Beginner friendly skiing

A snowHead

Apologies if I have posted in the wrong place. It's my first post on this forum.
My family and I recently skied in Bansko, Bulgaria for the first time. We spent a week and took lessons every day. We have made plenty of progress but are still relatively new to skiing.

I am looking to book our next ski holiday in Feb 2025 and after recommendations. I a after blue/green slopes and nothing too steep and especially, anything with sharp edges/cliff. I skied off the edge in Bansko multiple times and want to make sure that if that happens I am still on relatively flat ground. Albeit on my back side! It would also be nice to have a run which is 2km'ish long so we aren't constantly queuing up for the lifts. Economics are also important. If we can find a place that can be reached with Easyjet/Ryanair that would be a bonus.

Please feel free to share any other considerations. Thanks in advance.

A snowHead

I'm following this with interest.

I just took a few days in Seefeld and that's a stunning resort - 20 minutes from innsbruck in a taxi too, which is EasyJet from Gatwick.
It would bore most decent skiiers but it's not bad for learners. That said, even the blue run back to the Happy Gschwandtkopf Lifte has a steep drop as it ends, so it put us off from giving it a go, despite the fact we got pretty bored on the bunny slopes. That said, it was a flying visit to get some skiis on and learn from scratch.

The town is utterly beautiful and they've (annoyingly) just had a huge dump of snow! We only got back 2 days ago having skied on slush!

I've spent a bit of time trawling these forums since and Alpes D'Huez, La Plagne and Courchevall all get a thumbs up for loads of greens. As does Soldeau in Andorra - if you're looking for something cheaper.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

While a bit limited and boring for advanced skiers Alpe d'Huez is hard to beat for beginners.

If your family has very small children take a look at Oz en Oisans. Part of the AdH ski area but a much smaller 'village' that's basically empty once the lifts close so younger ones can be 'let off the leash' without constantly worrying you'll lose sight of them in the crowds. For older children AdH itself would probably be better though as a bit more to do after skiing.

Your closest airport's Grenoble which is unlikely to be one of the highlights of your trip but well served by Ryanair/Easyjet/etc.

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Welcome to Snowheads, @locked80. Am I right to assume that you are stuck with school holidays and your February 2025 trip will be at half term?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Pal arinsal in Andorra , I'm a newish skier went to borovets , liked it, went to Andorra, loved it, not much more expensive than Bulgaria but much nicer, crystal if there's a good offer on, or diy fly to Barcelona, bus to Andorra every hour and a half pretty much 24 hour service, accommodation and lift pass with esquidas( probably spelt wrong) and the local buses are easy so travelling to arcalis or grandvalira is easy, if you stay a the palarine hotel the owner Grahame does free day trips to these , last year he gave us the keys to the mini bus for most of the week , no charge. I've not been to many places but it suited me, there's a lady on utube ,what Emmanuel sees, she lives there and her videos give you a very good look around, sorry for rambling , cheers.

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Hi @locked80,
Welcome to Snowheads.
You're getting plenty of advice already.
Also welcome @Sim75, Seefeld sounds good. I've never been there, but we were supposed to be going there for my school trip in 1963.
But we ended up in Achensee.

I'd give a vote for "St Gervais".

After all it is free

I’d book flights to Geneva because I think it serves the most resorts and then keep an open mind on final destination till much nearer the time (maybe book accommodation that can be cancelled)

As beginners I’d say somewhere like Les Sybelles or Grand Bornand or Valmeneir/Valloire as the lift passes are much cheaper - but with the plan B that you can bail to a higher resort if the conditions aren’t great.

That's not so easy if we're talking about the peak holiday weeks - when are you planning to go, @locked80?

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February half term. I like the idea of Geneva if that gives me a few options nearer the times. It's the flights I would like to lock in.
My main consideration is that its a long blue run and it doesn't have any sharp/cliff edges. This would mean that if any of us, including the boys went adrift, they wouldn't hurt themselves too badly. I have seen many blue slopes online where the edges are very sharp and I wonder how they are suited for beginners who may be sliding around...

The other factor is cost, of course. We don't own any equipment and will be looking to hire it when we are out there. We wont bother with lessons this time around.

Look forward to your suggestions.

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@locked80, if you 'skied off in Bansko multiple times and want to make sure that if that happens I am still on relatively flat ground." you are out of control, a danger to yourself and others. Worry less about the edges and more about getting more lessons so you can control your skiing and stay on the piste (and have fun)

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@chaletbeauroc, know the feeling!
We spent a week skiing earlier this week and had lessons every day. We made huge progress over this week, relatively speaking. We now want a flat-ish and long run where we can put these skills into practice. I think we will be fine but I want to avoid anything with sharp edges. Hope that's relatively normal at this stage of my skiing. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and would like to go again in February half term.

You know it makes sense.

@Chaletbeauroc, yes, I recall all that too, but he said "We wont bother with lessons this time around" and to me that's the wrong attitude and no solution to the issue. Its no fun either.

Did you have lessons after your first week, or did you not bother?

He is going to spend a small fortune on a holiday, lift pass, renting gear and will be so limited in what the family can do its a false economy not to factor in a few more lessons. They could do a group private for a couple of sessions. Let's be honest, he is going at half term, it will be super busy, they will likely have forgotten most if what they learned last time (like most of us) and still be nervous (like most of us).

If you think that no more lessons is a good idea then that's your opinion, but it's not mine.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@locked80, I really would recommend lessons again for your trip.

I know the sorts of runs you mean with edges, these are generally mountain roads in the summer. I can understand why they would be unnerving.

If you're after value for money from Geneva, you need to probably be looking at resorts which aren't on the radars of British tour operators.
I haven't skied there before, but maybe somewhere like Praz de Lys might be suitable?

A snowHead

@holidayloverxx, A fair point, yeah, I didn't do lessons for a while after that; like the OP I'd learnt lots of stuff that still needed to be worked on, in my own time and at my own pace. What I did need though was the opportunity to practice, ideally in as safe an environment as possible, so I really empathise with their desire to find slopes with no sheer drops and hard edges.

It's not about being in control or not, more that if you think you're going to fall off the edge you're never going to get going at all. At that point had you put me on the same slope without the drop on one side I'd have skied it perfectly fine, safely and in control. It was the fear of skiing off the edge and my efforts to avoid it that actually lead to me falling over all the time.

A snowHead

@Chaletbeauroc, totally agree to find a nice resort with wide open blue slopes to practice on...and a gondola to download on if they want

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I'm not completely averse to having lessons. Just thought its an expense that I may not incur this time around, or at least to the same level as we did earlier in the year. I do want to be able to practice on some lengthy runs and I suspect, we will be fine. Even if we did take additional lessons, I'm still after recommendations for wide open slopes with no sharp edges. That doesn't change I suppose.

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If stuck with half term, avoid France. Pila in Italy would be ideal and cheaper flight to Turin than Geneva.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Maybe look at Corvara in the Dolomites - loads of nice blues to practise on up on Pralongia. Colfosco nearby also has some good runs for almost-beginner skiers. No nasty cliffs or drop-offs anywhere around there.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I suspect Pila would be a fair bit cheaper than Corvara.

After all it is free

Eating and drinking on the mountain is certainly cheaper than France and generally of a much higher standard too. Accommodation is probably similar in price - it depends what you are looking for. Lift pass prices are comparable, but the Dolomites pass covers a huge amount of skiing. The scenery is also stunning.

The closest airport is Innsbruck, but you can also fly into Venice or Treviso. There is also a new service from London to Bolzano with a company called Sky Alps. Bolzano is even closer to Corvara than Innsbruck, so transfer costs may be cheaper.

I think you will find whichever country you choose will be more expensive than Bansko though.

And the huge Dolomites skiing area won't be much use to you. Accommodation could be more expensive than France which is full of cheap and convenient self catering apartments.

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I think the dolomites are amazing, but at this stage, I think the OP will be better off in a small resort where they can just lap some nice beginner runs. As they improve and get around better, then go to somewhere like the Dolomites.

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Morning All, been youtube-ing a bit over the weekend and like the look of Alpe de'huez. I can see the flat wide slopes, without any of those sharp edges. A few on here have also recommended that. I am inclined to go with that. Not sure how it will be over the half term in Feb 25 but I suspect, most resorts will be busy at that time of the year. Grenoble seems to be the most convenient airport. Not the cheapest to get to...
Please let me know if you have any views on this resort any any recommendations on where to stay and hire my skis.
Thanks again.

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You know it makes sense.

I was in Pila in February, and we did that run many times. It isn't a cliff edge, it is more like a continuation of what you can see above the run. You wouldn't *want* to fall down it, but you can see that Pila hasn't thought it so dangerous as to require safety netting.

It is quite a narrow run, and when I was a beginner I would have found the presence of other skiers around me in a confined space to be a worry, more than falling off the edge. However, it is a gentle gradient, and in a snowplough you wouldn't pick up any great speed, and you would hope that better skiers around you would be able to avoid you. On the whole, all the speed freaks will be on other runs. As you can see from the video, nobody is going very fast.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

One of the most offputting things for beginners (or anyone else really) is very busy pistes. Half term, especially in the French Tarentaise, is really the worst possible time to ski. If stuck with school holidays, either Christmas (but not New Year) or Easter are likely to be less frantic.
And cheaper. MUCH cheaper in the case of Easter, as it's low season for France. Personally, for beginners (and many others) I'd always suggest somewhere other than the Tarentaise. There are masses of other resorts to choose from.

And if stuck with half term, definitely Italy!

A snowHead

Yes it was Feb half term. There were certainly people there, but nothing too bad. The only thing is that there are only two main blue runs (which are good, long and varied). These act like a funnel for most of the other runs back into the village, so it can get crowded just on the very last bit, especially during the rush hour of about 4-5pm.

Pila isn't huge, but it has plenty of space in which to absorb the number people who go there. I would say the video you posted was pretty representative of how busy it was when I was there. Blue 15 is the main blue run into the village, so is about as busy a run as Pila has. The wide open bit in the first half of the video down to the bottom of the chairlift is fab for novices.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

A lot of the red runs in Pila are not difficult - and are wide, and won't be crowded. Ski instructors will know the best places to take you.

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Thanks for all the responses.
When we were in Bansko for Feb half term, the queue for the lift can be around 3 hours unless you join the queue by 7am. I think Bansko is notorious for its queues! How is the situation at Pila during Feb half term please?

I am hoping that we will have time to get some breakfast, collect our ski equipment and then join the queue.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Less than 1km I would have thought. Looking at the piste map, you get to the top of 15 from the village on the Leisse chairlift, and then you can lap the section covered by the Grimod chairlift. The bottom of Grimod starts where 15 goes into the narrow tree-lined section, and the lift takes you most of the way back up to the top of the run. For variation, there are a couple of offshoots to the left, or for the adventurous, the freestyle park is to the right!

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On the video, Leisse is the lift they get off right at the start, and Grimod is the lift they ski under around the middle of the film.

After all it is free

And if you don't fancy the narrow run down to the village, you can take the gondola down, which is next to the top of Grimod.

Thanks again @Temesvar.
How bad are the queues in the morning and are there ski hire shops near the lift so we don't have to drag them too far?

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Just come back from our second trip to Alpe D'Huez - it is great for beginners with lots of greens runs in a bowl around the resort. They are long and a decent pitch in places which make them perfect for practicing turns and progressing. My wife is a very nervous early stage skier and it has been great for her. Easy access to some mountain restaurants and a nice town with lots of shops and bars etc.

Help!!

Beginner friendly skiing

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