Salzburg flights cost from £90 return, then it’s an hour’s drive to Flachauwinkl or there’s a free ski bus service between Salzburg and Flachau, 5km from resort.
● From £142 based on four sharing an apartment, including a lift pass worth up to £192, but excluding travel.
● 020 3365 3313; snowtrex.co.uk
In the back door of the Trois Vallées, France
Get access to a large ski area without the price tag by staying at a well-linked satellite village. The tiny hamlet of Orelle in the Maurienne Valley is the perfect example – in this case, big brother resort is Val Thorens and the ski area is the Trois Vallées. The local gondola reaches Val Thorens in 15 minutes and there’s a run most of the way back down. Prices for everything are far cheaper, although the area lift pass (€283) remains the same. Peak Retreats offers the three-star Hameau des Eaux d’Orelle apartments 800m from the 3 Vallées Express gondola, and there’s a free shuttle bus. The residence has its own restaurant and a steam room and sauna. For a reasonably-priced food shop, St-Michel-de-Maurienne is five minutes’ drive away.
● From £208, including Eurotunnel crossings, for a two-person self-catering studio.
● 0844 576 0170; peakretreats.co.uk
Out and out luxury
Spoil yourself in St Anton, Austria
The perfect combination of conviviality and privacy, Supertravel’s Eden Roc is a great choice for large groups. Built in cool, contemporary Tirolean style, the chalet is located just outside St Anton in the hamlet of Nasserein. With exalted levels of service and cuisine, it sleeps up to 20 guests in 10 large en suite bedrooms. These are split into three apartments of three or four bedrooms – each is a chalet within a chalet. A communal lounge and dining area is available to groups taking all three apartments, or each apartment can be rented and catered for individually. There’s a communal wellness area with pool, steam room, fitness room and massage treatment room, and a driver to take guests to and from the slopes. St Anton best suits either complete novices or strong intermediates and experts.
● From £19,980 for the whole chalet, excluding travel.
● 020 7962 9933; supertravel.co.uk
One of France’s most luxurious chalets in Val d’Isère, France
If hedonism is what you’re looking for, Consensio’s Marco Polo chalet has it all. An opulent blend of Western creature comforts and oriental style, Marco Polo is a short walk from the slopes, and a chauffeur-driven limo is on hand. It sleeps 10 adults and four children in six beautifully appointed bedrooms. The first floor has a gold-leaf-covered pool, hot tub, hammam and gym. The relaxation area has lasers, smoke machines and a professional sound system, plus there’s a wine and cheese-tasting cellar. The open-plan living area has a central fireplace and large balcony overlooking the Face piste. Val d’Isère’s slopes are ideal for strong intermediates but it also has excellent beginner slopes in the village and at the top of the Solaise lift.
● From £30,650 for the whole chalet, excluding travel.
● 020 3393 0833; consensiochalets.co.uk
Heli-skiing from the ultimate lodge in Revelstoke, Canada
Nothing says luxury quite like being whisked into the wilderness from your own helipad and returning to a five-star chalet to enjoy a private spa, cinema and gourmet food. Bighorn Lodge sits in the backwoods of British Columbia at the base of Revelstoke’s lifts. It is owned by a pair of powder-obsessed Brits whose building expertise and passion for the mountains produced this pinnacle of accommodation. The eight guest suites are at least twice the size of those found in luxury chalets in the Alps. The spa area has a pool, gym, sauna, massage rooms and an outdoor hot tub. The quality of service and cuisine is extraordinary. Selkirk Tangiers offers private heli-skiing on the nearby peaks.
● £875 per person per day. The chalet costs from £39,900 for 16 people, travel not included.
● 020 3432 0726; bighornrevelstoke.com; selkirk-tangiers.com
Improvers
Get off the plateau in Serre Chevalier, France
Senior British instructor Gavin Crosby has been teaching in Serre Chevalier, which boasts 250km of pistes, for more than 20 years. He runs the New Generation Ski & Snowboard School here, which has branches in 14 resorts across France and Switzerland. Crosby has earned a reputation as an intuitive instructor who can spot what clients are doing wrong and suggest an instant way of putting it right. Book well in advance. Crosby’s main base is Le Monêtier, and the comfortable two-star Hotel L’Alpazur here is a six-minute walk from the lifts, or there’s a free shuttle service.
● From £565 for seven nights, half-board, with Crystal Ski. New Generation group lessons cost €169 for five days of two hours each morning. 020 3627 2866; crystalski.co.uk.
● 01462 674000; skinewgen.com
Informal tuition and guiding in Alpe d’Huez, France
Neilson has come up with a solution to the French ski-hosting ban that should also prove a money-saving boon for improvers this season. From 22 of its hotels and chalets in France, Italy and Andorra, qualified snow sports instructors, known as Neilson Mountain Experts, will offer guiding and informal lessons to blue- and red-run skiers and snowboarders, while familiarising them with the ski area – and it’s included in the holiday price.
One of the best places to take advantage of this is in Alpe d’Huez, which has plenty of terrain for all standards and is ideal for adventurous intermediates looking to clock up the miles. Three-star Chalet Hotel L’Escapade, new for this season, is a comfortable ski-in/ski-out lodge near the village centre.
● From £595 for seven nights, chalet board.
● 0333 014 3351; neilson.co.uk
Learn with a guru in Verbier, Switzerland
Warren Smith is Britain’s best-known ski instructor, with a formidable reputation for improving the skills of everyone from early intermediates to pro freeriders, using a unique combination of technique, biomechanics and physiology. The Warren Smith Ski Academy runs small group courses for intermediates in Verbier, including a five-day academy to improve ski skills in all types of terrain including moguls, steeps and powder.
Chalet operator VIP has expanded its portfolio in Switzerland, including Chalet Tortin, one of the best-value modern chalets in Verbier. It sleeps six in three en suite bedrooms and is three minutes’ walk from the main Médran gondola.
● From £939 for seven nights, chalet board. Instruction with the Warren Smith Ski Academy costs £429 for five days, four hours each day.
● 01795 304549; warrensmith-skiacademy.com; 0844 557 3119; vip-chalets.com
Short breaks
Maximise slope time in La Clusaz, France
Make the most of limited time away with Ski Weekends, which does exactly what it says on the tin, as well as organising midweek trips. It offers short breaks to 14 resorts in France, four in Austria, two in Switzerland and one in Italy, and staff are primed to do all they can to ensure maximum time on the slopes for guests.
La Clusaz boasts a short transfer and flexible accommodation, plus a wide variety of terrain, with 220km accessible with the area lift pass. Its Hotel Carlina is an intimate boutique three-star with just 39 rooms, built in classic Savoyard style in the upper part of the village. It offers great views of the surrounding mountains, and also has a good restaurant serving local specialities.
● From £535 for three nights b&b.
● 023 8020 6971; skiweekends.com
Flexible, snow-sure stays in Engelberg, Switzerland
The accommodating hotels in Engelberg make it one of the best resorts for short breaks. Unlike so many destinations, most of the hotels here don’t insist on seven-night stays. What’s more, the top lift is at more than 3,000m so snow cover is virtually guaranteed.
Engelberg is an easy two-hour train ride from Zurich airport and Flexiski offers the three-star Hotel Bellevue Terminus, dating back to 1898. It’s not only full of traditional charm, but is conveniently located right opposite the train station with the ski bus stop outside. The hotel has good-sized bedrooms, a lively après bar called Buena Vista, and the Yucatan restaurant, which serves up dishes such as Mexican spare ribs and teriyaki beef.
● From £1,095 for four nights b&b.
● 020 8939 0862; flexiski.com