SKIWELT, AUSTRIA
Ninety minutes from Salzburg and Innsbruck airports, SkiWelt is a collection of eight villages, with Ellmau, Soll and Scheffau best for beginners, as they have good nursery slopes on the lower runs and efficient snow-making facilities. For more advanced skiers and boarders, there are black runs around the Hohe Salve peak. And the Hahnenkamm, host to the treacherous downhill race, is a short shuttle bus ride away in the neighbouring resort of Kitzbuhel, which is fabulous for both intermediates and beginners. The mountains are not that steep but you still get beautiful views.
The area is especially good if you are a fast learner who wants gentle slopes to start with but plenty to gradate to. And becoming proficient should not take long, as Austrian ski schools are fun places to learn. The ski schools are excellent and you get more for your money in Austria, with a week’s tuition including morning and afternoon lessons.
Less sporty types should not worry. This being Austria the après-ski is thumping – get ready to dance on the tables in you ski boots – and drinks are not expensive. There are many other things to do in the area, such as tobogganing, curling, ice skating, Christmas markets and day trips to Salzburg, while most mid-range hotels have good spas and pools.
Austrian hotels generally offer better value for money than their equivalents in France but, be warned: the spas are mostly naturist – and mixed.
Need to know... SkiWelt is now Austria’s largest integrated ski area with 279km of pistes at an altitude of 00m to 1,900m linked by modern lifts.
PORTES DU SOLEIL, FRANCE/SWITZERLAND
An hour and a half from Geneva is the Portes du Soleil ski area in France... or should that be Switzerland? The vast area straddles both countries. One of the most popular challenges for intermediates is to do a complete loop of the area in one day.
Technically, you could be asked for your passport as you descend the hair-raising black run ‘la mur’ (the wall), which crosses the border. Of course, they’d have to stop you first.
Down in the valley, Avoriaz and Morzine are working on environmental initiatives such as The Stash. This is one of several terrain parks with a difference in that it uses natural obstacles such as treed and woodland for jumps. Advanced skiers and boarders can often find deep snow off-piste.
With it’s understand nightlife, the Portes du Soleil typically appeals to those looking for somewhere less expensive and less snooty than the Les Trois Vallees or L’Espace Killy.
Need to know... With 650km of connected pistes, the Portes du Soleil ranks as one of the world’s biggest ski areas.
FORMIGAL, SPAIN
Spain has recently emerged as an off-the-beaten-track destination for those looking for value for money, and last season Formigal rewarded them with a spectacularly high snowfall. The resort, in the Pyrenees, is an hour from Huesca airport and while it doesn’t have the ambience of cute Alpine villages, you can soak up the Spanish sun over lunch somewhere different each day of the week.
For its size, Formigal is good all-round ski area. The nursery and gentle green runs are well placed in the middle of the resort. There is good cruising for intermediates, who will enjoy the exciting transitions from one valley to another. And there is even off-piste terrain for advances skiers and boarders.
One of the principal hazards of skiing off-piste is getting stuck in the middle of nowhere and having to walk out but at the end of Formigal’s ‘itineraries’ you get picked up by a bus which comes every ten to fifteen minutes.
Need to know... the recently expanded ski area of Formigal is the latest buzz on the winter sports scene, with its new, high-speed chairlifts making it Spain’s biggest resort with 137km of pistes.