If so many want to fly to a ski destination in the Alps, why are not more of you going to Courchevel? It is easy to get your site license for Courchevel. OK. You need to keep the site license current, and that might be a challenge. The Altibar right at the Altiport Courchevel is a great place to eat and also to stay overnight. You can literally start skiing the moment you land there. Activate the ski passes at home and make your first run down the runway a few minutes after landing.
OK. There is no customs/immigration at Courchevel, so the Brits will have to clear customs somewhere else first. Other than that, the weather is often great at Courchevel due to its high altitude and it is not a complicated airfield to land at once you get a hang of it.
Approaching Courchevel via Lima point (overhead).
My brother getting ready for his first run down the slopes. The piste is right behind the apron. The door to our hotel rooms is also there behind the aircraft.
Great food and atmosphere although I must admit that the prices for food/drinks here are steep.
AeroPlus wrote:
Courchevel certainly hits all the right points, one of the reasons I got my mountain rating :)
I must admit that the prices for food/drinks here are steep.As are the couloirs from the top of the Saulire cable car which are some of my favourite skiing in the Three Valleys.
Sebastian_G wrote:
Yes that is the problem. Every winter they have a NOTAM. But you can ask and I have parked there several days in winter in the past:
A) LOWS B) 1901170848 C) 1903312359
E) ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES, REGULATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS DURING WINTER
SEASON 2018/2019 – SEE AIP SUP 009/18
Ok so then LOWS is a possibility for an alternate. Now the question is if LOWZ is socked in how far a drive to Kaprun and the hotel that has been booked? Also what happens if its IFR on the day you want to leave? So for practical transportation purposes wouldnt just using LOWS be the airport one would use as the primary travel destination? If so, what are the fees to land and park the plane per day? Handling fees if required?
Have to say that LSZS is an intriguing thought. More days VFR and looks like a great airport but do they have Customs and Imm. for our world globalist EU residents or is that not required for Switzerland? Do you know what the MEAs are and how to pick up an IFR flight plan? If on the day you want to leave you can depart VFR but need to climb into the clouds? Any info on the costs?
Has Sion/ Crans Montana been ruled out?
No; just a near total lack of interest in the past 
I suspect most people like to ski with family or friends and don’t want to mix with pilots who smell of avgas
Sion (as a search shows) was recently reported as accessible, so that’s a good one.
Courchevel is indeed ok as a ski destination. I did it 1 year ago and did all three bits 1350 1650 and 1850. But the airport requires a pilot qualification which is another step which most pilots won’t do. And the lack of customs means most Brits won’t come
As regards fog etc, the normal “easy and safe” procedure for canyon airport like Zell, Bolzano, etc, is to watch the airport webcam and depart only if the sky is clear in the morning.
Peter wrote:
As regards fog etc, the normal “easy and safe” procedure for canyon airport like Zell, Bolzano, etc, is to watch the airport webcam and depart only if the sky is clear in the morning
Thats impractical for a days skiing if it takes you 2 hrs to get there and then have to return the next day. I dont want to rub it in everyones face but at my home airport, I could leave at 6:30 am while it was dark with nobody around in a town run airport. Turn the lights on and depart for a 1.75 hr flight to a VFR airport after calling my taxi guy to give me a heads up about weather. I also knew if a front went through that the wx would be ok and my backup was the taxi guy. “hey you see any stars?” “Ok pick us up at 8:30 Am” Ski all day head for the airport at dusk 3:30 pm and have dinner and drinks by 7PM back at KHTO. Did that for years Killington, Sunday River, Gore, Snow, White face, and a bunch of others.
Not here, I had to wait until the airport opened 8AM then because of ground fog could not leave till 9:30 am the other day. How on earth can you do anything but book a week and hope you get 3 days of skiing in? Thats with an IFR ticket!
No you need 3 days in Europe. One day to go, one day to ski, and one day to come back. At least in my case having a VFR airport near BP as a base of operations. What was very desirable in the US, is insanely impractical here. Sorry for being so cynical. Cheer me up and point out where I have gone awry?
One day to go, one day to ski, and one day to come back.
Yes I don’t think a day trip is viable, and most of those who told me they do it have actually done it very rarely. It was more bragging. It is basically possible from the bottom half of Germany, top half of Italy, etc, as an example.
The problem with IFR to the canyon airports (those that have a real IAP) in IMC is icing, and the missed approach climb gradient which alone can be “interesting”. Certainly an IR holder should be able to fly any IAP within the aircraft performance envelope, but many (myself included) choose to not push this too far. And SV is of no use if you lose GPS reception due to terrain masking…
How on earth can you do anything but book a week and hope you get 3 days of skiing in?
That can and frequently does happen with an airline flight I’ve had 3 skiable days out of 5, the other two being snow so thick you are moving but can’t see the ground moving With GA you can avoid that because you go when the wx is perfect, and the only challenge is accommodation.
Ok so if the information is correct than Salzburg is a very real candidate for a 3 day jaunt. Where if you book a good hotel with amenities like a Spa etc after skiing you wont lose your shirt if you cant get there. Once I get out of my VFR day only airport I can make 95% of my flights to an ILS or LPV airport. Flying into a valley airport whose dates were arranged weeks in advance, is a real crap shoot.
I do find the Swiss airport LSZS intriguing. The first thing a friend said, when I told him about it, was that its expensive skiing in Switzerland. I guess having all those banks as the main industry helps the overall economy.
So how expensive is it? Or if you have to ask, you cant afford it?
Just have a look at St. Moritz on the booking.com website. Some of the hotels are expensive, but others are reasonable. Personally, I prefer to ski and stay in France, but that is a personal preference.
The Alps are always expensive, relative to say Bulgaria A German friend told me the Alps are wasted for a beginner; you may as well go to Winterberg (and hope for snow).
I have just paid €220 for a 5 day ski pass at Madonna di Campiglio. A fairly spacious self catering apartment is about 1k for a week; obviously small rooms can be found for less. Zermatt (one popular ski pose hang-out not far from Sion) then multiplies most things 2x, sometimes more (I have seen 4x there relative to Amazon etc on clothing). France tends to be cheaper, albeit with a “different” level of customer service IME. The Swiss are hard to beat for functionality and (extremely expensive) trains running, while the Italians are top for being friendly (with little bits like getting a shock off an electric cooker this afternoon, with the entire block of apartments having massively illegal electrics under a whole raft of EU regs… the electrician arrived fast, fixing the problem with a wire between the cooker and the kitchen sink; you can guess there is no RCD 
but really the funniest bit was when I pointed out a dead power socket (it had never been wired up, since the 1950s) and he immediately turned the lights on and off ).
But these cost differences are not relevant if you are flying a plane…
I think Italians make the best slopes
I think the best way to do a ski fly-in is to get a group together who are generally free (not many people are) and then do it at short notice when the wx is good.
