FAQs

If you’ve ordered it through your travel company, they may actually deliver it to your accommodation (or straight away if you're travelling on the bus to resort)! Otherwise lift passes can usually be purchased at the bottom lift stations, or at a dedicated office in resort. Most lift passes are electronic these days, so a photo isn't required unless you are lucky enough to be buying a season pass! For more information about what to take and what you need click here.

The term ‘off-piste’ is a french term which directly translates to ‘off track’. So off-piste is any terrain that sits outside of the piste markers. When we refer to ‘on-piste’, we are describing the ski runs or pistes that have been specifically marked out for skiing in a ski resort. They will be on the map and are normally marked with poles down either side of them. Pisted runs are usually 'groomed' which simply means the resort has used a snow grooming machine or 'Piste-basher' to compact and smooth the snow to a grooved corduroy texture.

Broadly speaking, pistes are assigned colours in order to tell you if a piste is easy, medium or difficult (or really difficult, as with double black diamond runs in North America). The difficulty level depends on various factors including how steep the slope is, whether it is groomed or whether it's got moguls, whether it has obstacles such as trees or rocks, whether it has narrow bits or parts that are hard to navigate... you get the picture. In addition to a colour, slopes will also have a name and/or number. This is to help you not get lost - and sometimes the name will give you a hint of what's ahead. Piste markers on the side of the slopes will help you stay in-bounds.

Black pistes are for advanced and expert skiers and snowboarders only. As there is no regulation on the gradient of black runs, they can range from very steep to extremely steep. Not only are they very steep, black pistes will often also have features like waist-high moguls or tricky narrow bits that require special skills to navigate. To successfully tackle a black piste you'll have to have a handle on your centre of gravity and be a master at short turns.

In North America, black pistes are divided into two categories. A single black diamond indicates a steep slope that might have moguls or trees, and a double black diamond is used for extremely difficult pistes that involve chutes, couloirs, cornices or other extreme features. Ski resorts in the Alps that are known for their black pistes include Davos-Klosters (Switzerland), Andermatt (Switzerland) and St. Anton (Austria).

The Sarenne piste in Alpe D'Huez is considered to be one of the longest pisted ski runs and also one of the longest black runs in the world. At 16km in length and with more than 2,000 metres vertical drop it is one of the most legendary ski runs in Europe.

The route from the Klein Matterhorn to Valtournenche is the longest red ski run in the world. It is 22km long and goes across the Swiss-Italian border from Zermatt to Cervina. It starts from the top of the Klein Matterhorn Glacier where you can admire incredible views of the iconic Matterhorn mountain. There’s one chairlift you have to take to complete the distance but apart from that, it’s a non-stop ski experience with a drop of 2,359 metres from top to bottom.

Off-piste, the Vallee Blanche in Chamonix takes the crown at 22km with a 2,700 metre vertical descent. For advanced skiers or borders only, you need sufficient off-piste experience an a local mountain guide to navigate the avalanche risks and crevasses along the route.

Unfortunately there's no straightforward answer to this as it depends on what you are looking for in a resort or ski holiday. Some resorts cater better for snowboarders than others, some resorts are great for beginners and some are for experienced skiers or boarders. Also if a lively apres ski scene is part of your requirements, then a quieter family resort won't be for you. Costs can also vary quite considerably in Europe, so your budget will also be a consideration.

Piste maps often use colour-codes symbols or lines to represent different levels of difficulty. Green indicates easy slopes, blue represents intermediate slopes, red signifies more challenging pistes and blck denotes advanced or expert slopes. Ski lifts are usually depicted as lines with small rectangles or circles. lifts are typically labeled with numbers or names.

A red ski run typically refers to an intermediate-level slope, which is moderately steep and not suitable for beginners. The exact steepness can vary depending on the resort or region, but red runs generally have a gradient ranging from 25% to 40%. They're a good place to perfect your carving technique or practise short turns for steeper slopes. Red pistes don't exist in North America - what would be a red piste in Europe is usually considered a black diamond run, or perhaps a difficult blue run. Alpine ski areas with a healthy selection of red pistes include Saalbach (Austria), Oberstdorf (Germany) and Val Gardena (Italy).

Bansko in Bulgaria is generally considered to be the cheapest place to go skiing in Europe. Lift passes cost around £40 for an adult day pass, so unsurprisingly, the number of pistes isn't as great as the mainstream resorts and it's better for beginners, intermediates or families with young children. The town itself is lively with plenty of cheap food and drink options. Check out the piste map here

Serre Chevalier is a quiet resort that has largest ski area in the southern Alps with 157km of pistes. Serre Chevalier is a quaint and unspoiled resort made up village clusters. Its runs are varied to suit all abilities with many of them tree-lined which makes for a picturesque descent. Its runs and ski lifts also never tend to get crowded and makes for an ideal resort to go with family, especially during peak weeks. It also doesn’t carry the typical après buzz that is seen in many French resorts which also makes it perfect for families looking for a quiet holiday.

You can find the piste map for Meribel here!

You can find the piste map for Val D'Isere here!

You can find the piste map for St. Anton here!

You can find the piste map for Chamonix here!

Unlike blue and red runs, there are no regulations on the maximum gradiant for black runs. This means black runs can vary in steepness between resorts and can sometimes be steeper than expected. Black runs should only really be attempted once you can comfortably ski down red slopes, although if you are in the company of someone who knows the slopes and is confident you can ski it, you may want to try it.

Every winter sports enthusiast has personal preferences, but sunny and windless weather with temperatures between -1 and -7°C and a thick layer of fresh snow are considered by many to be the ideal conditions.