Eye On Travel: High-de-High: Winter Sports holidays with Altitude

Find your inner Baumgartner at altitude

If you have a ski or snowboarding holiday booked then you will likely be obsessing about the snow conditions hoping that it will be perfect for you under clear skies before all melting for people coming the following week.

Felix Baumgartner memorably jumped out of a balloon from 39,000 metres in 2012 for reasons that escape me. If he was looking for guaranteed snow then he didn’t really need to go that far up. Here are some snow sure high altitude resorts you can rely on.

Ah Mr Skier, I’ve been ex-spectre-ing you

Austria is typically associated with lush valleys and chocolate box style villages. Not so at high altitude Sölden. With two glaciers, lots of shiny new fast lifts and an extensive area it’s no wonder the US Ski team train here during the European race season.

With its new found fame due to starring in the James Bond film, Spectre, Sölden is finally getting a name amongst the UK market. On the plus side, it’s less than an hour’s transfer from Innsbruck. On the negative side, its musical tastes are derived from local resident 'Hey Baby' DJ Otzi.

ABOUT: Sölden has 33 lifts covering 145km of runs between 1,350m-3,250m
GO THERE: Innsbruck is the nearest airport and the season runs from October -May

Tignes - looks best from a long way away

Resorts in France are higher than many in Austria due to different weather patterns. Many are purpose built resembling NCP car parks and look their best from the top of a glacier.

Tignes could certainly do with a visit from Sir Norman Foster but when the conditions are good, who cares. The Grande Motte glacier tops the Espace Killy area which includes more sophisticated Val d’Isère.

ABOUT: Espace Killy has 88 lifts covering 300km of runs between 1,550m-3,455m
GO THERE: Chambéry is the (not very) nearest airport. The season runs from October-May

Val Tho-runs: lots and lots of them

If that’s not big enough an area, then stay in France and head to the fabled 3 Vallées area. The highest resort base in Europe is Val Thorens in the world's largest lift linked area so this should keep you busy.

The above average nightlife makes up for its lack of charm but if you’re looking for tree lined runs, go elsewhere - this is open bowl territory that brings out the sense of humour failures in poor weather conditions.

ABOUT: The 3 Vallées area has 180 lifts with 600km of runs between 1,260m-3,230m
GO THERE: Chambéry is the nearest airport. The season runs from November-May

The Matterhorn: modelled on Toblerone

So where is the highest skiable area in Europe then? That honour goes to Zermatt in Switzerland. The Klein Matterhorn (that’s not even big one) is at a breathless 3,820m. It’s so high you can ski into Italy to linked resort of Cervinia. No passport required. Yet.

Zermatt is not easy to get to (no cars allowed), not well linked (trains and big cable cars) and not wallet friendly. But it is amazing and everyone should go there at least once for the scenery, the vertical and the mountain restaurants.

ABOUT: Zermatt has 35 lifts with 200km of runs between 1,620m-3,820m
GO THERE: Geneva is the nearest airport. The winter season runs from November-April

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I have been to all of these destinations - ask me to find out more!
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