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Which Resort: Beginners
The world offers an almost endless choice of places to ski, but how do you pick the right holiday from the 75 skiing countries and their 6,000 resorts? Felice Hardy, co-author of The Great Skiing & Snowboarding Guide 2006, offers a guiding hand. You'll find flight and hotel deals in the Factbox. Also in Resort Finder: Intro | Intermediate | Beginners | Families | Non-skiers |
The fear of making a fool of yourself is the biggest hurdle to booking a first-time ski holiday. However, thanks to enormous technical advances in recent years, learning to ski is now much simpler and quicker.
The new, shorter kind of ski is much easier to turn, so with a bit of friendly instruction you can be off the nursery slopes and exploring the easier runs on the main mountain within two days.
North America
One of the best places to learn is North America where tuition in your own language is a huge bonus. Vail, Breckenridge (both reached from Denver) and Lake Louise (Calgary airport) are all good places to start.
Ski deals in Vail
Andorra
Andorra has some of the best ski teaching in Europe and, again, many of the instructors are native English-speakers. Arinsal and Soldeu (accessible from Toulouse) are the best places to stay. Much of the terrain is suitable for beginners and, in Soldeu, the nursery slopes are safely fenced off from the rest of the pistes. Soldeu Ski School has the reputation as one of the best in Europe. |
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Credit: OT Les Arcs
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Austria
Austria is another traditional starter place, with Westendorf and the SkiWelt, Niederau and St Johann in Tyrol (all Innsbruck) good bets. Kitzbühel (Innsbruck) has a choice of ski schools, as does Obertauern (Salzburg). Hotel of choice in St Johann is the Post, which dates from 1225 and has individually decorated bedrooms. Going in the SkiWelt area has a good nursery slope and its highlight is five-star Hotel Stanglwirt, which has a Lipizzaner riding school.
Search for great flight deals
Switzerland
The Madrisa is Klosters’ (Zurich airport) delightful beginner and family ski area at the top of the mountain, ensuring usually reliable snow conditions. The most convenient hotel in Klosters is Hotel Alpina across the road from the cable-car station. Its restaurant serves ‘creative cooking’.
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See also
Intro | Advanced | Intermediate |
Families | Non-skiers
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France
In the French purpose-built resorts, the skiing is right on your doorstep – so you won’t have to cart your skis and poles around. Les Arcs, Avoriaz, Valmorel and Alpe d’Huez are three such places. Hotel Dromonts in Avoriaz has a Thalgo spa and children’s playroom.
The trails surrounding the altiport at Courchevel 1850 (Geneva or Lyon) are ideal for first-timers, with enough length to help build confidence. Once the basics have been conquered, the area lends itself to easy exploration.
Ski deals in Avoriaz
Ski deals in Courchevel
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