Favourite Resort
- Thread starter ejoy
- Start date
michael_bc
Active member
Laax.
the perfect pipe, the park, the backcountry, the parties, the treeruns, the snow, the people, etc.. etc...
runner up is Avoriaz 1100 mm cumulated snowfall past season and disgustingly huge skiing area.
the perfect pipe, the park, the backcountry, the parties, the treeruns, the snow, the people, etc.. etc...
runner up is Avoriaz 1100 mm cumulated snowfall past season and disgustingly huge skiing area.
freestyleskiin
Active member
ive only been to stowe, sugarbush, and whistler and whistler is def. the best
swTroyanchick
Active member
Zermatt or Are in sweden
SN0WBOARDER
Active member
iv'e never been there but park city looks sick
SkierJulie
Active member
Alta, UT. amazing terrain, amazing fluffy pow pow, no crowds, beautiful...the list goes on!
lineskier10
Active member
yep or snowbird or brighton, those are my top three and theyre all tied
SkierJulie
Active member
solitude is pretty nifty as well. snowbird has always been a shit show when ever i go there though.
hoodratz47
Active member
haa, TIMBERLINE LODGE> WHAT.. SUMMIT SKI AREA SECOND>> only true hood rats know about summit ski area
michael_bc
Active member
visit more places.
because no, no and no.
because no, no and no.
actrol1234567
New member
For reallio^
MrPantyDropper
Active member
snowbird on a pow day can be fun for the first 2 hours-then it gets cruddy..but solitude will always be my favorite.hold the fresh for weeks
$$SPINNERS$$
Active member
Castle Mountain, they always get tonnes of snow, huge bowls and no liftlines, about 2 hours from any major city
4frntSkier
Active member
willard
ok mec, I see you are clearly a big fan of zermatt. I've ridden there a few times- It's a sick place and the party scene is pretty mad now- maybe the equal of val d'isere. no way the zermatt park is as good as tignes- how many times have you ridden the sime course as gagnier, olenick, lolo favre etc? (tignes after airwaves). but even then, the espace killy isnt about park- unarguably the most lift served off piste in the world with some off the most famous itinaries- just look at any ski website and they'll agree...
don't get me wrong though- Zermatt is sick too- I would put in the top 5 overall worldwide
don't get me wrong though- Zermatt is sick too- I would put in the top 5 overall worldwide
michael_bc
Active member
easy.
Tignes-Val d'Isere is too crowded, not enough anual snowfall, far too many annoying british tourists, crappy parties, and the parks are terrible throughout the year. You are right it's not about the parks over there but the terrain is just a fraction of what you can get in other places, and it's tracked in 2 days. Besides in 10 years I've seen the area go from one of the best to an ugly tourist trap for brits and germans. Sad but true. And don't act like I don't know what I'm talking about I've done pretty much all the itineraries in Tignes and Val d'Isere, lift accessed and non lift accessed.
Your arguments are moot.
Most "lift accessed" freeride is obviously in Portes du Soleil with 37000 hectares vs 11000 in Espace Killy. On top of that Portes du Soleil receives almost twice as much annual snowfall compared to Tignes. And I could easily name 30 more places in the alps that have better lift accessed pow.
"how many times have you ridden the sime course as gagnier, olenick, lolo favre etc?"
Several times in Zermatt, Les Diablerets, in the Demonium back yard, in Laax, etc.. etc.. Heck, Candide almost raped me on the lift in Les Diablerets. And those are waaaaay better parks than in Val d'Isere, and that "thing" in Tignes is just unacceptable.
Don't put words in my mouth and compare to Zermatt. Zermatt is special. From your comments most people will agree that you don't know Zermatt.
If you wanna compare compare to Laax. Then the comparison is easy: the Laax parties have more style and are filled with hot swiss girls rather than annoying british tourists. The park is raising the bar in europe, the halfpipe is among the best in the world. It offers outstanding lift-accessed freeriding possibilities between 3000 and 1000 meters, some of which remain untracked for a week, it gets more and better pow, it's less crowded, etc.. etc.. But for good freeriding it's always better to look at the smaller resorts like La Clusaz, Engelberg, Disentis, etc.. etc..
Sorry to trash your opinion like this but it just ain't right to claim that tourist trap is the best resort in Europe that's just ridiculous. Ride more spots and one day you will agree with me.
Tignes-Val d'Isere is too crowded, not enough anual snowfall, far too many annoying british tourists, crappy parties, and the parks are terrible throughout the year. You are right it's not about the parks over there but the terrain is just a fraction of what you can get in other places, and it's tracked in 2 days. Besides in 10 years I've seen the area go from one of the best to an ugly tourist trap for brits and germans. Sad but true. And don't act like I don't know what I'm talking about I've done pretty much all the itineraries in Tignes and Val d'Isere, lift accessed and non lift accessed.
Your arguments are moot.
Most "lift accessed" freeride is obviously in Portes du Soleil with 37000 hectares vs 11000 in Espace Killy. On top of that Portes du Soleil receives almost twice as much annual snowfall compared to Tignes. And I could easily name 30 more places in the alps that have better lift accessed pow.
"how many times have you ridden the sime course as gagnier, olenick, lolo favre etc?"
Several times in Zermatt, Les Diablerets, in the Demonium back yard, in Laax, etc.. etc.. Heck, Candide almost raped me on the lift in Les Diablerets. And those are waaaaay better parks than in Val d'Isere, and that "thing" in Tignes is just unacceptable.
Don't put words in my mouth and compare to Zermatt. Zermatt is special. From your comments most people will agree that you don't know Zermatt.
If you wanna compare compare to Laax. Then the comparison is easy: the Laax parties have more style and are filled with hot swiss girls rather than annoying british tourists. The park is raising the bar in europe, the halfpipe is among the best in the world. It offers outstanding lift-accessed freeriding possibilities between 3000 and 1000 meters, some of which remain untracked for a week, it gets more and better pow, it's less crowded, etc.. etc.. But for good freeriding it's always better to look at the smaller resorts like La Clusaz, Engelberg, Disentis, etc.. etc..
Sorry to trash your opinion like this but it just ain't right to claim that tourist trap is the best resort in Europe that's just ridiculous. Ride more spots and one day you will agree with me.
Rosbif
Active member
Dude, the question was 'which is your favourite resort?', not which is best!!
If he prefers Tignes and Val, then he prefers Tignes and Val, nothing you say can change that.
I haven't been to Zermatt or Laax so I can't comment, but I probably prefer Espace Killy over Portes de Soleil because of how well the snow holds up and how little it rains, the top of Portes de Soleil is barely higher than Tignes village!!
If he prefers Tignes and Val, then he prefers Tignes and Val, nothing you say can change that.
I haven't been to Zermatt or Laax so I can't comment, but I probably prefer Espace Killy over Portes de Soleil because of how well the snow holds up and how little it rains, the top of Portes de Soleil is barely higher than Tignes village!!
michael_bc
Active member
Yeah you're absolutely right.. sorry for that.
You're off about the snow tho, and I'll tell you why. In the alps snow generally holds better around 2000m than at 3000m because it snows harder and there is less wind to blow the snow away. There's also a thing called Alpennordhang, resorts on the North-Western edge of the alps get a shitload more snow than the ones inside the alps like Tignes. It depends on luck too, but the past season Portes du Soleil consistently had a better snowpack than Espace Killy. From December till the end of April. Like they say in France, depertement 74 has the best snow, always has, always will. Avoriaz, La Clusaz, Flaine, Chamonix.
If you want it backed up with numbers for past season:
cumul Val d'Isere (1850m): 450 cm
cumul Avoriaz (1800m): 1100 cm
as for snowpack, Val d'Isere peaked this season at 195 cm in the village in the middle of March. Avoriaz peaked at 355 cm in the village.
But you gotta love the altitude myth that draws tourists away from the sweet spots.
You're off about the snow tho, and I'll tell you why. In the alps snow generally holds better around 2000m than at 3000m because it snows harder and there is less wind to blow the snow away. There's also a thing called Alpennordhang, resorts on the North-Western edge of the alps get a shitload more snow than the ones inside the alps like Tignes. It depends on luck too, but the past season Portes du Soleil consistently had a better snowpack than Espace Killy. From December till the end of April. Like they say in France, depertement 74 has the best snow, always has, always will. Avoriaz, La Clusaz, Flaine, Chamonix.
If you want it backed up with numbers for past season:
cumul Val d'Isere (1850m): 450 cm
cumul Avoriaz (1800m): 1100 cm
as for snowpack, Val d'Isere peaked this season at 195 cm in the village in the middle of March. Avoriaz peaked at 355 cm in the village.
But you gotta love the altitude myth that draws tourists away from the sweet spots.
ok, look. I'm just saying that in my view, the espace killy is the best ski area overall.
your missing the point about the most lift served off piste: sure the portes du soleil and trois vallees are bigger areas so of course they have more acreage. what i'm talking about is that espace killy has the most world class freeriding terrain, not just token slopes that aren't pisted.
In terms of total snow- your argument that more altitude is meaningless is bollocks: sure avoriaz got more snow this season, but year on year, tignes is probably the most snowsure resort in the alps. furthermore, the fact that it is so much higher may not mean more snow: what it does mean is the snow up there stays better for longer. In any case, I would be amazed if you found any respectable ski writer saying that avoriaz or laax has better terrain than val/tignes. i certainly haven't.
as for partying, you're dead wrong about val. true, at certain points (new year, half term and easter) the tourists invade. however, if you look past that, val is a hugely diverse melting pot of Scandanavians, English, French and Aussie saisonaires. as for all the terrain being tracked out: same point- during peak times most is true, but the sheer extent of the terrain means that with a bit of effort, the world class terrain is still fresh after a snowfall.
anyway, all i'm saying is that the area is in my view the most complete in the world. sure the park in laax is better, as is les deux alpes. BUT, if i were to go to north america to ride, I wouldn't go to mammoth, i'd go to whistler because although its park isn't as good, overall its better. the same applies to the espace killy when compared to park specialists like laax or freeride specialists like cham or engleberg. the only other resort that would challenge val under my criteria would be verbier...
just my opinion dude...
your missing the point about the most lift served off piste: sure the portes du soleil and trois vallees are bigger areas so of course they have more acreage. what i'm talking about is that espace killy has the most world class freeriding terrain, not just token slopes that aren't pisted.
In terms of total snow- your argument that more altitude is meaningless is bollocks: sure avoriaz got more snow this season, but year on year, tignes is probably the most snowsure resort in the alps. furthermore, the fact that it is so much higher may not mean more snow: what it does mean is the snow up there stays better for longer. In any case, I would be amazed if you found any respectable ski writer saying that avoriaz or laax has better terrain than val/tignes. i certainly haven't.
as for partying, you're dead wrong about val. true, at certain points (new year, half term and easter) the tourists invade. however, if you look past that, val is a hugely diverse melting pot of Scandanavians, English, French and Aussie saisonaires. as for all the terrain being tracked out: same point- during peak times most is true, but the sheer extent of the terrain means that with a bit of effort, the world class terrain is still fresh after a snowfall.
anyway, all i'm saying is that the area is in my view the most complete in the world. sure the park in laax is better, as is les deux alpes. BUT, if i were to go to north america to ride, I wouldn't go to mammoth, i'd go to whistler because although its park isn't as good, overall its better. the same applies to the espace killy when compared to park specialists like laax or freeride specialists like cham or engleberg. the only other resort that would challenge val under my criteria would be verbier...
just my opinion dude...
ShadyHillGroup
Active member
jackson hole, solitude
nealpgards
Active member
Park city or vail
johanblaze
Active member
alta/snowbird, jackson, mt. hood meadows/timberline.
mammoth doesn't even make the list.
mammoth doesn't even make the list.
