Ski season review!

Our 2025 ski season has officially come to an end, and I can confidently say this has absolutely been the highlight for us so far in our year abroad in Europe. In the past 12 months we have skied Zermatt, Switzerland; St. Anton, Austria; and Les Arcs and Val d’Isere, France. All are unique locations within the Alps and every ski trip with children is different because the more they ski the better they get, which changes the enjoyment level significantly.

Twelve months ago, our younger son was still using the harness to ski with my husband for the first few days, and with this last trip he is now as good as our older son was last April, despite being almost three years younger. Ski school for 16 days this season has completely transformed them both and I could not be prouder of how they have improved. If only we lived somewhere with a local mountain, they would both join the ski team for sure.

The question we of course get asked the most is, “which place did you like the best??” And the truth is they were all great in their own ways. But I love ranking our trips, so here’s my opinion on the “best of” the Alps.

Best for families – Les Arcs 1950

There are four Arcs comprising the full Les Arcs ski area, and in my opinion 1950 is by far the best because it looks like an old-fashioned French village whereas the other Arcs are more modern. That said, all Arcs have wonderful blue runs that you ski right into the towns. There are no cars allowed and no need even for the bus system – you can move between Arcs as long as the gondolas and chairlifts run. Every night in the center of 1950 there was either a dance party, snow games competition, or ski instructor jumping competition – plenty to keep kids entertained every day. And if that wasn’t enough, Les Arcs also has a ski zipline, two sledging (aka sledding) tracks, and every residence was ski in / ski out. In the afternoons, the boys would play in the snow outside our chalet and use the ski runs as sledding hills once the skiers were done for the day. The food was much more American than French, which was a bummer, but with so many activities to do each day we had a total blast as a family.

Best ski school – St. Anton

While I cannot comment on Zermatt ski schools, for my money our experience at St. Anton with Skischule Arlberg was by far the best. The school was adept at ensuring the boys were in the correct group for their experience level, the instructors communicated effectively each day about where the boys would ski, where they’d eat lunch, and they organized a slalom competition at the end of the week to show off all the kids’ progress on the mountain.

Best Après scene – St. Anton

Ski vacations can’t be all work – you gotta relax too! Admittedly we do not always do a great job of exploring the on-mountain scene every time, but there were major highlights for us. St. Anton had a wonderful mix of on-mountain and in-village restaurants and bars with a great après ski scene. We felt they had the most variety, but La Folie Deuce in Val D’Isere certainly concentrates all the atmosphere of most ski resorts into one major on-mountain party.

Best value for your money – St. Anton

I am only speaking for Europe when I say this, but in general the ski costs were similar across the four resorts we visited. Rental ski gear, lift tickets, ski school – all of that seems to be wildly less expensive than the US right now. However, the countries you’re skiing in can vary widely in cost which affects accommodation pricing as well as your food and drink prices. We found Austria to be quite enjoyable – the food quality was good, meals were reasonably priced, and beers were cheap. The same cannot be said for Switzerland, unfortunately. We have been in and out of Switzerland enough to know that no matter which city or town you’re in, the cost is high. It is one thing to splurge on vacation but to spend double or triple the normal price for food and drink at each meal does not make it an enjoyable experience. France landed in the middle between Austria and Switzerland as far as costs go.

Best ski runs for intermediate skiers – Val d’Isere

Once you get up the gondola past the super steep side of the mountains, Val d’Isere had fun blue and green runs that worked well for beginner and intermediate skiers. Despite skiing since the age of six I am a cautious skier, and prefer long, gently sloping scenic runs to crazy black diamond mogul runs.

The other side to this rating is the worst ski runs for intermediate skiers – which was St. Anton. We found St. Anton to be quite steep, and I fell four times in one day on different runs, which is unusual for me. As much as we loved the cost and the après ski there, it was our boys’ least favorite location for actual ski runs. And mine, too.

Best Scenery – Zermatt or Val d’Isere

This one is a tie between Zermatt (Matterhorn) and Val d’Isere. Both trips were done outside of the traditional European ski weeks (New Years Week and February break), so the crowds were far less than normal. And that contributes to my opinion of course. But skiing down runs without seeing another skier and looking at the most gorgeous mountain views you have ever seen made me laugh out loud at our luck. It was so peaceful in both places, and I feel so much gratitude that I was able to experience that twice in my life.

Most Unique Experience – All

I am not being annoying when I say this – you really can find amazing benefits at every ski resort in the alps.

Highlights for us: St. Anton nighttime sledging run. A wild and crazy ride down from the top of the mountain on a sledging-only track, punctuated by hairpin turns and lots of wipeouts. It was terrifying and so insanely fun we still talk about it weekly in our house a few months later.

Les Arcs snow zipline. A terrifying and exhilarating zipline over the ski runs in a single or double-basket sling that runs one mile long. I was literally shaking while waiting for the zipline to release me, but I laughed the whole way down and the kids begged to go again.

Zermatt Glacier Palace. Walking through ice tunnels and past ice sculptures at the top of the mountain was such a cool experience. The Matterhorn is one of the most gorgeous ski views in all of Europe, but Glacier Palace was a really cool, unique experience we haven’t seen anywhere else.

Val d’Isere La Folie Douce. As big a party as you will see on a mountain, La Folie Douce was quite the mid-afternoon ski break. We visited on a gorgeous blue-sky day and watched the dancers (both on the stage and in the crowd) for a few hours on a Wednesday afternoon. The kids did not find it as entertaining as we hoped, and you definitely do not need sit down restaurant reservations to enjoy the party.

Best Overall—Val d’Isere

Val was the only vacation we took with friends, so it is impossible to say it was not the best. All the kids skied and played well together, and having uninterrupted friend time for a whole week is unprecedented in your forties. It really helped that we went on an off-peak week because the mountain was almost silent much of the time, there were no lift lines, we had amazing dinners, and the views were unmatched. The views and trails alone will have us put Val at the top of our list again next year.

I hope this breakdown helps you choose an amazing location for your next family ski trip. For Americans, a trip to the Alps is far cheaper than skiing in the US whether you fly from Europe or North America. Our friends live in New York and say their accommodation in Vermont alone was equal to the cost of our entire trip to St. Anton or Les Arcs. As first-time Alpine skiers, they were blown away with the cost differences for what is unarguably a far better ski location than anything the Northeast US has to offer.

At the end of the day, our ski trips brought us closer together as a family regardless of where we were, and I am already looking forward to planning a 2026 getaway.