Finding an alternative ski holiday


If you search ‘alternative ski holiday’, you’re going to find lists of less common ski and snow sports destinations  –  little know off-grid Norwegian towns, remote Italian mountain villages and the fast growing resorts of Western Europe. And yes, that’s one alternative to the traditional European Alpine ski holiday but if you’re looking for something really different for your 2018 week in the snow, the are lots of options to consider.

Alternative Ski Holiday Destinations

As beautiful as Scandinavia is, there are a lot of options a little closer to home. If you pick your ski holiday based on ‘snow-sure’ and ‘ski-to-the-door’ icons in a glossy brochure or on a flashy ‘refine search’ website, you’ll have missed some stunning locations.

As part of the Winterized Project, this season we’ll be checking out many of the smaller village resorts that welcome tourist skiers and adventure seekers. You might not get more than a few day’s varied skiing in these places but you also won’t have to pay €8 for a Vin Chaud or have a thirty minute queue for a gondola.

You don’t even need a car/taxi for some of these places as they’re often just a little further down the valley from your Disney-esque resort and are connected by bus. And that’s not as big a deal as you might think. You never know what gems you might find if you’re prepared to venture outside of the pedestrianised mecca’s of the high European resorts.

[button title=”Try: Ardent, Portes du Soleil, France” titlecolor=”#ffffff” description=”On the cusp of the gigantic Portes du Soleil area, you can jump on a lift in Ardent right into the heart of Avoriaz – then the world’s your lobster. It’s a tiny little place (growing in popularity) but sufficiently off the beaten track to off the village feel.” textcolor=”#ffffff” textalign=”left” width=”100%” bgcolor=”#ff5f00″ align=”center” fonticon=”fa-binoculars”]

Alternative Activities

Who knew there was so much going on in the Alps this winter? Tourist offices and local business groups in many resorts are making a massive effort to attract a different type of visitor. People who might be looking for a little more than 6 days back to back skiing, can find a not-so-surprising luxury spa in every resort but if you get your timing right, you might get a whole lot more. From watching the Andros Trophy ice rallying championship to the the world cup of dog sledding, Le Grande Odyssee or the truly bonkers Yukigassen snowball fighting. Here’s our pick of the season.

Alternative Travel

Now you’re talking. We started the Winterized Project to try and find and collate all the information we were missing when we first started to research our forthcoming winter escapade. We never expected to find so many kindred spirits in the process or get the support we’ve received from all our amazing partners. It turns out there is an appetite for independent motorhome travel in the depths of winter!

There’s nothing wrong with jumping on the red-eye to Geneva to get in as much time on the slopes as possible but it’s not the only way. The snow train is an amazing experience, even if it is a little more sterile now than it was in the good old days of sticky floored bar carriages and cosy couchettes with total strangers.

However, in our eyes, you can’t beat a road trip. Whether you’re bombing it down the motorway to Bourg-Saint-Maurice in your daily driver with all your kit strapped to the roof or you’re trundling through the mountains the long way round, there’s nothing like a road trip.

If you’re interested in motorhomes; winter touring; road trips; skiing; snowboarding; or you just fancy finding out what ridiculous things happen to us int he coming months, please drop your email address in the box below and we’ll send you a message each time there’s a new blog.

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Hannah

Gobby, opinionated, professional ski bum. Co-founder of the Winterised Project.

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