10 RESORTS YOU NEED TO SKI THIS WINTER
The last two winters were a disaster for skiers and ski resorts alike for obvious reasons, but there have been plenty of developments in the mountains over the past 18 months to ensure that the coming season is a cracker. Here’s a selection of what’s new in Europe and North America this winter
Words Alf Alderson
01 FRANCE
Les Arcs/Vallandry
A new, eco-friendly 10-seat gondola has replaced the old chairlift in Vallandry and will whisk skiers from the village to an altitude of 2,138m in six minutes, from where they can access the entire Paradiski area. In addition, a photovoltaic panel on the roof of the arrival station will provide an impressive 50 per cent of the energy needed for the Les Arcs ski area by 2030. The station also has a system to retrieve heat generated by the lift machinery, along with a further system to collect and reuse rainwater and snowmelt. Clever stuff.
Don’t miss: The Malgovert (red) run, accessed via the Comborciere two-seater chairlift. It’s one of a few un-pisted pistes in Les Arcs, which means that the terrain is safe enough to be on the piste map, but the run itself is never groomed. It’s a great option for skiers looking to challenge themselves in a safe environment.
02 FRANCE
Val Thorens
From December a new cable-car linking Orelle to the centre of Val Thorens via Cime Caron will open, allowing both skiers and pedestrians from the Maurienne valley to access Europe’s highest ski resort. Orelle is an outlier of the enormous Three Valleys ski area and this new lift will provide access to Val Thorens without using the road, which is a long, often busy and – in bad weather – difficult drive. The journey time on the lift will be 45 minutes, which gives some idea of just how out on a limb Orelle has been up to now, and it will carry up to 2,500 people per hour.
Don’t miss: The Mauriennaise run in the Orelle sector, which has beautiful slopes flooded with sunshine. Leaving the Grand Fond cable car, follow signs to the Mauriennaise run, which is a long, rolling red run often void of crowds.
PHOTO C CATTIN
03 FRANCE
Les Deux Alpes
This winter sees a new cable car, the Super Venosc, opening in the Vallée Blanche area, while the Pierre Grosse cable car in the La Fée area, which was installed in January 2020, will reopen, with a new blue run descending from the top station (also called Pierre Grosse).
The lifts in Les Deux Alpes have been managed since December 2020 by SATA Group. Fabrice Boutet, the CEO of SATA Group, said: “SATA Group is investing €128 million in Les Deux Alpes over the next five years to redesign the ski area and invest in more modern lifts.”
Don’t miss: The mellow blues and excellent snow conditions up on the glacier. You also get stellar views from up here, spanning from Mont Blanc in the north to the Parc des Ecrins in the south.
PHOTO YOANN PEISIN
04 FRANCE
Les Menuires
The La Masse ski area above Les Menuires in the Three Valleys has been completely rejuvenated with one of the fastest and most efficient cable cars in the French Alps. Designed by Leitner, this ultra-modern installation starts in the resort to take skiers directly to the summit of La Masse at an altitude of 2,804m – for the techies that’s 3,318m in length, with a 1,050m difference in altitude and a speed of more than 25km/h. In effect this means that the time to reach the summit has been reduced by two-thirds, from a tedious 25 minutes with the old lift to a swift and speedy eight minutes with the new one, which has a total hourly capacity of 2,800 skiers.
Don’t miss: The pacey reds and thrilling blacks in the La Masse ski area, which trickle down from the 2,804m Pointe de la Masse. With north- and east-facing slopes these runs hold their snow beautifully.
PHOTO VINCENT LOTTENBERG
05 SWITZERLAND
Verbier
The Médran cable car took well-deserved retirement in spring 2021. The lift has been replaced by a whole new installation with 10-seat cabins, installed by Garaventa/Doppelmayr. It will have an initial flow of 3,200 people per hour (compared to the previous 1,800 per hour). The ski stations of Médran and Les Ruinettes have also had a makeover to better manage the flow of traffic and increase user convenience, and all the stairs will be replaced by escalators, a real boon when you’re in ski boots. Meanwhile, TechnoAlpin is upgrading the resort’s snowmaking system to ensure a snow guarantee from the very start of the ski season; this includes a new section at the bottom of the Pissevache slope in the Bruson area, which will be equipped with snowmaking on the lower section, while the junction with the blue Pissevanche piste will be improved to provide a better flow of skiers.
Don’t miss: The views from Mont Fort (pictured), the highest point in Verbier. On a clear day it is possible to see the Matterhorn, Dent d’Hérens, Grand Combin and Mont Blanc. If you're up for a challenge, descend via the black piste mogul field.
PHOTO VERBIER ST BERNARD
06 ITALY
Courmayeur
Improved snowmaking is also a big feature of new and continuing developments in Courmayeur Mont Blanc, again in conjunction with TechnoAlpin. The existing snowmaking system, in operation on more than 70 per cent of Courmayeur’s slopes, is to be modernised and extended over the next three years at a cost of €5.7 million, the company’s biggest ever Italian contract.
The first stage of the build began in the summer of 2021 and involved the installation of 6.7 km of water, power and data lines and the modernisation of 256 snow shafts, with the entire project scheduled for completion in 2023 – this will include the installation of three new pumping stations, a new compressor station, 11 km of pipelines and 181 new pit valves along with 145 new snow guns.
Don’t miss: The exhilarating descent from Cresta Youla all the way down to Dolonne – it drops 1,400 vertical metres. Thigh-burn guaranteed.
PHOTO LORENZO BELFROND
07 AUSTRIA
Salzburg
From this winter the new Panorama Link Gondola will connect the ski areas of Snow Space Salzburg (pictured below), Shuttleberg Flachauwinkl-Kleinarl and Ski
Paradise Zauchensee to provide an impressive 210km of snow-sure slopes accessed by 70 modern ski lifts and served by more than 85 mountain restaurants. The new link makes Snow Space Salzburg one of the biggest and most varied ski areas in Austria.
Don’t miss: The Snow Space Salzburg Challenge (snow-space.com), a fun ski challenge where you have to ski via eight selected ‘challenge locations’ in the entire ski area from Flachau via Wagrain to St Johann-Alpendorf and take a photo or video of yourself at each one.
08 NORWAY/SWEDEN
SAS will be flying direct to Scandinavian Mountains Airport from London Heathrow from 26 December, from where there’s quick and easy access to some of the best family skiing in Scandinavia at Trysil (Norway) and Sälen (Sweden). The new airport sits more or less midway between both resorts, each of which are less than an hour (depending on your driver!) from the ski hills; indeed, the closest ski lifts, on the edge of the Sälen ski area, are just 10 minutes from the airport, and it’s feasible to ski both resorts on a ski trip here since day trips are available between the two.
Don’t miss: Night skiing. Dark Nordic nights set in early here in this part of the world in midwinter, not long after lunchtime in fact, and so accordingly ski resorts offer vast floodlit areas of night-skiing several times a week. If you are lucky you might just get to ski under the Northern Lights, too.
09 CANADA
Lake Louise
One of Canada’s biggest ski areas opened new terrain at the West Bowl in 2020/21, which will be accessible to British skiers for the first time this winter. It’s the first new in-bounds terrain at the resort in 25 years, with a new quad chairlift accessing a fine range of intermediate, advanced, and expert terrain, following the resort’s policy of providing access to pretty much every level of skiing from every chair lift.
For those skiers desperate to get back on the slopes asap Lake Louise is a good option, since the first chair runs in early November – and the season extends to mid-May for those who don’t want to hang up their skis when spring arrives.
Don't miss: The men’s and ladies’ World Cup downhill runs on the front side of the mountain. These black diamond run are steep, wide and make for a truly exhilarating run. The iconic views of Lake Louise are unbeatable, too.
PHOTO CHRIS MOSELEY
10 USA
Big Sky
Big Sky Resort is embarking on a major chairlift upgrade, Swift Current 6, for the 2021-22 winter season. The new six-person, high-speed lift will be the fastest in North America and replaces the old four-person chair to increase uphill capacity by nearly 50 per cent; it features a weatherproof bubble and ultra-wide heated seats. This upgrade is the resort's next step in creating the most technologically advanced lift network in North America.
For skiers looking to escape the crowds, Big Sky is well worth checking out, since the resort claims that on an average day it offers two acres of terrain per skier along with an absolute minimum of lift queues (or ‘lift lines’ as they call ’em Stateside…).
Don’t miss: The Liberty Bowl to Mountain Mall run. As the longest groomer at Big Sky, this six-miler, accessed from Lone Peak, is a leg-burner descent.
PHOTO DONNIE SEXTON