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10 Snowsure European Ski Resorts

Head high, pick resorts with glacier skiing or sniff out the snow stashes - or preferrably all three. Christine Ottery pinpoints the places to go where there's an abundance of the white stuff early in the season.

1. Val Thorens, France

Val Thorens has a bit of a bad rep for it's exposed position above the tree-line and wind-chill factor, but no one can deny that the cold keeps the snow in crisp condition.
Val Thorens is the highest resort, at 2,300m, in what comprises the largest ski area in the world, the Three Valleys, including resorts such as Courchevel and Meribel. From Val Thorens, you can take a gondola up to the Peclet glacier, and bomb down one the red runs from the top. The wonderful 'fourth valley', the Maurienne is accessible via the Point du Bouchet chair. Or for advanced skiers, take a guide and explore the bounteous dry powder off-piste. There's even a snow guarantee offering you extra days ski pass if less than 70 per cent of lifts are open in the month before you arrive, when you buy a package deal from the resort.

2. Zermatt, Switzerland

My earliest memory of visiting Zermatt was taking a milk-float-esque Electic taxi ride up a treacherous windy road in the dark to our chalet, as Zermatt is largely car-free.
And, in the morning, the spectacle of The Matterhorn. Another big draw is the excellent restaurants serving roti and pasta, as the Italian resort of Cervinia is just a hop over the border. All of this, and Zermatt's highest slope is at 3,820m, making it a high altitude paradise with glacier skiing on the Klein Matterhorn, with 313km of pistes to explore. Over 4,000m, powder hounds can opt for heli-ski on Monte Rosa.


© copyright Tignes Développement Service communication

3. Tignes/Val D'Isere, France

The main glacier to ski on in the Espace Killy which includes all of the Tignes villages and Val D'Isere, is the Grande Motte glacier at 3,455m above Tignes.
It is open all year round, with good snow, but the weather can be bitterly cold in the mid-winter. Other glacier skiing is in Le Fornet's Pissaillas glacier, which is uncrowded on the whole, and the pistes can be excellent if there has been a fresh dump of powder. There's 300km of runs, and most of these are at high altitude so the snow is well-preserved for most of the season, apart from pistes at the lower end down to the village of Tignes Le Brevieres (1,550m). And when your legs can't take any more, both Tignes and Val D'Isere have rocking apres-ski to shake your booty at.


4. Hintertux, Austria

Combine chocolate-box charming Austrian villages in the Tux Valley and guarunteed snow on the Hintertux Glacier, and you have the makings of a jolly good skiing holiday.
The glacier is open year-round and the highest slopes reach 3,050m. The glacier skiing here is more challenging than you might expect, with a couple of gnarly black runs. Otherwise, there's red runs perfect for carving your way down if you're a progressive intermediate.The villages of Lanerbach and Voderlanersbach have been connected by high-speed lifts to nearby Mayerhofen dince 2001, and they are a 20-minute free bus ride to Hintertux. The resort of Zillertal is not far away.

To find out more, see

5. Saas Fee, Switzerland

You can pretty much bet on there being good snow at Saas Fee both for the early-birds and in the late season, too.
Most of the runs are at high altitude - between 2500m and 3500m, and there's a glacier. Saas Fee is perfect for beginners or early intermediates because of the wide, mellow groomed pistes, which are good for progression, and also enjoy the pretty, traditional village and host of other activities available. Advanced skiers, though, may feel limited by the lack of variety of ways to get doen the mountain, as there are only 100km of runs, and the glacier makes a hunk of off-piste off-limits due to dangerous crevasses.


6. La Plagne, France

Not so well known for its off-piste skiing, the untracked heaven off the Bellcote beckoned tantalisingly in the first week of the season last year when I was staying at Belle Plagne.
This could be one good reason for adventurous intermediates skiers to go to La Plagne, and also most of the on-piste stuff lies over 2,000m and it north-facing, keeping the snow fresher for longer. La Plagne consists of several villages, from the traditional to the purpose-built - but even the most recently-built resort, Belle Plagne, is attractive. La Plagne is linked with Les Arcs to form the huge Paradiski area.


7. Cervinia, Italy

On the other side of the Matterhorn to Zermatt, Cervinia is located in a snow trap, and gets more abundance of the white stuff.
The advantage of basing yourself at Cervinia, a high resort at 2,050m is direct access to the glacier at Klein Matterhorn, where you can take in several cruisy runs. On the whole, the skiing on this side of the border consists of mile after mile of well-groomed, flattering red runs, and there's some easy off-piste, but if you're after some more challenging bumps or powder, you can head over the Zermatt.

To find out more see montecervino.it

© copyright Chamonix Promotion - Maison du Tourisme

8. Chamonix, France

Chamonix is a mountain town with one hell of a reputation for free-riding.
In the chairlift queue you might see hardcore ski-mountaineers with ice-axes, ropes and crampons as well as their fat skis. The skiing is dispersed among the surrounding mountains, the highest of which is The Aiguille du Midi at 3,840m. For the Aiguille cable car you can access the famous Vallee Blanche, which is a long off piste route through stunning glacier scenery. Other mountains worth checking out for off-piste with a guide are Tete de Balme, and Grands Montets, le Brevent and la Flegere. Snow-wise, at high altitudes the snow is good, but as Chamonix is down at 1,035m, lower slopes can get patchy, especially when the warmer weather kicks in in Spring.


© copyright Kur- und Verkehrsverein St. Moritz

9. St Moritz, Switzerland

From the glitzy town of St Moritz you can ski at high altitudes on the Diavolezza and Corvatch glaciers, up to 3,303m.
If the conditions are right, you can also take a guided off-piste tour down the Monteratsch glacier down to a railway station for a train that takes you back into St Moritz. As you'd expect for a glacier-moulded landscape, the scenery is incredible. The mountains surrounding St Moritz tend to be fairly snow-sure, and because of the high altitude, when it storms, it snows. As you would expect for such an upper-crust resort, the snowmaking and grooming are excellent, just in case there's a bit of a dry spell.


10. Lech/Zurs, Austria

Lech isn't quite as flash-with-cash as St Moritz, but it is one of the most well-endowed Austrian resorts in terms of snow.
It gets almost double that of St Anton, and Zurs gets half again on top of Lech's snowfall. Lech tots up to an average of 8m between December and March. No wonder, then, that Lech is a popular with freeriders of the one and two planked varieties. There's also a lot to discover on-piste, especially some cruisy to challenging red runs for intermediates to tackle, as Lech and Zurs are linked in to the Arlberg ski area, which has 276km of runs.

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