Europe 2025/26

ChrisC

ChrisC

Well-known member
I was speaking with my UK friends, primarily about Wimbledon - my MBA-friend got corporate tickets to the event (semi-finals, very jealous), but things turned to skiing.

They are thinking of two places for a 4-day Long Weekend late January/early February 2026:
  1. Les Deux Alpes/La Grave, France
  2. Engelberg (again)
Our friend Adam (from the Courmayeur trip 2023 & this year Engelberg 2025) took a gap year at Engelberg, and he knows everything/everywhere there. Just need him to get up to Andermatt one day. I think I will pay for a guided day that day.

Anyways, I am open to both of the above choices. Again, the combo of Engelberg/Andermatt is one of the top 5 Alps expert/off-piste areas (snow, terrain, ease). And it's been many years since La Grave (although late January is a bit too early for everything to be filled in). After this year, I've taken a liking to Les 2 Alpes and La Grave - it's always good.

For Americans/Canadians, Engelberg/Andermatt are most similar to BC resorts like Kicking Horse or Revelstoke - not huge, special, massive vertical, and generally significant snow.
 
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I’ll be in Japan late January and am really torn between France and Canada (Calgary) for very late March/early April as my second northern hemisphere snow trip for 2026.

I really want to check out the Maurienne Valley.
 
Sbooker said:
I’ll be in Japan late January and am really torn between France and Canada (Calgary) for very late March/early April as my second northern hemisphere snow trip for 2026.

I really want to check out the Maurienne Valley.
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I booked to go to Europe on March 21st. Milan specifically.
Qatar were having a sale yesterday. I got return flights from Brisbane with a stop in Doha for $1447Aud. (About 935USD). That has to be about the cheapest dollar per mile flight I’ve ever been on.
I’ll be looking to do some days with the Bureau Des Guides in Serre Chevalier (hoping for an excursion to La Grave), some days resort skiing with Kylie in Maurienne Valley and some days based in Cham or thereabouts so I can finally do the Vallee Blanche and check out Les Contamines.

If Europe has their worst season ever and they have no snow we’ll drive to Cinque Terre and head west from there to check out the French Riviera.
 
Tony Crocker said:
From Milan you can get anywhere in the Alps easily. Don't prebook hotels! The Cinque Terre was a great diversion on our trip in that time frame in 2002 over a bad weather weekend.
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I won’t be pre booking anything but my wife will be applying significant pressure to be somewhere French speaking.
 
Sbooker said:
I got return flights from Brisbane with a stop in Doha for $1447Aud. (About 935USD). That has to be about the cheapest dollar per mile flight I’ve ever been on.
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To provide me with a point of reference: the shortest distance between Brisbane and Milan -- known as the "great-circle distance" or "as the crow flies" -- is 16,600 miles. Between Newark and Milan is 4,040 miles, less a quarter of the distance from Brisbane. A decent cash fare for me is approx. $500 U.S., so on the dollar-per-mile scale, you got a great deal. What is a more typical fare for you to fly to Europe?

I'm sure you covered it at some point in the ski-air thread, but using mileage awards on one of the major airline alliances doesn't work for you?
  • Star Alliance: United, Lufthansa, Swiss, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Avianca, South African Airways, Turkish Airlines
  • oneworld: Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines
  • SkyTeam: Delta, KLM, Air France, China Airlines, Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic
 
jamesdeluxe said:
To provide me with a point of reference: the shortest distance between Brisbane and Milan -- known as the "great-circle distance" or "as the crow flies" -- is 16,600 miles. Between Newark and Milan is 4,040 miles, less a quarter of the distance from Brisbane. A decent cash fare for me is approx. $500 U.S., so on the dollar-per-mile scale, you got a great deal. What is a more typical fare for you to fly to Europe?

I'm sure you covered it at some point in the ski-air thread, but using mileage awards on one of the major airline alliances doesn't work for you?
  • Star Alliance: United, Lufthansa, Swiss, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Avianca, South African Airways, Turkish Airlines
  • oneworld: Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines
  • SkyTeam: Delta, KLM, Air France, China Airlines, Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic
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I often pay about $2100 for return to Milan, Geneva, Zurich, Munich, Paris. I’m really happy if it’s less than $2000.
This will make me sound like I’m not the right arse I actually am but I’m not really engaged in the loyalty points thing. I just book the cheapest decent flights I can and Kylie then occasionally uses the points for a later flight with that airline or converts the points to one of our domestic airlines and we use them for local flight. We’re going to Perth in October on points and Canberra at Christmas on points.
We most often fly Singapore to Europe. They are Star Alliance as is Virgin Australia.

Edit. Those $$ I’m referencing are AUD
 
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jamesdeluxe said:
SkyTeam: Delta, KLM, Air France, China Airlines, Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic
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There are other relevant members of SkyTeam. I have used China Eastern and Aeromexico personally. LATAM is not listed as part of SkyTeam, but Delta has owned 20% of it since May 2020 and mileage credit and awards are supposedly available.

LATAM is a major player in Latin America, so should be helpful in the future. SkyTeam has almost zero presence in the South Pacific, which is very annoying considering how often we travel there.
 
Sbooker said:
This will make me sound like I’m not the right arse
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I figured it out from the context but for posterity from Google: :icon-biggrin:

The phrase "I'm not the right arse" is a colloquial British English expression. It means that the speaker is not the appropriate person or is not the best suited for the task or situation at hand. It's similar to saying "I'm not the right person" or "I'm not the right one." The word "arse" is a British English term for "buttocks" or "rear end," but in this context, it's used as a slang term to emphasize the speaker's unsuitability.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
I figured it out from the context but for posterity from Google: :icon-biggrin:

The phrase "I'm not the right arse" is a colloquial British English expression. It means that the speaker is not the appropriate person or is not the best suited for the task or situation at hand. It's similar to saying "I'm not the right person" or "I'm not the right one." The word "arse" is a British English term for "buttocks" or "rear end," but in this context, it's used as a slang term to emphasize the speaker's unsuitability.
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lol. Tight. Tight.
 
Tony Crocker said:
SkyTeam has almost zero presence in the South Pacific, which is very annoying considering how often we travel there.
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Just dropped a few minutes ago, good for travel between August 27 and December 10.
1754320498124.png
 
ChrisC said:
For Americans/Canadians, Engelberg/Andermatt are most similar to BC resorts like Kicking Horse or Revelstoke - not huge, special, massive vertical, and generally significant snow.
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Engelberg/Andermatt are more reliable for snow conditions IMHO than Kicking Horse/Revelstoke. Mid-mountain Andermatt Gemsstock averages 346 inches. Revelstoke gets 368 about 1,000 feet below its summit. Kicking Horse averages 240 about 2/3 of the way up the hill. Long fall line exposures at Revelstoke are west and at Kicking Horse east. Gemsstock is at least plurality north facing. The premier off piste at Engelberg is about as perfectly north exposed as you can get.
 
This will affect mostly Tony and myself, it would seem helmet will be mandatory in Italy this upcoming season.
 
Tony Crocker said:
Engelberg/Andermatt are more reliable for snow conditions IMHO than Kicking Horse/Revelstoke. Mid-mountain Andermatt Gemsstock averages 346 inches. Revelstoke gets 368 about 1,000 feet below its summit. Kicking Horse averages 240 about 2/3 of the way up the hill. Long fall line exposures at Revelstoke are west and at Kicking Horse east. Gemsstock is at least plurality north facing. The premier off piste at Engelberg is about as perfectly north exposed as you can get.
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I am hoping my group chooses Engelberg/Andermatt again (vs. La Grave/Les Deux Alpes). Although what skier can say no to La Grave? However, although these Southern Alps areas had a good early season last year, it's not always the case, with coverage best by mid-late season.

As Tony points out, snowfall and exposure are very strong for the central Swiss resorts, and Andermatt, especially, is high and has valleys allowing for storms to roll in from almost any direction. The terrain - especially Andermatt - is

Furthermore, I bought this Epic Pass to use all over Austria, and Engelberg is only 4 hours from Solden to 'kick off' the Austrian tour.
 
Sbooker said:
Infiltration. Aosta falls.
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It makes sense for Aosta to be on Ikon since Zermatt and Chamonix are already on the pass.

Zermatt-Cervinia are one complex. And Courmayeur is always included on the Chamonix Unlimited pass. It would be awkward to partner with Vail.

Cervinia is moving ahead with 2 new S3 Lifts to ascend to Plateau Rosa. This is the only ‘non-modern’ part of the lift system; the rest has been upgraded to HS 6 or 4 sweaters.

snowbrains.com

“Cervino the One” Project: Matterhorn Ski Paradise Plans Dramatic Overhaul of the Connection from Cervinia, Italy, to Zermatt, Switzerland - SnowBrains

The Italian side of the cross-border ski area Matterhorn Ski Paradise has announced its biggest lift upgrade in decades, aimed at dramatically improving access from Italy to Switzerland. The ski area, which combines Zermatt on the Swiss side and Cervinia on the Italian side, is managed...
snowbrains.com snowbrains.com
 
I like the look and feel of Ikon's destination profiles. Interesting to note that they provide two key statistics that we've always struggled to find for European resorts: skiable acreage (they claim 3,802 for the entire region) and average snowfall per season (192 inches, which seems reasonable; however, where was it taken: at the base or mid-mountain?). I wonder where they accessed those figures.

1756337627542.png


This is a nice graphic showing the travel time between airport gateways to the target region. Funny that they don't bother to "translate" the code for Milan (MXP) for non-travel geeks.
1756338095640.png
 
jamesdeluxe said:
I like the look and feel of Ikon's destination profiles. Interesting to note that they provide two key statistics that we've always struggled to find for European resorts: skiable acreage (they claim 3,802 for the entire region) and average snowfall per season (192 inches, which seems reasonable; however, where was it taken: at the base or mid-mountain?). I wonder where they accessed those figures.

View attachment 47330

This is a nice graphic showing the travel time between airport gateways to the target region. Funny that they don't bother to "translate" the code for Milan (MXP) for non-travel geeks.
View attachment 47331
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I would have thought it would be larger than 3800 acres combined. Maybe it doesn’t include off piste areas???
 
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