Help!

[Drayford]

Any ideas for a resort for 1st week of Jan, in Switzerland or Austria - or Italy at a push - with excellent skiing for DS & DH (who are blade/speed/blackrun/off piste junkies) and other things to do - maybe good walking trails and a thermal spa - for me & DD (who don't ski as DD hates it and I have had major knee surgery and been told not to ski!)

I can sort out my own accommodation (unless anyone has any suggestions) but just don't know where to start resort wise.

I've trawled the net and am completely bamboozled!

You need to aim high - Saas Fee (although the skiing might bore experts after a couple fo days), Zermatt, Davos or St Anton/Lech spring to mind.

We always go to Murren. The ski pass covers the whole Jungfrau region, so they can also ski at Wengen/Eiger for variety. The lower slopes both sides of the valley can be closed if snow coverage poor. Ski club GB and the local ski school both arrange off piste, heli-skiing etc. Mid Jan is the Inferno race, when it will be very busy.

I don't know what non-ski activities there are on Wengen side ( other than a rail trip through a tunnel in the Eiger up to the Jungfraujoch). Murren is pretty quiet, there's a sports centre, swimming pool, ice rink, curling rink; I think there's snowshoeing and Langlaufing (depending on state of lower snow), and there are various marked wanderwegs.

You'll probably need to fly to Zurich, then change onto a train. You can send your luggage separately, and at least Swiss trains run on time! No cars in Murren, if driving you park in the valley and go up by cablecar.

onimolap. Grindelwald is more of a non skiers resort in that same ski area but lvoe Murren and Wengen

How about Laax? DD2 went last year for The Brits and hasn't stopped raving about it yet .

Thanks for the suggestions. I'd kind of ruled out Jungfrau region as I have loads of family around Bern and we did't really want to bump into any of them! But I will check out Murren in a bit more detail. I've only been to Grindlewald in the summer and the slopes looked pretty tame, but I seem to remember that it is pretty easy to get about by train.

Do you have any hotel recommendations for Murren Onimolap?

DH/DS have skiied out Saas Fee & Davos is terribly expensive, but I will check out St Anton & Laax.

Any more suggestions??

Lurking for suggestions that week too...

i stayed in murren at the rosa hotel or something. it was an ok hotel but right next to the cable car, so i wouldn't really recommend it.

Schladming Austria, easy train journey from Salzburg should fit the bill. The ski area comes under Ski Amade. This hotel might fit the bill. Alternatively Nassfeld and perhaps this hotel beside the cable car.

Murren is lovely, but it is quiet. The Eiger Hotel is probably the only place with any spa type facilities and is probably the best hotel in the village. It is by the railway station, so not so convenient for the cable car up the Schilthorn which is at the other end of the village.
If that hotel is too expensive, the neighbouring hotel/guesthouse the Eiger Guesthouse is a fantastic place to stay and you get a pass for the Sports Centre. Here's the ski and other maps but for a good skier, you'd need to go over to the other side of the valley as well as skiing the Murren side.

St. Anton allegedly has the best off-piste in the world... however if you son and husband were to get off the blades and take up skiing properly they'd find more challenges!