Grew up in Europe and all the big well known places are absolutely run over. Austria, Slovenia, Poland are a lot better.

North America has so much more space and the Rockies are every bit as majestic as the Alps, and I'd argue more so. The top of Blackcomb is my favorite. For a fantastic mountain but fewer people, Fernie BC is hard to beat. Copper Mountain is great for families (Breck too for those with older kids).

I've never been skiing to South America. Argentina is on my bucket list.

Anonymous wrote:What's the best Utah resort for families- young kids 5-7. 2 adult skiers but one is, er, not amazing.

We have enjoyed W. VA, VT and NY areas but looking to visit family out west next year or 2 for a week. Love apres ski scenes, but has to be family friendly (ie- not super cool probably!)
THANKS!

We just went to Utah for the first times with kids, 18, 14 and 6. We stayed at solitude in a condo and drove to Brighton every day. All ofnusbLOVED Brighton. None of us loved solitude and it was not as kid friendly as Brighton. My 6 yr old did ski school for two days and had a blast and it was very reasonable. The teachers were awesome with the kids. If you book your lift tickets In advance you can get them super cheap. Solitude I felt was much more advanced and was miserable for those of us that were not really experienced. We loved the condo and ‘resort’ Amenities. No town or nightlife but we weren’t there for that. We ate dinner at home every night and then went to the hot tub.

Best: Telluride. Go back over and over
Overrated: Deer Valley

Others Skied: Many in PA, WV, and NY mountains- none of those count so not going to mention names
Beaver Creek, Breckenridge

Been to Chamonix France and Courmayeur Italy in fall and love the alps but can't see skiing there. Not groomed enough but love it there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Italian poster here - yes, from what I have seen, lift tickets etc are much cheaper in Europe. You can ski the whole Zermatt/Cervinia area for about 100 Euros a week. There is also a variety of relatively cheap accommodation - but now that we don't live in Europe the expensive part is the flights. I totally understand why someone would feel like they've spent a lot of money to ski so they want to ski as much as possible, but for me a skiing vacation is about all the rest of it as much as the skiing. I wouldn't be interested in the skiing for 8 hours a day and having a granola bar on the lift to fill me up as PP mentioned - as she said, different strokes!

Could you suggest a few places to stay and ski? This is on our bucket list and wouldn’t know where to begin looking for this info. TIA

Not PP but Cortina is a picture perfect ski town in Italy, upscale and just amazing. Stay in a hotel with full indoor spa and pool.

Anonymous wrote:What's the best Utah resort for families- young kids 5-7. 2 adult skiers but one is, er, not amazing.

We have enjoyed W. VA, VT and NY areas but looking to visit family out west next year or 2 for a week. Love apres ski scenes, but has to be family friendly (ie- not super cool probably!)
THANKS!

deer valley

We've skied all over the U.S. and we like Breck and Staamboat a lot as far as towns go. We liked Park City a lot before the Olympics but now it feels like it is trying to be Aspen. Jackson Hole is great skiing and the town of Jackson is great but the two are pretty far apart if you don't have a car and are relying on the bus system. Our favorites for skiing are Alta/Snowbird but there is no town up there, just the resort. I liked Whistler too but it is more like Vail, in that there really sin't a town. Tahoe has great skiing but the resorts are slef-contained. Heavenly has a town but it isn't great.

We've only skied Val d'Isere in Europe, which was amazing. It was much cheaper and the French know how to do a resort. The restaurants were amazing all over the mountain and the vibe was so relaxed. However, the actual skiing is better in the U.S.. There is no dropping into the trees or into a large bowl in Europe, plus avalanches are much more of a danger there. Yes, they happen here too but much less often.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from Italy and have only skiied in Europe, which I love because my preferred skiing day is: wake up and have delicious hotel/chalet breakfast, ski for a couple of hours, stop for coffee on the mountain, ski for an hour, stop for long lunch on the mountain - pasta, wine, etc - ski again for a couple of hours, have afternoon tea in town/back in the chalet, get back to hotel/chalet and go in hot tub/sauna/pool, then have dinner, go to some bars afterwards or have drinks with friends at chalet.
My understanding is that American skiing is much more serious - more skiing, less eating and drinking. Which towns, if any, out west, have what I want?

Yes, this! I am from Switzerland and have yet to get over my depression after visiting Whitetail this December. I miss skiing into my lunch

In fairness, this is not a ski area. The small hills within 2 hrs in s. PA are not our Alps equivalent!

Anonymous wrote:I'm from Italy and have only skiied in Europe, which I love because my preferred skiing day is: wake up and have delicious hotel/chalet breakfast, ski for a couple of hours, stop for coffee on the mountain, ski for an hour, stop for long lunch on the mountain - pasta, wine, etc - ski again for a couple of hours, have afternoon tea in town/back in the chalet, get back to hotel/chalet and go in hot tub/sauna/pool, then have dinner, go to some bars afterwards or have drinks with friends at chalet.
My understanding is that American skiing is much more serious - more skiing, less eating and drinking. Which towns, if any, out west, have what I want?

Yes, this! I am from Switzerland and have yet to get over my depression after visiting Whitetail this December. I miss skiing into my lunch

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Italian poster here - yes, from what I have seen, lift tickets etc are much cheaper in Europe. You can ski the whole Zermatt/Cervinia area for about 100 Euros a week. There is also a variety of relatively cheap accommodation - but now that we don't live in Europe the expensive part is the flights. I totally understand why someone would feel like they've spent a lot of money to ski so they want to ski as much as possible, but for me a skiing vacation is about all the rest of it as much as the skiing. I wouldn't be interested in the skiing for 8 hours a day and having a granola bar on the lift to fill me up as PP mentioned - as she said, different strokes!

Could you suggest a few places to stay and ski? This is on our bucket list and wouldn’t know where to begin looking for this info. TIA

Sure! Zermatt/Cervinia is my favorite place to ski, because it's high altitude so you always get snow (the same is not true of the Dolomites, for example), and you have access to the amazing skiing all around the Matterhorn on the Swiss side and the Italian side. Cervinia, on the Italian side, is definitely not the most attractive ski town - the towns in the Dolomites are much nicer, and Zermatt on the Swiss side is also nicer, but Cervinia is much cheaper than Zermatt, and the food is generally far better and far cheaper. I have two favorite places to stay - Aux Pieds du Roi, and Principe delle Nevi. If we get to go this Christmas, we'll be staying at the former, which is ideal with kids as you can get large 2 bedroom apartments. The latter would be my choice if it were just me and DH. There aren't many chalets in Cervinia, so if you prefer that kind of accommodation then look to the Swiss side.

I'm the PP who had the mostly down to mid market USA ski experiences, and I also want that do a little skiing do a little chill out kind of life in my ski vacations! Thank you for this. I need to email it to myself. Doing something like this when my boys are older would be a dream!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Italian poster here - yes, from what I have seen, lift tickets etc are much cheaper in Europe. You can ski the whole Zermatt/Cervinia area for about 100 Euros a week. There is also a variety of relatively cheap accommodation - but now that we don't live in Europe the expensive part is the flights. I totally understand why someone would feel like they've spent a lot of money to ski so they want to ski as much as possible, but for me a skiing vacation is about all the rest of it as much as the skiing. I wouldn't be interested in the skiing for 8 hours a day and having a granola bar on the lift to fill me up as PP mentioned - as she said, different strokes!

Could you suggest a few places to stay and ski? This is on our bucket list and wouldn’t know where to begin looking for this info. TIA

Sure! Zermatt/Cervinia is my favorite place to ski, because it's high altitude so you always get snow (the same is not true of the Dolomites, for example), and you have access to the amazing skiing all around the Matterhorn on the Swiss side and the Italian side. Cervinia, on the Italian side, is definitely not the most attractive ski town - the towns in the Dolomites are much nicer, and Zermatt on the Swiss side is also nicer, but Cervinia is much cheaper than Zermatt, and the food is generally far better and far cheaper. I have two favorite places to stay - Aux Pieds du Roi, and Principe delle Nevi. If we get to go this Christmas, we'll be staying at the former, which is ideal with kids as you can get large 2 bedroom apartments. The latter would be my choice if it were just me and DH. There aren't many chalets in Cervinia, so if you prefer that kind of accommodation then look to the Swiss side.

Anonymous wrote:

Italian poster here - yes, from what I have seen, lift tickets etc are much cheaper in Europe. You can ski the whole Zermatt/Cervinia area for about 100 Euros a week. There is also a variety of relatively cheap accommodation - but now that we don't live in Europe the expensive part is the flights. I totally understand why someone would feel like they've spent a lot of money to ski so they want to ski as much as possible, but for me a skiing vacation is about all the rest of it as much as the skiing. I wouldn't be interested in the skiing for 8 hours a day and having a granola bar on the lift to fill me up as PP mentioned - as she said, different strokes!

Could you suggest a few places to stay and ski? This is on our bucket list and wouldn’t know where to begin looking for this info. TIA

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from Italy and have only skiied in Europe, which I love because my preferred skiing day is: wake up and have delicious hotel/chalet breakfast, ski for a couple of hours, stop for coffee on the mountain, ski for an hour, stop for long lunch on the mountain - pasta, wine, etc - ski again for a couple of hours, have afternoon tea in town/back in the chalet, get back to hotel/chalet and go in hot tub/sauna/pool, then have dinner, go to some bars afterwards or have drinks with friends at chalet.
My understanding is that American skiing is much more serious - more skiing, less eating and drinking. Which towns, if any, out west, have what I want?

That;s been my entire ski experience and I've only ever skied on the east coast (smaller resorts) and one time in Tahoe (which was awesome)

There is a LOT of that vibe in US skiing

Aren’t lift tickets more reasonably priced in Europe? If somebody is dropping a ton of money to travel and ski a few days at one of the Vail-owner resorts, it makes sense that they’d want to get in as much time skiing as they can.

Wouldn't know. Like I said I've only skiied at pretty low-mid level ski mountains and resorts, but maybe that's the key to the sort of casual ski experience in the USA? The only really "fancy" mountain I've skiied has been Squaw Valley, I'm not even sure if that's fancy but it was an expensive lift (esp in spring when lots was closing)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from Italy and have only skiied in Europe, which I love because my preferred skiing day is: wake up and have delicious hotel/chalet breakfast, ski for a couple of hours, stop for coffee on the mountain, ski for an hour, stop for long lunch on the mountain - pasta, wine, etc - ski again for a couple of hours, have afternoon tea in town/back in the chalet, get back to hotel/chalet and go in hot tub/sauna/pool, then have dinner, go to some bars afterwards or have drinks with friends at chalet.
My understanding is that American skiing is much more serious - more skiing, less eating and drinking. Which towns, if any, out west, have what I want?

That;s been my entire ski experience and I've only ever skied on the east coast (smaller resorts) and one time in Tahoe (which was awesome)

There is a LOT of that vibe in US skiing

Aren’t lift tickets more reasonably priced in Europe? If somebody is dropping a ton of money to travel and ski a few days at one of the Vail-owner resorts, it makes sense that they’d want to get in as much time skiing as they can.

Italian poster here - yes, from what I have seen, lift tickets etc are much cheaper in Europe. You can ski the whole Zermatt/Cervinia area for about 100 Euros a week. There is also a variety of relatively cheap accommodation - but now that we don't live in Europe the expensive part is the flights. I totally understand why someone would feel like they've spent a lot of money to ski so they want to ski as much as possible, but for me a skiing vacation is about all the rest of it as much as the skiing. I wouldn't be interested in the skiing for 8 hours a day and having a granola bar on the lift to fill me up as PP mentioned - as she said, different strokes!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from Italy and have only skiied in Europe, which I love because my preferred skiing day is: wake up and have delicious hotel/chalet breakfast, ski for a couple of hours, stop for coffee on the mountain, ski for an hour, stop for long lunch on the mountain - pasta, wine, etc - ski again for a couple of hours, have afternoon tea in town/back in the chalet, get back to hotel/chalet and go in hot tub/sauna/pool, then have dinner, go to some bars afterwards or have drinks with friends at chalet.
My understanding is that American skiing is much more serious - more skiing, less eating and drinking. Which towns, if any, out west, have what I want?

That;s been my entire ski experience and I've only ever skied on the east coast (smaller resorts) and one time in Tahoe (which was awesome)

There is a LOT of that vibe in US skiing

Aren’t lift tickets more reasonably priced in Europe? If somebody is dropping a ton of money to travel and ski a few days at one of the Vail-owner resorts, it makes sense that they’d want to get in as much time skiing as they can.

I focus more on skiing than coffee, wine, lunch...etc. The skiing's expensive and the cheap food- pizza, burgers, nuggets- i.e. the stuff kids want, is expensive too. Cost about $100 to eat crap food at a U.S. ski resort. I can't imagine what real food costs. That's why we have a big breakfast and pack granola bars and snacks for the day. Will come in to warm up with a coffee or cocoa. While I like wine and beer, don't really enjoy them while skiing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from Italy and have only skiied in Europe, which I love because my preferred skiing day is: wake up and have delicious hotel/chalet breakfast, ski for a couple of hours, stop for coffee on the mountain, ski for an hour, stop for long lunch on the mountain - pasta, wine, etc - ski again for a couple of hours, have afternoon tea in town/back in the chalet, get back to hotel/chalet and go in hot tub/sauna/pool, then have dinner, go to some bars afterwards or have drinks with friends at chalet.
My understanding is that American skiing is much more serious - more skiing, less eating and drinking. Which towns, if any, out west, have what I want?

That;s been my entire ski experience and I've only ever skied on the east coast (smaller resorts) and one time in Tahoe (which was awesome)

There is a LOT of that vibe in US skiing

Aren’t lift tickets more reasonably priced in Europe? If somebody is dropping a ton of money to travel and ski a few days at one of the Vail-owner resorts, it makes sense that they’d want to get in as much time skiing as they can.