It’s been the habit of a skiing lifetime. There I am, feet up on the sofa, cup of tea in hand, leafing through a copy of Where to Ski and Snowboard — planning my next trip. And what’s the first thing I do when I read a new entry? I look for the statistics. Not for the altitude of the resort, or the amount of snow-making machinery it has, but how many kilometres of piste (or, in North America, acres of terrain) are contained within the skiing area. Because for years now, the bigger the resort, the better I’ve assumed it will be.
It’s hardly surprising, really. Like most Brits who have learnt to ski or board in the past 20 years, I carved my first lines in the mega-systems of France. The Trois Vallées, L’Espace Killy and, more recently, Paradiski. It was in places such as these that I fell in love with winter sports, and grew accustomed to the idea that big was beautiful. It wasn’t a difficult concept to buy into. After all, if you like skiing, then why not have as much of it as possible? More pistes means more variety. It means more untracked powder fields for off-piste adventure too. And that means more fun. Doesn’t it?
Well no, actually. Or at least not always. Catch one of the really big, really famous resorts in mid-January, or at the beginning or end of the season, and you’ll still get a heady sense of freedom. But at any other time, you’ll find it groaning under the weight of its own popularity. If the lift system is old and sclerotic, there’ll be half-hour queues to get to the top of the mountain; if it’s new and efficient, a moving carpet of humanity will be snaking its way back down again. And the second the last flake of a snowstorm has settled, packs of powder-hungry experts will be tearing the off-piste areas to shreds. These days, everyone wants to ski the big resorts — and there just isn’t room for them all.
Thankfully, there is an alternative, and it’s one that, increasingly, I’m turning to: the small towns and secret villages of the skiing world. The vision of winter sports they offer is very different from the leviathans of France. It’s more limited in scope, for sure, but it’s also less breathless, more relaxing, and of infinitely greater charm. Don’t get me wrong: the best of these places still offer stunning terrain.
You’ve just got to learn to enjoy it in detail, rather than ranging endlessly over a wide area in search of the next adrenaline hit.
The payback is enormous: no queues, empty pistes, less of a stampede to the lifts on a powder day. In this environment, your confidence and technique are going to soar and, at the end of the day, when you’ve had enough, you’ll find laid-back bars and restaurants waiting for you rather than the reckless — and overpriced — hubbub of the big resorts.
Here then, are five of my new favourite places to ski. Thanks to them, I’m learning — finally — that there’s more to a resort than statistics: if you stay in one this season, you’ll probably come to the same conclusion.
Unless otherwise stated, all package prices are for one week, departing either January 29 or 30. They include flights from London and transfers, and are based on two sharing a room. Contact the operator for regional departure options
SAAS FEE, SWITZERLAND
This is the cute little mountain town that many people hope to find when they go skiing in Zermatt, Saas Fee’s more famous neighbour. Not that Zermatt is a bad place, of course, but these days it’s big and buzzing and home to its very own branch of McDonald’s. The final frontier it most definitely is not.
Saas Fee is altogether more low-key. Like Zermatt, it’s car-free, but the pace is slower, the restaurant scene less frenetic, and the ski area a lot more coherent. Admittedly, there is less of it, too, and if you ski hard for more than four or five days, you might start to get a little bored. In the meantime, however, you’re going to have an absolute blast. Freeriding snowboarders will love the thousands of off-piste lines at the lower end of the resort. Intermediate skiers will rank the 1800-metre on-piste drop from the Mittelallalin back down into the village as one of the best in the Alps. And beginners will like the fact that there are gentle runs at the bottom, middle and top of the resort. If on day six you’ve run out of things to do, so what? You can always take the bus to Zermatt and go see what all the fuss is about.
