Fly to ski

Did more field research at LSZS. The ski slopes have been as crowded as before COVID for a day with perfect weather but as usual there is still plenty of space for everyone.

LSZS is only for the “happy few”. In other words: If you can afford their amazing prices, then yes, it might also be an amazing “fly to ski” destination. Be warned: Ski passes are expensive as well.

LSZE might be quite a bit cheaper option though. Challenging approach, with a small and short runway. One can walk from the airplane to the gondola.

Is that at St Moritz?

Yes in the picture there is one of the lakes. St Moritz itself is to the left.

LSZS is only for the “happy few”.

It is not cheap but at least if you come a long way to the alps especially for short trips the cost of the flight hours is so much higher than any ski pass, food etc. it does not make a big difference. If one is based in the area obviously such expenses matter more. Also I realized that for me quality matters more than quantity for ski trips. In my memory a single perfect day takes much more room than a budget week in medium conditions.

We went to Zermatt and used Sion to park the plane. Very convenient. May want to try Samedan in the future. Did you get the airfield authorization prior to your skiing trip, or combined it? Was it difficult to arrange for parking your plane?

dutchTraveler wrote:

We went to Zermatt and used Sion to park the plane. Very convenient.

I’ll ski to Zermatt next week from Italian side (Cervinia) with plane parked at Aosta LIMW.

Sebastian_G wrote:

It is not cheap but at least if you come a long way to the alps especially for short trips the cost of the flight hours is so much higher than any ski pass, food etc.

That depends also on the type of airplane of course. The airfield alone asks for crazy prices. International arrivals pay almost double landing fees, 60% AFIS-fee, 40% Snow-removal fee (even if there is no snow), 10 CHF per PAX departure fee, 80 CHF parking fee per day. And then St. Moritz is in general an expensive area, even for Swiss standards. Last year, I was lucky to get a very nice 4-star hotel in Samedan for just 100 CHF, including 2 persons and breakfast, but that was mid-June outside of any holiday season.

Now take LSGS for example, which is also perfect for skiing: They ask only the default Swiss landing and ATC fees (mentioned in the AIP). No snow-removal fee, no international fee, and just 6 CHF (!) per night for parking on the tarmac! That makes parking even for an entire week affordable. Nonetheless, LSZS is flying wise more special than LSGS. On the other side, LSGS offers many ski areas in the vicinity, where LSZS is quite limited in skiing options.

Sebastian_G wrote:

In my memory a single perfect day takes much more room than a budget week in medium conditions.

For sure I agree with that!

dutchTraveler wrote:

We went to Zermatt and used Sion to park the plane.

Very cool! I’ve once visited Zermatt by plane via Raron (LSTA), but that makes an additional landing for Swiss customs necessary. Also, Raron is not quite trivial to land at, so Sion is definitely the more comfortable way to do it!

Emir wrote:

I’ll ski to Zermatt next week from Italian side (Cervinia) with plane parked at Aosta LIMW.

Pssst… don’t tell that any Swiss person! You can’t feel the full Zermatt “experience” when staying at the Italian side. A true Zermatt lover stays in Zermatt and start his/her day on Swiss slopes.

Snow tires are obligatory in all French mountainous regions as they should be. It’s annoying enough to have these idiots tourists who rent a car once a year on their holiday block things with their “driving” to allow unsafe cars to be on the road. https://www.gouvernement.fr/les-chaines-ou-les-pneus-hiver-sont-obligatoires-en-zones-montagneuses-en-periode-hivernale

dutchTraveler wrote:

May want to try Samedan in the future. Did you get the airfield authorization prior to your skiing trip, or combined it? Was it difficult to arrange for parking your plane?

I can not comment much on the latest conditions for the qualification flight as the details changed over time and I just kept my qualification current with a visit every 2 years or less. But I saw a youtube video a while ago and it seemed to be a short mission.

Parking for small aircraft (small means to them something like 8t-10t) is on the hard snow which adds to the experience. They ask you to call in which I do but as long as the snow stays hard there is plenty of parking space and there was never an issue. That is the snow parking space just before we left in the evening:

Years ago we once went around 1st April and the snow was melting. They let us park on the hard as it was already off season but in high season right now tarmac parking might be an issue.

@LFHNflightstudent

Snow tires are obligatory

Come on, you gotta pulling legs here, no? Winter tires on my aircraft? Alright, I’ll try snow chains first 😋🤣