I want to go skiing in mid-December. As that is really early, I am focusing my attention on the high resorts a la Tignes, Saas-Fee etc. However, there are very few packaged trips around and the supplement for a single is enormous (up to £300!).  So, does anybody have any advice for me?  Here are my questions: (1) Do I wait until I can get a last-minute reduced deal? And will there be any left given that there are few single rooms on offer? - (2) Do I grab a deal at the upcoming October 2010 Ski Show in Olympia? - (3) Who is the best tour operator for singles deals anyway? - (4) Do I book a cheap flight and hire car right now and try to get a hotel last minute? - (5) Am I overlooking other alternatives?  Suggestions are most welcome!

I have managed to get some good deals in hotels in Switzerland by booking direct. However hotels in pacage deals are generally very expensive. Perhaps you can get a room in a catered chalet. You then meet lots of other people and it can be more friendly than hotels. A room is a catered chalet is usually much cheaper option and to me as good as a hotel.

I have just found and booked a trip to Zermatt with inghams, leaving on 13 December.  Staying in a single room in a catered chalet indeed.  So, I clearly followed some of the suggestions from the replies to my posting.  Thanks everybody for the help.

Hey Donlane,
Will post a report on Zermatt indeed.  I am really excited about it as it will be my first time to this resort.  I have been many times to a number of other places and tend to go back to known terrain.  Except, they are all lower altitude resorts. So, given that I am going mid-December, I have to try something else.  If anybody wants any tips on smaller resorts with fewer people (I do enjoy calm) just ask.

Hi Apache

You’ll have a great time Zermatt, I’m sure. There was a single traveller in our chalet a few years back, who didn’t pay much of a supplement; it was his second visit to the same chalet for that reason. He couldn’t ski due to injury, but did lots of other stuff (including guided walks etc).

As for the skiing, there is quite a bit of variety - we loved the fantastic vertical you gain from a run from the glacier all the way back to town.  We also enjoyed skiing the Rothorn best overall.

The link with Cervinia can be hit n miss really - it was only open twice during our week, so if it is during yours don’t miss it - I’d recommend the great run towards Valtournenche and lunch at Chalet Etoile (otherwise, the dining is better on the Zermatt side!).

Our group has also used Inghams several times - finding a single room in the Alpenrose in Galtur for example, and skiing Ischgl (also good for early / late visits)

Enjoy - and do report back.

Would love to hear more about the smaller resorts you mention - where have you been recently?

Wendy

Ive been wondering about Zermatt on some other review sites it dosent get all good reports as in lift queues and getting on the mountain in the mornings also commented on was the lifts closing alot due to weather.Some reports have mentioned the snow cover,I know one year they said the snow was at a depth of 4.5 meters all season which was surely not true as people have reported bare patches on the lower slopes.

As one of you asked about the smaller resorts I have been to, here they are. In Swiss: http://www.lesdiablerets.ch, http://www.grindelwald.ch and in France: http://www.samoens, www. and http://www.les7laux.com.  If you want to know any specifics on any of them, then just ask.

Apache,

If you want to arrange your own trip then you do not have to fly and hire a car. There are other ways of doing it.

For example, if you wanted to go to Tignes in December go to the Tigne web site, find a hotel or a studio for 2 that are just as suitable for 1 Then either fly to Lyon   and get on the train to Bourg st Maurice and catch the regular service bus from just outside the station to Tignes. Even though there is a huge station at Lyon airport it is faster to catch the bus into Lyon city centre and get the train from there! Or perhaps get the sleeper all the way from Paris, There is direct train from CdG airport direct to Lyon, but IIRC the direct trains do not run from the UK until Christmas. There are lots of travel possibilities that do not involve hiring a car and paying to park it for a week in a resort.

Remember that in France you pay for the hotel room and it makes no difference if there are 1 or 2 people in it.

I have generally been much more comfortable arranging my own travel than having other people doing it for me. I am much happier being in control. And it is nice not to have people trying to push “extras” onto you all the time.

BTW what did you think of Les Sept Laux? I really like the place. Most of the skiers there are much better than the average resort and it is an education just wtaching them.

John