Archive for the 'Ski' Category

Hemel Hempstead Snow Centre Opening

After an investment of £23 million and two years in the making, Hemel Hempstead Snow Centre will finally open its doors to the public on May 6th 2009.

Hemel Hempstead Snow Centre

Following the landing of 500mm in the Hemel Hempstead Snow Centre, conditions on the slopes expected to keep the powder in shape pretty much forever!

Boasting a 160 metre slope, along with a nursery training slope of almost 100 metres, it will be similar to other indoor skiing uk snow centres, but a much closer outlet for skiers in the South East.

There’s no better way to get ready for ski holidays on the slopes than to take the professional ski lessons offered at places just like the Hemel Hempstead Snow Centre.

They’ll also be their own version of Après-ski, with bars located close-by that give the perfect panoramic view of the action.

Sure, snow centres like this aren’t close to the real thing, but if you haven’t skied before, it’s a really good opportunity to get some practice in. Say you go to the Alps for a week and are a beginner, you’ll spend most of the holiday just picking up the ropes and just as you get the hang of it – you’ll be on your way home! Indoor skiing is great for getting that initial difficulty out of the way, so that you can fully enjoy the proper thing.

Ski Lift Passes Price Directory

When you’re booking ski holidays, there’s nothing worse than discovering the ski passes for the area turns out to be more than you’d budgeted. Lift passes in the Alps vary in price in many ways including the date you go, the resort you’re staying in, whether you’ll be skiing across several different resorts, your age and how many days you’ll be skiing.

I figured it makes sense to have a simple table with lift pass prices broken down. That way, there’s an at-a-glance way of helping add up your ski holiday costs before booking. Please note, that resorts change their lift pass prices regularly and also taking into account that the exchange rate fluctuates, it’s very difficult to have accurate prices. As such the below are all approximations, based on 6 days in peak season. Last updated: 02 March 2009.

Ski Lift Passes by Cost

Country Resort Child(Local) Child(Area) Adult(Local) Adult(Area)
Austria Ischgl £100 £111 £150 £166
Austria Kaprun £83 £83 £162 £162
Austria Kitzbuhel £82 £82 £160 £160
Austria Mayrhofen £80 £80 £155 £155
Austria Obergurgl £100 £100 £162 £162
Austria Saalbach £84 £84 £163 £163
Austria Soll £81 £81 £156 £156
Austria St Anton £100 £100 £163 £163
France Alpe dHuez £126 £126 £174 £174
France Avoriaz £93 £116 £131 £170
France Chamonix £131 £160 £162 £199
France Courchevel £113 £147 £158 £194
France Isola 2000 £89 £97 £117 £129
France La Plagne £132 £156 £173 £206
France La Rosiere £101 £101 £142 £142
France La Tania £114 £147 £161 £194
France Les Arcs £131 £156 £173 £206
France Les Deux Alpes £122 £122 £161 £161
France Meribel £114 £147 £161 £194
France Morzine £93 £116 £131 £170
France Tignes £124 £143 £153 £177
France Val dIsere £143 £143 £177 £177
France Val Thorens £108 £147 £152 £194
Italy Cervinia £84 £107 £163 £209
Italy La Thuile £84 £84 £163 £163
Italy Passo Tonale £111 £111 £140 £140
Italy Sauze dOulx £109 £109 £154 £154
Italy Selva £121 £130 £170 £183
Italy Val di Fassa £113 £130 £160 £183
Switzerland Davos £61 £61 £164 £164
Switzerland Engelberg £69 £69 £162 £162
Switzerland Saas Fee £100 £100 £185 £185
Switzerland Verbier £90 £99 £171 £190
Switzerland Zermatt £102 £114 £198 £223

I manually upkeep this list and add to it when I can, so I’ve tried to include the most popular resorts, but if there’s a specific resort you’d like to know the lift pass prices of (that isn’t already listed), feel free to make a request in the comments. I will be including the cost of Canadian and US lift passes next.