 Poster: A snowHead
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Which resorts do you think punch above their weight in stature and which do you think deserve more. Personal experience, conditions etc will play a large part in this but which resorts have you been to that left you feeling underwhelmed or blown away
I'll start with a couple for me personally
Over rated
- La Rosiere, I find the runs just a bit boring with the exception of the newest top lift runs and the Les Ecudets run when it's open
Under rated
- Les Sept Laux- super mid sized area ski area with runs of all varieties
- Monterosa - IMO probably the best collection of pistes in one ski are for intermediate to good skiers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Over rated: no new snow for the time I was there
Under rated: 50cm of new snow the day I arrived
Quite a few resorts I’ve been to are both underrated AND overrated. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Overrated: definitely Val Thorens for me. Super crowded even out of school holidays, bleak even on a sunny day (like the whole Belleville valley), so-so scenery to my taste (Cime de Caron excepted). I much prefer the other two valleys (and La Masse plus St Martin/Les Menuires north of the Roc2 chair).
Underrated: perhaps Vars-Risoul! Very pleasantly surprised by a visit 2 years ago. Extensive (comparable to Serre Chevalier with fewer crowds), affordable, high and reasonably snow-sure, varied terrain, fantastic views up and down the Durance valley, so-so resorts but a delightful valley town (Guillestre) with a decent shuttle service. Easy access with the night train from Paris. Main downside was the haphazard lift network despite having fast lifts on most key routes. Perhaps a bit better now with Homme de Pierre.
Pra Loup / La Foux also deserves a honorable mention for the fantastic slopes in between the two resorts (around Crous/Pouret) and the easy tree skiing in Pra Loup, but both of these are highly dependent on natural snow conditions which can be a bit fickle this far south (not this year!).
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I’ll give a positive (underrrated, relative to Whistler, for a start) to Mt Tremblant in Canada: easier to get to than anywhere in N America, easier to get around, and lots of very diverse skiing. Great catering on/ around the hill. Attractive town with lakeside walks.
Only thing is that it’s fkn cold (-32 on our Feb visit some yrs ago).
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Underrated: Valloire.
Really varied ski area over 5 mountain flanks.
Large height difference, many runs 1000 even 1100 vertical meters. Hardly any queues even mid February. Centuries old village, yet still 3-5 minutes walk to the lift.
Overrated: Sankt Anton.
Arrogance has a name. Bad preparation. Smaller than advertised. Lots of would-be Hermann Mayer types, in our group in 1 week, 3 to the doctor die to collisions. Slope patrol doing nothing.
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Ditto Risoul, way underrated.
And in 10 days, my (hopefully) new most underrated: Gressoney.
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I'll do a retro one from the mid 80s: Kitzbühel. I went three consecutive years (to Kirchberg, because it was cheaper). I wanted to ski in Austria to practice my limited German, and Kitzbühel is iconic and of course the Hahnenkamm and the Steilhang looked suitably terrifying.
However: no snow, lots of ice, three years running. I should have gone to France to practice my even more limited French.
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| Onnem wrote: |
| 3 to the doctor die to collisions. |
I hope the word 'die' was just a spelling mistake!! 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Good idea for a post.
Overrated:
1. St Anton, because it is overrun (3 different trips, all late March, none during holiday weeks). Great hill, if you could only ski it like it wants to be skied. Primary reputation is for drunks.
2. Utah, because on-piste is mostly short runs, and then there's the traffic.
3. Big Sky, because it's a super-expensive donut (no middle, just flats and chutes).
4. Lech, because its only great run requires lots of messing about, and it's snooty.
Underrated:
1. Grand Targhee. Hard to get to, it isn't Jackson Hole. Good, it punches way above its weight with great snow and terrain for everybody, and a terrific little town.
2. Silver Star: if I could only ski one lift for the rest of my life, it would be Powder Gulch....it serves more great runs than any other lift I've seen. Check the map and agree.
3. Mt Bachelor: historically tough season so far, but there is no more snow sure area than Mt. B, which is open into late May 9 years out of 10, and not just some little portion of the area, but plenty of the good stuff. The best spring skiing on the planet.
4. Kronplatz: my favorite of the Dolomiti Superski areas, suffers from.....not being connected to the Sella Ronda....a plus in my view. More vertical than anywhere in DS except Marmolada, and you don't really want to ride three cattle cars in a row, do you?
5. Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis: folks may be turned off by the family emphasis, but the kiddos are mostly corralled off in kid zones leaving us plenty of room to rip.
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Most resorts are rated about right. As @abc says most people's experiences are massively skewed by the conditions they happened to get, regardless of how normal/atypical they were. Also a lot of criticisms are simply people that didn't do their research and should have never went to that resort in the first place e.g. people going to Chamonix and then complaining you have to take buses and nothing is connected, or all the St Anton criticisms mentioned so far in this thread
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@boarder2020, so instead of answering the question, you choose to criticize those who did? 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@alasdair.graham, agree with your list!
Overrated:
- La Rosiere / La Thuile
- Les Deux Alpes
- Passo Tonale / Ponte di Legno
Underrated:
- Les Sept Laux
- Monterosa Ski
- Vars / Risoul
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| Scooter in Seattle wrote: |
| @boarder2020, so instead of answering the question, you choose to criticize those who did? |
I answered it - most are rated about right.
The biggest thing, as ABC said, is conditions. Survey 100 people for the week with best conditions and worst conditions in a single resort and you'd have wildly different opinions, neither of which actually reflect the norm.
Then a lot is just picking resorts that suits/don't suit what you are looking for.
For example I could say kicking horse is underrated - it's probably my favourite resort, and I guess there's probably quite a few in Europe that have never even heard of it. However, a quick Google search would tell you it's great for steeps, and pretty terrible for everything else. So it's probably rated about right overall - but a beginner/intermediate will come away saying it's rubbish and someone looking for steeps and challenging terrain will probably say "underrated" just because it suits/doesn't suit their personal tastes.
I've never visited a resort that's been massively different to what I expected to make me think it's overrated or underrated. Perhaps Fernie was a little disappointing, but again some of that was conditions, and not enough to call it "overrated"
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You know it makes sense.
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@boarder2020, I agree re conditions; I pretty much ignore comments about that, unless one lives there or has skied there forever. It's not a controllable.
...and I think your assessment of KH is spot on!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I had been blessed with huge snow dumps for each - so nothing to do with weather!
Overated
Saalbach - all a bit meh
Niseko - My fault for not picking a more authentic japanese experience resort.
Les Deux Alpes. - It’s upside down & I just did not enjoy the faff of getting around.
Underated
Saalbach lift system/signage
Stay in valloire but ski valmeiner side
Everywhere else is about what I would expect from a resort.
I certainly prefer the smaller resorts or shorter runs as I have got older.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| boarder2020 wrote: |
Then a lot is just picking resorts that suits/don't suit what you are looking for.
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Isnt that exactly what this thread is for?
Picking a resort can be tricky. The bigger the group, the more work you need to do to find something for everyone.
Diet requirements, ski school location, shops, mountain huts, apres, transfers cost/time, etc. - lots of elements make up a ski holiday.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Overrated
St. Anton. Used to love it up until they put all the new infrastructure in on Albona... now have to say it's massively overrated, and in parts downright dangerous (Happy Valley)
Saalbach. Maybe I'm missing something, but it has never lived up to expectations for me.
Underrated
Serfaus/Fiss/Ladis
Oberstdorf! Obviously I have connections, but I don't understand why no Brits seem to go there. Very popular with the Dutch for some reason
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Scooter in Seattle, If I remember well in the past years you have been raving, and returning to Lech....And now you're saying it has only one great run?
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[From a piste skier’s perspective].
Overrated:
Courmayeur - disjointed ski areas, not extensive, some trekking, no need to visit again.
I’ve good memories of St Anton which features a lot in other peoples posts. Except … Galzig and Gampen are churned up chaos by late morning, almost as if not piste bashed overnight. Not sure why this is. Too many lift passes issued? Lots of nervous skiers who’ve picked the wrong resort?
Underrated:
Verbier - my first visit last month. I include this because on SH’s I’ve seen it criticised in the past. To me it was wow, so much intermediate and expert skiing, I loved the vibe of the large town.
Puy St Vincent - a fantastic small resort for families, great snow record.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Thu 5-02-26 8:56; edited 1 time in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Presumably a 'good' resort has a many as possible of the advantages people in general are looking for, even if some of the benefits are not on some people's wish list. And the opposite for a 'bad' resort. Bad weather should be ignored, unless it happens every single year.
I would have thought that a horrible run home which you can't avoid, not even by downloading, would contribute to an unfavourable judgment.
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I'm going to be nice, & positive, for once, & only mention under rated ski areas.
Serre Chevalier, not a huge ski area but a fantastic range of skiing for all abilities, from nicely groomed blues to gnarly, unpisted blacks and easily accessible offpiste.
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| balso wrote: |
Underrated:
Pra Loup / La Foux also deserves a honorable mention for the fantastic slopes in between the two resorts (around Crous/Pouret) and the easy tree skiing in Pra Loup, but both of these are highly dependent on natural snow conditions which can be a bit fickle this far south (not this year!). |
+1
Was there before Christmas. Very impressed.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Thu 5-02-26 8:45; edited 1 time in total
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@tangowaggon, which nicely proves the point about conditions, we had awful conditions over NY and as such SC doesn't do it for me - my report would be over-rated, lots of pistes closed, poor maintenance of the ones which were open and aging lift infrastructure.
That said, I'd like to try it again
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I kind of think ski resorts should be rated on their worst days.
Every ski area will be fun if it's a bluebird powder day, and you can overlook a lot of intrinsic faults like crappy lifts, bottlenecks, excessive cat tracks and flats etc.
But go on a flat light day when it hasn't snowed in a month. Then you can really tell if the infrastructure etc works.
My ranking is solely Haute Savoie area since that's where we ski and live part time
Underrated: The entire Espace Diamant, Grand Bornand
Overrated: Megeve/St. Gervais; Chamonix pistes
Rated about right: Grand Massif, Les Contamines, Les Houches
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I can't really give an underrated to anywhere I've been to.
I'd give an overrated to Skiwelt and Soll in particular. Gets recommended so much on FB ski groups yet I found the skiing quite dull. Village too far from the ski area too.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Mike Pow wrote: |
| balso wrote: |
Underrated:
Pra Loup / La Foux also deserves a honorable mention for the fantastic slopes in between the two resorts (around Crous/Pouret) and the easy tree skiing in Pra Loup, but both of these are highly dependent on natural snow conditions which can be a bit fickle this far south (not this year!). |
+1
Was there before Christmas. Very impressed. |
Barcellonette is a lovely little town - have had some great cycling around there in the summer.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Quote: |
I would have thought that a horrible run home which you can't avoid, not even by downloading, would contribute to an unfavourable judgment.
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In psychology there is the peak-end rule which implies our memories of an experience are most influenced by the peak emotional moment (either good or bad) and the end. So for example 95% of the day is "good" let's say 8/10, but you have one very bad experience on the slopes that's a 2/10 and then the home run is terrible 3/10. Mathematically the mean should probably be 7.5+/10 and overall memory as quite a good day, but as humans wed probably score it more like a 3 or 4 and think of it as a bad day.
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Overrated:
Avoriaz: I love the car-free vibe, the sledges, and the evening atmosphere, but the skiing itself isn’t anything special. Worst of all, the whole PDS seems to want to go there. I wouldn’t bother going again—just go in with low expectations for skiing.
St. Anton: Only overrated for slope skiing. Off-piste? That’s a different story.
Oberjoch (Allgäu): I have to go there three times a year with our ski club, and I always ask the same question: Why???
Underrated:
The Swiss side of PDS
Kaunertal Glacier
Flaine—just because some people think it’s ugly… who cares?
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
Isnt that exactly what this thread is for?
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The issue is most resorts have some kind of rating based on the average person. So let's say Chamonix is a 8/10. Anyone really into challenging off piste and ski mountaineering is likely going to find it better than the average person. Anyone that likes huge interconnected areas and hates having to use buses to access lifts is going to find it worse than the average person. I don't that someone happening to like/dislike it more based on personal preferences means the resort is over/under rated.
I go back to kicking horse which I think is actually an interesting example as it's such a marmite resort. There are many like me that love it. There are many that dislike it. There are probably a much smaller number who rate it as "ok". Those at either end can say overrated or underrated, but I bet I could ask 5 questions and with some reasonable accuracy predict how the would be skier would rate it out of 10.
To find a truly overrated/underrated resort it would have to be one that is almost unanimously loved/hated to begin with (probably impossible). Or a resort that is particularly famed for a certain aspect (off-piste, apres, pistes etc.) that you found to be way below par. I'm not saying there are none out there, but I think most resorts are rated "about right", especially if you can mentally separate snow conditions.
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Thu 5-02-26 9:32; edited 1 time in total
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Overrated: Chamonix by a country mile.
Underrated: Les Karellis for those unaware.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Steilhang wrote: |
Overrated
St. Anton. Used to love it up until they put all the new infrastructure in on Albona... now have to say it's massively overrated, and in parts downright dangerous (Happy Valley)
Saalbach. Maybe I'm missing something, but it has never lived up to expectations for me.
Underrated
Serfaus/Fiss/Ladis
Oberstdorf! Obviously I have connections, but I don't understand why no Brits seem to go there. Very popular with the Dutch for some reason |
Speaking as one who was “wedded” to Saalbach 20 years ago (with no regrets), I observe people’s reactions and hear their feedback; and I have found that the rating is influenced by three major factors: conditions/weather, location of accommodation, and research.
Put simply, the rating of someone who visits when conditions are good, stays in a good, ski-in ski-out location, and takes the trouble to ask relevant questions and find out the best places to go for skiing, eating and après-ski, will be radically different from the impression formed by someone who does none of those things.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@turms2,
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Flaine—just because some people think it’s ugly… who cares?
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I care, big time, but that's not really the point, is it?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Overrated: La Clusaz - much less skiing than the stats suggest, resting on it's reputation
Underrated: La Grand Bornand - Still a small resort but much more interesting piste skiing than its neighbour
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| boarder2020 wrote: |
| Quote: |
Isnt that exactly what this thread is for?
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The issue is most resorts have some kind of rating based on the average person. So let's say Chamonix is a 8/10. Anyone really into challenging off piste and ski mountaineering is likely going to find it better than the average person. Anyone that likes huge interconnected areas and hates having to use buses to access lifts is going to find it worse than the average person. I don't that someone happening to like/dislike it more based on personal preferences means the resort is over/under rated.
I go back to kicking horse which I think is actually an interesting example as it's such a marmite resort. There are many like me that love it. There are many that dislike it. There are probably a much smaller number who rate it as "ok". Those at either end can say overrated or underrated, but I bet I could ask 5 questions and with some reasonable accuracy predict how the would be skier would rate it out of 10.
To find a truly overrated/underrated resort it would have to be one that is almost unanimously loved/hated to begin with (probably impossible). Or a resort that is particularly famed for a certain aspect (off-piste, apres, pistes etc.) that you found to be way below par. I'm not saying there are none out there, but I think most resorts are rated "about right", especially if you can mentally separate snow conditions. |
I think I said the same. If more succinctly.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@KSH, nope...
But couldnt find any other resort
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Thu 5-02-26 10:03; edited 1 time in total
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I've been coming to the Arlberg since 1992.
Already back then people were saying that St.Anton is overrated.
St.Anton is St.Anton: its skiing is completely different from the rest of Austria and most of the Alps; and people clearly simply don't do their research. And/or are just hearing 'Mooserwirt', to discover they can't handle the skiing.
St.Anton is for off piste and for moguls. And you need to have some technique to appreciate it. (or like to fight against the 'elements' a bit). And many people can't admit that. So they say St.Anton is overrated.
St.Anton is not for cruising. And most people like to cruise.
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Anyone suggesting Chamonix is over-rated, have over-estimated their skiing abilities.
And most people haven't skied enough, in enough resorts, in enough conditions to make an over- or under- rated judgement. Simply, lack of data.
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| under a new name wrote: |
Anyone suggesting Chamonix is over-rated, have over-estimated their skiing abilities.
And most people haven't skied enough, in enough resorts, in enough conditions to make an over- or under- rated judgement. Simply, lack of data. |
This!
Plus probably don't fully appreciate that there is more to skiing than skiing so to speak. Fantastic restaurants for a start. Amazing scenery. Lovely town to be in year round, but especially in the winter. Huge variety of challenging terrain where one run in a day is all you need.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I think I'm just easily pleased. I go skiing and boarding, I have some great experiences on snow and generally, anything that is imperfect at the time, fades into insignificance over time. I've yet to find a resort that hasn't given me a fix of what I've longed for.
| tatmanstours wrote: |
| ....Put simply, the rating of someone who visits when conditions are good, stays in a good, ski-in ski-out location, and takes the trouble to ask relevant questions and find out the best places to go for skiing, eating and après-ski, will be radically different from the impression formed by someone who does none of those things. |
Exactly.
Even when one of these things isn't perfect, being objective is important, at least in the sense of giving others advice on where to go. I could have moaned like buggery over Saalbach at Christmas because it was icy and had limited opening, but I saw it for what it was; a great resort that when I return in tip-top weather, will be even better. It's the same with L2A - people hate on it for some reason but of the two times I've been there - January and April - it's provided everything I required and then some.
The litmus test is if you take your kids skiing and they come home with a sad face, then you know it was a bad one. That's yet to happen.
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@under a new name, I'm not a good skier, but I love Chamonix. It has some disadvantages for me personally but not so as to make me diss the place.
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FAQ
