I will be taking oldest (turned 18 today) to the Alps either week of March 6th or 13th this year. St. Anton historically is our favorite (skied waist deep there at least 5 times, got snowed in there w/ a toddler and twin newborns back in 2011 or 2012), but generally like it more in January when South facing terrain stays better longer so thinking about other zones for this trip.
Yes, agree. The lower resorts start to melt out by mid-March.
St. Anton/Arlberg is one of the (THE?) best, but higher/north-facing resorts would begin to outshine it after a winter of snow accumulation and high alpine terrain now available/covered.
What's everyone's goto method of last minute B&B reservations since in my dated experience many B&B's aren't necessarily online instant bookable?
Email/phone.
Any place with just a web presence, available perhaps only through the tourist office. (Meanwhile, online properties with reasonable rates/walking distance etc will be booked or charge higher rates). A lot of Germanic countries hate credit cards, exchange fees, etc and are still not online. At Anderamtt (attending Freeride Ski Camp 2020), none of the Millennials could find accommodations to stay extra days over the weekend with good conditions. I walked down Main Street and found 2 rooms within 30 minutes. A lot of cheaper, old-school, independent accommodations remain hidden in plain sight. Modern-day influencers cannot find them. They are handicapped by mobile applications and the Internet. Too many suffer trauma from human interaction and need the 'safe space' of a screen.
Typically, you can find something/anything you want in March. Especially midweek.
Verbier is perhaps the most difficult (even compared to St. Moritz/Zermatt), since it was never a valley of inns, but a more modern creation relying on chalets/relatively small. More reasonable places are disappearing.
In my past I have done the Glacier Rond w/ friends,
That's on the to-do list some year - Chamonix facing routes of Aiguille du Midi. My January/February trips are a bit too early for those routes. Need a March/early April visit.
Those are definitely a notch above most expert terrain.
Glacier Rond, Mont Blanc, Western Alps, Even though it is one of the classic Chamonix descents, the Glacier Rond is a technical itinerary that requires good ropework and experience with glacier skiing techniques.Be careful on the traverse to enter the initial couloir, as it’s often icy. Both...
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Posts about Glacier Rond written by rosshewittguiding
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My challenge is I find it only makes sense to get a guide if it has snowed in the last 4ish +/- days so I hate booking in advance. St. Anton is easy to roll into ski school and get one for the next day if it's looking good (did it last year w/ a buddy to show him Valluga Nord while in Arlberg w/ 82yr old dad!) and want to get further afield, not sure about say Verbier, Courmayour, Alagna, Engelberg to use a few examples. Any tips appreciated. Can you just email / roll into guides office the day before? Chances of having a guide free mid March during a weekday?
LOL - yes, I would like to book 4 days out as well.
You have some issues here:
Instructor - yes, anywhere with the Cash. But there is a downside: typically they will not take you on any glaciated terrain. St. Anton/Arlberg, Avoriza/Portes du Soleil, others - the terrain is not glaciated, so it's go anywhere. Just hiring a local - guide/instructor - who cares?
IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guides Association) certification is required for terrain like Verbier's Back of Mont Fort, Courmayeur's Mont Blanc/Pt Helbronner's Toula Glacier, Chamonix's Aiguille du Midi, etc. As you get into the higher western European Alps, a lot of the most desirable terrain will not be available by ski school. I was told specifically by Verbier ski schools/instructors: No, we will not be skiing Mont Fort off-piste in a private!
That said, if you are willing to pay the daily rate, guides could relatively easily be hired a couple of days out. I believe the Guide Office functions as a co-op for independent certified contractors (guides) and maintains uniform pricing and scheduling. Guides only want full days.
Again, near your ski date: all bets are off, and it's a bit of a free-for-all. Groups fall apart, people get sick/injured, trips change --> there is usually some availability. Not guaranteed, but often. Also, some guides may want to work, so they become available. Others accept half-day clients.
When skiing with UK friends/brother, I have hired private guides. I had to get on schedules weeks out at places like Val d'Isere. Chamonix - a week out. Done walk-ups (i.e., new snowfall) at places like Courmayeur and Verbier.
My rough estimate of a full-day guide (up to 8 persons - sometimes discounts are available for smaller groups):
Italy: $500-650
France/Austria: $650-800.
Switzerland: near $1k
My rough estimate of a full-day guided group per person:
$125-$175+
Note: If you hire a guide to do something that requires rappelling, they often can restrict groups to 2 per guide. (Chamonix - Cosmiques/Glacier Rond, Courmayeur - Toula). Merely extreme terrain is limited to 4 per guide. Again, guide relationship/friendship can affect group limits.
Groups are an entirely different animal. They are not always available. Can be found daily at St. Anton, Val d'Isere, Chamonix, and more sporadically at Andermatt, Engelberg, and others.
That said: my UK crew has hired a La Grave guide (friend) who knew the terrain; might have been an old friend/guide in training? (St. Anton? Val d'Isere?), and we were paying well below market. Anyways, he could make his own Genepi (mountain spirit), navigate, and hook people into a harness.
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Definitely one of my top couple routes along with Central off Cody in JH and a steep barrel or 2 in AK. Glad I did it pre-kids. Not sure we are looking to do that this time. I would love to get into the Cosmiques, which I'm sure these days requires a Rap. Back in the day if the snow was deep it didn't, but that was week by week. Skiing the full 9000 to town was one of the more amazing runs! Didn't enjoy the bushwack above the Mt. Blanc tunnel back to town. Wifey was on Brevent with friends as we did it and crossed pathes with Pat K. from old Powder Mag days who did the Rond the day before us in untracked pow!