{"id":2337,"date":"2017-11-22T15:00:26","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T14:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oatridge.co.uk\/nic\/?p=2337"},"modified":"2019-02-09T10:58:49","modified_gmt":"2019-02-09T09:58:49","slug":"ski-for-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.oatridge.co.uk\/nic\/holidays\/ski-for-a-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Ski for a day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ski-saas-fee\"
\nI\u2019m going to tell you how to take a ski break for a day. You can literally check out the snow reports one day, be skiing or snowboarding the next, and be back in the office the following day. In other words, you can take one day off work and ski the Swiss Alps for a full day in the mountains. How’s that for a day out the office!
\nWhy Switzerland? Well it has fabulous resorts within easy reach of Geneva Airport<\/a>; you can use public transport to get to the slopes; and accommodation at short notice is widely available if you stay in the valleys rather than the mountains. And it is no more expensive than France for a quick break and much more convenient than Italy or Austria. Although Innsbruck<\/a> in Austria is quite convenient for a number of resorts, there are fewer flights.
\n\"Nic
\nI\u2019m not going to push Easyjet<\/a>, but it is a good choice for getting to Geneva<\/a> from the UK, with several flights a year from Gatwick and regional airports. BA<\/a> is also a good choice if you have lots of Avios points. And if you want to take your skis with you, Swiss<\/a> will carry them for free. Typically Easyjet flights start from about \u00a326, but get pricey at weekends. At a day\u2019s notice it can cost less than \u00a3100 pounds return for an evening flight out, and either an evening flight back the next day or an early morning flight the following day \u2013 both of which will get you back in the office the next day with a full day\u2019s skiing.
\nGeneva Airport has a station in the airport itself with direct trains running to hub towns from where you can get to the slopes, either by a single train journey or a very reliable bus service.
\nYou can stay in a resort, but with a late flight and an hour time difference it is a push if you leave the office to take an evening flight. I would recommend you stay in one of those \u201chub\u201d towns, somewhere like Lausanne<\/a>, Vevey<\/a>, Montreux<\/a>, Aigle<\/a>, Martigny<\/a>, Sion<\/a>, Sierre<\/a> or Visp<\/a>. It all depends on how much travel time you are prepared to put in to and from respectively the airport and your preferred ski resort. Some towns on the main line service to Brig<\/a> from Geneva Airport are particularly convenient for specific resorts, e.g. Aigle for Portes du Soleil<\/a> (Champ\u00e9ry<\/a>), Villars<\/a>, Les Diablerets<\/a> and Leysin<\/a>; Martigny for Verbier<\/a> and Les Mar\u00e9cottes<\/a>; Sion for the central section of the 4 Valleys<\/a> (Nendaz<\/a>, Veysonnaz<\/a> or Siviez<\/a>) and Anz\u00e8re<\/a>; Sierre for Crans-Montana<\/a>; and Visp for Saas-Fee<\/a> or Zermatt<\/a>. I could mention other resorts, but on the whole they require longer transfers or are much smaller.
\nMost towns have convenient and reasonably priced accommodation near the main railway station that can be booked at short notice, typically via Bookings.com<\/a>.
\nYou are spoilt for choice about which resort to go to. Saas-Fee and Zermatt are open for longer seasons than the rest, and mid-week skiing is usually only available at the others from the start of December. During peak season Leysin, Villars, Les Diablerets and the Portes du Soleil are the nearest significant resorts to Geneva.
\n\"Torgon\"
\nLet\u2019s look at a couple of examples.
\nFlying out of Gatwick on a Wednesday at 6.20pm, arriving at Geneva at 8.55pm, book into the Lausanne Youth Hostel or Hotel AlaGare both walking district from Lausanne station. Get up early and get a full day skiing in Verbier, leaving your stuff in a locker at the base station for Verbier. Return to Lausanne in the evening and take the 7.00am Easy jet flight getting you into Gatwick at 7.35am.
\nAnother example: Take the same evening flight and book into a hotel in Aigle. Ski Leysin the next day, then take the 9.35pm flight back getting you into Gatwick at 10.05pm.
\nThe costs depend on a number of factors. Costing out the first option, you might spend \u00a3100 on flights, plus transit costs to a UK airport. You can bring your skis on Easyjet for \u00a339 or hire in resort for about the same if you book in advance. With Avios points I’ve done a return BA flight for \u00a360. The return train fare on Swiss Railways from Geneva Airport to Lausanne is about \u00a340 and the cost of a combined ski and travel pass (the Snow\u2019n\u2019rail scheme) for Verbier will be about \u00a3100. Lausanne is about 50 minutes from Geneva Airport and just over 2 hours from the gondola station serving Verbier. Accommodation near the station will cost you about \u00a380 for a night. Food and drink are best bought from supermarkets and it is totally acceptable to drink alcohol on the trains.
\nOn my trip to Saas-Fee last week I took advantage of an all-season ski pass I bought for under \u00a3200. I also have a half-fare card which halves the cost of rail transfer in Switzerland and I have Easyjet+ which gives some perks flying Easyjet. I am over 60 so travel in the UK is free or heavily discounted. And I have a pad in Switzerland about 1 hour 30 minutes from Geneva Airport and half an hour from the nearest ski resort.
\nI also have a pass for 25 other leading Swiss resorts that cost me around \u00a3200 for the whole season. The benefit of also having the Saas-Fee pass is it gives me good skiing early and late in the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m going to tell you how to take a ski break for a day. You can literally check out the snow reports one day, be skiing or snowboarding the next, and be back in the office the following day. In other words, you can take one day off work and ski the Swiss Alps for … <\/p>\n

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