Big or Small

Serre Che is my favourite for big ski area and small numbers of people, but dont tell everyone

There are far too many variables for this to really work.

Pablo Escobar wrote:There are far too many variables for this to really work.

Maybe we should give this project to the guy on the telly program 'numbers'. I bet he'd get it to work :-)

Ally

Having skied in three areas last week I have found from my travels that the big resorts are not my preferred place to be ...the two I have been to have been a bit impersonal and, compared to the smaller Austrian resorts,a bit unloved...the lift companies do not seem to wish to invest the cash in the lift system or the personnel . I much preferred my day in the smaller more personal and MUCH cheaper resort..the lifts weren't as good but the runs were well groomed and the pass didn't need a second mortgage...and they are all 20 minutes easy drive apart

Grand massif..Port du Sollialle...Pras de Lys

The best bet is to have a car and try stay in a central point and try them all in the same week

I think there may be a few flaws in your method.

Mainly what else does the resort offer, and is it based purely around ski-ing?. Also how easy access is it for locals? How big is your 'catchment area'?

Somewhere like Obergurgl is interesting. Most 'Local'skiers or day trippers have to come through Soelden, so there is little point going the extra half an hours drive and thus Obergurgl will look 'overcrowded' in comparison with Soelden nased on your method.


Somewhere like Cairngorm will have very few beds if you have a small Catchment area (say, Glenmore and Inverdrurie), and a massive number with a large catchment area (adding Aviemore, Coylumbridge, Nethybridge, Boat of Garten etc). However those beds are more normally used by greater numbers of Climbers, Walkers and Families rather than skiers.


Your also overlooking bottlenecks caused by placement of runs and age of equipment. You could have the worlds biggest ski area but if theres a link Poma between two very plentiful, quad detachable chairlift served areas, large q's will naturally develop.

johnski96 wrote:I once (and never again) skied in Avoriaz, seduced by the 'size' of the ski area, efficient lift system and all that. Yes it was big, but I was staggered by the numbers of people, both getting on and off lifts but more importantly, on the pistes. And I didn't like it much.

Avoriaz is not a good example, I skiied there a few years ago and found it light years behind the other big ski areas I'd visited. Slow lifts and long queues. The Morzine Express was a joke. I'm not sure if it's improved much since but I have no plans to return.

The lift systems in Espace Killy, Paradiski, Alpe D'Huez, Sella Ronda, 3 Valleys, St Anton were all much better invested and queues not a problem.