You step out the door of your quaint wooden chalet, take a deep breath of that pure, crisp mountain air, click into your skis and chus onto the perfectly groomed corduroy to begin your day of piste bashing, vin chaud and endless mountain views. Then sliding gracefully back to the chalet for afternoon tea before a stroll to the local bar. The reality of ski-in / ski-out however, is usually somewhat different, and can be fraught with inconveniences.
Unless you are exceptionally lucky (or splashing out on oligarch level accommodations) the typical access onto the slopes from a chalet that is billed as ‘ski-in / ski-out’ means an icy and at times near vertical descent onto the slopes, which may or may not be a piste which links up to the base station or village you want. All too frequently I’ve ended up at the bottom of an endless chair, which then requires MI5 levels of manoeuvring to get back to the main ski area. At the end of the day that gentle swish home may be a slalom through kids, trees and ice patches.
The other downside of ‘on the slopes’ chalets is that these slopes are often pretty far removed from the village or resort centre, meaning a long walk in ski boots back up the hill after apre chucking out time.
The vast majority of resorts have parking, and heated storage locker facilities at their base station, and contrary to what you may instinctively feel is more convenient (especially with children) having your accommodation a short walk to the base is often far easier and less stressful than the perceived benefits of ‘ski-in / ski-out’. An ideal solution with youngsters (or just those who don’t fancy moonwalking in their ski boots up the hill) is to have accommodation on the bus or navette route near the village centre and to leave your gear at the base station. This avoids lugging skis around and means once you’ve finished skiing you can pop on your comfy boots and stroll to the nearest restaurant or bar to enjoy the apre scene. A comfortable (and non ski booted) walk or bus to your chalet ends the evening.
So our advice? Don’t automatically think you have to pay the premium and accept the unforeseen complications and discomforts of ski-in / ski-out, and instead box clever and leave yourself foot-loose and fancy free with a less obvious but infinitely cleverer solution. Contact us to hear more about village chalets and apartments which allow you to immerse yourself in some of our stunning ski areas.
