Ski holiday has no snow...

[PuttingDownRoots]

We have literally just heard from the company. We can either go with no snow (no way) or try to find somewhere else.

We were supposed to leave Saturday!

(If anyone has any ideas... 2 adults, 2 kids. Lower budget (,it was Bulgaria!) English ski school required for two experienced children (9&11). Plus ski hire for them. (The adult skier has his own equipment. I observe and drink hot chocolate) Think it has to be with Crystal...

This time last year the booking went haywire after the French effectively closed the border.

Arghhhhh!!!!!!

Nightmare! Can Crystal not tell you what they have free for you as an alternative? Presumably the price has got to ballpark match too? But if you’re after recommendations based on nothing more than sheer abundance of snow, I’m having a coffee break to warm up in Aspen right now and I’ve never seen so much of the stuff in my life!

I don't know exactly whats going on, poor DH got the call in the supermarket while buying the holiday snacks.

It was so much easier to arrange ski holidays when we lived within driving distance of the Alps!!!!

I've just checked the Crystal website and the Hotel Heitzmann in Zell am See is showing as available from this weekend for reasonable money - it is only B&B but there are plenty of places to eat in Zell.

You'll have no problems finding an English-speaking instructor for the children - almost all instructors in Austria speak good English (most come from the Netherlands or Scandinavia) and best of all, there is already plenty of snow in Zell and the surrounding areas (Saalbach, Hinterglemm, Leogang) with more forecast over the weekend.

Austria may have a premium to pay over Bulgaria prices though... Also more expensive when you're there.

Andorra may be a similar budget. Or France La Plagne or Alpe dHuez, Austria Kaprun/Zell am See are snowsure.

"Austria may have a premium to pay over Bulgaria prices though... Also more expensive when you're there."

True, but a skiing holiday with no snow and no skiing is next to worthless, and then there is the "price" of being disappointed too.

I've tried to find an alternative that is in a similar price class at least as far as accommodation is concerned. FWIW, Crystal is still advertising holidays to Bulgaria this weekend, even though according to the OP there seems to be no snow.

We think we've found SC in France.

All booked for Val Thorens. Self Catering so will cost slightly more than original holiday when we take into account buying food there. But is probably a lot better for me as a non skier.

Val Thorens will be great! Enjoy!

Oooh we've been to Val Thorens. Hope you have a great time.

Less expensive than France is High Tatras, Slovakia www.vt.sk/en/ - we're going to stay in the area on from Boxing Day, DH will take the kids skiing (probably not me, barring a miracle, I have a bad leg and can't really do it but am having an indoor slope lesson before we go). Kids learned to ski there in 2019, you can find English speaking teachers; IIRC husband arranged most of it by phone.

It's a beautiful area with historic towns to visit all around as well.

The resorts there are open, btw!

We are off to Val Thorens, SC on Saturday too. They’ve certainly got plenty of snow! Have a great time.

Crikey, that sounds stressful.
We fly this time next week to Austria, and I've been watching the webcams like a hawk for a month. The bergfex ski app is the one I use.

Have a fantastic time in VT. Just looked and there's loads of snow for you!

Tatras doesn't have snowmaking AFAIK so it's not a totally safe bet this early in the season. Assuming you don't get a week of white out VT will be fantastic. It can be a bit bleak in bad weather but then so will anywhere high (and snow sure).

We are currently even waiting to hear from crystal ski what’s going on as we are due to go this Saturday to Bulgaria (Bansko) and still no snow! And it’s worrying us as getting so close the cuff now for rebooking if they do allow it.. but no snow due till 4th Jan…. God help us…

Eeek! That is close. When will you know and will you be able to go to an alternative on Saturday?

We have no idea :( hoping we hear something tomorrow!!
we can be quite flexible so it’s not too bad but it’ll be the mad rush to find somewhere with two days!! But the resort are really cutting it fine considering not a single part of the ski resort is open!

My advice will be to decide where you want to rebook to now, or when, because DH spent several hold on hold with them! (90mins for the hiday, then 3.5hrs to rebook ski hire and lessons!) Theyve been brilliant but obviously struggled with the volume of calls.

Thank you! We’ve been keeping an eye and still hoping to go Saturday as most flights to France etc are still going out Saturday so here’s to hoping we can change :)

Fingers crossed for you @Aimes136

Unfortunately, skiing before Christmas can always be a bit hit and miss, unless you book somewhere high altitude with snowmaking