You may have heard: the past six weeks have been — for the most part —
magnificent ones for skiers and snowboarders in the Alps.
It’s been consistently cold, and the western Alps in particular have benefited
from regular top-ups of snow. It’s hard to remember such a seamless run of
top-notch conditions.
If you fancy joining the fun, but haven’t booked a ski holiday yet, you’ll be
glad to know there’s still plenty of time — especially if you aim for a
resort with lots of skiing above 2,500 metres.
High-altitude resorts such as Tignes and Val Thorens, in France, Cervinia, in
Italy, Obergurgl, in Austria, and Zermatt, in Switzerland, really come into
their own in March and April, when the strengthening sun can turn lower
slopes slushy.
Unless you’re planning to travel over the Easter holidays (which cover three
weeks, from March 27 to April 17), you should be able to bag a discount if
you’re not too picky about where you stay and book within two weeks of your
departure. Currently, however, it’s the upmarket chalets that are being
discounted most vigorously — with the final price of the holiday often as
low as £500pp.
Among the most eye-catching deals currently on offer is £350 off a week in one
of the upmarket chalet-apartments at Aspen Lodge, in Val d’Isère, France,
with Ski Solutions (020 7471 7700, www.skisolutions.co.uk).
It now costs £899pp, half-board, including flights and transfers. Snow
Finders (01858 466 888, www.snowfinders.co.uk)
has £300 off the chalet-hotel Moris, also in Val d’Isère, which now costs
£495pp, arriving on February 28.
If you’re looking for something really cheap, consider letting an apartment
from a self-drive, self-catering specialist such as Erna Low (0845 863 0525, www.ernalow.co.uk),
Interhome (020 8780 7789, interhome.co.uk)
or Ski Collection (0844 576 0175, skicollection.co.uk).
Crystal (0871 231 5659, crystalski.co.uk)
is also offering cheap flats at the moment — for example, it has a week at
Les Bergers Belambra complex, in Alpe d’Huez, France, for £215pp, arriving
February 20 and including flights and transfers.
Families in search of an Easter holiday starting on March 27 or April 3 should
book now if they want to travel with a family-skiing specialist — there’s
not much left. Esprit Ski (01252 618300, www.espritski.com)
has a week at the lovely chalet Corniche, in Tignes, France, for £1,079pp,
half-board (£540pp for children aged 2-11), arriving on April 4 and
including flights and transfers.
There’s more availability for the week starting April 10: Family Ski Company
(01684 540333, familyski.co.uk) has
room in its chalet Claudia, in Les Menuires, France, for £699pp, half-board
(children £537), excluding travel. The nearest airport is Chambery, served
by Flybe (0871 700 2000, flybe.com), Jet2
(0871 226 1737, jet2.com) and Snowjet (snowjet.co.uk).
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