Moving on from Arinsal..

Hi,

hopefully this hasn't been covered elsewhere but with fingers croosed here goes my first post.

We've been to Arinsal in Andorra for the last two years staying in the Princesa Park. Previously I'd had a week prior to that in Livigno though my girlfriend was a beginner arriving in Andorra. These were all booked as packages flying out of Belfast. For us the skiing was good beginner/inter stuff, hotel was nice and comfy, reasonable food, near the gondola, a few bars to have a beer in but not packed out. Generally a non stressed experience..

At this stage we are looking to move on and try new pastures this coming year, maybe France or Austria. We're basically looking for the above but in a different location with more intermediate skiing. We now have our own skis, boots etc and at this stage we may well skip on ski school this year and maybe pick up the odd lesson depending on how we're getting on.

To be honest I thought this choice would be quite straight forward but if I'm honest I'm baffled with the number of choices available. Oh I'd thought maybe Austria or France, to maybe narrow things down a bit. I've been reading the ski club Ski Europe guide which has great info but so much choice... My girlfriend favours booking some cheap flights to Geneva and doing our own thing which might give us more options though that only makes decision time even more difficult. Our budget would be in or around £1600'ish for the two us if we're half board again..

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark.

I know exactly what you mean Rocksy - a bewildering and baffling amount of choice!
If I were you I would start by narrowing things down a bit.
What time of year? Early or late you need to stay high.
Ski in ski out? Or would a 5/10 min bus to the lifts be OK?
Linguistic skills? Either of you speak a bit of French, German, Italian .....Slovakian? Could point you in the right direction.
Accomodation preferences? Really comfy, a pool etc? A bit more basic with decent food but perhaps a set menu? That sort of thing.
British run, so Brits making up the clientel - or locally run so skiers from all over the place likely to be there.
There are loads of resorts out there that would suit someone like you, ready to spread your wings and try some more extensive terrain.
I'm sure you will get loads of suggestions on here.

Thanks 'Old Andy' for your reply.

Time of year we'll hopefully get to Scotland for a few days around New Year so February after the half term, maybe the start of March if the French school holidays would make February too hectic?

When we were in Arinsal we had a locker at the top of the gondola and not carting gear about suited me to a T. Ski in/out sounds fun though I've no experience of that, access via bus sounds less fun if you have to carry your kit with you but otherwise I'm sure it would be fine.

Language'wise I'm afraid I can only say please, thanks and excuse me in various languages but I'm ashamed to say that's about my lot.

Accommodation wise, at least basic and clean with decent food would be good. If it's better than that I wouldn't complain. I guess you get what you pay for. I do like the thought of somewhere locally run with skiers from all over the place likely to be there..

Hi Rocksy,

as Old Andy says, there are loads of factors which will effect what you like as a resort for your holiday, and these will be different for most people.

Having said that, personally I would suggest that you check out somewhere like Tignes. Tignes is part of the Espace Killy and has a pretty extensive ski area, linked with Val D'Isere. There is plenty of intermediate skiing, along with plenty of more advanced options should you decide to get adventurous. You could also look at Val D'Isere, but from what you have said I think Tignes may suit you better.

Tignes is split into three villages, and I think it will offer you what you are looking for in terms of apres ski. There is a full range of stuff from quiet bars to nightclubs. Most of the accommodation is very close to the snow, and if not actually ski in/ski out, is little more than a very short walk. I've not been there for a few years, but the buses between the villages used to be covered by your lift-pass, so plenty of options in the evening.

I don't know where you live, but another advantage of Tignes (and the surrounding areas) is that you can go by train, which is nice for those of us down in the South East :)

Oh and Rocksy,
I would suggest that you go for a package rather than turn up in Geneva.
Your choices will be exponentially greater if you try to sort everything out for yourself and the possibility of something not working (commonly known as a cock up) is far greater.

Get yourself to the Dolomites (Italy) - cheaper while your there than Austria and way cheaper than France. Huge area for intermediates to explore.

Transfers can be longer than other places but if you've been to Arinsal in the past it's similiar I'd imagine so no hardship!

Though we ski lots of places each season we always reserve at least a week for the Dolomites now.

As the others have said the ski world is your oyster. Some good intermediate resorts (but not limited to) IMO are:

Meribel (France) Part of 3 valleys huge area plenty of everything.

Davos (Switzerland) loads of reds, many people have rightly been put off this season by the strength of the Swiss Franc but to counter this tour companies have some tempting deals @ around £500 catered chalet or HB with 2 for 1 lift passes this would really take the sting out of the costs.

Les Arc/Le Plagne, both huge ski areas in their own right but linked with the vanoise express makes a intermediates paradise, loads of everything.

Saalbach in Austria is very nice and good for intermediates but it's not cheap. The cheap option for Austria tends to be Soll past of a huge area with loads to keep and intermediate happy.

One word of caution is to be careful when you book your accomadation to check out a piste map. To appeal to as many people as possible ski resorts can be a bit liberal with their gradings. A Red run back into La Plagne 1800 when busy gets icy and gets pretty black.

Generally France has many more ski in/out options than Austria. Austria has resorts which you need to get a gondola to get onto the mountain initally (Mayrhofen as a example). Austria is cheaper when you're there and the Apres ski doesn't compare......

Les menuire or Les Arc