Europe 2025/26
- Thread starter ChrisC
- Start date
ChrisC
Well-known member
I don't know where you are going, but obviously glacier skiing could be in the mix. Zermatt can be accessed from Switzerland on the north side, and Cervinia from the south and west - especially from France once the passes open. Besides, the best summer skiing (until July) in Zermatt is actually --> Cervinia! By far! This is never written about and neglected by winter/ski writers. Cervinia had advanced intermediate/low expert terrain open with accessible couloirs till early summer. Zermatt had the classic Matterhorn views, some OK intermediate pitches, but lots of flats.
How did you route this trip?
It looks like the premier carriers of the Middle East are no longer reliable for the near future: Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar.
I have flown Turkish Airlines, and it's a steal for Europe! Especially skiing (they need to preserve (summer) year-round capacity, so winter seats are unfilled).
Coach (trans-Atlantic portion) includes Large Seats/Pitch (industry-leading), a Lacoste amenities bag (Economy Plus-like), 2 free checked bags at base fare (do not need to pull a James and argue ski bag and boot bag are one!), and get 1 or 2 free nights in Istanbul (if you want. It's definitely one of Europe's or Asia's Top 10 Cities, not a Dubai (i.e. Miami/Dallas/Houston) Shopping Mall!). More importantly, its winter passenger occupancy rate is so low that you get a full row or an empty middle seat to yourself. Food is excellent, much above average.
We’ve skied Cervinia and Zermatt. The plan was not to take skis or do any novelty skiing but because winter is really hanging on I’m flirting with the thoughts of skiing at Duex Alpes again.
This trip was to replace a trip that got cancelled in March just gone. We were flying via the Middle East and operation Epic Fury resulted in the non adventurous people at Qatar airlines cancelling our flights. To be fair there were bombs being lobbed at our stopover airport in Doha.
We rebooked flying with Singapore. We’ve had only good experiences with them so far.
The unusually cold weather has me rethinking our plans to be honest. We’re also booked to go to the Dolomites and Slovenia and Croatia in September for hiking so it won’t kill us if this hiking trip doesn’t happen.
I guess we could go check out the Mediterranean and foothills nearby including Verdon Gorge. Or maybe we could go to Spain as we haven’t been there before. Or Corsica even…..