UKH

I'm thinking of doing a ski season. Keen to avoid Chamonix and go somewhere different  so I'm looking to UKC for some some suggestions?

I wouldn't be working, with the aim of maximising skiing.

Looking at a three month trip.

Keen on ski touring specifically besides piste, and interested in areas with ice climbing.

Open to suggestions of areas anywhere in the world, especially places where you might be more likely to find ski/climbing partners.

Any ideas welcome : )

Canadian Rockies? Plenty of ski touring and a lifetime of ice climbing. Base yourself in Canmore to start, or buy a HI hostels winter season pass and move around. Easy enough to get partners, especially if you're not working, and there's often others doing the same thing at the wilderness hostels. Make a trip to Revelstoke, Nelson etc for powder touring.

It would be good to have a car though, not sure how easy it would be to buy one as a tourist. 

https://hihostels.ca/en/about/hostels/hi-wilderness-hostels/hi-wilderness-s...

Yeah I was going to suggest Banff or Canmore. Whistler would be very expensive. 

Definitely not Queenstown, fickle conditions and cost. . 

b

Never thought of the hostel idea, that's interesting thanks : )

Briancon?- Ski / climb Serre Che, La Grave, etc.

Bourg?

Innsbruck plus car.

Canmore plus car.

If you don't need to look for work, I'd say your choice will come down to what your main priority is - lift-served off-piste, touring or ice climbing. Here are a few more suggestions

1. Val D'isere/Tignes. Pros - probably the best place in Europe for lift-served off-piste. Good options for touring around the Chardonnet Bowl, tour du Charvet etc. Some reasonable valley ice cragging to be had as well. Cons - can get extremely busy and it's very pricey.
2. Niseko. Pros - the best place in the world for guaranteed powder and lots of opportunities for touring. I'm told there's a really good scene for picking up ski partners and there's a big Aussie/Kiwi community there so the language barrier isn't an issue. Cons - not much in the way of steeps if that's your thing and no opportunity for ice climbing.
3. Snowbird/Alta. Pros - maybe the second best place in the world for guaranteed powder. Loads of terrain to play with and some world-class ice climbing in Little Cottonwood canyon. Cons - very expensive lift pass and the approach road is supposed to be hell on a powder day if you're staying in Salt Lake City.

Wherever you go, you're sure to have a blast! 

Not fickle at all in December-March - it’ll be summer.

Only reading this out of jealousy , I was going to suggest la grave or Canada . A word of caution about Canada - if you do decide on going be very careful about visa requirements, look into them carefully and get all your documents in place and checked . I went on a four week ski  trip some years ago . Return ticket booked . Plenty of cash . Evidence of job in the uk . Car hire booked for the entire time .but we only had two nights booked in Vancouver as we  planned on moving around with the weather as  far as was practical .I was very neatly turned back at immigration because my then girl friend had flown in from New York a few days before to visit friends and they thought r that was suspicious . I was held at the airport for several hours and questioned several times . One of the questioners was really aggressive . This thread has made me remember sitting thinking that I was sick of this and that I  was going to tell them I didn’t want to cone to Canada anymore , And that I would rather spend my money in France .  Anyway , they eventually let me in and we had a great trip but not a pleasant start .

Indeed, the road closure and/or traffic up BCC or LCC can be a problem. That being said, there are other resorts, which can offer almost as good skiing as say Alta... but a lot less people so actual skiing experience would be better.  Say Solitude.

This being the US, a car is a must in one form or another. But then you also have the options to hit say Jackson Hole, WY and other locales.

The touring and climbing crowd in Salt Lake City is really welcoming, so you'd prolly have no problems finding people to ski or climb with.


My general suggestion would actually look for lots of smaller resorts and a small town with some climbing thrown in the mix. It is true, that the big resorts offer the famous (and often good) terrain, but they also get the crowds. Which means that the quality of skiing might not be that good. I have had some of my best days of skiing in relatively unknown resorts (granted in good snow conditions) simply due to the fact, that there was hardly any competition for skiing a line... and I have had awful days in perfect snow and terrain, due to the problems of other skiers (competition for lines, avy hazards and so on). Austria offers quite a few of such places (that I know of). I'm sure Italy as well (albeit snow might be less consistantly good... but that is the alps in general).

Even CH (spendy though) is an option. Heck, Geneve would offer Cham and Verbier and all the terrain in between (plus some nice touring in Jura, if good snow and pretty much no-one else around). Zug and Lucerne would offer a lot of small unknown resorts and Andermatt plus Engelberg.


Basically the biggest pro of any place in the alps, is that you can be flexible where to ski or climb (connditions dependent) and actually still live in a real town. Especially in the US, (SLC being the obvious exception) you might end up living in a resort, so the vibe and costs would be what they are. Canada would be like the alps, but perhaps a bit more consistent conditions (alps have been a tad varied IIRC during the last few years).

Naturally getting a car can be problematic, if you can't drive there with your own (or don't have one).

Myoko/Nagano in JP could also be considered. Not as good as Niseko (or Hakuba), but also again less crowded...

And JP also does actually offer ice climbing.

Verbier / surrounding towns. Can still head to chamonix for climbing (1 hr) but avoid it when you want. Nice wee linked places like Brusson etc. Not cheap. 

Somewhere down the Aosta valley? Loads of touring. Relatively cheap, and potential for bolt clipping on sunny days. 

Chamonix? (kidding) 

I lived in Aosta for 3/4 months for 3 winters. Apart from the skiing, there’s ice climbing in Cogne, spectacular ski touring, a living ‘real life’ City. 
 

Turin isn’t far away either. 
 

This was all pre Brexit so I didn’t need visas. 
 

Long term stays (outside of the City centre) are plentiful and good value but you definitely need a car.

Sounds like bad luck with the border agent, UK citizens are allowed 6 months in Canada without a visa. The HI Hostels winter stay thingy is a good idea if they still do it and a car would be essential I’d say. 

Never take getting into another country lightly even if you think you have the "right" paperwork etc.

Most immigration officials have an arbitrary authority to just say no if they think you are an overstay risk and your options to overturn it are very limited!

I had similar once flying into Canada as a lone male meeting up with my partner who was driving up from the US and it took me by surprise. I had return flights, a job in the UK etc.

Briançon could work for you.

There is loads of skiing at resorts and a loads of touring to be had. I have a free online guide for ski touring here - https://www.ecrinscollective.com/guidebook/ski-touring

There is quite a lot of ice climbing options, for La Grave, Fournel, Freissinieres and Ceillec are the better known one.  The ice season here may not be as solid as it used to be but, there is always something to climb, plus you can head high if needed. Also it is possible to rock climbing most of the winter so you can mix it up.

A car is probably essential, as the venues are spread out a fair bit. If it was just piste and side of piste touring then you could get away without one and just hitch or blag lifts for the ice climbing. But having one would be better

One of the thing you asked was about finding partners, That can be a little hard here. the resorts are a year round venue, so there isn't a mad rush on seasionairs looking to do stuff on their day off. There is a lot of locals heading out,  they are very nice and I have found welcoming. But it's the old story they probably already have their groups and partners so you need to do most of the running. But great if you get in with a good team. That said it is changing a bit with a bigger group of people coming here to work online and experience the mountains?

Cheers

Thanks a lot for the V useful responses all, plenty to think about!