Recent content by Weathertoski

So as has been alluded to above, the Dolomites is all about cruising on well managed pistes (arguably THE best snow-making in the world), hoping for sun, gawping at the jaw-dropping scenery and settling in for a long lunch. This area is superb at opening as much as is humanly possible on...

Yeah Les 2 Alpes would have had similar rain/snow limit to the Tarentaise. Serre Chevalier probably less intense precipitation and fractionally lower snow-line.

I love Serre Chevalier. Easily the best ski area in the southern French Alps, and close to the ultimate "weatherproof" resort. By this I mean it has a fairly solid snow record and a lot of trees for bad vis days, more than just about any other major high (ish) resort in France. Cheaper than the...

Shame you didn't have clear blue skies - the grandeur of the famous trio is overwhelming.

Just a quick one while I am on a rare visit to the forum. Zermatt cannot be convincingly placed in either the southern or the northern weather pattern box. It can, contrary to popular belief get a lot from the north-west but normally involving active, complex storms with warm sectors. When it's...

It's a reasonable point Tony, it could easily be on the list, but it does have some not insignificant weaknesses which cannot be ignored. These are 1) very erratic snowfall and 2) very rocky terrain by Alpine standards. These two factors combine, for off-piste aficionados at least, to make early...

I seem to remember a few signs, similar to road signs, with someone tumbling over a cliff, but not much I don't think! If have skied in the main bowl, especially top half, then revisited in summer (walking) you would be shocked!

Purely anecdotally I would say there are more avalanche incidents in Val Thorens than in Zermatt. Regarding whether you should count Orelle as a resort, a journalist friend of mine, actually you have met him Tony (Arnie Wilson), who has skied nearly 800 resorts,defines them by whether or not...

Great report and photos. Not sure if you were aware but one very serious point. The off-piste in the main bowl is riddled with cliff-bands and pot holes that has claimed a number of victims over the years, often very close to the pistes. Most famously a 7 year old child, a few years ago, who got...

I don't remember saying that! But if I did, some context is needed here. Overrated in the sense that both have poor snow records and not much to offer experts. In good snow, however, they are perfect for anyone looking for an extensive and scenic network of easy cruisers, exactly what their...

A few observations for anyone interested. Les Sybelles, as Tony will testify, is fairly extensive (even by Alpine standards) yet generally overlooked by the Brits, in part because it is downmarket compared to the Tarentaise resorts. They did a massive marketing push about 20 years ago but not...

I have only ever skied here in July (1992!). Sadly the summer season is getting shorter and shorter. 30 years ago there would be plenty of snow all summer. More recently, they have often struggled to stay open past early August and even then the conditions are often shocking by mid-July. In...

I often think of Auron as the best resort in the Alps that no one (at least here in the UK) has ever heard of. I can guarantee that 95% of keen skiers won't have. Weird, because as James and Tony confirm, it's a good, varied and not inconsiderable area only a short hop from a major airport...

Top resorts for expert skiers in the Alps depends a bit on what you are looking for but in no particular order, I would say St Anton, Andermatt, , Verbier, Zermatt, Chamonix, L'Espace Killy, (Val d'Isere/Tignes) 3 Valleys (Courchevel, Meribel, Val Thorens etc) Paradiski (Les Arcs/La Plagne), La...

The resorts of the Milky Way (e.g. Sestriere, Sauze d'Oulx), nearby Bardonecchia, the French Queyras (e.g St Veran, Abries) the upper Maurienne (Val Cenis, Bonneval sur Arc) and sometimes Val d'Isere/Tignes can all get clobbered by what I call the classic retour d'est. But in answer to your...