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ALPS 09 (need help)

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B-Lang
Posts: 2 - Karma: 10

what up all

im going to be studying abroad in Rome this spring (Jan-May) and im bringing my skis. I want to hit up the alps, french italian swiss whatever, as much as possible. I'm pretty poor tho so i gotta stay on a budget. anyone have any suggestions as far as specific spots to go? I want the full alps experience, mountain villages, deep pow, big runs, parks, bangin euro chicks, etc., but also keep it as affordable as possible.

I was looking at Avoriaz, Les 2 Alps and Les 7 Laux in France, but I really havent made any plans yet an i have no idea about italy or switzerland. any help would be awesome.

oh btw i dont have any backcountry gear so i need places with the sickest in-bounds terrain

Dec 28 2009 4:31AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
i'm going to Saint Sorlin des arves (resort = les sybelles) the whole resort is huge! and the terrain @ ssa is perfect for powder lovers: you get like some narrow groomers that zigzag across the mountain, in between the groomers you get lots of pow, cliffs, trees (not your average pinetree, they're birches, oaks, and even some appletrees ! :D if you seen japan edits: that's the kind of tree runs im speaking of ! It's awesome and magical in some way...)

I'm only paying 300euro for a bustrip (from belgium to SSA and back), the chalet (basically a small 6person appartment in a bigger chalet(price = 1person), 8days skipass and travel and ski-insurance....
^^great deal imho....

but on the other hand if you're a really ambitious powder lover better resorts would be Serre Chevalier, La Grave, Chamonix, courmayeur, la plagne.... (kitzenstein or where-ever the hunting yeti austria webisode was situated looked awesome! )

and the typical freestyle destinations, L2A, Alpe d'huez, Laax, Les trois vallees, les arcs, Val thorens, and in italy; kronplatz, shittiest hill ever!!, basically a large bump in the terrain, but they surprised me with one of the best snowparks i've ever seen...
Dec 28 2009 4:58AM
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Flien
Posts: 139 - Karma: 10
If you wanna go to Austria: I really like Kaprun! Kitzsteinhorn had a really nice park last year, DC park with more difficult things and a Roxy park wich was more for beginners, with some harder things. For days with bad weather you can always go to the maiskogel, small park, small hill, but still nice. Also it's not that far from Zell am Zee, free skibus when you got a lift ticket.
Kinda typical please for 'young' people, just the same with mayrhofen, never been there myself, but heard some good stories about it from friends. Especially when it comes to the park.

For France: La Plagne is really good, especially when there is a lot of snow! Make sure you have a guide or go with some locals, cause the 'obvious' off piste runs are done a lot and being with someone who really knows the spots it's absolutly great there! They have got a few funparks to, the ones near Bellecote are nicely groomed (green/blue park and a red/black park) but I never spend a lot of time in the park there =)
And (I didn't experienced this myself bu) La Grave seems to be perfect for someone with skills for all mountain and pow, their are not that much groomed tracks but a lot of ungroomed stuff. Pretty dangerous when you're not good enough tho


(Hope you understand what I'm saying, my english is not that good)
Dec 28 2009 5:26AM
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miketheskier88
Posts: 749 - Karma: 66
Rome is hardly ideal place to be living in to get to easy pow... You will need to be prepared for train journeys of around 8+ hours depending on where you want to go. And the italian rail system is shit, but it is really really cheap.

For italy, the Dolomites is your best bet... With cheap trainfare, it will probably be your first place to go.

As for all the great places in Austria/Switzerland/France... they will probably be too far for you to be brutally honest with you. Unless you are willing to fly... But.. $$$
Dec 28 2009 5:32AM
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JibbaTheHutt
Posts: 2132 - Karma: 1,597

try andorra lift passes are way cheaper than any swiss, french or italian resorts although make sure you go to one of the bigger resorts because the park in arinsal is non exsistent its litrelly like a few boxes and rails and a supposed half pipe

Dec 28 2009 5:39AM
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Matty_C
Posts: 2598 - Karma: 236

as ever, plenty of advice being dished out, some useful, some hopeless. let me try to give you some overall pointers.

1) Inbounds/OOB: no such thing in Europe. If you go off the piste at all to ski pow or whatever, IT IS ALL YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. while the 'ski patrol' will often do their utmost to make obvious stuff safe, you MUST have avvy gear and know how to use it if you're planning on skiing any pow. Certainly ifyou don't have the right gear, skills and people to ride with, don't even think about going to places like La Grave or Chamonix.

2) Travelling: Their is plenty of excellent skiing in the Italian Alps, it will take you long enough just to get there from Rome so I wouldn't go much further afield. Besides, the Italian side of things has been getting the most snow in the alps recently. Livigno has a great park, Alagna has superb big mtn terrain and lots of snow. Courmayeur also has great terrain. I wouldn't recommend either without a guide or at least knowledgeable people/gear/avvy skills.

3) If you really want to hit france/switzerland/austria then do some research on where you might be able to get to and hit me with a PM. Les 7 Laux, FR (Stay in Grenoble); Laax, CH (Stay in Riders Palace); Mayrhofen, AU are some good places to check out for parks.

Lastly if you want something very crazy indeed, check out Snowbombing festival in Mayrhofen in April. Huge dance music festival week with thousands of people from all over europe, crazy party venues etc. Google it.

Have fun.

Dec 28 2009 6:50AM
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al_britskiier
Posts: 419 - Karma: 23
Come to deux alpes buddy.  We're getting dumped on!  sick park and a 22ft pipe.
Dec 28 2009 10:13AM
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304NordMan
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 525
alps, summer set up
Dec 28 2009 10:15AM
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loic180
Posts: 67 - Karma: 53
France, Austria and France are pretty far from rome... Youw ill have to go to sudtirol (alps in italy) ... Some resorts in sudtirol have good parks like kronplatz, seiser alm, madonna di campiglio, livignio, schnalstal (gentlemenspark) , ... check them out on the internet!
Dec 28 2009 12:38PM
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B-Lang
Posts: 2 - Karma: 10

wow thanks for all the advice everyone

sounds like I will be checking out the italian alps first (that makes sense), by train

if there are any resorts further away that i really want to check out i am willing to fly on one of the cheaper short-distance carriers like Ryanair, so if there are a couple good ones that you think i absolutely need to see then let me know

also my its my birthday right before i leave so think i actually will (hopfullly) have avvy gear/ training by the time i'll be skiing. I live in Seattle so it'll be easy to get some experience before i go.

sorry im really blazed right now i hope im making sense haha

avoriaz and les 2 alpes both look pretty good to me as far as france goes but im down for whatever

thanks again everyone, i know romes not the ideal home base for a ski trip but my school has a campus there so i need to try to make it work. its the closest i'll get to the alps until i get a real job.

Dec 28 2009 6:36PM
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miketheskier88
Posts: 749 - Karma: 66
Ryanair is a no go if you have skis... Easyjet is your best bet for skis. I think they fly to Grenoble which would be a good bet to check out for some french resorts.


Dec 28 2009 7:40PM
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