Unless stated, all prices are based on two people sharing. Chalet-board includes breakfast and afternoon tea on seven days, and dinner with wine on six nights
Luxury
Live the high life in Val d’Isere
Since opening in 2002, Eagle’s Nest has been a landmark in this French resort, perched on a plug of rocknear the Face — one of the best black-rated pistes in the world. The interiors have had a £550,000 refit, so the already astounding level of luxury has been ratcheted up a notch or three. It must be booked in its entirety, so pick a group of 11 like-minded sybarites, then get ready for a week of hell-for-leather skiing and serious hedonism. The chalet has a pool, a games room, a sauna, and menus devised by the 2014 MasterChef champion, Ping Coombes.
One week from January 24 costs £1,575pp, chalet-board, including flights, transfers and an in-resort driver; scottdunn.com
A special Bond in Austria
This winter, why not add a 007 edge to your skiing? Spectre, the latest James Bond movie, is released on October 26, and the Ice Q restaurant, in Sölden, plays a supporting role in one of its punch-ups. Never mind the fisticuffs — it’s a sensational spot for a mountaintop lunch, as part of a week spent cruising the resort’s long, snow-sure intermediate pistes. Check in at the five-star Das Central for a few Bond-style trimmings: as well as an indoor pool and 10 saunas, it has 30,000 bottles in its wine cellar.
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One week from February 28 starts at £1,695pp, half-board, including flights and transfers; skisolutions.com
Colorado thrill-seeking
Powder junkies, listen up. The Pacific Ocean climate anomaly known as El Niño is back, and one of its possible effects is heavier than average snowfall in the southern Rockies. All of which makes the gorgeous former mining town of Telluride an even more tempting prospect. Combine its scintillating downhills with the precipitous terrain at Crested Butte and you have the makings of a memorable experts-only adventure. You won’t be living the life of luxury, but you may as well be, given the envious glances you’ll attract once you’re home.
Ten days in mid-January start at £1,829pp, with a mix of B&B and self-catering, including flights and 4x4 hire; skisafari.com
Split the difference in Chamonix
You don’t have to jump into a helicopter to have an exceptional snowboarding experience. Follow Neil McNab up a mountain instead. McNab holds one of the top mountain-guide qualifications and is a leading practitioner of splitboarding — a branch of the sport that involves hiking up powder fields and riding back down. Methodical and disciplined, He is also an inspiring surfer of the snow. Homely rather than overtly luxurious, pretty Le Faucigny, in Chamonix, will be your base.
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Five nights from £469pp; hotelfaucignychamonix.com. A five-day splitboarding break for competent off-pisters, from February 22, costs £1,235; mcnabsnowboarding.com. Fly to Geneva with easyJet
Serenity of the Dolomites
Not every skier loves the rattle and hum of modern resorts. If you long for a more serene encounter with the slopes, target the Adler Mountain Lodge instead. It’s a 15-mile drive from the nearest town, lost in a landscape of snow-covered meadows and easy pistes, and within sight of the magnificent Sassolungo massif. When the lifts shut each afternoon, silence reigns supreme. The hotel is a calm and luxurious mix of unvarnished wood, leather and wool, with just 18 suites and 12 private chalets.
One week from January 24 costs £1,895pp, full-board, including flights and transfers; snow-wise.com
Family fun in Zermatt
Can’t keep up with your kids any more? Then sign them up for the five-day Martin Bell Academy — part of Powder Byrne’s Easter programme in this spectacular Swiss resort. It’s designed for 11- to 15-year-olds who are already confident skiing on black pistes, and the former Olympian will take them even further, taking them into the bumps, trees and powder. While they’re pushing their limits, you can treat yourself to a lunch or two at Zermatt’s stellar array of mountain restaurants.
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One week from March 27 at the four-star Hotel Schweizerhof starts at £2,846pp, half-board, including flights and transfers. The academy costs £645pp; powderbyrne.com
Culinary masterclass in Courmayeur
Never mind Heston Blumenthal. Look who’s on the guest list for his Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience in the Italian resort this winter: Clare Smyth, the first female chef in Britain to hold three Michelin stars. She’s head chef at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, in London, and will be cooking alongside Marcus Wareing and Sat Bains at a big set-piece dinner on January 9, as well as a rustic supper at Maison Vieille, a mountain restaurant, the day after. Pray for moonlight — the view of the south face of Mont Blanc is something you’ll never forget.
The event runs January 8-11. Three nights in five-star accommodation start at £3,850pp, half-board. The price includes flights, transfers, a lift pass and two half-days of ski guiding; momentumski.com
Classic
Centre stage in St Anton
Feeling strong? Then roll up your sleeves and get stuck into St Anton. The pistes are tough, the off-piste is even tougher, and as dusk falls, the Austrian resort buzzes with a powerful party atmosphere. To get the best out of it, stay in the middle of town at Chalet Seeberger, on the pedestrianised Dorfstrasse. New to Powder White’s programme this year, it sits above a parade of shops and is a five-minute walk from the main hub of lifts and pistes, as well as the point of return from the MooserWirt — the slopeside bar where every serious après-ski evening begins.
One week from January 17 costs £649pp, chalet-board; powderwhite.com. Flights to Innsbruck start at £71 with easyJet;return rail travel from Innsbruck to St Anton costs £31.50 (oebb.at). The total is £751.50 — not including your beer money
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Hidden Austria
Parts of the foundations of the Strasserwirt hotel, in the Osttirol, date back to the 6th century. But the decor is much newer; it’s just been renovated by its architect owner, and the result is both chic and unshowy. Treats include beds lined with Swiss pine, which has a gorgeous and strangely soothing smell, and pig-out teas every afternoon. Book one of the big Egger-Lienz suites and you’ll have the perfect base from which to dive into Austria’s secret kingdom of skiing, where optional day trips beckon to small, underused ski areas such as Sillian and St Jakob.
A week from January 24 costs £391pp, half-board; strasserwirt.com. Fly with easyJet to Innsbruck from £147 return, hire a car with Carrentals.co.uk from £61pp, factor in £50pp for fuel, and the total is £649pp: fantastic value, given the quality of the accommodation and skiing
Self-sufficient in Les Arcs
Arc 1950 is a clever bit of architecture: a wraparound development of pretty self-catering apartments with a car park hidden in the basement, and enough shops, bars and restaurants in the snowy centralplaza to fill a week of holidaymaking. There’s a Brit-friendly ski school on site, and little pistes lead from the back door of every résidence into the intermediates’ playground that is Les Arcs. For families who don’t mind driving across France and cooking once they get here,this a brilliant spot for a February half-term holiday: cheaper than a chalet or a hotel, and as cosy as a down-filled ski jacket.
One week from February 13 costs £504pp, based on four sharing a two-room flatt; ernalow.co.uk. Add return ferry crossings (from £20pp at poferries.com), £74pp for fuel and tolls from Calais, and £100pp for food, and the total is £698pp
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Conquer Courchevel
You’ve got two options in Courchevel 1650. Either throw yourself into the hurly-burly of the world’s biggest properly integrated lift system, and ski your legs to jelly on some of the most celebrated pistes in the Alps, or keep it local and potter on the confidence-boosting slopes immediately above the village — most visitors to Les Trois Vallées never find them, and the atmosphere is blissfully quiet as a result. Either way, Le Ski’s piste-side Chalet Rikiki is the perfect launchpad, with the surfing simulator at the Aquamotion pool complex nearby if you wnat to add a little spice to your après-ski regime.
One week from January 31 costs £942pp, chalet-board, including flights and transfers; leski.com
S
teep learning curve in Verbier
Will this be the winter when you finally start skiing powder and moguls? Make it a certainty by joining the Warren Smith Ski Academy in this Swiss resort for five days of intensive surgery on your ski technique and an introduction to life beyond the pistes. Courses cost £429pp, including two evenings of video analysis; snap up the current Inghams deal on a week from January 2 at the central Chalet de Verbier tocreate a complete package for £1,028pp.
A week starts at £599pp, chalet-board, including flights and transfers; inghams.co.uk
Child-friendly in Andorra
Need a little help on your family ski trips? Neilson’s Hotel del Clos is standing by with on-site nurseries and kids’ clubs, evening childcare, a games room and a snow garden for outdoor play. Adults and teenagers can join the new Mountain Experts programme, run by qualified ski instructors, which guarantees at least two free ski-technique clinics a week. El Tarter is part of the Grandvalira network of broad, easy-skiing intermediate pistes, so there’ll be plenty of room to practise afterwards.
A week from December 27 starts at£981pp, chalet-board, for a family of four, including flights and transfers, but not childcare; neilson.co.uk
Chateau living in Alpe d'Huez
First-time ski holidays don’t come much smoother than a week at Club Chateau, a chalet that sits in a little island of hotels in this French resort, surrounded by one of the biggest cirques of nursery slopes in the Alps. The interior is heavy on weathered wood and stone, all warmed by a crackling fire, and at the start of the day, all you need do is walk outside, turn right, and you’ll be at the ski-school meeting point.
A week from January 24 costs £1,049pp, chalet-board, including flights and transfers; vip-chalets.com
Snow-proof in Tignes
It’s hard to beat this French resort for a family Easter trip. Almost all the skiing is above 6,800ft, and the glacier reaches up to an eye-watering 11,000ft, so even in a spring thaw, it offers sumptuous piste skiing for all abilities. Mark Warner’s Chalet Hotel Aiguille Percée, in Tignes-le-Lac, is the ideal base. Not only does it have its own nursery and kids’ clubs, it’s just a short walk from Le Lagon — a public pool with a brilliant three-lane slide for family splashing once the lifts shut.
A week from April 3 starts at £1,179pp for a family of four, including flights and transfers, but not childcare; markwarner.co.uk
Budget
Slope off to Bulgaria
If you’re new to skiing, you don’t need a resort with hundreds of miles of piste. By targeting pocket-sized, cheap-as-chips Pamporovo, in Bulgaria, you can treat yourself to a hotel stay for the price of a studio flat in the Alps. The meticulous ski school has plenty of experience of teaching Brits, and lessons run for four hours a day, either side of lunch, so you’ll make steady progress. Particularly if you can avoid the postprandial snooze.
A week from January 23 at the Hotel Snezhanka, which has a pool, costs £394pp, half-board, including flights and transfers; crystalski.co.uk
Free lift pass in France
Got the energy required to drive to the Alps, and the self-discipline to cook for yourselves when you’re there? Then cheap ski holidays are a doddle — especially if you catch one of the free-lift-pass deals on offer in low-season weeks. The midsize and eternally underrated resort of Serre Chevalier is a great option, with some wonderful intermediate-friendly pistes.
A week from January 2 at a studio apartment in Monêtier-les-Bains starts at £183pp, based on four sharing, including a six-day lift pass worth £181; serrechevalier-reservation.com. Add £100pp a week for food, £28pp for return ferry crossings (poferries.com) and £95pp for fuel and tolls from Calais, and it still comes to only £406pp
Mix it up in Mayrhofen
Last year, winter got off to a painfully slow start in the Alps, and some low-lying resorts in the west were still snowless at Christmas. Selling festive ski holidays for 2015 is hard work as a result, and they’re already being discounted. In Mayrhofen, Austria, good snow is guaranteed because of the Hintertux glacier, lying at the top of the valley, which is open all year. In any normal winter, there’s also great skiing for all abilities immediately above town — ranging from a mountain that’s more or less set aside for beginners all the way to Harakiri, one of the steepest pistes in the Alps.
A week at Chalet St Lukas costs £569pp, chalet-board, including flights and transfers; inghams.co.uk
Take refuge in the Dolomites
“Why didn’t I come here sooner?” is the reaction of many Brits to the Dolomites: and no wonder, given the scenery, confidence-boosting pistes and superb, family-run mountain restaurants. Powder junkies will balk at the dryish climate, but for everyone else, the chance to ski beneath sun-drenched cliffs and crags, with a glass of prosecco and a plate of spicy pan-fried prawns beckoning at the Rifugio Emilio Comici (rifugiocomici. com), is catnip. Alba di Canazei makes a great low-cost base, with anew gondola offering speedy access to the famous Sella Ronda circuit of pistes.
A week from January 23 at Cesa Rotic costs £509pp, half-board, including flights and transfers; crystalski.co.uk
Lofty Val Thorens
With lower prices and quieter slopes than the February half-term, Easter can be a canny time for a family trip, provided you aim for a snow-sure high-altitude resort. Val Thorens, in France,
is one of the loftiest, set at 7,500ft and offering skiing for all abilities up to 10,500ft. It’s also well stocked with inexpensive self-catering apartments. Yes, you’ll have to cook if you want to keep a lid on prices, but at the Hameau du Kashmir, life won’t be too shabby — it has an indoor pool, a spa, and a games room, as well as two restaurants for those evenings when you can’t face opening the fridge.
A week from April 2 at a two-room apartment costs £387pp, self-catering, including return Eurotunnel crossings; skicollection.co.uk. Add £100pp for food, and £74pp for fuel and tolls, and the total is £561pp
Bunk up in Val d’Isere
Another ingenious way to ski cheaply is to stay with Ucpa, a French sport-for-all organisation that runs holidays at some of the most famous resorts in the country. In Val d’Isère, the accommodation is in four-bunk rooms, right in the middle of town, and the price includes three big meals a day, equipment hire, lift pass and 12 hours of tuition for all levelsexcept beginners.
A week from January 9 costs £637pp, all-inclusive, including return coach travel from London; action-outdoors.co.uk
Idyllic Austria
If affordable Alpine atmosphere is your priority, head to pretty Zell am See and its Julie Andrews landscape of lakes, forests and round-topped mountains. Although there’s snow-sure glacier skiing nearby on the Kitzsteinhorn, it’s best to go midwinter, to maximise your chances of getting cold, soft snow on the local mountain, the Schmittenhöhe. It tops out at 6,500ft, but its pistes include a couple of magnificent top-to-bottom runs: one that’s ideal for intermediates, the other for advanced skiers.
A week from January 23 at the newly refurbished Hotel Traube, in the pedestrianised town centre, costs £600pp, half-board, including flights and transfers; neilson.co.uk
and don’t forget...
In mid-December, January and the first three weeks of March, there are usually more holidays than skiers, and last-minute discounting is the result. If you’re not too picky about the resort, hang on until two or three weeks before the date when you plan to travel and consult specialist agencies such as snowfinders.co.uk, sno.co.uk and igluski.com. Last winter, January weeks at catered chalets were available for £400pp, including flights and transfers.