Looking for a beginner friendly resort away from France/Andorra

Hey folks, I'm looking to find some ideas on resorts likely to be suitable for our mixed group of 7 that isn't in France / Andorra. Some of our group are a bit against the idea of France, again, and the Andorra transfer is a bit much.

We are a group of mixed abilities as I mentioned with 3-4 skiers with only a seasons experience but a couple of good skiers added to the mix who would enjoy some off-piste action.

Looking at the listing of resorts and countries is a bit bewildering, anyone got any good thoughts or experiences they'd care to share for a group like ours?

We are looking to go late Jan / early Feb 2010 and hoping to stay as a group if at all possible,


All thoughts are really appreciated, thanks folks

Mattel

With a mixed group you need a mixed resort to avoid frustration. My immediate thought was Val d'Isere but it's France. Only going by places I've been Saas Fee would probably suit. Mayrhofen is an intermediates paradise but not a huge amount for beginners or the advanced. Filzmoos is great for beginners and not bad for intermediates, a lot of options for more able a bus ride away. St. Anton would do it, but wait until you are better as it's so good.

So all in all I'm going with Val d'isere, gentle up top, great place to cruise, trickier low down with some awesome runs in between.

My suggestion would be for Lech in Austria. Picture postcard, bit of everything for everyone, plenty of chalets (and good prices too if you look at Skiworld for instance).

I'd also suggest one of the resorts on the Sella Ronda would be a good shout: Selva or Arabba maybe.