In spring the sun shines a bit brighter and smiles are a bit broader. Down jackets and bulky bibs give way to vests, t-shirts and shorts. Mountaintop restaurant decks are packed with more sun soakers than a sandy Costa del Sol stretch.
Let’s face it; spring skiing evokes a hedonistic mood. Skiers and riders seem more playful and the mountains more inviting. Skiing and snowboarding become a pursuit of pleasure rather than a test of technique.
The Alps in the spring have a different magic that reveals itself as the seasons change. The real experts — wizened instructors who have lived in the Alpine valleys for decades — know their mountains are far different in the spring than in the deep of winter. Over the months, the snow accumulates and is packed by the wind, then stabilizes. By spring previously unskiable valleys beckon those searching a new experience.
Spring snow sounds different. It creaks a bit rather than crunching crisply at the start of a long traverse. It feels different. You bounce a bit on your skis sensing not the depth of powder but the firmness of the snow.
The best days start early, and then it’s a dance with the sun across the mountain, moving to a new section just as your skis begin to break through the crust. With spring skiing and snowboarding, nature’s changing chemistry of fire and ice adds a new dimension to the man/mountain equation.
Where to find the best spring skiing
Perfect spring skiing areas combine high altitude or glaciers guaranteeing good snow with vast mountain sectors, which only open late in the season.
The French Alps enjoy perhaps the most spectacular spring areas in Europe. Here the skiing on the mer du glace above is legendary while gliding across crisp morning crust down the Vallée de la Maurienne is virtually undiscovered. France also anchors one of the great spring ski mountaineering routes, the Haute Route, ranging from Chamonix to Saas Fee.
Switzerland has plenty of good glaciers and good spring snow, but for me Swiss resorts never evoke the sense of abandon I associate with spring—it’s like snow without soul. If you’re looking for skiing where everything goes like clockwork, any of the Swiss resorts with glacier possibilities are ideal. Try , , , Les Diablerets or .
In Italy, snow begins melting early in preparation for la dolce vita but enjoys excellent off-piste skiing in early spring. For most of the other resorts the southern slopes usually mean relatively mushy going.
Austria enjoys an exuberance, which carries over from the winter—skiers come to enjoy themselves and let go. Spring offers plenty of opportunities. The early spring offers great skiing in most resorts, but for late spring skiing most of the “big name” resorts such as , and St. Anton suffer “ice early/mush later” symptoms. The cure is usually a high-altitude glacier. Zell am See has Kaprun within a few kilometers and Innsbruckers can strike out for Stubaital, but the best is found in the anchored by Sölden and Obergurgl.
The following are among the best regions for late spring skiing. It is all mixed with a general devil-may-care approach to life that pervades the mountains, the folk downtown and the evening conversations. If you have sun, great skiing and everyone can’t help but smile … something’s going right. Note: There is no ranking to this list; the order is a product of geography.
These mountain enclaves will never win an award for the most picturesque, nor for the most nightlife. Val Thorens is a sportsman’s resort and the most remote and highest station in the vast area. Val Thorens also enjoys the only glacier skiing in the Trois Vallées with excellent summer skiing. Les Menuires, not a resort for American tastes, is a rambling complex of apartments that resembles a space ship forced to land on the mountainside.
Val Thorens is special in springtime because its lifts, together with the lifts from Les Menuires open the adjoining valley of Maurienne, which has no lifts and is not normally part of the Trois Vallées experience. Guides bring spring skiers up early in the morning then push off of Pointe de la Masse (2880 meters) sliding over the early morning crust towards Les Cretes then down to St. Martin. Upon returning to the resort in the afternoon there is plenty of sunny glacier skiing on a choice of two glaciers that bracket Val Thorens.
I enjoy the spring in the Tignes area and the lively town atmosphere of Val d’Isere. For late-season skiing, Tignes clearly takes the honors. Here, skiing and snowboarding continues past spring throughout the summer and the ski instructors will take groups up each morning to dance across the softening snow and leave then to enjoy guaranteed warm afternoon skiing on La Grande Motte glacier. The altitude keeps even spring snow crisp. Just below La Grande Motte guides will take experts down long chutes or off-piste back down into the Val Claret section of Tignes.
Not one of the picturesque mountain villages one might visualize in the Alps, Chamonix still rates superlatives. Though many grumble at long lines, big city traffic, poor shuttle bus communications, and so-so cuisine, they keep coming back for the snow and the mountains that tower above Chamonix. Many French claim Chamonix is really a spring and summer resort. In the dead of winter many of its most beautiful sections are closed and the wind and poor visibility combine to further limit the disjointed skiing. In the spring Chamonix to comes into its prime. Fortunately the best time to ski Chamonix is also many times the least crowded—late March and April (avoid Easter).
Courmayeur is set way down in the valley and may not have even a fleck of snow. Visitors have been known to wander in shirtsleeves through the medieval streets while skiers plunge through deep snow, down bowls and chutes which only open in late March.
From the uppermost gondola station, Cresta d’Arp, spring skiers can choose their path back to the valley. The drop to the left of the station, Alpe d’Arp takes skiers downtown. The last kilometer of the run may be fit only for walking but the first four miles of deep snow make it worthwhile. The run down the other side of Cresta d’Arp is called Arp Vieille. After a long traverse but then offers wide-open powder bowls and several choices of skiing down into the Val Veny. As a bonus, Chamonix’s Vallée Blanche can be reached by cablecar from the Courmayeur. Scores of skiers ascend the Italian side of Mont Blanc and drop down into Chamonix, returning to Courmayeur by bus.
It doesn’t have the glitz of its neighbor, but Saas-Fee exudes the jaunty spirit of a resort where visitors come to ski and ride rather than to be seen. The tightly packed town has every amenity and the slopes are excellent virtually all year. All cars are left in a parking area outside of the town which makes for a much more pleasant vacation.
The skiing and snowboarding, especially in the spring, can be arranged to follow the sun as it starts on the east-facing side of the valley and gradually shifts to the west face. The glacier skiing at the top of the Felskinn/Mitelallalin is always crisp, and Hinterallalin, often closed due to avalanche danger in mid-winter, settles in to offer excellent challenge.
This valley shelters the most extensive glaciers in Austria and the highest ski resort in the Austrian Alps. The combination is hard to beat for late spring skiing. As crocuses begin to bloom on lower alpine pastures the virgin glacier, closed for the winter, is opened for skiing. During early spring skiers can stick to the Gaislachkogl area, peaking at over 3000 meters, immediately above the town. Snowmaking insures that skiers can make it back into the village even at lower altitudes.
At the far reaches of the Oetztal are the villages of Hochgurgl and Obergurgl. Hochgurgl, the highest ski resort in Austria, is a cluster of seven hotels at 2150 meters with excellent late spring skiing, while Obergurgl is a small dorf with an equal amount of wide-open skiing. Nightlife and restaurants are more varied in Obergurgl, while Hochgurgl offers the most luxurious accommodations.
Charles Leocha is nationally-recognized expert on saving money and the publisher of Tripso. He is also the Boston-based author of "SkiSnowboard America & Canada." E-mail him or visit his Web site . Want to sound off about one of his columns? Try visiting Leocha's forum.
