[Closed] Ski resorts for beginners

whistler - seriously - every mountain is navigateable from top to bottom on easy [green/blue] runs 🙂

I've only been skiing once, and went to Canazei in the Dolomites. It was great, and there seemed to be plenty of runs suitable for novices. It's on the Sella Ronda, so if you feel like being more adventurous there's loads to go at 🙂

Whistler can be expensive if you're a first timer. I would recommend sticking to Europe, to be honest.

Late season? Well, it depends on the resort really. I was in Serre Chevalier in mid-March last season. There was enough snow up high, bu skiing back to the village would have been impossible for a beginner (Green runs were all washed out below the treeline)

This is a really good place to start - http://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/features/top-tips-for-beginner-trips/

I'd also recommend booking a package if you're beginning. Getting everything from one place is a lot easier if you don't really know what you want/need. Crystal or Neilson would be my tip for that.

I went snowboarding for the first time a few years ago to Neustift in Austria and snowboarded on the Stubai glacier.

It was excellent and there seemed plenty to choose from in terms of difficulty of slope.

We stayed here:

http://www.schoenherrhaus.at/winter/en/wohnen/appartements.html

There are regular buses up to the glacier, but we had a hire car which made it a bit more convenient.

Whistler can be expensive if you're a first timer. I would recommend sticking to Europe, to be honest.

Agreed. It's a great resort - but a lot of money and travel for the limited use a beginner will get from it.

La Rosiere in France is really nice and has lots of easier slopes.

Anywhere in France, all the big resorts have buckets of motorway-style blue runs that are fantastic for newbies.

Or, as someone has said, Canazei in Italy. I went there with my newbie GF and she loved it. Cheaper than France too, and a nice town.

Most resorts cater for inexperienced skiiers. Its normally the case IME that the majority of resorts have Green and Blue routes but lack difficult technical slopes so its the better skiers that have to look hardest.
France is good as the snow tends to be very good and ice and lack of snow on lower slopes are the most difficult for learners. I learned in Montgenevere and conditions were poor which made it difficult on the learner slopes but going to Les Arcs the following year I was skiing much more difficult slopes faster simply because the conditions were so much better.

Avoid France unless you want to be flattened by a Frenchman - to be fair, there are exceptions, and as you are a beginner they is the chance to consider small resorts and avoid the popular large linked resorts. You simply don't need massive extent when starting out. Small resorts are quieter and cheaper.

Probably the nicest place I went to early on was La Thule in Italy, which has a link to La Rosierre in France. Most runs are very moderate, the snow is usually nice, and it only got busier on the weekend when the residents of Torino arrived. Don't know what the quality of instruction is like though.

Would also recommend the 'relatively' cheaper La Thuile (link to La Rosiere) for a beginner all in one package.

Hope you have a good trip wherever you go 🙂

You'll find the accident record in France is no worse or better than its neighbours, especially if you present the data per 100 000 skier days. The biggest cause of mortality is avalanches which mainly concern ski mountaineers and riders (both boarders and skiers). My local resort has a protected area for beginners away from the main runs. If you are worried about being run into but some fat incompetant that learned to ski in his twenties avoid resorts frequented by... .

As someone said above you won't go too far wrong since most resorts have plenty for beginners to go at. However I would avoid Les Deux Alpes; the mountain gets steeper as you get closer to the village, so you end up on the harder runs at the end of the day. Not ideal for beginners. Alpe D'Huez on the other hand will give you plenty to go at all within easy reach of the village. Ditto for many/most of the La Plagne resorts, any of the Trois Vallees resorts, Flaine, Avoriaz...so many to name really. Personally I prefer the "ski-to-your-door" convenience of the purpose built French resorts, but of the Italian ones Cervinia is worth a look and my folks always rave about the Sella Ronda area mentioned above.

The key point is if you are thinking of going late season you should go high. I usually go Jan/Feb time but the few times I have been in mid-March things are generally starting to get a bit slushy if not patchy. That should be your main decider...

Bit harsh on stilltortoise there, Edukator! 😉

lol

My ski apprenticeship was spent in my ickle kiddie walking boots strapped to some tiny plastic skis, following my Dad down whatever he went down and wiping the blood off my nose whenever I fell. Not far to fall when you're a little nipper.

I was an EXPERT by my twenties I'm telling you, an EXPERT 🙂

Depend when you are planning on going. But i would recommend going to Tignes/Val d'isere. It is a huge resort with heaps of runs for beginners as well as steeper more technical runs. It is at high altitude, meaning that i you plan on going later in the season there should still be plenty of snow as well. Would you be driving out or flying? It is just 4 hours from Geneva so not too bad distance wise at the other end either.

Passo Tonale in italy is apretty good resort for complete beginners, as the name suggests it's in a mountain pass so the slopes nearest town are quite shallow and they get steeper as you get further away. Bit limited for those who are a bit more confident though

When my sister in law leart to ski her requirements were:
Ski in, ski out - When you're tired at the end of the day you don't want to have to get onto a crowd bus or walk for 20 mins
Be "pretty" - because it makes a difference to overall impressions
Blue/green slopes that are low - For some reason she got spooked on runs higher in the mountain even though she skied harder ones int he valley
Nice bars and restaurants just off the piste - A break for a vin chaud or a hot choc is always nice
Good food and wine in the evening - There is nothing better after a tiring day on the slopes than a vat of tartiflette and a bottle of red.

Take this info to snowheads.com and see what they suggest. We liked Ruka in Finland as a beginners destination but it was very cold. It also felt like a winter holiday with skiing rather than a full blown ski holiday which may well appeal.

Tignes, Meribel, Les Arcs, La Plagne, Flaine, would spring to mind.

Andorra (maybe pas de la casa) is good for beginners, but any experienced folks in your group may get a little bored.

Last year I went skiing for the first time - Kreischberg in Austria. Small resort so ideal for groups of mixed ability who want to split up and meet up at lunchtime, nice open and wide blue runs, fairly quiet, not too high up so it was mild and sunny with perfect visibility and as a bonus the beer was cheap.

At risk of being considered a ski-pleb I'll add a +1 to Tignes. The first lift is free so you won't need to buy a pass for the first day (or two), there's a free bus if you can't handle the blues to get between the sectors, you can have a go at X-C skiing on the lake and there's a swimming pool for the end of the day.

Montgenevre in France RIGHT on the border with Italy , went 2 yrs running and love it there (The missus loves the wider runs down from the top on one side as they're not steep and bloody wide!)
An average of 300 days of sunshine and great snow too, very quiet little village and has the best pizza restaurant bar none ...
You can ski in and out of Italy really easily but some runs are a little bit more techy over that way .
http://www.go-montgenevre.com/?gclid=CMSf0tPIw60CFYEmtAod-kAKBg

I do get midly amused that when someon asks for a resort for beginners, the expensive mega resorts crop up time after time. Just cos *you* went there and liked it, doesn't mean it's suitable for anyone asking about ski resorts. Don't get me wrong I love the Espace Killy, but a beginner doesn't need 200km of pistes and a €200+ lift pass

Perhpas because the "mega resorts" have something for everyone (including non-skiers) and do their best for beginners in the hope they'll be faithful clients in the future. Once you've got confident enough on the free beginner's lift you can buy the Tignes lift pass rather than the Espace Killy one. It's the same price as my local resort which has about 1/10th of the pistes, requires a lift to get to the beginners area and has an "opération ville morte" every evening.

The "mega-resorts" were built in the most suitable places, simple as.

Both La Rosiere and Montgenevre are ski in, ski out and neither are very crowded, also both very high (circa 1800m) so good for snow.

nbt look at the OP, already doing lessons and looking to go in late March/early April. It is understandable to reccommend a big snowsure area with a good lift system. In my experience beginners who are interested in other sports tend to progress quite quickly and enjoy being able to take big motorway pistes around the larger areas - skiing over to another village etc. Yes there are lots of nice smaller areas around but there is a reason the big ones are popular - they are good.

[i]Don't get me wrong I love the Espace Killy, but a beginner doesn't need 200km of pistes and a €200+ lift pass [/i]

Fair point, but you don't usually have to buy the 'big' pass, you can normally get a resort one. And the bigger (especially French) resorts often allow you, even as a beginner, to ski at the top of the mountains, rather than being 'stuck' next to the resort/village, as can happen with smaller places.

Tignes, Meribel, Les Arcs, La Plagne, Flaine

These are near the top of my list for places for beginners to avoid Sorry to be controversial!

Thanks for all the suggestions, they're much appreciated. I've got a better idea of where to start now. Ideally I'd like a resort with linked runs, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew - I'm not the best at knowing my limitations.

I'm hoping to get a lot more time in on the indoor slope and I seem to making progress with every visit. I know there's no substitute for the real thing but I'm hoping it will stand me in good stead and prevent me having to waste time on the really basic stuff.

Do the slopes generally get more difficult to negotiate later in the season, or is it just a case of having a shorter run?

Only been to andora, (soldeu) but cant recommend it enough. at the time it was the best value for money destination.
We had lessons which made the holiday, met loads of people & all the instructors were in bands, singing every night so was never stuck for entertainment.
If we go again we will have lessons again at a higher level.
Best holiday we've had!

Has anyone been to any of the Eastern European resorts in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland etc?

If you can think of any objective criteria why a beginner should avoid that list go ahead, Buzz. I've never been to Flaine but can't think of any reason a beginner should avoid the others.

Objuective criteria might include:

button lifts, old generation chairs or those daft bar things they still have in some small resorts.

Long queues on easy runs which you still have in some small resorts with slow lifts.

No "tapis" ( conveyor belts) for kids.

No easy way down into the resort. True of Val and parts of Chamonix but not those on Shandy's list.

Requirement to buy a full pass to use beginner lifts (Tignes and Val are free).

Reosrts have been closing still nearly fully open as Spring snow has been good quality and plentiful in recent years, unlike early season snow. My local resort always opened in November 20 years back but now relies on artificial snow to open for Christmas.

I've never been to Flaine but can't think of any reason a beginner should avoid the others.

Went to flaine last February with the wife. She started the week as a nervous beginner and ended the week boarding icy reds.

They have a lot of snowmaking which helped massively the week I was there. Gondolas from the village to the top of the mountain which was nice and easy ish blues all the way down.

Not much else to do there though...

Forgot to mention that a bit of nightlife wouldn't go amiss 😉

Don't go to Flaine then.

Flaine is also hideously ugly.

My tip would be Serre Chevalier. Mainly because I love it myself! But, really good beginner slopes, especially in Villeneuve (Serre Che is a string of little villages along a valley). Also in Villeneuve is the best ski school you will ever find - http://www.ski-school-connections.co.uk/

Nightlife in Serre Che isn't bangin' phatt choonz and wikkid skiffle and bass, blud, but more some great bars (Loud as you like at La Grotte or the Station) and some more refined bars (great Piano bar in Chantemerle)

Pretty tree lined skiing, plenty of snow-cannons when it's a bit warmer and, 300 days of bluebird sunshine a year! 8)

Les gets

Tignes, Meribel, Les Arcs, La Plagne, Flaine

These are near the top of my list for places for beginners to avoid Sorry to be controversial!

Why? They're all snow-sure, good lift systems, loads of wide-open pistes, good kids facilities and ski-schools, plenty of ski-in-ski-out accommodation.

If nightlife is a factor then probably Meribel or Tignes. Deux Alpes isn't quite as good a beginners resort but does have good nightlife. Val has good nightlife but the beginner-friendly skiing is slightly less accessible to beginners than Tignes.

I would steer clear of the pyrenees at the moment, especially if you're a beginner. Veer off the pista and you'll be skiing down the grass.

I would say Flaine is o.k for beginners, there are a couple of free poma lifts in the village.
However Passo Tonale or Folgarida, both in Italy would be suitable, they have fantastic pizza palours too.

One thing, please remember the rules of the piste, for safety, don't stand in the middle, or under the brow of a hill and always look before setting off. I actually told our Chalet guide off (in a nice way of course) for stopping our group bang in the middle of a 3 way piste.

March can be hit and miss for snow in the alps, icy mornings, turning into spring slush by lunch time is quite common, but with a few lessons, it's easy to learn how to ski all kinds of terrain and conditions.

Having fun is the main thing.

There's snow Cani', but it's somewhat hard off-piste. Three Spanish skiers died over the weekend having fallen over and gathered speed before sliding into woodland and hitting trees. I gave up, tiptoed back down and watched telly.

"chalet guide"

#tuts and phones "inspection de travail"

Why? They're all snow-sure, good lift systems, loads of wide-open pistes, good kids facilities and ski-schools, plenty of ski-in-ski-out accommodation.

Because they are:

* very very busy which personally I find intimidating, even dangerous, and I'm not a beginner
* rip off prices
* expensive lift passes which a beginner will not get good use out of
* lacking any character

Ouch Edukator, where was that? Ski week with school at La Molina week after next, i'm crossing everything for snow. Webcams are showing narrow white strips snaking down the hills.