Thread: Where to go in Europe in January

I need some intel about where I should go in Jan to Euroland.
Requirements:
Pleasant locals (France has been ruled out by the girl going), people speak ok english for tourists (not to say I wont make an effort so use the local language)
Good chance of snow
Good terrain, I ski pretty much anything normal people ski, I dont ski gnarly lines or AK spines, but everything inbounds at Jackson is skiable for me and the girl coming
Hopefully not Vail prices.
Not utterly impossible to get to
I have enough BC experience to make some semblance of good choices, but the girl has none, no avi gear, and no real respect for serious situations, so that is a factor.

Have I just described heaven/paradise?
Does it exist, is it in Switzerland?

Any suggestions about where to go, stay, ski, drink, are greatly appreciated

Go to the Arlberg (St Anton for the best partying), it'll be rad. How long you going for?

Get her some avi gear if you want to ski ungroomed, we don't really have 'inbounds' here.

Fly into Zurich or Geneva, rent a car, go where there's snow. It's January - no where will be so crowded you can't find a room. Read the thread for beta:
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...-for-the-Euros

ditch the bitch

Go wherever the snow is good. Heck, take your GF to Chamonix, and tell her it's in Switz. She'll never know the difference. The Arlberg is also a good choice too.

St. Anton Adelboden and Kitzbuehl all have W.C. races in Jan. Can't really go wrong.

Verbier Zinal/Grimentz Zermatt Wengen/Murren Anzere Crans-Montana Aletsch Engleberg Andermatt Disentis Flims/Laax Davos St Moritz are all easily accessible by train (with possible short post bus connection). So you could just fly in and train it.

Re: Aplinezone
Wow, I've been away from the forum for too long. Back "in the day" there would have been 30 flames already.

She and I grew up skiing in VT, and went to UVM and skied 65-100+ days a season in VT. So a trip home would be nice, but probably not what we're looking for, thanks.

As for the rest of you guys, thanks (for super cereal).
Keep the info coming

I think you need to wait and see where the snow is. But as others have said - Stanton, Kitz, Engleberg are great bets. Montofon area is very cool and also add Bad Kleinkirchheim and Nassfeld (I've an old friend with a hotel there if you end up deciding on it). For something a bit more exotic and cheap near Carinthia, Kranjska Gora in Slovenia is very scenic (and right there), as is some good skiing in Italy.

You should pick up some avy gear for the GF, as coldwater said, there's really just on piste and off-piste over there and the on-piste stuff gets the shit skied out of it fast and is crowded with drunk euros, you'll want to do some exploring off the groomed. Consider insurance and possibly some guiding (perhaps maggot hookup?). Let us know where you end up going.

Originally Posted by skiingsamurai

... France has been ruled out by the girl going ...

I'm curious why?

I've spent plenty of time in the Germanic speaking parts. Going to France for the first time this Jan.

Originally Posted by skiingsamurai

Pleasant locals (France has been ruled out by the girl going)

Yea fuck that, get her out of that mindset ASAP. The French are fine.

I think she's been to France, didnt have a good time.
Id like to go to Cham, personally.

Not my girlfriend, for the record. Just a close friend from college. My girlfriend won't be able to come on this trip.
And yes, I know its a bad idea...

FYI you can go to "cham" and not really be in France. I think that's the way most maggots treat it. They speak that french thing in Switzerland too.

In my limited experience you'll find friendlier people in the more out of the way, less popular places. It's easier to avoid the snobs in locales that aren't recognized as the "in" place. But it doesn't have that much to do with the country per se.
I've had a blast in France.

I'd say a driving factor in your decision (pun intended) is whether or not you rent and drive a car. If you're willing to do that it really opens up a lot of possibilities like getting to La Grave, the Queyras or most of the places in Italy. If you don't want to rent and drive a car, there's still a ton of places easily accessible by rail.

But as far as your original question, there's not enough detail about what you really want.

If you want a big party scene, yeah sure follow some FIS races or hit the more popular resorts like St. Anton or Verbier where there's excellent skiing. But if going out to throw down and then throw up is not your thing, then there's an incredible option list of smalller less known ski areas.

So spill.

Originally Posted by skiingsamurai

Re: Aplinezone
Wow, I've been away from the forum for too long. Back "in the day" there would have been 30 flames already.

She and I grew up skiing in VT, and went to UVM and skied 65-100+ days a season in VT. So a trip home would be nice, but probably not what we're looking for, thanks.

As for the rest of you guys, thanks (for super cereal).
Keep the info coming

So you need some place with a kind of cozy, romantic vibe, to close the deal with the chica? Okay, got it. Go to Austria. Really cool, and friendly locals. Stay in St Anton, and ski over in Lech. Take her to Oberlech for a nice fondue dinner with schnaps. That should do the trick. (Or if you want to ski just stay in St Anton with an excursion to Lech.) Fiss/Serfaus off the beaten path in Tirol is a good bet too. Bad Gastein, Ischgl, Hintertux, Seefeld, Saalbach, Hinterglemm, Soelden, Kaprun, Mayrhofen, Flachau, Zell am See, Zillertal. Lots of choices...

You can fly into Zurich or Munich as options.

Originally Posted by Hugh Conway

Fly into Zurich or Geneva, rent a car, go where there's snow. It's January - no where will be so crowded you can't find a room. Read the thread for beta:
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...-for-the-Euros

ditch the bitch

This
X2
......

just fly in somewhere central. have alook where the mirgation of "snow for the euros" permanent thread residents goes to and follow us

if you need riding partners ask in there or in marius' cozy little place called powderguide.com for the german speaking areas.

btw. nekkid pics of her or we wont tell you where to go.

Originally Posted by skiingsamurai

Not my girlfriend, for the record. Just a close friend from college. My girlfriend won't be able to come on this trip.
And yes, I know its a bad idea...

Originally Posted by Toadman

So you need some place with a kind of cozy, romantic vibe, to close the deal with the chica? Okay, got it. Go to Austria. Really cool, and friendly locals. Stay in St Anton, and ski over in Lech. Take her to Oberlech for a nice fondue dinner with schnaps. That should do the trick.

Shes got a non skier/rider boyfriend, ive got a rider girlfriend who cant come on this trip. Romantic is not a criteria.

Originally Posted by subtle plague

btw. nekkid pics of her or we wont tell you where to go.

No nekkid pics, sorry

As for what I want for skiing:
Trees are nice, pillows are fun too. Wide variety of "expert" terrain. We can pass on endless fields of moguls. I want to ski pow

Originally Posted by skiingsamurai

Wide variety of "expert" terrain. We can pass on endless fields of moguls. I want to ski pow

Again - for "expert pow" you need avy gear. There's 100s of places to ski for that and if you want pow you have to be mobile. I'm not sure what "hopefully not vail prices means" - lift tickets won't be that horrendous anywhere, you should be able to find cheapish lodging, the most expensive part will be romantic dinners

given your displayed mental acuity just go to Chamonix/Verbier/Zermatt/St Anton and be done with it.

Originally Posted by skiingsamurai

Shes got a non skier/rider boyfriend, ive got a rider girlfriend who cant come on this trip. Romantic is not a criteria.




No nekkid pics, sorry

As for what I want for skiing:
Trees are nice, pillows are fun too. Wide variety of "expert" terrain. We can pass on endless fields of moguls. I want to ski pow

Isn't that what we all want? It's always a crap shoot when booking a trip a few months out, flying somewhere, especially across the pond, and then having your fingers crossed that you will ski pow and pillow lines. Best to rent a car, and where ever you end up flying into, have a plan to play it by ear. Just go to where the snow is best, stop at the local tourist office, and have them give you a list of rooms to rent, and then go have fun.

Innsbruck.
Innsbruck.
And then Innsbruck again.

I have been to both places, VERY Cool

With girlfreind Top of the list would be
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...land&FORM=IGRE

And second would be
Engleberg

Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

Verbier Zinal/Grimentz Zermatt Wengen/Murren Anzere Crans-Montana Aletsch Engleberg Andermatt Disentis Flims/Laax Davos St Moritz are all easily accessible by train (with possible short post bus connection). So you could just fly in and train it.

Boom! This advice rules. I could have stayed in Grimentz/Zinal for the season. Fucking rules.

Originally Posted by Toadman

So you need some place with a kind of cozy, romantic vibe, to close the deal with the chica? Okay, got it. Go to Austria. Really cool, and friendly locals. Stay in St Anton, and ski over in Lech. Take her to Oberlech for a nice fondue dinner with schnaps. That should do the trick. (Or if you want to ski just stay in St Anton with an excursion to Lech.) Fiss/Serfaus off the beaten path in Tirol is a good bet too. Bad Gastein, Ischgl, Hintertux, Seefeld, Saalbach, Hinterglemm, Soelden, Kaprun, Mayrhofen, Flachau, Zell am See, Zillertal. Lots of choices...

You can fly into Zurich or Munich as options.

Yup. Lots of crazy good skiing in the Arlberg. Ischgl is party central in Tirol. Hintertux just about guarantees good snow.

ok, so she gets a discount through work to Wilder Kaiser - Brixental
Should we take it? Well likely end up going there then to Innsbruck on the way back to Zurich.

Thoughts?

Stay home, it's not going to snow.....