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MORZINE - FRANCE
You can get flights into Geneva for as little as £50 each. Most chalets put on free transfers from the airport to the resort. Board hire is roughly £100 for the week and lift passes are around £120.
With great places to eat and drink and over 200 lifts, Morzine is well worth checking out, whatever your ability.
If you want more on what Morzine has to offer have a look at: www.morzine-avoriaz.com
Kirchdorf - Austria
How to get there:
Flew from Bristol airport and landed at Salzburg, then coach transfer from the airport which took about 1 hour and a half.
Where to stay:
Loads of different places to stay we were in the Hotel Alphof which was right next to the nusary slopes, it was half board with three course meals everynight which were really good.
Getting around:
There are plenty of other things to do, and noght time activities. There was snow tubing, snow walking through the trees, sleigh rides, paraglyding and others aswell. There was also a show put on by the local ski school one evening which was good.
Terrain:
The slopes at Kirchdorf are three nursery slopes, but included in the lift pass is a local area pass meaning you can go to about three different places to board: Steinplatte, St Johan and Waidring if I remember rightly.
I only went to Steinplatte but it had nice wide slopes and a park to play in if you're good enough.
As we were going for the first time we had lessons, and our tutor was really good; got us going in no time and was at ease teaching young teenagers and older as well.
Snow - It maybe first time biase but the snow was great. It snowed practically non stop for about 3 or 4 days meaning great conditions on the slopes with fresh powder to be found quite easily.
The three nursery slopes are perfect for learning on. The first one is quite short and not very steep, which was great for practising. The other two are good for natural progression onto bigger slopes. There was no real queues here, about 5 minutes at most. To get a longer and better ride you need to go to one of the other resorts available to you on the Local Area Lift Pass - Steinplatte, St Johann and Waidring (if memory serves me).
We went to Steiplatte which again was good for us as novices, big open runs that weren't overly crowded. Again there weren't any big queues here maybe 10 minutes maximum but less in reality.
Food & Drink:
Good. There are plenty of restaurants around at Kirchdorf to choose from. Most of the hotels around there have restaurants, the is also a Pizzaria near the nursery slopes. I think there is more but I didn't go to them as we had evening meals included in with our hotel.There was at least one restaurant at Steinplatee which was half way down the mountain. The only problem with this is that they are very busy at lunch time, 12 - 3 ish, so I would advise going a bit earlier or later to avoid waiting.
Nightlife
Quiet. This is one of the reasons we chose the resort.
The slopes are about 10 - 15 minutes away from the main Kirchdorf Village, there are some bars. About another 20 minutes away is a nightclub type place that also has an italian restaurant attached.
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Back to topSauze Doulz - Italy
Having just come back from my first time in Sauze, I would definitely recommend it to other Boarders, even though it was suffering like everywhere else from a lack of snow.
Luckily it snowed a couple of times while we were there and on a new snow day it was absolutely fantastic.
The main slopes are located above Sportinia, and is basically a big bowl with lots of runs coming down to the centre, or you can keep going down to the bottom at Sauze village.
This is great because although the piste markings are rubbish, it doesn't matter as you can make your way down any way you like including off piste and still pretty much get to where you want to be, or at least to a lift to take you back up again.
It does get a bit flat in some bits but you can work out a route to keep you going.
Most of the slopes are classified as reds but I've no idea why as they are mostly blue. The one black slope was closed and we never found the park, but it was great finding new ways down off-piste so for me that didn't matter.
There is also a link over to the rest of the Milky Way which is a bit of a hike but opens up a bigger area and only opens in perfect weather though as it's an ancient one man chair lift!
We also went on a day trip to Montgenevre and Claviere, which was included in our lift pass.
I would recommend this as it's nice to have a bit of variety and the slopes there are more varied.
We were disappointed when we first arrived because our hotel (Fontaine) was in Jovenceau, which is outside of Sauze village.
However we soon cheered up because a brand new high speed quad had been built right outside the back door! What a bargain for a cheap holiday deal!
The hotel was more like a chalet, pretty small and basic but really friendly and nice staff and we got to know everybody else staying there.
The food was great but really limited for vegetarians, although they will cook you whatever you like if you ask in advance and you can have lots of pasta with nice sauces.
All in all even though the snow wasn't great. I would definitely go to Sauze again because you get a lot for your money especially at the Fontaine, and if it's a good snow year it will be amazing.
Slovakia
Is one of the nicest (and cheapest) places in Europe to spend a couple of days during winter. The High Tatras are a magnificent range of mountains dotted with villages with deep peasant traditions. You'll find Slovaks to be an extremely helpful, pleasant people prepared to go out of their way to welcome you. From folk festivals, to castle tours to snowboarding and hiking you'll find Slovakia a spectacular country to visit. The most popular places for snowboarders are Vysoké Tatry - diar, Starý Smokovec, Štrbské Pleso, Tatranská Lomnica, Nízke Tatry - Jasná, Donovaly, Malá Fatra - Ve?ká Ra?a, Vrátna and Martinské Hole.
How to get there:
Flying:- from UK (London) to Bratislava, Poprad, Koszyce – Slovakia. Costs from £15 – £200 , with Sky Europe (www.skyeurope.com).
Train: - International trains run from Vienna (1 hour), Budapest (2,5 hours) and Prague (5 hours) several times a day. Trains from Krakow (Poland) stop in Bratislava (5,5 hours).
All major cities within Slovakia are serviced by train on a daily basis. Service to smaller towns and villages is less frequent and in many cases seasonal. Visit Slovak Railways to get exact schedules.
You can also take a bus to get around.
Where to stay:
Hotels, pensions, apartments are all over those towns, you can easily find something when you arrive. The cost for a room is from 4 (simple room with bathroom in a pension) to £40 (more exclusive room in a hotel) per night + meals around £ 5/6 (breakfast + dinner).
Getting around:
Just take a bus, train or rent a car to explore the neighborhood. I have no idea how much it costs, but it's not a lot.
Snowboarding in Slovakia:
Snowboarding is a sport that can be practiced in all the skiing resorts in Slovakia. It all depends on the style you choose.
The most popular places for snowboarders are Vysoké Tatry - diar, Starý Smokovec, Štrbské Pleso, Tatranská Lomnica, Nízke Tatry - Jasná, Donovaly, Malá Fatra - Ve?ká Ra?a, Vrátna and Martinské Hole.
All the resorts named above are suitable mainly for the carving style of snowboarders who need well-maintained skiing slopes for their slalom style of snowboarding. Free ride style fans will find suitable terrain on almost every hill or mountain covered by snow, apart from those mentioned earlier. The rule is that the higher you climb on the hill, the biggest thrill you can expect on your way down. You need to be cautious for about avalanches and protected areas. If you are a fan of Freestyle, you will surely welcome the great opportunity to ride in the skiing centers that have a snowboarding park:
· snowboarding park with a U-ramp – Jasná Nízke Tatry www.jasna.sk, 0š?adnica - Ve?ká Ra?a www.velkaraca.sk
· snowboarding complex with a boardercross run – Vrátna www.vratna.sk
· snowboarding park – SKI CENTRUM Tále www.tale.sk, PARKSNOW Donovaly www.parksnow.sk
Wherever you go you can find suitable place to ride. I'm sure you will be amazed by beautiful, breath taking views of mountains, woods covered by snow.
Ski Passes:
For one day around £9 ; 7 days – £50 , prices are higher during Christmas time.
Food & Drink:
Expensive? Not at all! You can have great dinner (main course, soup, dessert) including a beer (very cheap in Slovakia) or glass of wine for less than £10 and most of all food is delicious (for example garlic soup with cheese, fried yellow cheese ). Bottle of beer – 50p; hot wine, hot beer, hot tea with rum – 50p.
Borovets - Bulgaria
How to get there:
We caught a plane from Manchester and flew to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Flight is around 3 - 4 hours. We then took a coach from the airport to the resort which took approximately one hour.
Where to stay:
We stayed at a hotel called the 'Samarov'. It was enormous and was located right at the foot of the slopes and close to the chair lifts and gondolas. It was half board which provided a huge breakfast menu and a pretty good choice of evening meals. There were a lot of continental foods available but on the whole the food was a little disappointing, not just in the hotel but in the restaurants outside too. It's hard to complain though as it's such good value for money.
Getting around:
The resort is fairly confined with regards to travelling around the area. Small nearby towns are within reach but we stayed in the resort for the whole week. Although there are a sufficient number of slopes for all levels, access to all of them are from the centre of the resort which is ideal, especially since most of the hotels are near the lifts.
Terrain:
Walking around the hotels, shops, restaurants and bars is relatively flat. The slopes themselves vary immensely with specific areas always full of beginners having lessons. I would highly recommend the slopes for beginners and we ventured to some of the more mental slopes which is what it is all about really.
Food & Drink:
On the whole the food in Bulgaria was a little disappointing. The restaurants however were incredibly cheap and a pint of beer was approximately one euro fifty. A two course meal with two or three beers would be around 20 to 25 euros. The bars are quite lively on an evening although there are the usual culprits offering karaoke, be warned.
For more info check out: www.borovets-bg.com
Back to topDisentis - Switzerland
How to get there:
You can catch a flight from most major airports to Zurich; from there you need to catch a number of trains to Disentis. The train network over in Switzerland is excellent and train while we were there never ran late. It take's around three hours from Zurich to Disentis but is well worth it with views you will never forget. It will cost you around 100 + CHF. (Swiss Franc). 100 swiss francs worked out at £48.00 - Exchange rate: 0.483957 Rate valid as of: 02/08/2008. As with any country you plan to check out; always check the exchange rate nearer the time as it frequently changes. THis should just hopefully give you an idea! THe swiss rail and bus network is really good. I've been to a few places on the Swiss transport and have never been held up. (touch wood).
Where to stay:
There are some excellent hotels all around the town. We stayed in an apartment as we knew someone who lived near to the town. To find out more on prices and location of hotels check out the Disentis web site. (www.disentis3000.ch)
Getting around:
The buses run just as well as the trains. We did find that they all run on time but there are only a few buses so if you are late to the bus stop then you will have to wait around twenty minutes. As the trains to LAAX and ILANZ run every twenty minutes you can always be sure to an awesome night out. The trains do stop at around 11pm so you may need to get a taxi back which can cost a lot. Hitch hiking is all ok in Switzerland so you can get back by someone passing by. Obviously only do this at your own risk!
On a Friday and Saturday night you can get a bus to LAAX where the main night out is in the area. Highly reccomended, awesome night out guaranteed!
Terrain:
The slopes at Disentis 3000 are excellent from the main lift up there is fantastic views, once at the top there are a series of lifts leading to more steep and testing runs. Here there are lips where you can do jumps and tricks. Most of the walk ways round the town are flat but in places there are some steep inclines. Over all this is an excellent little town with views you won't forget.
For beginners there isn't much about unfortunately. Although if you have young children, they do have a small area for learning. It isn't the biggest place you're going to come across, but if you're fairly confident on a board or skiis and don't mind riding the same terrain, then this is ideal. We stayed there for two weeks as we have friends nearby and its what you make it at the end of the day. Yes the terrain isn't that varied, but if you want to practice riding switch, or attempting a few new trick withough the whole resort watching, then i'd say go check it out!
Food and Drink:
The food here is tasty from cheese fondue and meat fondue. Its not cheap but well worth splashing out once in a while. The drinks are also expensive costing around 3.00 a pint but not forgetting it's much stronger than our English pints so well worth the money.
Disentis has a few pizzerias and café/bars where you can meet local people in a friendly atmosphere. The town as a small club, where many locals and other holiday goers go to enjoy a cool night out. For more info check out: www.disentis3000.ch
(sent in by Wayne - April 2006)
LAAX - Switzerland
How to get there:
Laax, Switzerland is about 90 minutes away from Zurich. By train, take the train from Zurich Main station to Chur. You can actually do this without having to change trains! From Chur, catch the bus. Throughout winter they normally do direct routes straight to Flims-Laax-Falera. This takes about 20 - 30 mins. If you get the normal bus this takes up to 50 mins.the bus to Laax. A weeks lift pass will cost you roughly £180. (380CHF).
For more info check out: www.laax.com
Laax is now offering an Airport Shuttle which takes you direct (non-stop) from Zurich Airport or Friedrichshafen airport to LAAX.
The bus is in line with the Ryan Air flights from and to London Stansted and Dublin. To book the bus you can contact reservation@laax.com or call +41-81-927 77 77.
From Zurich Mainstation, trains leave every hour at .37 which is a faster train and takes only 1.15h to Chur. This one runs only until I think 7.37pm. Then there's a train at .12 every hour, this one runs last at 11.12pm . AM from 6am on or so... the one at 12min takes around 1.30h to Chur. To find out the exact schedule, check out www.sbb.ch. Enter Zürich Flughafen or Zürich HB, and to would be Laax Murschetg if you stay in the Riders Palace.
Where to stay:
Check out the above links for useful places to stay in Laax.
Getting around:
Laax is pretty easy to get around with buses running like clockwork. Regular, on-time buses to Ilanz, Chur etc. As far as getting from bar to bar it couldn't be easier. A lot of the bars in Laaz are close to each other. Popular bars include Riders Palace, Crap Bar (no seriously). There's a couple of clubs too!
Terrain:
Laax is absolutely awesome for riders of all abilities. With loads of beginner runs for you newcommers, to tough black runs, and some wicked back country. Laax really has it all. If you're wanting to get out for a couple of weeks or even a season; If you get chance visit Switzerland, and more importantly head for Laax.
Food and Drink:
Food in Switzerland is almost always excellent. Loads of restaraunts & bars for you to fill your boots before another day of powder riding. A good place to go out at night would be the Flem Massiv in Flims. . Some places can be pretty expensive, but no more so than over here. Besides you're on holiday... Enjoy yourself.
(sent in by Nina, Zurich- May 2006)