Skiing Europe: Favorite Spots.

A couple of years back I had the pleasure of spending 3 days in chamonix. On day one we hired a guide to take us through the valle blanche. We loved it so much we did again the first thing in the morning for the next 2 days. You take a tram to the top of the aguille du midi which is the peak just next to mont blanc, and depending on the route you take down its somewhere between 13-16 miles of downhill bliss. Half way down just over looking the mer du glace, on a little rock out crop, between 2 glaciers, there is a tiny hut that serves cheese toast and beer. Then your off down to the valley floor if there is enough snow. We were there in march and the snow did not go all the way down so at the bottom of the mer du glace there are ice caves and you can catch a train, get a great cup of coffee and look up the valley at your turns till the train comes. There are also 6 or 7 resorts surrounding the valley we played at 4 of them. I don't have a favorite. We found great conditions on different sides of the valley chasing the sun, and great terrain every where. the ticket up to the aguille du midi were good every where we went, but I don't know the cost my friend bought my tickets for my b-day. the food and beverage in town were world class your just through the tunnel and up the hill from some great wineries in italy. The baked goods were the best I have ever had, and prices were very reasonable. <br><br>only complaint you wont find any REAL bourbon in the whole valley.

Thanks for the beta on some of the places you have been. Iam trying to figure out where to ski in Europe this March. I have two guidebooks by Bill O'Connor for hut touring. I want to stay away from Chamonix and Verbier, but also want to ski some interesting terrain. I am still looking around. If anyone has suggestions or is interested in touring in March, let me know. I plan to use frequent flyer miles and go for 3 weeks. <br><br>Cheers,<br><br>SierraStealth

There is a custom of American big-mountain skiiers keeping a "secret" Euro area. For a while it was Vallee X, actually La Grave, and then Vallee Y, actually Alagna. Is there a Vallee Z? I'll plead ignorance...

Yes, that was a Greg Stump/Powder Mag. thing of the 90's.....I am going to Alagna in Feb., because I hear it is changing, and I would like to see it before it's over-developed. I don't think they told of the valley Z, maybe because it's soooooo sick bro, or because it's any good skiing valley without a lift!

Well, I've skied a few areas in Europe ranging from a farmer's hillside in central Germany (Sauerland) to the mega area of Tignes/Val d'Isere. But these excursions predated my recent entry to touring. I do recall while in St. Anton in 1992 a Bavarian friend attempting to explain hut touring to me as I looked back at him with a Homer Simpsonesque blank stare wondering why anyone would want to posthole from rock shack to rock shack with their skis slung over their shoulder. Live and learn, live and learn!<br><br>But I've got to say, those European resorts are something incredible. The only fear in Tignes was riding a combination of the 100 lifts so far that we'd not make it back to home base before dark. We were there a week and didn't come close to covering the whole place.<br><br>Perhaps the gem you're looking for is a smaller place called Adelboden in Switzerland. Again, it predates my touring days, so I don't know what the opportunities are in that regard. But the place is in the middle of the Alps, so I'd gamble on finding some good touring there. What sticks in my memory is the environment as a whole, with an old, yet pristine village accessable only by classic buses, skiing trails off the mountain into the village... It's the kind of place you'd expect to find Hansel and Gretel spending their winters. Bring the family... You can be Mr. Hardcore in the "backcountry" while the others drink Ovalmaltine and play chess with the local retirees a few miles away.

Briancon is gorgeous and has the following within an hours drive:<br>Serre Chevalier<br>La Grave<br>The Milky Way (huge - huge - huge complex of Montgenevre, Saulz d'Oulx, Sestrieres 40+ miles from one end to the other)<br>Les Trois Vallees (via the Maurienne link)<br>Val Frejus<br>Mont Cenis<br>Bardonneccia<br>Vars-Risoul<br>Puy St. Vincent<br><br>Stay in Monetier Les Bains, the highest part of Serre Che/Briancon below the Col du Lauteret (pass to la Grave).<br><br>Another great spot is Alagna/Gressoney where you can easily tour to Zermatt, then Cervinia and back in a day.<br>