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Weekend Skiing in Europe
The last few years has seen an explosion of flights to gateway airports in the European Alps. Where flights land, transfer companies soon follow, so it's as easy to get the rest of the way. Transfers are usually included in weekend ski holiday packages, but some of you prefer to book your ski accommodation, flights and transfers independently. Finding cheap flights online is easy enough but finding resort accommodation is trickier, with many online searches leaving you at the bottom of the valley, a long way from the action so it's worth checking best deals offered by specialist tour operators such as Skiweekends.com
Airports and nearby ski resorts
Geneva lies within easy reach of several key resorts and ski areas, such as Chamonix, Morzine, La Clusaz and Megève. New flights via Snowjet.co.uk to Sion make it easier to get to the Swiss region of Valais for weekend ski trips to Crans-Montana, Leukerbad, Nendaz, Saas Fee, Verbier and Zermatt.
Zurich airport is within easy reach of Swiss resorts in Graubunden including Arosa, Davos-Klosters and Laax. Zurich is also convenient for Brandnertal, Bregenzerwald and Montafon in the Vorarlberg region of Austria, where you will find plenty of good skiing and affordable accommodation, while Innsbruck in the Austrian Tirol is convenient for Mayrhofen, Sőll, Solden and St Anton.
It's easy to overlook France's regional airports: Grenoble (for Alpe d'Huez, Les Sept Laux and Villard de Lans), Chambéry (for Les Trois Vallées and Paradiski) and Nice (for Isola 2000, Auron and Valberg). These resorts are used to catering for the local weekend skiers, so it's often easier to find somewhere to stay.
The closest airport isn't always in the same country: Milan is nearest to the Swiss resort of St. Moritz (two hours) and also close to Monterosa, while resorts close to Turin include Cervinia and Sestriere. Memmingen airport in Germany is nearest to Lech-Zurs (currently there are no flights to Friedrichshafen from the UK), but Zurich airport is not much farther away and offers more flight times as well as a choice of airlines.
Airport transfers
Splashing out on a helicopter transfer rewrites the geography, putting almost anywhere within reach, at surprisingly good rates (for the pilot, at least). Next quickest and unbeatable value with a full load is car-hire, with car rental companies at all of airports. If you land at Geneva, beware the cheaper French-side rentals which don't include the Swiss motorway vignette (essential whichever direction you're heading in, for all but top multi-lingual navigators); Swiss car rentals also come fully equipped for winter with snow tyres/chains (by law), so you don't need to book them as extras.
Switzerland is best for rail transfers, with stations frequently in resort centre or linked by excellent public bus connections. Though not usually as quick as road transfers, Swiss public transport is incredibly easy: train platforms are within a few minutes trolley-push of the airport luggage carousels, and services are ultra-reliable and comfortable enough to make an excellent start and end to your holiday. Rail transfers can usually be booked online at cut-prices a day or two before travelling.
Finally, a growing number of transfer specialists offer online booking and a range of services, with bus and minibus transfers to many of the major resorts - an excellent option if you don't want to hire a car, though relatively expensive and at risk of group delays when more than one flight is being met. Less popular routes at obscure times are also covered, but in practice they are simply private taxi rides - fine for a reasonable group size but outrageous for small numbers. If you can bear public transport, buses run to the more popular European resorts from the airport or the nearest big town - with connecting services between the airport and the town.
Ski extras
Check the weather forecast before you leave and fine-tune your kit: knowing it will be minus 20 degrees Celsius adds a couple of kilos to your baggage that you can ditch if it's set fair. Weather forecasts for the next 3 to 4 days should be sufficiently reliable, and you can always buy or rent what you need in resort, if necessary. There's only one essential piece of baggage for weekend ski trips: your ski boots. Fanatics take them as hand-luggage, fruitcakes actually wear them onboard, but ski carriage costs and transfer-hassle make ski rental a good bet (treat it as a chance to demo new skis or snowboard) and save on in resort prices by pre-booking your ski rental and other ski extras online before you go.
Weekend ski accommodation
Many hotels have weekend rates, typically the same as high season rates. Keep in mind that many hotels and apartment agencies are still reluctant to cater for short stays in anything but the lowest season. Book early and get written confirmation to ensure that they really will hold the room for you. Try to end your weekend on a Sunday - rather than on a Monday or Tuesday. That way you don't cut across two rental weeks and you're more likely to find somewhere to stay. A short break does not have to be taken over a weekend - hoteliers will gladly take a mid-week stay.
It's essential to book well ahead for the more popular periods of the season - or be prepared to wait until the very last minute. Bookings for large groups should also be made as far ahead as possible. Many places initially reluctant to commit to anything less than a week’s booking will be willing to take a last minute booking if they still have rooms available, so it can be worth calling again.
Weekend ski tour operators
SkiWeekends.com are the experts for Les Trois Vallées, Chamonix, Courmayeur and Zermatt and there are many other ski resorts within easy reach.
Christine Ottery