r/skithealps

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice on where to do a season. I'm currently in New Zealand doing a season and would like to go back to the Northern Hemisphere and do another right after this.

I'm looking at Europe (France ideally) or the West Coast of Canada. I work as a bootfitter and have done so for the past 3 years, so I have some decent experience at this point. I'd like to continue doing this as I really enjoy it, and I enjoy working in the industry.

I'm from Scotland and have skied in France/ Europe all my life, so I know I like it, but I haven't skied in North America at all. The main hurdle for France is the language barrier. I speak okay French, but it definitely isn't good enough to be a bootfitter. I know I'll get better if I live there, but I need to be comfortable enough before going.

Will this be an issue? Is it possible to maybe get a ski tech role without the best French, as it isn't as customer-facing?

What other differences are there? Business? Visa’s? Price of passes and cost of living?

Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks

Planning a trip late January to Austria for a week. We have the Indy pass so we’d like hit up SkiWelt for 2-3 days of the trip, but are having a hard time deciding where to be for the remainder.

We love the idea of St Anton/Lech/Arlberg area as it seems like it has the best snow combined with sheer size, but it’s extremely expensive for lodging and I can’t tell how much if the appeal is the apres scene vs excellent on piste skiing.

If St Anton/Arlberg area is the best of the best independent of apres stuff, then we will go there and figure out a way to make it work, but we wanted to make sure we weren’t overlooking other places that may be just as good.

I’ve heard mixed things on Sölden, Zillertal and Ischgl, Saalbach.

We considered Innsbruck, but ultimately decided that we didn’t want to spend ~upwards of 2 hrs each day bussing to each (small-medium sized) place just to make use of the Indy pass. Although Stubai does sound impressive.

About us:
(New England) strong intermediate + expert

What we care about:
-Reliable snow for the time we will be going (late Jan)
-Cute village(s) + village to village skiing
-ideally less expensive than St Anton/Lech but if it’s truly the best then we will figure out a way to make it work

What we don’t care about:
-crazy apres scene
-free riding/off piste, would absolutely love to do some off piste exploration but we are not planning on hiring a guide for this trip so we unfortunately won’t be able to make use of off piste stuff

I work remotely, mostly US hours with a lot of flexibility to my schedule.

I’d like to spend a month skiing in Europe but cant afford an Airbnb for that amount of time in any of the big resorts.

Does anyone have any recommendations for smaller and cheaper places that it would be possible to rent somewhere for a month during the winter?

Ideally access into a larger ski area and basic amenities in the local area (food shop, bar, and a good lift will do)

I was a ski instructor in Austria before brexit but no preference for any European country just reliable snow

TIA :)

Travelling from Australia and want to fit in some skiing on our first Europe trip as a family.

Dad (blue/black), Mum (blue/red), Kid (greens)

Montgenèvre seems to be the most convenient as don't want to drive (train to turing>bus>resort>train to paris) and also reasonably affordable, plus some charm to the village. However worried about decent snow, given heatwaves in Europe, terrible start to season in Australia. Though it seems to be considered a relatively high resort.

Any other good options to consider? Found something a bit more expensive in Val thorens but concerned about the transfers (assume would fly to Geneva then a shared bus?)

Hi everyone planning a ski trip to Paradiski potentially in early March next year (the week after French school holidays). Was wondering if anyone has practical advice or recommendation on which of the above to choose.

Currently I have booked an apartment in Bellecôte that’s within my budget. I’ve narrowed down these 2 places because I prioritise having easy access to the entire Paradiski area.

However my research tells me that Bellecôte could be a bit of a choke point due to its location. My key question is would it be significant queues (considering the week I’m going) that degrades the experience? If so, is it worth shelling out a bit more for Arc 1800 accommodation?

I don’t really care much for apres, but a general village feel at night would be nice and not a must.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Arc 1800 vs Plagne Bellecôte