europe summer skiing?

[chorizopie]

I'm new to the forum. Sorry if this question has been asked before.

Where are some good spots to ride in Europe during the summer? I'll be going to Copenhagen in July for some family stuff, so I was thinking of taking another 4-5 days off from work to find snow. To summarize what I do know, I found this stuff while searching this forum:

Le 2 alpes

Zermatt

Hintertuxer Gletcher


General Europe

Any other places I should go, or websites I should check out?

Also, I live in Seattle now but I've never tried riding on glaciers. How different is it? Should I try checking out Mt Hood before I go just to get a feel for it? I've been meaning to check it out anyway.

[PaoloSmythe]

the hours are super short and the terrain is mega limited mainly to parks.

typical hours of operation are around midday thru to 3 or 4 pm. conditions vary from bullet proof ice to slush and back again

wind can be a problem in places like zermatt and tignes, but if you want it, go get it.

altho during summer and being in PNW, i would just go get some powder in new zealand!

[neednsnow]

Agreed, a glacier is a glacier: a block of ice. IF you are lucky, the sun will be heavy and the ice would be soft. Though, it is a glacier because it is not susceptible to mega-melt. Snow on glacier is ok, but boiler glacier ice is blech. In the summer go to Copenhagen by way of Bolivia! Otherwise, get on Hood, Baker, and every PNW mountain that you can find. Ride it brother, ride it!

[chorizopie]

Thanks for the tips! For now sounds like it's probably not worth lugging my board across the atlantic. I'm going to try out this glacier thing in June at Mt. Hood though.

On a related note, are there any opinions on summer boarding camps? I've looked around and I'm worried they're too kid-oriented. While I'm pretty sure kids completely outmatch me in skill, I'd rather board with people I can later get a beer with afterwards

glaciers are expensive, slushy and a rip off

if you can really really hike up in the backcountry above the tree line (i'm thinking jungfraujoch in CH etc.) you might find something but now we are taking about boardmountaineering.

I lived in Austria, Germany and Liechtenstein and the glaciers i rode in Germany and Austria were crowed and a rip off.
if you want to get legs loose and do tricks and pipe fine but im a powder hound backcountry off-piste cat myself.

[nigel b]

les duex alps is one of the better ones
tignes is very popular
stubai and kaprun in austria

the glaciers can get slushy in the afternoon

[OzSnow]

Would rather bring up an old thread than start a newwy!!

anyone ever done any of this summer skiing? (id be happy if it were just parks open, i really just want to go snowboarding)

Im backpacking around europe and may have the ability to stop by switerland for 4-5 days, would it be worth it? (i have quite limited $ to spend)

id be hiring gear as well, as i dont really want to take my board and all around europe

[neni]

Originally Posted by OzSnow

Would rather bring up an old thread than start a newwy!!

anyone ever done any of this summer skiing? (id be happy if it were just parks open, i really just want to go snowboarding)

Im backpacking around europe and may have the ability to stop by switerland for 4-5 days, would it be worth it? (i have quite limited $ to spend)

id be hiring gear as well, as i dont really want to take my board and all around europe

Besides the rather expensive resorts with glaciers like Saas Fee and Zermatt also look at Gstaad and Titlis. Right at the moment, some resorts in Switzerland with slopes at higher levels have prolonged/reopened because there's still good snow e.g. Engstligenalp, Schilthorn. Heard in the radio, that they'll deside week after week to stay open according to snow quality.
Betriebszeiten - Engstligenalp-Adelboden
*Skiing on Schilthorn: 27/28 April - Schilthorn

[RagJuice Crew]

Originally Posted by OzSnow

Would rather bring up an old thread than start a newwy!!

anyone ever done any of this summer skiing? (id be happy if it were just parks open, i really just want to go snowboarding)

Im backpacking around europe and may have the ability to stop by switerland for 4-5 days, would it be worth it? (i have quite limited $ to spend)

id be hiring gear as well, as i dont really want to take my board and all around europe

Have been in LDA during summer a few times. Well worth it - it may be glacier riding but it's still better than Spring riding I've experienced in Canada or Japan. It's icy but after a being chopped up by riders and skiers and the morning sun it softens up nicely. And it gets plenty of fresh snowfall (not much but a nice covering), even in summer as it's so high so it's not JUST the glacier.

I even had one lucky trip where we had actual powder! It didn't last long and it mostly fell in a bit of a white out, but all the same... The glacier is quite big though the piste is still naturally short, but longer than you'd expect/fear.

The park as a result is big, and you don't have the problem that N.A. summer glacier's seem to have of private camps taking over or building private parks. The LDA summer park has plenty of features and a good range of difficulty for progression.

The real reason I wholeheartedly recommend it though is the combination of the riding with other activities. The glacier is only open in the morning (earlier lifts than in winter, 7am IIRC but closed by 12 or 1) but LDA is a cracking place in summer so you can spend the afternoon downhill mountain biking (using the chair lifts to upload), bungee jumping (from the gondola), white water rafting, paragliding, canyoning, hydrospeed (the single best thing I did in LDA - head first down white water rapid holding on to a float. Awesome), rope parks etc or just chilling in the pool or playing tennis. Plus the food is good (this is France afterall!) and contrary to the stereotype the French people are cool and friendly (just make an effort with your hello, please and thank you's in French and you're quids in. Do not just speak English louder and more slowly!).

If you can, do a week in LDA. You won't be disappointed.