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If you could have the pick of the winter, when exactly would you head away on a ski trip?

Lots of schools and families have their (bi)annual ski trip set in the calendar. In amongst exam prep and other commitments, there’s not much flexibility to move the ski trip but let us, for the sake of argument, imagine that you can travel at any point of the winter. When should you go? Why would you choose December over February or vice-versa? With more than 20 seasons of skiing and 12 years working in the school ski sector, our commercial director Mike Varley tells you the pros and cons of each period of the winter season.

December

A forgotten period but if you can travel before Christmas week then you will have cheap flights, low-cost skiing and empty pistes. Not all resorts are open and those that do might not be fully open despite recent investments in state-of-the-art snow-making facilities, but with no queues and little money spent, skiing December kicks off your winter!

Here are the Pro and cons -

Low-cost travel period
Empty pistes
Snow-making guarantees snow

Not all pistes are open
Cold

Christmas & New Year

In most countries and most resorts, this 2-week period is the most important fortnight of the ski season. If it goes well, ski resorts and suppliers can head into the rest of the season knowing that they have returns on their investments and so they will be at pains to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible. Bear in mind that it’s popular, busy and pricey.

Here are the Pro and cons -

Expensive period means 100% resort opening
Suppliers will do everything to make your week go well

Expensive
Busy with irascible skiers

January

For adult skiers, January can often offer the best deals. The snow will be good yet it’s after New Year and most families can’t get away during this period so the pistes are relatively quiet. For schools, if you can get permission to travel in term time, there are great deals to find. Just remember, January is often the coldest month for skiing.

Here are the Pro and cons -

Good snow
Good deals
Empty pistes

It will be cold
Can you have a week off during term time?

February Half Term

February half term is the most popular time for skiing in the UK. If Easter is early then quite often all the half term weeks are the same for all schools, this means that everyone is trying to travel at once, flights are expensive, Dover and Calais are busy, the pistes are busy too and you pay a premium. Yet, as the mid-point of the season, you will have good snow conditions and a great atmosphere. Afterall, you’re going away to ski, so go when the skiing is at its best!

Here are the Pro and cons -

Great ski conditions
Buzzing atmosphere in resorts
Fantastic if UK schools don’t have the same HT week

Busy, busy, busy – and that’s just the airport
Expensive

March

Similar to January in that many schools aren’t able to travel at the start or end of March, yet if you can then arguably this is the best month to ski. You’ll still have lots of snow, the temperature won’t be cold like January and the slopes won’t be busy like February.

Low cost travel period
Empty pistes

Still classed as high season til mid-March
Snow deteriorating in some lower resorts

April/Easter

Unless you go high (In Europe this means somewhere with learner areas above 2,000m), then skiing in April can be risky. However it’s much lower in cost, it’s not as busy, you have an extra week off once you get back and if the snow stays good then you can ski and have lunch in the sun. Yet if Easter is late (mid-April), lots of resorts will be closed forcing everyone to travel to a few, select, higher resorts, this can in turn make April strangely expensive for what you get, which is often very soft snow that’s not great for beautiful carving.

Here are the Pro and cons -

Lower cost travel period
2-week holiday period so a week of rest after skiing
Skiing in sunshine

Need to go high
Not all runs will be open
Could be expensive for what you get

So as you see, there are pros and cons for all periods of the season, of course, yet if you have any degree of flexibility, find the period that offers the best value. December and January can be amazing months for skiing, February gives you a level of guarantee that might just be worth paying for. Yet my personal choice is to ski in March or early April, go high where there’s still plenty of snow yet you can enjoy skiing and lunch in the sun. Ski hard in the morning, take it easy in the afternoon and go home with a smile on your face.

Published: Tuesday 25 May 2021