DocS

Appreciate this has the potential to be slightly OT but we have decided to belatedly explore skiing for February half term (Sat 11th to Sun 19th) starting from GLA. We’ve a few other trips booked so not looking to spend £££ if possible. Having looked at prices to European destinations it’s likely to be as expensive to fly to the Alps as to Vancouver in economy (in some cases significantly cheaper!). Having been to Blackcomb/Whistler a couple of times previously we know we’d have a great time there - and accommodations seem cheaper than the limited European destinations I’ve checked too. But… it’s a long trip for a short time away in Y (lounges/showers when connecting help) vs quick hop to Europe.

Wondering if I’ve missed any good European BA/OW destinations as we’ve not been skiing for some years - 2 primary kids (under 8) first experience so decent for beginners most important. Or is a long haul week away do-able - esp with kids (we’d have previously gone for 10 days when not tied to school holidays)?

Or - should we fly non OW to Europe? We’ve never taken KLM or Lufthansa from GLA or EDI. The risk of disruption means I value the fact as Gold on BA/OW we are prioritised for support/rebooking etc when things go wrong…

Thanks in advance for any wisdom or cheap fares I’ve missed!

Schwann

If you're going to consider AFKL or LH I would consider Jet2 etc too. They have a lot of direct ski flights from GLA.

Tiger_lily

Jet2 are decent, but half term in Europe is horrible. If you want to go long haul, can thoroughly recommend Big White via YVR or SEA (but not if there's a faff still getting into the US) and YLW. The ski school is brilliant for primary age kids

wanderingjock

Steamboat, CO is where my kids learnt to ski. Great learner/ blue slopes and great hotel/ American eateries made a great holiday. No queues, plenty of space and none of the crowded pushing in I’ve seen in France/Italy ;(. If no learners, then it can be a bit ‘small’ ( if it is possible to use that word in USA/Colorado!) and tame. Other places nearby are great for intermediate +.

dfw88

If the US is on the table I would recommend the SLC area. Lots of good resorts (and some overrated ones - Park City comes to mind). I've been teaching my kids to ski at Brighton. Kids ski free until they're 12, plus there's plenty of great runs for adults. I learned to ski down the road at Solitude and Snowbird, both of which have some good beginner terrain. Plenty of options.

Obviously BA don't serve SLC, but there are easy connections from the big AA hubs, including DFW, ORD, and PHX.

Sheikh Yerbooty

The Austrian alps have always been very accommodating to both beginners, intermediates and advanced - if anything it’s the latter which may not be fully catered for in most resorts. It’s where I’ve done the vast majority of my skiing, but I’ve also been to a few places in France, Sweden, Andorra and Italy.

Nauders at the Austrian/Swiss/Italian border is a great place to learn to ski, very family orientated, and there’s the option of easily made day trips off to both Swiss and Italian resorts. An apartment can be had for EUR 900 in the period you’re asking for, a family hotel is around 2.5K and a resort hotel is around 4.5K. Should be noted that availability is already limited, and you’re asking for what is one of the most expensive weeks of the year. Nauders is 1,5 hours from INN.

Another option could be Saalbach-Hinterglemm. Huge skiing area, consisting mainly of blues and reds. There’s an abundance of ski schools and lots of kids activities, as well as a very large selection of bars and restaurants. Very popular with the British, particularly at half-term. B&B from around 2.5K, hotels from around 5K. Saalbach is 1 hours from SZG.

Also like to put a word in for Maria Alm which, whilst offering all of the amenities, is still relatively small and somewhat on the quiet side. Still loads to do, and a great interconnected skiing area that’s perfect for kids and families. Prices along what you’d find in Nauders, with equally scarce availability. Maria Alm is also an hour from SZG.

If you’d like to combine great food with great skiing, there’s also Italy and Switzerland to consider. Switzerland costs an absolute fortune, and although it offers some of the best skiing in the world, it doesn’t justify the price in my book. Italy is really great, reasonably priced, well groomed pistes and plenty of excellent eateries dotted around the slopes and villages. Val Gardena could be an option, prices very much alike what you’d find in Saalbach, and it’s around 2 hours from INN.

France has always been loved by the British, and if you fancy renting a chalet and doing your own catering, it’s the best place to do it. The skiing can be a bit on the intermediate/advanced side, but it’s also some of the best skiing in the world with excellent piste systems and huge selection of kids activities. A bit pricier than Austria and Italy, and most resorts are around 3 hours from either GVA or ZRH.

Crossing an ocean and half a continent to go skiing, when the worlds best skiing area is at your doorsteps, is perhaps a bit too climate blind in this day and age.

endoman

We usually drive to ski, but next season are looking at using some Avios to fly into Venice and ski the Dolomites as Mrs Endo wants to go somewhere new. Innsbruck would also be an option to fly into.

DaveS

If the youngsters are the first priority then some of the eastern European resorts are good. The resorts in Slovakia are mostly small but ideal for beginners. Jasna has some more adventurous terrain. Slovakia is easily accessible from VIE. There are also some good thermal spa pools for the non-skiing days. You can also look at Bulgaria. In these places you can get good private tuition without needing a second mortgage. The instructors are not miserable like the ESF ones either. My daughter learnt skiing in Bulgaria at Borovets when she was 3 with a brilliant instructor.

South London Bon Viveur

+1 for Austria, which I find more user friendly than France and with a better ambience, although usually being a bit higher, France edges it for the snow quality, and in fairness has some great resorts in Meribel, Tignes, Val d'Isere.

There are a very large number of resorts in easy reach of Salzburg and Innsbruck, such as Bad Hofgastein (Salzburg), Zillertal near Innsbruck, which has the relatively busy Mayrhofen, but also much quieter places around like Finkenberg, Kaltenbach. That's just two that readily spring to mind- there's loads more. Both Inn and Salzburg are OW destinations (or were last season).

makin'miles

BA would be difficult, but ski in northern Georgia? QR fly to Tbilisi via Doha.

JP Flyer

For years we’ve skied in Colorado (starting from EDI) as it has much more reliable snow than Europe throughout the whole season and 10 days in the right resort is often cheaper than 6 days in a European resort. The best bit for me is avoiding the whole “changeover day” nonsense that makes flights/travel busy and costly.

We’ve gone on a few group holidays to Copper Mountain and whilst it is a bit odd, it is one of my favourite places to ski in the whole of North America. When I say “odd”, what I mean is that it doesn’t have a town at the base, just condos and about 4 restaurants. However it genuinely has something for everyone and is truly ski-in/out. The whole mountain is incredibly well laid out and has miles and miles of green runs for the beginners in your group, although if you put them in ski school for a week, they will be doing the blacks by the end of it!

It is an easy place to leave loved ones in ski school for the morning whilst you go and do the back bowls, before joining them for lunch and it is a very large ski area. We’ve been 7 or 8 times and love it and it is about 2 hours drive or shuttle from Denver. So my advice would be to get some flight to Denver and then choose a resort from the below:

1) Copper Mountain - 2 hours from Denver on I-70 Accommodation self catering condo with a handful of restaurants, but a free bus service to the town of Frisco if you need some variety or want to do some shopping. There is now a hotel but we haven’t tried that yet.

Pros - easy to get to, some of the best skiing for all abilities, relatively inexpensive. Brilliant snow up until mid-April when it shuts due to being in the National park. We typically get there by doing a one way car rental from DIA to Frisco and same again to get back. Ski in/ski out. On mountain dining has something for everyone but is inexpensive. Oh, and the runs never get busy.
Cons - No nightlife really, limited local restaurant options, base area has no “alpine prettiness”, on mountain dining options are a bit cafeteria like.

2) Breckenridge or “Breckenfridge” as it is known. Again, just over 2 hours from DIA but unlike Copper it is a proper town. We’re not as fond of the skiing although it is still better than most.
Pros - great old Western Town, good range of accommodation, lots of shops and restaurants. Runs are never as busy as Europe.
Cons - layout of the mountain makes it slightly harder to meet up if you are in a mixed group, more expensive, faces North so can be bloody cold!

3) Vail, is about half an hour past Copper on I-70 and is one of the most major resorts.
Pros - something for everyone, good range of skiing and apres, decent accommodation choices.
Cons - dearer and a lot busier. It sometimes gets “Courchevel busy”. You also have to be a bit careful about where your accommodation is as the Vail town is now about six miles long and winds alongside I-70. You could spend quite a bit of time getting to and from your accommodation each day.

4) Steamboat is about 5 hours drive from DIA depending on the weather.
Pros - interesting town with a bit of history, good hotel and accommodation choices, decent ski area.
Cons - we’ve only been once, but it was our iciest experience in Colorado and we’ve been in Copper in every month of the season. You need a car to get there and get around (depending on where you stay) and the drive can be truly terrifying if the weather closes in. It is also on the dearer side.

5) Aspen, probably the most famous place to ski in North America. About 4.5 hours drive from DIA
Pros - great skiing spread across 4 mountains, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk and Snowmass. Great town and good accommodation and dining options, both on and off the mountain.
Cons - brutally expensive! This is where the richest people in the World go skiing - Gates, Bezos etc. Depending on dates you may easily be looking at £600-1000 per room per night for what may feel like a fairly average hotel, passes are dear etc etc. Also the mountain layout does not lend itself easily to mixed ability groups. Buttermilk is great for kids, Aspen Highland is pretty much black runs and back bowls only. As a result families might find they spend all their time at Snowmass which is great, but you are missing out on a lot of the Aspen experience.

You have loads of other options within a couple of hours of Denver such as Winter Park and Keystone, but I have no direct experience of them yet.

As you are in Glasgow you are probably in the same boat as we are - not that many direct options to Europe without a long drive first. This has been a major factor in why we’ve skied more in North America than in Europe over the last 20 years. I’ve had WT tickets to Denver for less than EasyJet to Geneva at peak times from EDI and the snow is far more reliable.

britbronco22

Assuming Avios seats to Innsbruck are gone already, I would recommend flying to Munich and then driving down to Zillertal (mayerhofen) or Sol. Good value, good ski school, good mix of terrain.

ratechaser

Always Austria for us. Never managed to get a reasonably priced BA flight though...

wanderingjock

Great post JP Flyer! Steamboat has never been icy when I,ve been there, (Dec or Jan) but you may have been unlucky. Also, there is a short flight from Denver to Steamboat, and a car can collect you at airport, then use the (free?) bus in/ out town? Will definitely look at Copper Mtn now.

aahjnnot

Long haul to the USA/Canada for a week skiing is absolutely doable. My 'kids' are now in their 20s, but we've done it many times together as a family. If you luck out on flight times, you can sometimes even ski for 7 days with an evening departure on the final Saturday.

Whistler has many merits but has become hideously expensive in recent years, undermining the benefit of cheap flights. With younger kids, don't write off smaller resorts; in fact, I would recommend avoiding any big name resort at this stage in their skiing development. For example, Panorama in BC, Sun Valley in ID and Big Sky in MT are particular gems from a family perspective, but all require a change of flight. When the kids are older and start skiing like demons in the steeps and powder, you will need to take them to Fernie and Jackson, but stay away for now.

I have missed connections three times in AMS over the years and have completely given up on KLM for that reason - 2x overbooking and 1x cancellation. The worst of the three led to a 28 hour delay. If you have no status and are travelling in economy, KLM treat you like dirt.

Why not also head over to the Snowheads forum to ask the question. You'll get loads of responses.