I love this topic. I just HAVE to do this, I did went to Zell am See once to go fishing, skiing is next on the list.
What would be the “best” airport for a 2 days trip to ski, in terms of distance between airport and slopes and availability of taxis/buses? From what I read so far the contendants are: Zell Am See, St Johann, Aosta, Sion, Samaden, Courchevel (the last two need special permit – I only have the one for Samaden -). Never landed in any of them except Samaden and Sion (Sion quite far from slopes).
To start with, it depends on how good a skier you are.
If you are “intermediate” (say blue/red runs) then Cervinia (fly to Aosta; probably the friendliest airport in Italy) is hard to beat; also for the ability to get accommodation which is quickly walkable to the ski lifts (it’s a compact place). No need for buses or taxis once there.
If you are an advanced skier then you have a huge range but I am not qualified to advise on that 
The problem with this business is that everybody has their favourite place, as the previous 922 posts show This thread documents my own attempts at skiing, from ~ Dec 2015 onwards.
mancival wrote:
Zell Am See, St Johann, Aosta, Sion, Samaden, Courchevel
I think in that case Samedan will offer you the best overall experience for a short trip. It will be expensive but in relation to the cost of the flight the differences probably do not matter that much. I recommend to avoid the weekend when possible and plan 2 or 3 dates in march. Then check on the weather and make it happen on short notice on one of them. My long term go rate is about 50% for such trips. No point doing a dangerous flight in bad weather in the mountians and then sit in the fog on the slopes.
Bobo wrote:
Zell am See once to go fishing, skiing is next on the list.
The issue with Zell is often the fog in winter while other airports are CAVOK. I did plan so many ski flights to Zell and every time had to replan on short notice to somewhere else.
Thanks to all for the advice so far. How about “safest” airport in terms of approach/departure with clouds? I’m IR rated, but my current plane is not de-iced and I would like an airport that can be reached, from south (Italy), and/or from north (France), flying “low” all the time, if need be.
flying “low” all the time
Annecy might meet that requirement. I went from there once to ski at Grand Bornand but it is IMHO a poor location; narrow runs and very crowded, with lots of kids. It is easily accessible by car for the locals as a day family trip and you pay the price for that
Annecy is a great location for a meetup though.
Ice protection is of little help in the mountains because very few pilots will fly in IMC with huge rocks all around. Even the few IAPs are somewhat hairy – the few which are not “special crew authorisation”. So fly to ski stuff is mostly done strictly “CAVOK all the way up”, checking webcams in the morning. Also you want good wx for skiing; I’ve wasted a whole week once at Madonna in ~10m vis; that was an airline trip (with Justine) and it would not have happened has I been going in the TB20. The video I posted above, flying to Aosta, shows the sort of conditions which most people fly in, around mountains.
mancival wrote:
How about “safest” airport in terms of approach/departure with clouds?
Such an airport probably does not exist or will be very far from the mountains so you will need a rental car. Something like EDNY or similar. But as Peter points out there is no point to fly for a 1 or 2 day ski trip if the weather is not CAVOK in the mountains anyway. And that flight in VMC over the mountains is the actual highlight of the trip so why skip it.
I would imagine that Lausanne is a pretty safe bet and one can easily get a train to the slopes from there..
Ive flown into LOWK IFR. From the east you dont have MEAs that are at most planes service ceiling. It sits in a wide valley. One downside you need 45-50 mins to get to the Hotel and slopes. Ck out the IAP the runways are long and wide with ILS and lights. The airport costs are very reasonable and there is overnight hangarage. I believe it has C&I because it does have commercial traffic. Coming from UK you do need to fly over the Alps. That is a downside.
Stickandrudderman wrote:
I would imagine that Lausanne is a pretty safe bet and one can easily get a train to the slopes from there.
In winter Lausanne and the whole of Lac Leman are often covered in low level stratus for days or weeks, whereas Sion will be CAVOK due to adiabatic warming. Sion is officially the sunniest city in Switzerland I believe.
