THE ALPS · EPIC & IKON · INDEPENDENT ADVICEHundreds of Alpine resorts. Only a handful suit the week you have.
Zermatt, Courchevel, St Moritz, Cortina, Andermatt and the Arlberg are not interchangeable. They differ by snow record, by altitude, by whether the good skiing is above or below the village - and by who you are travelling with. I have skied these resorts myself, and I will tell you which one is yours.
MEET SKIDOMAINWhich ski area — and which village?
SkiDomain scores 69 ski areas and 178 villages against how you actually ski: terrain, snow, travel time, pass, budget, who’s coming with you. It takes about three minutes, and Marc takes it from there.
WHAT ALPINE SKIING ACTUALLY MEANSThe resort is not the decision. The week is.
European skiing is not a bigger version of Vail. The mountains are linked across valleys rather than fenced into one resort, the villages are older than the sport, and lunch is a two-hour proposition at a mountain restaurant you booked in October. Glacier skiing runs into May. A lift pass often covers several hundred kilometres of connected piste.
What that hides is how differently these places behave in a given week. The same resort is a revelation in early February and a disappointment in late March. One valley holds snow into spring and the next one across the ridge does not. A hotel five minutes from the lift is a different holiday from a hotel five minutes from the village. Nobody publishes that either — which is how people end up somewhere excellent that was wrong for them.
FIND YOUR RESORTA structured way to answer the only question that matters
If you want me to assist you directly: start from how you ski and who you are bringing. The questionnaire takes a few minutes and asks nothing you need to be an expert to answer.
Answer a short questionnaire — ability, pace, who is with you, what the evenings should look like.
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Get resorts that fit, with the reasoning, not a list of the famous ones.
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We turn it into a week: hotel, pass, transfers, guide, ski school and the dinner bookings.
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EPIC & IKON IN EUROPEYou already hold the pass. Use it properly.
Both American passes now open serious Alpine terrain, and most holders never use more than one resort of it. The pass is not the trip — but it changes which weeks are worth building.
Epic Pass
Les 3 Vallées in France, the largest linked ski area in the world. Andermatt-Sedrun and Crans-Montana in Switzerland. The Arlberg in Austria, plus Montafon, Mayrhofen and the Hintertux Glacier. Madonna di Campiglio in Italy.
Ikon Pass
Zermatt, under the Matterhorn. St Moritz. Cortina d’Ampezzo, one of the host destinations of the 2026 Winter Olympics.. Chamonix, for people who want the serious stuff. Grandvalira in Andorra. Which combination is worth flying for depends on when you can travel and how you ski. Two resorts in a week works beautifully in some valleys and wastes a day in others.
Access varies by pass product, resort and season. Some partner resorts limit the number of days or impose accommodation requirements. I confirm the current rules before recommending or booking a trip.
FROM THE LOGBOOKHotels I have actually stayed in
Every property below is one I have personally stayed at, with the date of my latest visit. At participating hotels, Virtuoso or Fora Reserve rates may include benefits such as breakfast, hotel credits and upgrades. Benefits vary by property and stay..
ANDERMATT, SWITZERLAND · EPIC PASSThe Chedi Andermatt
Two hours from Zurich, and the Natschen lift is a five-minute walk. Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis is large, high and genuinely covered by the Epic Pass. Four kitchens, an exceptional spa, and Swiss service that is warm rather than starched.
Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
Daily breakfast for two
$100 food and beverage credit
Complimentary return private airport transfers
Early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability
Last visit January 2024. The rooms are large and the alpine-modern thing is done properly rather than as a theme. The ski-accessible mountain restaurants are the part people underestimate.
CRANS-MONTANA, SWITZERLAND · EPIC PASSSix Senses Crans-Montana
Two hours from Geneva, ski-in and ski-out to the Cry d'Er gondola, with a season pass to one of Switzerland's largest areas included and covered by Epic. New-build, dark timber, quiet.
Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
Daily buffet breakfast for two
$100 resort credit, $200 in Terrace Suites and above
Early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability
Last visit February 2025. Breakfast is the standout, which is rarer than it sounds. Ski valet, piste beside the building, lift a stone's throw away.
MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, ITALY · EPIC PASSLefay Resort & SPA Dolomiti
In Pinzolo, in the Val Rendena, inside the Madonna di Campiglio area and within the UNESCO Dolomites. Two hours from Verona. Epic holders get a complimentary seven-day pass for the area.
Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
Daily buffet breakfast for two
One complimentary lunch or dinner for two during the stay
$100 spa credit
Early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability
Last visit March 2023. The spa runs to 5,000 square metres, among the largest in the Alps. A shuttle reaches the slopes in under ten minutes — this is a wellness week with skiing in it rather than the reverse.
WHY BOOK THROUGH EXPEDITIONERThe same rate, with more in it - and someone who answers
You pay what you would pay booking direct. The hotel pays the commission. What changes is what comes with it, and who you call when something needs sorting.
COST TO YOUNothing for the resort booking. Rates match the hotel's own best available.
PERKSVirtuoso and Fora Reserve amenities - upgrades, breakfast, credits.
BEFORE YOU GOTransfers, passes, ski school, guides, the tables worth booking.
CREDENTIALSVirtuoso and Fora advisor. Based in Switzerland.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ACTUALLY ASKStraight answers
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Different, and usually better value. Linked areas are far larger, mountain restaurants are genuinely good, and a week in a five-star Alpine hotel typically costs less than the equivalent in Colorado or Utah. Against that: European snow is less reliable at low altitude, grooming is patchier, and lift queues can be worse in French school holidays. If you want deep reliable powder, the US wins. If you want the mountains, the food and the villages, the Alps do.
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Epic gives you more linked terrain — Les 3 Vallées alone justifies it — and a strong Austrian set through the Arlberg, Montafon and the Hintertux Glacier. Ikon gives you the icons: Zermatt, St Moritz, Cortina, Chamonix. If you ski a lot of days on one trip, Epic. If you want to say you skied the Matterhorn, Ikon. Neither should decide the trip on its own.
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The good hotels in the good weeks go early — nine to twelve months for Christmas, New Year and February half-term. March and early April are far easier and often the better skiing. Ski school and private guides book out before the hotels do, which surprises people.
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Late January and early February for cold snow and quiet slopes. March for sun, long days and spring conditions high up. Avoid the French and Swiss school holidays if you can, and Christmas week unless the point is Christmas. Glacier resorts hold into May.
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Less than the marketing suggests. It matters enormously with small children or a group of mixed ability, and hardly at all if you are two competent skiers happy to walk five minutes. Plenty of the best hotels in the Alps are in the village, not on the piste, and a good hotel in the wrong place beats a mediocre one on the snow.
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Yes — that is most of the work. Private guides, ski school for children, passes collected before you arrive, equipment fitted at the hotel, airport transfers, and the restaurant reservations that need making weeks out. One point of contact, with the moving parts coordinated for you.
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