International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) Mostly on-piste EU village to village safari

[karlo]

https://theskisafari.com/ski-in-italy/dolomites-ski-safari/
Sounds exactly what you’re after.

Refugio to refugio would be a blast

You can't beat the variety of skiing, spectacular mountain scenery, lift network, towns, food, and lodging options that you'll find in the Dolomites

The Dolomites Safari does require that you carry your overnight stuff in a backpack.

So, it's booked. The Dolomites. Found an operator that puts a fine-dining rifugio to rifugio tour. Bags are transfered between each one, so we need not carry anything as we ski. And, altitudes of all rifugio's are all below 8000', all well below the ~8500' of Telluride and Aspen at which my wife always gets altitude sickness upon arrival. And, we will engage a guide. She goes ahead of me and my son, spends a couple days exploring Venice, then hangs out a couple days at Cortina d'Ampezzo, which is lower than Denver, where she has no altitude problems, to acclimatize. It's not France, and it's not quaint village to quaint village. But, it will be fantastic food and views to fantastic food and views, or so we are assured. If altitude becomes a problem for her, the guide can get us to lower elevation and still get us to our next destination. The wife has signed on.

Much thanks to everyone that chimed in with suggestions. I really like that website @Slim pointed to. From it, the villlage of Sixt caught my eye. I will definitely be referring to that website again. Very easy to navigate too, through Google Translate's webpage viewing feature.

The tour I booked isn't for everyone. After all, the basic Italian cuisine as prepared in Italy already surpasses what we can normally expect to find in the States; I'm sure the food at the vast majority of rifugios would please the palate. And, not everyone needs or wants the services of a guide. I'll include anything useful I learn, for those that might want to do something like this but yet differently, in my trip report.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

Yes, please do give us a TR. Bob and I are looking to do something like this next season. Our son is taking a gap year before professional school and will dog sit for us so plan to take a month or more in Europe.

 

[Bolder]

I think you'll love the Dolomites. For future reference, this is what I'd suggest for France:

1. Pick a big, interconnected area on one pass and ski the heck out of it. That takes in Portes de Soleil, Espace Killy, Three Valleys, Paradiski, Serre Chevalier, and to a lesser extent Espace Diamant, Evasion Mt. Blanc and Grand Massif. All these areas have pros/cons, a wide variety of terrain, most (though not all) have the kind of villages you are looking for, and they are all suitable for intermediates (and will challenge an expert, although I wouldn't say the last three have a ton of black slopes).

For example, interesting towns in Portes de Soleil include La Chappelle, Chatel, Morzine and Les Gets (not including Avoriaz as it's purpose built). Then, there's stuff on the Swiss side. It's a pleasant, sprawling area, claiming 650 km of trails. All of Serre Che is perfectly suitable for intermediates, and Le Monetier is a very quaint village with a thermal spa. Espace Diamant is full of blue cruisers and some cute villages (Flumet, Notre Dame de Bellecombe, Hauteluce, Crest Voland), but at 185 km of trails means it's not crazy big. Evasion MB (Megeve/St. Gervais) and GM (Samoens is a real gem, as is Sixt fer a Cheval) are about the same, but not really "name" stations outside of Megeve (intermediate-focused). 3V will satisfy your ski jones but quaintness comes at a big price in Courchevel and Meribel, though St. Martin de Belleville can be reasonable. EK and Paradiski are probably more ski focused.

Quick word about Sixt fer a Cheval -- it's not really linked to GM except for one lift that you have to drive to. I'd call the Giffre Valley more of a summer destionation -- killer climbing and hiking, but even Samoens is only at 800 meters so not very snow sure.



2. The other option is to base yourself in an interesting area and do some driving. Of course that means humping and packing your own gear every two days. Don't think you want to do that. If you are dead set on France, on area I'd love to try this in is the Maurienne Valley -- I've only skied Valloire (lovely village), but there are scads of smaller stations all the way to the Italian border, and I think each one would hold your attention for a day. But, I think you'd have to drive or trust a bus service, which can be really unpredictable.



There are certainly a lot of very nice inns in the Alps, but one difficulty is finding ones that won't have a minimum week stay during the high season; forget the school holidays.

 

[Dave Petersen]

https://theskisafari.com/ski-in-italy/dolomites-ski-safari/
Sounds exactly what you’re after.

Wow! That looks great!

 

[Nobody]

Inded, there is a number of agencies and ski schools in the Doloomites that will organize a ski safari for/with you. An instructor will ski wiht you/guide you the whole tour, and someone else will take careof your luggage and you'll find it in the evening at the new location Hotel/Garni.
Check, as an example (disclaimer : I have no affiliation whatsoever with them, nor specific intere$t$) :
-on Facebook, in Italian

And in English :

-on the internet : https://arabbaholidays.it/en/ski-safari

It is just an example, I haven't searched in deep, but a google search for "Dolomites ski safari" has returned quite a few interesting hits.

 

[Nobody]

Indeed, there is a number of agencies and ski schools in the Doloomites that will organize a ski safari for/with you. An instructor will ski wiht you/guide you the whole tour, and someone else will take careof your luggage and you'll find it in the evening at the new location Hotel/Garni.
Check, as an example (disclaimer : I have no affiliation whatsoever with them, nor $ecific intere$t$) :
-on Facebook in Italian :
and in English

-on the internet : https://arabbaholidays.it/en/ski-safari

It is just an example, I haven't searched in deep, but a google search for "Dolomites ski safari" has returned quite a few interesting hits.

 

[Bad Bob]

All this ski safari talk got me wondering. Is there anything like this in North America other than the Utah Connect Park City down to Alta?

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

@karlo Did you go on your ski safari yet? If so, how was it and what company did you end up using. We are still hoping to do something like this next year.

 

[karlo]

@karlo Did you go on your ski safari yet? If so, how was it and what company did you end up using. We are still hoping to do something like this next year.

Departing Saturday. I'll start a TR.

 

[karlo]

Here’s the TR,

https://www.pugski.com/threads/dolomites-rifuguo-to-rifugio-gourmet-ski-safari.14643/