Planning my first ever ski trip - please help!!!

Hello all! Been googling away for info on skiing recently and came across this forum so hoping some of you can help me out!

A brief background to start off with. My girlfriend has been skiing a few times before and absolutely loves it. Ever since we've been together she's been trying to convince me to go and at Christmas she surprised me (very pleasantly!) with a trip to Borovets, Bulgaria on the 20th Feb. Since then though we've been seeing the snow reports for Borovets and as you'll know it's looking bleak. I know it's still a little while off until we were going but having discussed it we took the, very hard, decision to cancel the trip and look to get something else booked up with more guaranteed snow conditions. She just really didn't want to run the risk of having no snow. Sadly she's lost 60% of the price into the bargain but the thought of going skiing for the first time ever and there being no snow was an awful one for both of us! We really want this trip to be a great experience.

Anyway, now I'm looking around at trying to find the best resort to go to for a (wary and nervous!) beginner as I've literally never so much as looked at a pair of skis in my life! Looking to go for 7 nights around the 20th February. We're equally as happy with a resort that's peaceful and quiet as one that has more going on. Ideally not somewhere that's overly busy as I'm thinking the more room I have and the less people I have flying by around me the more confident I'll feel! Also somewhere with some good intermediate runs for her to be able to go off and do as I wouldn't want her being held back by my (lack of!) ability. Budget is also an issue obviously with the fact that money's just disappeared down the drain now with cancelling Borovets. We're probably looking at somewhere in the region of £500 each with me then being prepared to pay extra on top for tuition/ski school while over there. And of course, the best possible snow conditions too! From having read through these forums quite a bit a few places seem to keep coming up which I've added to the shortlist. It would be great if people could give advice and recommendations based on the resorts listed and which they think would best match our needs.

Les Deux Alpes - not really heard a bad word said about this resort on here and also seems highly recommended for beginners.

Les Arcs Arc 2000 - much as above.

Courchevel 1650

La Plagne

Tignes

Passo Tonale, Italy

Solden, Austria

So they're the resorts Ive seen so far that seem to all come well recommended for beginners but also with plenty of good runs for intermediates. All thoughts on those based on our situation plus any suggestions that I may have missed would be greatly appreciated! For some reason Les Deux Alpes and Arc 2000 are standing out as potentially the best options so far.

Although I'm pretty nervous about skiing for the first time I'm also really excited and can't wait to have my first lesson and to see if I'm going to be another to get bitten by the bug! I live in Watford so luckily for me the Hemel Snow Centre is only down the road, hoping to get over there before we go anywhere to take some lessons so I at least know the basics before I go anywhere.

Right, won't waffle on any further! Look forward to hearing back from people and many thanks in advance for any advice given!

Dan

Hi Dan and welcome, probably a good move to cancel Bulgaria. I love Seefeld/Austria which is great for first timers.
http://www.seefeld.com/index.php

Hi Dan, welcome to J2ski.

I would cross Courcheval off the list, its outrageously expensive. Tignes is also quite pricey.

I think Austria is probably the better from the rest of the list and its mostly reasonably priced (Mayrhofen is also a good resort for everyone from beginners to advanced).

Rocket Ski do 'all-in' packages including ski hire/lessons/passes which can work out cheaper http://www.rocketski.com/ and Crystal/Thomson have a 2 for 1 offer on various resorts on certain dates if you are after saving a bit of ££.

Nel

Hi Dan - welcome

Bummer about your Borovets trip but I can see how you made your decision - being a beginner with no snow could put paid to you skiing ever again and you don't want that!

I've been skiing (badly) for a few years and took my wife (then girlfriend) 5 years ago and we've never looked back - to the point that she's actually said that if money ever became a real problem she'd sooner forego her summer holiday than her winter one (or two). You'll have a great time and it's even quite romantic (aaaaaah).

As to your list then I can't speak for all those resorts as I've not visited but could add some thoughts if I may:

France is rather expensive at the moment due to the Euro so lessons/lift passes/hire etc will add significantly to your budgeted costs (I'm off to Val d'Isere in 2 weeks so trust me on this).

Italy is the cheapest of the main Alpine countries in terms of living expense etc and I'd reccommend Livigno (see other threads) as a great place for beginner/intermediate combo that won't break the bank (its duty free in the resort) and is also quiet so will allow you to gain in confidence - transfer can be a pain though depending on where you can fly to/from.

Kitzbuhel in Austria is wonderful - a famous resort that will give you a real sense of being a "proper skier" but with some good beginners and intermediate terrain - beware however that the village itself is low at 900m so runs home may be slushy (less of an issue as a beginner as the Hanenkham may be a little tricky for you :-)

The other place I'd consider is Andorra - not as dirt cheap as it was but still reasonable - it too is duty free. Loads of varied terrain across Pas de la Casa/Soldeu/Grau Groig and a great beginners ski school (loads of Brit instructors).

Hope this is of some use (even if it does add more to your list) - keep asking questions as I only found this forum days ago and its already saved me money this year :-)

Enjoy it wherever you go !!!!

Andy

Hi thanks for the quick replies! Some good advice there and it's had me scouring Google researching some of the mentioned resorts!

The more I've looked into things it seems that the likes of Italy and Austria will offer us much better value than France at the moment as mentioned.

I've spent some time looking into Livigno and that does look like a really nice option. Liking that fact that it appears better to go b&b or self catering as the local restaurants offer great food at good value. The one downside I'm seeing there though is the very long transfer time! 3hrs 15 from Innsbruck and around 5hrs from elsewhere!

Austria sounds a good option too. I'll have to check out some more of the resorts there such as Seefeld and Mayrhofen as mentioned. Also Niederau seems to be recommended a lot on here too.

Girlfriend's not so keen on Andorra as she knows someone who went there and didn't have the best of experiences!

Andy - it's funny you say that as my girlfriend often says she'd happily have a skiing holiday over a summer one! I'm looking forward to experiencing what all the fuss is about!

Also date wise we're not restricted to the 20th Feb. We could also go somewhere around the 2nd week of March too.

8 of us went to Andorra last year and had a brilliant time ,but it was a first for us all so we had nothing to compare it to .You might get bored if your anything more than a beginner but we all found it amazing . 4 hour bus drive from the airport seemed like it was never going to end but the last hour got us all excited as we got closer to the white mountains. The people were friendly ,all runs were open and I didn't have to cook for the whole week ..I didn't want to come home...would of been nice to of made it to Arcalis once more before we did :)

Hi Dan,

I am in a very similar position myself as in never skied before. After talking to many people my wife and I have settled for Passo Tonale in Italy for a few reasons, thee main one being its pretty much gauranteed snow,and as you say you dont want your first trip to be snowless !!! Secondly the skiing is far more important to us than the night life as I suffer the most horrendous hangovers and also have very little willpower :)so would end up spoiling the skiing with a bad head. We are more than happy with a meal and a few beers which I believe Passo will offer us.
And finally it does appear to be a beginner friendly resort ski school is also quite reasonable.
On a side note is it possible for you to get any experience before you go it will make such a difference to your enjoyment. I have managed 2 full days at the Chill factor and whilst it may not sound much to you skiers out there, I can now control my turns and stop quite safely obviously important for our own and everybody elses safety.
Ive even ventured into trying a little parallel skiing !!! In my opinion it will help immensely even if you only have a "taster" lesson just to get the feel of the boots/skis on your feet. Good luck and enjoy wherever you choose. Less than 3 weeks for me to wait now :) :)

Hi Dan

I agree that Passo would meet all your criteria. It is snow sure and (reasonably)cheap. Check out the Neilson forum "Snow and Snowboarding" page 2, where a couple of us have put up some comments on Passo.
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