Where to Ski and Snowboard Worldwide: The Reuters Guide to the World's Best Winter Sports Resorts

by Dave Watts

Book Overview

The 23 million skiers in North America will covet the information here that covers destinations from the well known (Aspen and Val d'Isere) to the challenging (Jackson Hole) to the relaxing (St.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 096767476X
• ISBN13: 9780967674766
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Mountain Sports Pr
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

The Best Overall Ski Guidebook for Europe

With all the resources on skiing available on the web, printed guidebooks have almost become obsolete. Resort web sites and ski portals such as DCSki typically provide most of the information found in guidebooks. Web sites also contain up-to-the-minute information on weather and conditions plus timely reviews and firsthand accounts for just about every ski resort on the planet. Finally, many web sites are true communities of practice, places where devotees to snow sports come together and exchange information and ideas. With that being said, I must confess that I have finally found a guidebook worth purchasing. Where to Ski and Snowboard Worldwide is the ultimate reference for those contemplating a ski trip to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The book features full length chapters on every major destination resort in Europe plus additional chapters covering major resorts in the rest of the world, including the U.S. and Canada. Within each chapter, a reader will find a general review of the resort; a description of slopes for each ability level; and a guide to accommodations, dining, and aprés ski. Readers will appreciate the no-nonsense candor of this book. At the beginning of each chapter, the guide provides a 1-5 star rating for various aspects of the resort ranging from slopes to aprés ski, and also a quick list of pluses and minuses for each resort. The authors, for example, give Courchevel lots of stars for snow, slopes, and lifts, but only two stars for charm. In its plus/minus matrix, the authors note that Courchevel has "extensive, varied local terrain to suit everyone from beginners to expert," but then notes in the minus column that the resort is "expensive," and that its villages are "soulless." In short, Where to Ski calls the shots where it sees them, offering both compliments and criticisms for each resort profiled. Where to Ski also offers a nifty "Mountain Facts" sidebar in each chapter that allows one to quickly compare resorts by benchmarks such as skiable vertical in both meters and feet, number of lifts, and kilometers/miles of trails. There is also a "resort ratings at a glance" section at the beginning of the book that brings together the ratings the book gives to each resort in an easy to read table format. If that were not enough, the book provides 200 resort photos, 125 full color trail maps, 70 scale village plans, and general maps for most of the world's major ski regions. The major weakness of the guide is that it is very Eurocentric. The majority of the 400 resorts covered in detail are in Europe, primarily in the Alps. The book devotes a mere 38 chapters to resorts in the United States, and only four East Coast resorts receive chapter-length treatment: Killington, Smugglers' Notch, Stowe, and Sunday River. I nearly returned the book when I did not find a single Mid-Atlantic venue listed in the table of contents. Shame on Reuters! How can this book devote a chapter to ski resorts in Romania and not mention th

By far the best

Trust me on this one folks. If you have gotten this far, pulled up this ski guide and are reading this review, just save your time and order the book immediately. While on sabbatical from a corporate job last winter I skied in Europe at 28 resorts over 4 months and used this guide exclusively. It was simply invaluable for the complex decision making required when laying out a ski trip especially if you have flexibility in choosing resorts. The layout and design of the book is first rate and gives 1 to 5 star ratings by resort for snow, size, terrain (expert, intermediate, beginner), food, liftlines, scenery, resort charm and off slope activities. The uncannily accurate judgement of the editors on these many points really clinches the value of this book. (Why are you still reading?) The book is about 70% Europe, 20% USA, and 10% rest of the world. There is an enlightening write-up on Europe vs. US ski experience differences. There is a synopsis of the skiing peculiarities of each country. There are useful high level road maps showing the geographical location of each resort. In the front section of the book there is an excellent matrix synthesis of the top 100 or so resorts for a high level view of where you might want to go. There are just enough small but clear trail maps to be useful but not cluttered. There are some accomodation listings with punchy accurate quotes from recent visitors. Because of the high efficient layout and design, all this info is easily accessible and clear. The book is missing pricing info which is a bit of a gap but everything else is done so well its hardly a complaint. There are some real bargains to be had, especially in Italy and Austria, and less so in Switzerland and France. ... The pricing gap can be resolved by calling the local tourism boards for the resort you are interested in or accessing the local websites. Most of the tourism contact info is in the book also.The guide is even aesthetically pleasing....very much so.....with nicely placed original small high end (whew!)photographs from some of the resorts giving a pleasant intuitive feel for the area you might be choosing. If you are planning a ski trip in N. America or Europe, buy this guide. Highly Recommended

Very impressive book!

This book makes up for deficiencies in Leocha's Ski Europe (SE)book.SE has a little nice text specifically on European resorts,but this Reuters guide is head and shoulders vastlybetter organized, has color geographic and trail maps whichSE lacks which is a criticism by a reviewer of SE. Pages havecolor chapter tabs by country or state. This book is packed.If you find the text fonts small: you might want a magnifyingreading glass (worth it).Each chapter starts with +s and -s for each area or regionas well as various ratings.Travel, lodging, eating, tend to be covered lightly butadequately.Gill and Watts also has a small nice relatively complete attemptto list "all" resorts in the entire world in the index.This book is mostly oriented toward Alpine downhill skiing andvery little Nordic skiing whereas SE has a small multipagechapter and Nordic comment associated with each resort.This book, and other ski oriented books is likely bestsupplemented by a conventional regional travel guide likeLonely Planet, but this book is quite adequate stand alone.Small detail: SE lacks Norway and many other European countriesand ski areas: it is largely oriented to the Alps.SE has slightly better coverage of Spain (the Pyrenees ANDthe Sierra Nevada): a slight plus (+) if interested in Spain.There are a few UKisms in this book for American readers.It is amusing to read about the English view of American resorts.This can be regarded as a calibration to those who areknowledgeable of your listed local resorts in this book.Worldwide skiing really is not oriented toward beginning skiers,especially those only speaking English in non-English speakingresorts (better to learn near home: save your money) and get morebenefit as a more intermediate or advanced skier.

Required Reading For The Serious Adventurer

The latest edition of this on-going series is a again a "must-own" for the serious adventure traveler.Each major ski area around the globe is thoroughly, yet concisely, covered with enough detail to get a feel for the environs and to plan a trip. Personally, this is the only guidebook I carry when traveling to snowboarding or ski internationally.The trail maps may be small, but convey enough information on the scale of the skiable area. The update contact information and lodging recommendations have never let me down.At TRAILSOURCE.COM, we've given this book a 5 Star Review.