Us V Europe Ski Resorts

[joggerjayne]

Has anyone skied equally in the US and Europe?

I'm reading a feature in Tatler (February) called "Aspen v St Moritz"

I can't see that any American resort could compete with somewhere gorgeous and European like San Mo. But I don't really know the US ski resorts.

If anyone has done a similar amount in both the US and Europe ... what do you think?

The yanks ... bunch of upstarts?

[mushroom25]

horses for courses - Switzerland and parts of Austria have some nice looking resorts, St Moritz, Zermatt, Obergurgl - but Europe is also the home of the "garage in the sky" resorts like arcs, or la plagne. so not sure we have a complete right to feel superior. nowhere in the US is more than 200 years old, but they all have their own features - Breckenridge is authentic wild west, and the back bowls at vail are truly awesome. the feature of a lot of US resorts is the altitude of the resort base, which means you get drunk very quickly. personally I prefer Canada to the US; although the resorts are smaller, they're closer together so it's easier to visit a succession of them in one trip. all across the rockies are a selection of micro-breweries so a ski trip can also be a beer voyage of discovery; my favorite has to be "tree", brewed at Nelson in the kootenays. much nicer than fizzy eurobrew.

[DTCwordfan]

I haven't skied Breconridge/Aspen but I can speak highly of the Rockies above Calgary for its combo of ski and aprés.

For quick fixes, and if you like an icier snow, then Vermont's Mount Mansfield, the town of Stowe really being super (check out Topnotch). I prefer it to where the US team have their ice-ski base on Mount Killington to the south. Haven't skied Sugarbush, only golf, but a couple of lovely inns around Waitsfield and Warren.

The Laurentians and north of Ottawa sucks for ski but great for cross-country on the latter and a pish-artiste's dream. However, the Laurentians area bit like Blackpool-à-la-Neige. Avoid.