Owners Eddy, Debbie and their wonderful family are all serious alpine skiers and passionate about mountains. They have lived in the Alps for over 35 years and recently renovated the Chalet Alpina into extremely comfortable self catering apartments and hotel bedrooms. Thier knowledge of the surrounding ski areas and mountains makes Chalet Alpina the ideal choice for skiers as they can help organise every detail of your holiday at the best possible price.

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FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A SKI RESORT

There is no doubt climate change is effecting ski resorts and every skier hunts for a high altitude ski resort hoping that it will guarantee skiing. High altitude resorts generally charge premium prices but altitude is not the only factor that one should consider when choosing a reliable ski resort. 

• Having north facing slopes are just as critical for a ski resort. In the snowy, pre talked about global warming days, many resorts in the northern hemisphere were built facing south into the sun as that meant you could stay alive while skiing and not end up with frost bite. Nowadays cold north facing slopes are where the snow stays best. 

• Probably the most important factor is geographical position in relation to the topography of the mountains. Resorts that are built only on one side of a high main mountain chain may only get snow if it comes from a certain direction - north, south east etc. A resort that extends to both sides of the main mountain range means that it will always get snow from whatever direction it comes from.  Resorts built on both sides of a mountain range also  means that the surrounding mountain range is not too high to restrict the weather from passing over to both sides of the resort.

• Nearby surrounding glaciers also play an important part as they wick away the moisture in the atmosphere.  Humidity in the atmosphere melts snow very quickly when the temperatures warm up. Low humidity also keeps the snow in better condition as it gets less icy and lasts longer. An open valley, rather than a valley that is closed in with high surrounding mountains, also has a drier atmosphere.

• Wind plays an important role as well. Windy resorts tend to have a drier and colder climate as well and wind tends to shift the snow into bowls creating unbelievable depths of snow sometimes. Look for resorts with wide open bowls especially on the leeward side of the predominant wind direction.
  The other fallacy that skiers tend to believe is that it snows more the higher up the mountain you go. Unless temperatures are well above zero in the village it actually snows less per square meter on a steeper slope than a more gentle slope and the volume of snow is less the colder the temperatures are when snow is falling. It snows less on a steeper slope because the same square meter of snow falling out of the sky covers a larger area on the ground the steeper the slope gets, so more gentle slopes have far more snow coverage than steep slopes
  This all means that you can find resorts that are reliable for snow but that are not generally high in altitude and of course with high prices to match. It takes a bit of research to suss them out but it’s well worth it as not only do you save money but you’ll find these resorts are generally less known and usually totally un crowded

• Last but certainly not least is lift capacity to bed capacity. A resort with a high lift capacity and a low bed capacity means there will be less skiers on the slopes making it far more pleasant and much safer to ski