Get me to the piste on time
Skiing has now become firmly established as a tradition among us Irish.
For the discerning skier — the one who doesn’t necessarily want to go on a big package holiday with 20 mates — below are some enlightening tips to get you to the Alpine pistes fast with the minimum of cost, hassle and noise.
You do also have the option of taking the car for complete independence. Celtic Link (www.celticlinkferries.com) runs a weekly service throughout the winter (with the exception of Christmas week) but remember that a drive of at least 9½ hours is required from Cherbourg to get to the Alpine resorts and you would need to get some snow chains.
When it comes to accommodation, the choice is normally very wide — from the lap of luxury to somewhere to put your head down. All credit due to exhaustive internet research, but the very best way to get good local information quickly is to pick up the phone and ring the tourist office.
As a rule, accommodation is more plentiful and therefore cheaper in Austria’s resorts than in Switzerland or France.
What the more modern French resorts lack in rustic charm, they more than make up for in excellence of organisation, signposting and a good culture of ski-in, ski-out accommodation.
The following list is far from a comprehensive one of the hundreds of places to go in Europe, but it does offer some of the best possibilities of taking off and getting onto the slopes via direct scheduled flights from Ireland and avoiding 4-hour bone-rattling energy-sapping transfer coaches.
(Aer Lingus flies direct from Dublin four times a week right through the winter season. See www.aerlingus.com for fares and details)
Auron & Isola 2000
These twin resorts are close to one another and linked by a free shuttle bus. The range of skiing and accommodation in both is excellent, with Isola 2000 being the larger and livelier and Auron being formerly one of the most sought-after small resorts in France. If you’re only going for a few days, there is the option of simply staying in Nice itself and taking the cheap bus for the two-hour ride into the mountains when you want to go skiing.
Ski Pass: €32/day (for both Auron & Isola 2000); €113/week (an additional €9.50 covers both resorts)
Access: Santa Azur (www.santa-azur.com) provides the bus link from the airport or the city to the resorts. At €5 return with baggage, it’s incredible value.
(Aer Lingus flies direct from Cork every Saturday and from Dublin every day right through the winter season. See www.aerlingus.com for fares and details)
This large resort (163km of pistes) has plenty to offer and pleasant to saunter around. It boasts great transport links in a wide-ranging area, with lots of free shuttle services. Plenty of accommodation here means that you can get great value if you ring the tourist office and shop around out of high season (which is all of February and the Christmas & New Year period).
Ski Pass: €56.50/day; €257/week.
Access: Easy access straight from Geneva Airport with Sat-Mont Blanc (www.sat-montblanc.com) with a 2-hour ride that costs €50 return. The train is also an option, involving 3.5 hours and two changes but good value at €29.50 return.
With 130km of pistes, there’s more than enough to keep anyone occupied for a week. It’s close to Morzine and a little bit quieter and there are lots of chalet operators in the area, so accommodation is not a problem.
Ski Pass: €37/day. €153/week. (A “Portes du Soleil” pass gives you access to all 12 resorts along the Franco-Swiss border at a cost of €47.50/day and €201/week)
Access: There are quite a few operators running buses that will take you to the heart of the action in Châtel straight from the airport. One of the cheapest and best is Magic Transfers (www.magic-transfers.com). You step off the plane, out the door and into the bus without even having to change your euro into Swiss francs. The journey takes only an hour and 15 minutes and the return fare is approximately €79.
This Swiss resort combines good skiing with traditional charm. Beginners and intermediates won’t be totally bored by it, but it is the kind of place where you’d have to be at the red-run standard in order to get the most out of it. Cool but expensive.
Ski Pass: CHF65(€53)/day; CHF306(€248)/week. Note — 25% price reduction if booked in September and 10% reduction for online bookings in October.
Access: Directly from the airport, the Alpine Express bus will take you direct to your accommodation of choice for CHF40 (approx. €32) return. There is also a train service that last around 2 hours (with one change) for about CHF60 (€49).
A Swiss village of Toblerone levels of sweetness and Gemütlichkeit, this is close to Gstaad and is a resort that combines charm with great skiing.
Ski Pass: CHF62(€50)/day; CHF321(€260)/week.
Access: Directly from Geneva Airport by train, it takes about 2.5 hours. From Zurich airport, the journey is about 3 hours. Price is between CHF50 and CHF60 return (€41 and €49).
(Aer Lingus flies direct from Dublin every day right through the winter season. See www.aerlingus.com for fares and details)
An established favourite with Irish skiers in groups, it’s also an excellent place to get away to as an individual or as a couple. Skiing is great, nightlife is as much as you want it and accommodation is plentiful and very good value.
Ski Pass: €48/day; €208/week
Access: Direct from Zurich Airport, Austrian Railways (www.oebb.at) brings you right to Sankt Anton in about two hours for a return price of approximately €40.
(Aer Lingus flies direct from Cork twice a week and from Dublin every day right through the winter season. See www.aerlingus.com for fares and details)
No matter how you pronounce it, it’s a smashing smallish (63km of pistes) resort with a lot of different activities contained within its demesne.
Ski Pass: €37/day; €175/week
Access: From Munich Airport, a 2.5-hour train journey with one change takes you to the resort. A Bavaria Ticket (€22 per day) can be used to get you there and will work on all local transport in Munich too, should you wish to visit the Bavarian capital for the day.
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