Has anyone been skiing before?

[Man of Harveys]

Am thinking of hitting the slopes this year. Don't worry - cowering villagers at the foot of Alpine valleys will be provided wtih avalanche warnings when I venture out.

Does anyone know whether the snow on the beginner slopes is generally still OK into March? This might be a daft question - I've only been once before so don't fancy venturing up to a glacier - but I've heard some places are pretty short on snow this year.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Where are you going?

 

[REDLAND]

Europe is crap this season, my mate has just come back from Italy and said there was NO snow left by last weekend. If its ya first time you WILL need lessons, Glacier skiing may be a little too advanced for ya !!

 

[Man of Harveys]

Where are you going?

I fancy the Alps - the usual places, Alpes D'Huez, Mayrhofen etc. Anywhere I might get a cheap deal, to be honest.

 

[Marc]

Tignes is high altitude and may have snow and is a bloody decent place. What the Alps need is a decent dump or 5 as it is shit as Redders points out, f***ing global bastard warming shite

 

[D'Angelo Saxon]

Alpes D'Huez is DOPE.

 

[REDLAND]

What the Alps need is a decent dump or 5 as it is shit as Redders points out, f***ing global bastard warming shite

I know its crap innit Marc, all the slopes are gonna be good for soon is freeride biking,

 

[CHAPPERS]

Mayrhofen is sweet as and normally has a fair amount of snow until about April plus the glacier up there is not too taxing from what I remember? This year has been crap in Europe though.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Europe is crap this season, my mate has just come back from Italy and said there was NO snow left by last weekend. If its ya first time you WILL need lessons, Glacier skiing may be a little too advanced for ya !!

Bang on !

Andorra is very cheap but by mid-Feb the lower slopes are just slush.

If you can splash out a bit Canada is bloody brilliant with powder snow and very few crowds.

 

[Marc]

I know its crap innit Marc, all the slopes are gonna be good for soon is freeride biking,

as I;m missing out this year I'm alreayd planning my 2nd trip to the East Coast US, Killington has got bigger (apparently) and theres some other decent resorts up there. Having family meaning cheap flights RULES!

 

[REDLAND]

Bang on !

Andorra is very cheap but by mid-Feb the lower slopes are just slush.

If you can splash out a bit Canada is bloody brilliant with powder snow and very few crowds.

I did Whistler last year, by far the best snowboarding this planet has to offer, the biking is pretty decent too

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I did Whistler last year, by far the best snowboarding this planet has to offer, the biking is pretty decent too

I prefered Blackcombe but it's by far the best place I've ever skied. No queues, great food and you can claim the tax back on any goods you buy !

 

[REDLAND]

I prefered Blackcombe but it's by far the best place I've ever skied. No queues, great food and you can claim the tax back on any goods you buy !

Skiing I bet, Blackcombe had to many BIG moguls up top for my liking, Big Moguls are bloody hard on a snowboard

 

[ditchy]

Mayrhofen is sweet as and normally has a fair amount of snow until about April plus the glacier up there is not too taxing from what I remember? This year has been crap in Europe though.

Zermatt has ski school on glacier i seem to remember and they advertise summer sking so that might work

 

[REDLAND]

You could of course learn to ski at Knockhatch or similar, then you shouldn't need lessons when you get out there !!

 

[larus]

Val Thorens is GREAT. Highest resort in Europe, and normally very good skiiing conditions.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I fancy the Alps - the usual places, Alpes D'Huez, Mayrhofen etc. Anywhere I might get a cheap deal, to be honest.

Im heading to Alpes D'Huez in march cant wait

 

[nwgull]

You could always wait until the week before you go to check which resorts have good snow conditions and book last minute. Skiclub of Great Britain (skiclub.co.uk) provides good up to date snow reports.

It's still early in the season and the most snow tends to fall from the end of Jan through Feb so don't get unduly worried yet about conditions in Europe. A few years ago we went in the last week of Jan, the conditions were fairly poor for most of the week until the last day when it snowed heavily, it then continued to snow for the next 2 weeks and unfortunately resulted in some of the most disasterous avalanches seen in the Alpes. Hopefully that won't happen again but it shows that conditions in early Jan aren't always a great indicator.

 

[NMH]

From my vantage point in Los Angeles, I can see the mountains in the distance draped in a cloak of white - and the local slopes are great.
Mammoth Mountain to the north has all the terrain and excellent facilities, but requires a 5hour drive - but it's always worthwhile - some of the best ski-ing in North America. The storms have been piling new snow onto all the highlands, and this is becoming one of the best seasons ever.

I just got some parabolic skis second-hand, can't wait to get out there!