Follow our guide to Europe’s less-crowded skiing hotspots and you’ll be guaranteed your very own pistes of paradise
Why do so many of us think that the big resorts are the best when it comes to choosing somewhere for a short winter skiing break? The truth is that there are hidden jewels with fabulous snow and uncrowded slopes all over Europe. Of the four we suggest here, only Courmayeur is in the Alps, and they’re all easily accessible by last-minute flights with Brussels Airlines.
Turin for Courmayeur
Is this skiing with a dash of real Italy, or an Italian break laced with some sports action? Either way, this enchanting little mountain town in the shadow of Mont Blanc is little more than an hour from Turin airport.
A giant, 130-person cable car swings up from the edge of town to Plan Chécrouit, the main ski-lift centre. You can leave your belongings in lockers at the ski-hire shop and collect them on your way down. Another cable car connects from Entreves, next to the Mont Blanc tunnel entrance on the Italian side.
The bulk of the slopes are in the Colle Chécrouit and Val Vény valleys, and – although not extensive – there are enough red and blue runs to keep an intermediate happy for a weekend. The few black runs here are short, but the lure for experts is the off-piste routes reached by cable cars up to the Cresta Youla, Cresta d’Arp and the Vallée Blanche. Heli-skiing is also available for the more adventurous.
Lunch on the slopes is a serious business. At restaurants such as the cosy Maison Vielle you can tuck into wild boar and polenta in front of a roaring log fire. Back in town there are fashion boutiques, delicatessens, and more bars and restaurants. Between skiing and dinner, fur-clad Milanese parade in a passaggiata along the Via Roma. Then it’s freshly squeezed orange juice and vodka at the American Bar, or cocktails and canapés in the back room of the Caffè della Posta.
Toulouse and Barcelona for Andorra
Over the past three seasons five of Andorra’s ski areas have been linked together to form the extensive Grand Valira, which has access to 192km of prepared pistes. There has also been a huge investment in new, high-speed chairlifts as well as artificial snow-making and piste-grooming equipment. Among the innovations for the 2006/07 season is a fast, new chairlift in Soldeu, easing pressure on the gondola up to the main Espiolets lift centre.
In the resort village of Soldeu, the new skiing infrastructure has been matched by the construction of luxury hotels. Top-notch swimming pools, spas, outdoor hot tubs and gourmet restaurants come as standard at the five-star Sporthotel Hermitage and four-star Piolets Park. Though Soldeu no longer offers the bargain skiing it was once renowned for, it is still good value when compared to the Alps.
Budget skiing remains the stock-in-trade of Pas de la Casa, which also links into the Grand Valira. This purpose-built resort, which is sometimes compared to a snowy Ibiza on account of its fizzing nightlife, has a different feel to it, although the numerous nightclubs and live music venues don’t really come to life until after midnight. Those who are awake during the daylight hours ski the same mountains as people staying in smarter Soldeu or El Tarter.
Oslo for Hemsedal
In a landscape better known for cross-country skiing, this is Norway’s number one downhill and snowboarding area. It is a small but serious resort, but it’s recently been expanded.
Whereas children are merely tolerated in most alpine resorts, here they’re welcome from an early age. Trolia nursery looks after infants from just three months old; under-sevens get free lift passes and helmets; and the environment soon feels sufficiently safe and familiar for older children to ski without constant parental escort.
The mountains are not as majestic as the Alps and the terrain isn’t as rugged, but Hemsedal still has a wide variety of slopes. There are beginners’ nurseries; snaking, tree-lined blues and broad, open reds; and some difficult (but short) black runs. A strong intermediate could ski the whole of Hemsedal in a couple of days, but for beginners and second-weekers it‘s hard to imagine more suitable slopes. From the highest point – the summit of Totten – you can ski a leisurely 7km on continuous green runs, dropping a respectable 857m on the way. Loops to the blue and red runs make for seamless progress.
Other activities offered here include husky sledging, and snowmobiles can be driven on the pistes in the evenings after the lifts have closed.
Malaga for the Sierra Nevada
Sierra Nevada is one of the great secrets of Europe, a stylish, sophisticated ski and snowboarding resort within two hours drive of the sun, sand and golf courses of southern Spain’s Costa del Sol. At the foot of the mountains is the Moorish city of Granada, with its peerless Alhambra Palace, providing opportunities to combine a bit of culture with a winter sports break.
The astonishing Sierra Nevada range soars to 3,478 m and has commanding views across the Straits of Gibraltar to the Rif mountains of North Africa. The main resort area, Pradollano, is the same height as Tignes, one of the highest resorts in the French Alps at 2,100m. It’s a stylish, purpose-built development with restaurants, bars and shops set around a pedestrian-free space. The skiing area is quite compact, with 61km of ski slopes, comprising 45 groomed pistes and six offpiste routes served by lifts. The resort is popular with snowboarders, and excellent halfpipes are built every winter.
The Sierra Nevada’s weather patterns are completely different from the Alps or the Pyrenees. Several times over the past few years the Sierra Nevada has had the best snow conditions in Europe. This is when skiers and snowboarders from all over the continent hop on the first flights they can find to Malaga, and head for the mountains after a quick wave to the Costa del Sol.
Tous en pistes
Notre guide des stations de ski les moins surpeuplées d’Europe
Turin pour Courmayeur
Cette magnifique bourgade au pied du massif du Mont Blanc, dispose d’un téléphérique d’une capacité de 130 personnes vers Plan Chécrouit, le centre principal de téléskis. Les pistes de haute montagne se trouvent à Colle Chécrouit et dans les vallées de Val Vény, et l’on dénombre suffisamment de pistes bleues et rouges pour satisfaire les skieurs de bon niveau. Les quelques pistes noires ici sont irrégulières, mais les très bons skieurs apprécieront le hors-piste
Toulouse et Barcelone pour Andorre
Cinq stations de ski d’Andorre se sont rassemblées pour former le grand domaine skiable de Grand Valira, avec 192km de pistes. Des investissements conséquents ont été réalisés dans de nouvelles remontées mécaniques, hyper rapides. En ce qui concerne l’amélioration des infrastructures, de nouveaux hôtels de grand luxe dans le village de Soldeu s’ajoutent à l’offre déjà existante. Et pour des vacances de ski à prix forfait, allez à Pas de la Case, jouxtant Grand Valira, où la vie de la nuit pétille aussi.
Oslo pour Hemsedal
Petite station norvégienne mais de grande tradition, Hemsedal est extrêmement accueillante pour les enfants. On y trouve des secteurs réservés aux tout-petits débutants, des activités comme des pistes bleues bordées d’arbres, de larges pistes rouges et quelques périlleuses noires (mais courtes). Un skieur affranchi pourrait parcourir tout le domaine de Hemsedal en quelques jours, mais rien ne vaut les pistes tracées pour les débutants.
Malaga pour la Sierra Nevada
A seulement deux heures de la Costa del Sol, à Pradollano, la principale station de ski de la Sierra Nevada est un agréable centre urbain qui compte de nombreuses installations. Le domaine skiable est assez compact, avec 61km de pentes, 45 de pistes qui décoiffent et six routes hors-piste. Il est très populaire d’y pratiquer du snowboard, et d’excellentes structures de halfpipes sont accessibles l’hiver.
Het andere skiplezier
Onze gids naar de minder drukke skioorden van Europa
Turijn voor Courmayeur
Dit betoverende stadje aan de voet van de Mont Blanc beschikt over een kabelbaan die tot 130 personen tegelijk naar Plan Chécrouit voert, vanwaar de meeste skiliften vertrekken. De meeste pistes zijn aangelegd op de hellingen van Colle Chécrouit en Val Vény, en hoewel het domein niet zo ontzettend groot is, zijn er voldoende rode en blauwe pistes om de gemiddelde skiër gelukkig te maken. Zwarte pistes zijn schaars, maar de expert komt aan zijn trekken op een aantal horspiste trajecten.
Toulouse en Barcelona voor Andorra
Vijf skigebieden van Andorra werden met elkaar verbonden tot het Grand Valira, een domein met 192 km pistes. Er wordt volop geïnvesteerd in nieuwe en snelle liften. In het dorp Soldeu werden een aantal nieuwe luxehotels gebouwd om gelijke tred te houden met die uitbreiding. Budgetvriendelijk skiën kan in Pas de la Casa, dat aansluit bij Grand Valira en bekendstaat om zijn bruisende nachtleven.
Oslo voor Hemsedal
Een klein, maar goed uitgerust Noors skioord. Hemsedal is ook bijzonder kindvriendelijk, met goed georganiseerde opvang voor de beginnertjes. Kronkelende blauwe pistes tussen de bomen, brede rode pistes en een aantal moeilijke (maar korte) zwarte pistes. Een gevorderde skiër werkt Hemsedal af in een paar dagen, maar beginners kunnen hier onbeperkt hun hartje ophalen.
Malaga voor de Sierra Nevada
Op slechts twee uur van de Costa del Sol bevindt zich Pradollano, het belangrijkste en speciaal gebouwde skistation. Het skigebied is vrij compact, met 61 km pistes, 45 aangelegde pistes en zes hors-piste trajecten. De plek is populair bij snowboarders en elke winter worden er spectaculaire halfpipes aangelegd.
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