Ski Differences between Europe and North America
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
- Although the fundamentals are the same, skiing and snowboarding in North America compared to Europe is quite a different experience. Why? Watch my video to find out!!
In this video, I compare skiing and snowboarding in the US and Canada to skiing and snowboarding in places in Europe like Austria and France.
Hi! I'm Kelly and I am an American who lived in Germany for 18 wonderful months. While I lived abroad before in Turkey and had done quite a bit of traveling beforehand, those 18 months in Germany definitely broadened my perspective of Germany, Europe, and even the US in so many different ways! I wanted to share my perceptions with you guys through CZcams so that maybe you can gain context to things you've heard about, or learn new information or a different perspective, or maybe this is everything you've heard before and further confirms your world view. No matter what the reason, I hope that you enjoy my videos! Don't forget to subscribe to my channel and turn on notifications so that you always know when I'm posting new content :)
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4:00 Nope, snowboarding has been popular in Europe like 10 years ago. Its popularity is actually declining. Back when I was 12 years old every kid wanted to learn snowboard. Now ski schools offer barely any snowboard classes due to limited demand. Source: I'm a ski instructor in Austria.
Yep, its on the way out!
Just came down here to write that exact same thing
Same here when I was 16 all my friends were switching from skiing to snowboarding.
Now they're all back to skiing
Agree. Same in Norway. 10 years ago it was 50/50 boards and skies. Now it`s more like 20/80. Most of my friends switched back to skies
@@classic1981 i live in Austria. 20 years ago, I and many others were also telemarking, but I switched to carving 3 years ago. Hardly anyone, nobody really, dies telemarking here in the Alps anymore. (btw: jeg er fra Trondheim)
Snowboarding was huge in Europe 20 years ago, since the first carving skis came to the market, it went down very quickly
Much more fun with skies!
Agree. Snowboarding has decreased. 20 years ago there was even telemarking, but it has all but disappeared.
Board vs. Ski: all said.
Here US is behind Europe.
Slalom+Race Carver are popular in Europe. In the US many off-piste skis are sold, even when people do not off-piste skiing.
And maybe, average skiing ability in Europe is still better than in the US. We Europeans try to improve our skiing skills and not just do our miles. (For doing miles, we do cross country)
Idk, I saw more snowboarders in Europe than ever during this past trip to Chamonix. I never saw even one group of snowboarders with an instructor before, and I saw multiple groups in Chamonix this past Christmas.
Well. Maybe, but overall the trend is south. Board manufacturer in Europe are rare these days.
Europe's ski manufacturer have a trend away from the aggressive carving ski to more all-round skis. And piste skis' tails are less wide these days. There is a lot of dynamic and so you might be right on the long run, Kelly.
As a European skier I just couldnt help but notice you saying that you have never seen an orange ski run. That could be right because they don't exist: blue, red and black are the only universal ski runs in Europe. Green is used mostly (possibly only) in France and orange or yellow usually indicates a skiroute (which is a off-piste, unprepared route).
Nice video though!
That would explain it!! Thanks :)
Youndonhave orange these are snowtrails, parts of the mountains that are controlled but not maintained. Mostly they are easy slopes.
There are very many green, runs in Sweden
Greens are in canada
In spain we also have green runs
If I just paid 200 bucks for a day of skiing, I wouldnt take a break either.
thegypsysoul for real!
thegypsysoul - damn straight!
@@Kellydoesherthing You know, for years and years I was so eager to move to US and then I started to watch these videos like yours and I have realised that in US is everything so much much much much more expensive than it has to be. Also the culture and common sense of life is oriented only on "get more more more" and if you don't have for example a truck you are not a real man. PIERRE XO
made many great videos about social differences between US and europe and how he does not want to live in a country where you are in a life long debts just because you want to study on a university and how a broken arm adds up to those life long debts. Lewis Black was so pissed off with this culture in one of C-SPAN videos.
KEENMATE: Ha Ha. The US is not just Los Angelos , Manhattan and Miami that you see in vids and TV. In fact it’s a fairly minor part of the US. That’s so funny you have that impression. It’s like back in the day when Arabs watched Baywatch. Many actually believed that’s what the US consisted of. Ha ha ha.
for that price you get a whole week of skiing
Skiing is cemented into European culture for centuries. There are so many resorts that you could never compete with American pricing schemes. In North America skiing is designed for the wealth class. Small resorts have disappeared and Vail corp sets the tone: Bigger is better and please, no plebs.
Just buy the Epic Pass, it’s totally worthwhile
It’s called ALPINE skiing for a reason ;)
If you look around you can find affordable skiing in the u.s I live in one of these places, but it only works if it's a secret. 😉
The high prices are mostly just for the weekenders who come up from the big cities. If you buy a season pass, your prices generally come out to even less than European ones. For me, it was around $20 per day for a season.
There are also a lot of different options. Some of them are closer to $50 than $200. It all depends on if you want to go to a luxury resort or family ski hill.
CANADA HAS CHEAP RESIRTS
And I thought 60 CHF for one day would be expensive.
Und wenns bi üs wieder mal 90 CHF in Andermatt verlanget hauts üs scho us de socke!
@@maxim9376 fuck Schweizer Deutsch ist so schwierig zu lesen
@@aaron9828 haha
So true ! Haha for me it should be 30/35€ maybe45€
Frost Nacht yeah! I‘m a little shocked as well - ok, not a little XD
Most modern Lifts in Europe lower the bar automatically and then lock it nowadays. Also where I go skiing in Switzerland some lifts have heated seats.
Most resorts in Western US don't have alot of wind chill so don't need heated seats. Places Northeast like Vermont have heated and bubble (plastic dome cover) lifts. When I go west I bring lightest ski jacket I have
Mike Chin Nah. You’ve just been lucky. Go try Loveland.
Mike Chin Nah. You’ve just been lucky. Go try Loveland.
@@Smuddpie Loveland is near Keystone, which I been to alot. I been to Whiteface and Mont Tremblant, listed as 2 of the top 5 coldest ski areas. Whiteface recorded temps colder than Antarctica
@@TheBacontarian Cannon is also real cold
To sum up, europeans know how to enjoy life
Lol
As a European who now lives in NYC I think the difference in attitude on the slopes is time. In the US a holiday/ski trip is a long weekend. In Europe, we tend to go for a week. Also, the scenery is so beautiful you want to stop and see it.
fair points!
I think the overall price difference could also be due to the fact that many ski resorts in the Alps are self-managed by the municipality whereas it’s rather big for-profit corporations in North America (?) A municipality-run resort just needs to break even. Its main purpose is to bring tourists to their valley and thereby the revenues and employment that come along with them anyway.
Very good point. Lift ticket prices in U.S. are insane. When I began skiing in 1970, Killington full-day was nine bucks, most expensive in Vermont. Now you pay that for an orange in any major area. Belleayre in the Catskills was run by NY State, as was Gore and Whiteface. Three bucks for Belleayre back then! But, dentistry was quasi-Medieval, so there are some advantages to the modern world...some...fewer each day.
Thomas, I skied in Austria, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, California (where I live). Next to being paranoid about squirrels crossing the slope (and everything else), the main difference is that most ski resorts in Europe have "grown" over many years and not some investor development. In the US, you are mostly looking at resort style vs. Europe you are more looking at Villages (exceptions are always there).
Skiing in the US makes you feel like Highway Patrol is always next to you.
I would consider myself rather experienced (starting at 5) and you have way more liberties in Europe. Plus, people are more aware of their surroundings.
Ski resorts in Europe are on average MUCH bigger then in NA as well
No one mentioned that, but most tree area is considered as"off piste" in Europe, which is called "off bound" in the US. Even it's within the ski resort, you are responsible for paying rescue fees.
well said. breaking even, allows happy skiers, brings them in and they in turn support all the restaurants, shops, bars , clubs etc. its a win win . USA ski resorts now run by big greedy corporates that look at the bottom line. im looking at you VAIL SKI RESORT. they jack prices up, and lower service , all to make more $$$. couldnt give a toss about the skiers, its all about return to shareholders/owners of co.
8:30 Schnaps is not flavoured liqueur, it is destilled out of fruits or different ingredients
Mad Madnautics There are literally 100’s of schnapps in the US that are flavored liqueurs. I grew up in a midwestern town that was 100% of German ancestry where both traditional German and Scandinavian schnapps abounded. These German, Swedish, Norwegian, Finish.... immigrants then quickly branched out and created many new US styles of schnapps. Many of which are flavored liqueurs. My father (100% German ancestry who spoke fluent German from childhood) and his buddies would go out in summer and collect wild black cherries and various other wild ingredients and make their homemade schnapps numerous ways. Both traditional and non-traditional. Non-traditional usually would be by taking shortcuts and infusing wild collections with commercial booze.
@@mrsmartypants_1 so it's still wrong. It's like riding a bicycle with supporting wheels and call it a car cause of the 4 wheels
In the US, schnapps is typically an overly sweet liquor with artificial flavorings in grain alcohol. My European experiences beginning in St. Anton, Austria opened me to a 'Williams' made with a legitimate pear brandy with a 'pear ball' in the glass. It is not sweet (as far too many foods in the US are) but very satisfying. Other fruit brandies include Kirschwasser made from cherries.
Grappa is better
So im living in Innsbruck as a student, and we have a special season pass which costs around 400€, which includes limitless access to about 30 ski resorts, including the glacier where there is only 3 months of offseason.. the ticket is valid for an entire YEAR and grants you summer access for hiking, climbing and mountainbiking. 😉
That's crazy, in America it cost close to $1000 for just ONE resort!!
@@BFVsnypEz and dont forget the other $1000 needed to pay if we want to get a summer pass
I’ve skied both and prefer to ski in Europe. Europeans treat skiing like Americans treat going to the beach. It’s a much more leisurely activity. For
Americans, skiing is an athletic endeavor. A very nice video. I’ve had the same observations as you
Is it true that most of the US ski resorts have some kind of "snow patrol"? Im from austria and we don't really have that here tbh
Yes, it’s true. All American resorts have a ski patrol. They mainly assist skiers who are injured and also do avalanche control
@@HawkeyeChannelCZcams oh ok, i thought they are like a police or something, because i saw some videos where they took ski passes for speeding or skiing off-slope from some costumers. Our "ski patrol" is just for injuries and avalanche control and don't have the rights to take someone's ski-pass. Thats why im asking :)
I also heard from some kind of "safety class" you can take to get your pass back after an incident. Feels kinda strange to me :D
But i also saw that some of the costumers there are pretty ruthless, so it makes sense.
@@user-ym8sp2yi1k The will take passes if people are skiing dangerously and causing harm to others. This is pretty rare as most people don't want to lose their pass.
Actually, Chamonix is amongst the most expensive resorts in France. Most of my local mountains are cheaper. La Clusaz is about 40€ (50$), Les 7 Laux is 35€. And small, family style, hills are about 20€ (25$) for a day. Never heard of an orange run, hardest has always been black runs for me. But the level of difficulty varies widly between resorts regarding reds and blacks. Finally, one of the big difference is regarding enforcing those safety things. Ski patrol might say something if you really bomb at Mach 2 down a slow area, but it never happened to me. Dodging ropes and going off piste is generally accepted and you will never risk your ski pass, at worst you'll have to pay for rescue (in France, if you go completely off piste, outside of a resorts land, then rescue is free, but if you are on resort oned land, then you'll have to pay if you aren't covered by your insurance). Overall, ski resorts in europe have a much more "be responsible for yourself" attitude. Probably also linked to the fact that it would never cross anybody's mind to sue a resort if they got hurt there.
The american pricing scheme is designed in the favor of passholders. It's a more secure investment for the resorts too since they get their money upfront and really favors the hardcore skiers. I live in Salt Lake City in very close proximity (30-60 min by car) to 9 resorts. I paid $900 for my pass, probably skied 30-40 days before covid-19 shut down everything, which comes out to $22.50-$30 per day. Not bad at all, but again, I'm hardcore. Pass came with free bus transportation from the city to the resort, packed my own food, so I paid nothing apart from the upfront cost. Usually, my resort stays open into the summer. On good snow years, it is open as late as July. Had the season not been shortened, I could have probably got $15/day out of my pass.
As far as closures go, I appreciate that the offpiste areas inbounds were well maintained for avalanche safety. The area where my resort is located is the most avalanche-prone area in north america. People die every year. I'd rather wait an hour or two for patrol to clear the especially avalanche-prone areas than be at a higher risk of dying. My cliffs, couloirs, and trees are fun, but you need to respect them. I feel like american skiing is much more geared toward offpiste, so I'm down for more patrol and avalanche safety than risk people dying.
It really depends... I have heard of a guy who is dead because of a snow fall and he was on a ski resort. I don’t know what the familly did but I would sue the resort. You pay for being safe of any snow fall. We know how to prevent it.
Orange runs are Signposted off-pistes. Orange Signposts usually are just one line of posts showing the path down. You are supposed to stay at most 30 meters ether sides of the posts line to avoid dangers. Since it is considered as off-piste rescue is not insured by the resort rescue team but by the national mountain rescue service and you are to consider those paths as effective off-pistes and therefore wear all off-piste protection and rescue gears.
@@bionicleman1231 that's a great point about hardcore pass holders being a much stabler and consistent in investment. It just sucks that that plus living near a bunch of resorts and skiing super duper often is the only way to make it cost-effective.
@@MCSTNDTCAFAG Never, ever heard of it. Let alone seen one. Maybe in other parts of europe ? Not in France anyway.
We have "dotted black" slopes where I live which is just a "monitored" but not groomed in any way off-piste but orange idk, never seen it.
"Americans are more aggressive at getting in their ski runs"
Well duh. When you need to pay 150$ for using the skilifts in north america vs 60$ in europe you wanna get in every single run you get to get your money's worth.
🤣
60$? In Italy it is more like 18$
@@marcoroberts9462 I'm jealous
TBF the tickets cost a ton but the season passes are pretty adorable.
I lived just outside Munich for a few years and we had so many resort options in Austria and Germany. Very accessible and relaxed.. No need to rush to get your ski fix... Relax, enjoy your skiing (or snowboarding), have a drink, some soup... We have soooo many resorts in a very small geographic area.. The Tyrol region is awesome! But so is Italy, France, Switzerland... And you can get pretty much anywhere easily.. Enjoy!!
If you want to stay in Bavaria, where would you ski please?
@@MHK-yu2tf This year, nowhere. Go to austria (higher regions like west of Innsbruck) or even better South Tyrol (Italy).
I just got back from a trip to Mayrhofen in Austria. Airfare from Salt Lake City to Munich, rental car (split 4 ways), 5 nights lodging in a 3 star apartment - private bed and bath, lift tickets for 5 days, ski rental (brought boots), food, drink - $2,400. Very cheap. Fantastic facilities, very cool mountain town, great apres ski. It was my 5th time there. Lodging has gone up in the past 8 years from about $50 a night to about $100 but everything else has stayed pretty level.
THIS !! I live in Eastern Canada and it's cheaper to go ski in the Alps than in the Rockies. Crazy eh?
@@sachadee.6104 I had forgotten about this post. we went back to Mayrhofen in March of 2021, as COVID restrictions were winding down. Everything was about the same moneywise. I bought a 4 day lift pass that gave access to 4 different ski areas including coach transfers to get around to the different areas for 200 Euros. I brought my daughter and her husband along. She was almost suspicious as to why the lift tickets were so cheap! They live in upstate NY where local "hills" charge over $100/day for 600' vertical.
Of course now the airlines are in gouge mode, so you would need to add another grand for the airfare, but so do East Coast Americans traveling west. Hopefully the airlines will get their crews and airplanes back in the air and fares may retreat a little. Or maybe they won't.
@@christerman I stumbled on this footage yesterday while preparing on the possibilities of skiing in the Canadian Rockies. I was IN SHOCK about the high prices of lift tickets and rental gear. Coming from Europe originally, I've skied in Mayerhofen and many other places in the Alps and I feel a bit uncertain if the Rockies is worth the extra money. But, it's on my bucket list so I guess I will be trying Sunshine Village/Lake Louise this year.
@@sachadee.6104 I am pretty glad that at 66, the majority of my ski days are behind me. I find skiing here in Utah to be not very fun anymore. The cost and the crowds are out of hand. I had business early in the morning in Park City yesterday. As I was driving back to Salt Lake, I was astonished to see that the traffic exiting the freeway to the 7 mile drive into town was backed up almost half a mile, and then it was bumper to bumper all the way in. My first thought was where were they all going to park?
@@christerman O M G !!! Because I did not know where Park City is, I looked it up and discovered they want $ 1300 for 5 day ski lift ticket ! Insane. Even more, there is a whole page dedicated that lift tickets are limited UNLESS you buy a season pass or some other pass first. This goes for all of their resorts, including Vail and Whistler. Sounds like a scam to be able to cash EVEN MORE on lift tickets. Unreal these prices. Can not wrap my head around it. (it will be one of my last years I guess, turning 60 in March).
I think Scandinavian ski-culture differs a bit from what it's like in the Alps. Waiting in line is part of our culture and sneaking in is really bad. Not that much alcohol either.
I agree. I have never seen better behaved skiers than in Norway. And drinking... Well, if your skipass is quite a lot cheaper than a small beer...
Hans Zickerman Sounds likenot much fun🤷♂️ No wonder you dońt drink, coz alcohol cost´s you fortune.😉
I've been to several resorts in Austria and Italy and honestly it's not nearly as bad as this video might lead you to think.
I never seen anyone go to the slopes in the swedish mountains without alcohol in the bag if it's a trip with friends or coworkers. But just a day in the slope at home then never drink because will probably be driving.
It's called "after-ski" for a reason...
Kelly do you why so many people do really like you? Because of your blunt honesty . Your refreshing way of saying stuff is amazing. Thanks for being yourself .
Snow-Boarding is getting more and more unpopular at least in Switzerland. 10 years ago you could see a lot more snowboarder than today. Of course it depends a bit on the area.
snow-boarding 😊
I thought the same - but this year (1st week of february) had a extraordinary amount of snowboarders in Zermatt. Barely seen so many the past few years I went there.
What is the reason/s for the decline in snowboarding in Europe?
perhaps modern sky is easy and fun, and can be too if hardpack @@silenz_178
5:00 Regarding the queue: Yes, in the Alps there is much less need for over organizing the queue. Risk of getting shot if you piss somebody off is minimal 😁
so true
I've lived in Bavaria for 8 years, and skied every season. Our local ski resorts, which are smaller but just as much fun, are only 35 Euro for a single day pass. Wilder Kaiser in Tyrol is only 1 hour from my house. It has 90 lifts and ~250 km (150 miles) of trails, all for only 55 € per day.
90 runs.
90 lifts is a lot lol
I crappy ski resort with no mountains in my state in the US is 90$😭
For a day pass
@@jp4431 it is true though, the ski area contains 90 lifts.
This was really comprehensive! I was about to call attention some important things but you mentioned all of them!
The schnapps thing during the daytime isn't that widespread in Europe I feel, but it wouldn't be frowned upon either. More common is the liters of beer a lot of people drink during lunch and of course the widespread boozing at après-ski around 4 o'clock at the bottom of the slopes or in the village in the evening. There's also some time periods where young people go skiing and there will be parties in the huts next to the slopes and huge stages with DJs in the central lift areas. Basically a wintery version of spring break.
Aw thanks :) I’m happy you liked it. And a winters version of spring break is the perfect way to describe it
@@Kellydoesherthing have a look at Alpe d'Huez Tomorrowland festival
Just bought a 11 day ski ticket in the Swiss alps for 262€ that means I pay 23€ a day 🤩
That’s fantastic. Where was it and did the overall high Swiss cost of living roughen the smooth edge off it?
I visited Canada (sunshine/lake Louise) in 2019. My observations as a European firstly was the amount of time it took to get to the resort was long, buses from Banff and long gondola rides. In Europe my accommodation is usually on or a short walk to the slopes. I found it odd in Canada that there were paper lift tickets, with people scanning them, it seemed very old fashioned, however the staff were friendly and even loaded and unloaded your equipment. In the resorts themselves in Canada the pistes were much shorter and less vertical, overall the ski areas were quite small. There were more options with bumps and trees though which may please some. The Rocky Mountains are pretty but did not have the same beauty and awe as when above 3000 m in the Alps. The lift systems were average, there were not many lifts compared to big European resorts and I don’t remember a chairlift with more than 4 seats, many of the chairlift bars did not have footrests which is annoying. In big European resorts they invest heavily in the lifts to make them modern, warm and comfortable, many are also very impressive feats of engineering. On weekdays in Canada when I visited in April the slopes were very quiet which was nice and more relaxing. Snow at sunshine was really good for the time of year.
Totally agree. I went snowboarding in Banff in 98 for two weeks; and after 4 days I'd done all the slopes in Sunshine, Lake Louise and Norquay and was bored. I was annoyed I'd come all that way for so little. The runs were short, the lifts were average, the mountain restaurants were abysmal. It was too cold for me, even after getting really thick gloves and wearing liner gloves as well and wearing chemical heat pads on my feet. The lifts close too early, 3:30pm in Jan - it would be an hour later in the Alpes in Jan.
The pluses were the rocky mountain scenery is magnificent, although the skiing doesn't go to the top of it to look down from like in the Alpes. The lift attendants were friendly. Felt more connected to nature - even though you couldn't really ski in it like go extremely off piste and still be in the ski area. Hot tubs are great. The snow quality is good. The slopes are much less busy.
I'm glad I went, but would never return and it put me off going to other North American resorts. Whenever I researched going back to US/Can I checked the piste maps to see the skiing area size and length of runs and proximity of slopes to lodging, they always fell short.
Just looking this vid now so my comment is delayed. First you seem to make the classic mistake that all Europeans seem to make. Canada is a country and Europe is a continent!! Moreover, Canada, while large geographically, is small by population. So comparing one resort in Canada [Sunshine....which isn't close to the best resort in Canada] to all of Europe is an apples and oranges comparison and completely unfair as to be useless.
@@markallemang8819 Exactly what I wanted to say.
Canada is almost bigger than the entire European continent. The distance between Québec city (where I live) and Vancouver (4 600 km) is nearly twice the distance between Paris and Moscow (2 700 km)!
As an European, very cool to hear the differences. Never seen an orange piste though.
Great report thank you Kelly!!
you're welcome!
Hey for someone without a long experience you did a great job !
Enjoyed your video even tho never been skiing or snowboarding !!
Thank you!!
next time you're in Europe, you should really check the Dolomites out. Amazing scenery, great food, and 1 skipass for 12 resorts and 1200km of slopes (300€ per week).
Sure - great area . Sadly , this winter we were due to arrive at Sella Ronda first week of March , and because of Coronavirus had to cancel .
@@user-uj5tb6pp9syup sad year this year
I agree 100%!! Once you experience the Dolomites you can’t enjoy anywhere else!!
I’ve been to corvara and the sella group a few times now and it’s great. The only downside is the lack of snow
@@georgegande1779 My family has been going to Corvara for 20 years, we absolutely love the place. In the last 3 years there's been plenty of snow!
One reason that lift tickets are cheaper in the Alps is that the lift companies are usually non-profit entities that are set up by the community to draw people in to town and then spend money at the hotels, shops and restaurants (which ARE run for profit). In France, the biggest resorts, including Chamonix, are all partially owned by the French government as a sort of economic development tool for mountain communities. In the Dolomites, every hotel, shop and restaurant is assessed a certain amount based on the number of rooms or tables to pay for a new lift. If an innkeeper tries to freeload then the rest of the town applies social pressure. The system seems to work because the amount of investment in lifts, snowmaking and mountain infrastructure in the Dolomites is staggering.
Thank you for that !
The biggest difference I noticed in US was lack of continuous piste markings, in Europe the piste is marked with poles the whole way down so you don't get lost in a whiteout.
This is the biggest difference between US and Europe, that I wish someone talk about it. In the US, as long as you stay within the boundary, everything is skiable unless it's clearly marked "close". If you break your arm in the woods or jumping off the cliffs (don't do that if you don't have the skills), you can call the resort and they will rescue you without any charge. I know lots of people in Europe never ski trees because they are "off-piste" and the resort is not responsible for any injuries.
@@lisayist Well, in most of europe health insurance (including helicopter rescue) is free for citizens. So the resort isn’t really responsible. The state you’re skiing in is. So if you’re crashing inside the woods in Switzerland, the swiss mountain rescue team will still rescue you, and your free health insurance will pay the fees.
@@LeonWpr well not really. Where I ski in France, they won't make you pay for the hospital, but for the helicopter ride. Though that is only if you're pretty far away from the official slopes. If you go in the woods near a ski slope you'll be fine. Ski schools take kids off-pist all the time, so you know it's fine as long as you're not too far into the wilderness.
@@Nooom91 It's a little oddity that insurance doesn't cover getting off the mountain, but you can add 'carre neige' (snow carry) to your lift pass for something like 2 Euro per day, which then covers you for getting off the mountain if injured. So realistically, travel insurance and carre neige is incredibly cheap in Europe.
@@Nooom91 Here in Austria helicopter rescue is usually not free (but health care is). But most people who do sports regularly have a private casualty insurance which includes helicopter rescues. Cheaper options (50 - 100 Euros a year) which include helicopter rescues are memberships to clubs/associations/organizations like mountain rescue, mobility clubs, alpine/outdoor associations, etc. I remember when I was mountain biking in Portes du Soleil (border region France/Switzerland) the very cheap ticket (was it around 100 Euro for a week 15 years ago?) included helicopter rescue.
It’s funny to see skiing through a Jerrys point of view
Really super cool and informative
Many thx ! I ski Squaw and Whistlers and Naeba. Good video comparing Europe. I shall try Europe soon.... !
Excellent and accurate content 🙂
In Europe, I ski in Austria and Italy only, because it's less expensive than Switzerland and to a degree than in France, so my experience is limited.
We always rent fully equipped apartments, which are mostly under U$100 a night, usually the same an average ski motel in North America.
A pair of quality skis costs ~ $1,200 in US, versus the same pair U$750 in Europe.
Lifts and gondolas in Europe are on average 10 years younger (read they invest heavily in the lift infrastructure) than in NA. You usually put your boots on in a parking lot by your car in Europe, versus in a large base lodge in NA.
Hi Kelly, there is a reason why lift prices are lower in Germany: Snow is billed separately ;)
Lolol!!!
So goddam true, loved the below zero snows of Colorado, instead of "waterskiing" in the slush in Europe 😄
@@MickeyGSinger must have gone on the spring. Never skiied on slush anywhere in france or Austria
@@MickeyGSinger Mickey, try going in Winter next time, not Spring !
@@djscottdog1 you’ll be skiing on ice in Europe during the winter months tho
Thank you for making this video. Very informative. Thanks for sharing your experiences and sharing to us your thoughts about differences in skiing between North America and Europe.
I live in Boston. I learned and was trained to ski in the New England area. I travel to ski and most of the time I ski around the east coast of US & Canada.
I was interested to fly to Europe to ski. But I’ve got advice from my friends that i should experience skiing in the west coast of north america first before venturing out to Europe.
Which I follow their advice. I went skiing in Whistler Blackcomb and Park City this season. I am happy with my decision. I enjoyed my experiences skiing in the west.
Now, I feel like I am ready to ski in Europe. My plan for next season is that to fly there and ski for at least in a week.
I am excited and i cant wait to experience in Europe.
Fantastic video! Funny too 😂
I think most of these things really depend on the resort your going and how many u can compare... For example you can also track kilometers/ski runs in most european resorts, most of the time the people waiting at the lift dont rush too much, mainly when its super busy and they wanna get at least some runs. We call it "active queuing" :)
So from my experience its highly dpenedend on where u are and when you go, ofc it will be stressful at cristmas while you basically will never have to take a queue in april :)
Also, there are hot tubs pretty much everywhere, in most "chalets", they have a hot tub aswell as a sauna
I think by orange Kelly may be referring to yellow (often looks slightly orangy on a ski map) which are ski routes (low risk off piste runs)
Spot on! Going back to Sid Tirol this winter
Great vid!
I liked your video and you did point out some great differences. I ski in Europe and in the USA every year. There are pros and cons to both. In the US one must get one or two multi resort ski passes and then one will ski a lot more often and stop worrying about how much each run costs!? It is cheaper in Europe but not necessarily for everything, try to find inexpensive lodging or restaurants in Switzerland? In Italy the food is great and lodging more reasonable. But the snow is no where in the alps as good as Utah, Colorado or the Canadian Rockies . Also, I just went to Breckinridge and skied 6 days (with Epic pass) for 5 nights of lodging and live in Connecticut. The 4 hour direct flight to Denver, 2 hours of time difference is much better than flying to Europe anywhere. But right now I was supposed to be at Val Thorens for 7 days with Epic pass and unfortunately it didn’t work out that way! Next year, I will plan trips in the US and Europe again. They are both great!
The purchase of many North American ski resorts by conglomerates Vail (Epic pass) and Alterra (Ikon pass) is part of the reason why single day passes have become so expensive. Their business model pushes folks to buy season passes, which, if you go often enough do make the prices much more reasonable, but aren’t great for families that want to go once or twice a year on vacation. However, most of those big resorts like Vail and others do multi-day and advanced ticket sales online, which generally do offer some discount vs buying individual passes at the resort ticket windows
Is it me or is the way Kelly says ‘channel’ just super cute !? So sweet!
I love the chocolate that is filled with Schnapps.
The American business model is to try to force you into a multi-mountain season pass. The day passes are insanely prohibitively high!
very accurate comparison matching my experience.... snowboarding has greatly decreased in europe, skiing picked up share when carving skis emerged.... and people got tired of getting off the board flat parts
Cool video. I live in Europe, the part of the video about the safetybar is hilarious 😂😂😂
One big difference surely are helmets. In Europe I have never seen anyone without one whereas in the US most people just wear hats and no more protection
That’s a fair observation
@stimmo77 do you wear a helmet if you go off piste?
Season passes in the US make such a *huge* difference in the price. I have a friend coming from Europe this weekend to go boarding and I feel bad because he's going to end up paying much more than I paid for my season pass for only riding for like 4 or 5 days.
Spot on comparisons!
Thank you!!
I recognized les houches in France. I stayed and skied there two winters ago. The scenery there is spectacular
This is one of the many reasons I spend more time cross country skiing these days. In many of the places I now XC ski, it is little or no cost, I get a better workout, safer, and it is more fun. Give it a try. Start with a pair or touring skis so you can hit both the groomed and open trails until you find out which you like better...or both :-)
AZ Trigger: I do plenty of XC ski, skijoring with my 2 bird dogs, backcountry skiing (both alpine and telemarking). All free. But give me a break. XC has zero similarities, is a totally different sport than alpine skiing. Except snow is involved with both. People alpine ski specifically for the speed, thrill and danger of the sport. XC is like jogging. It is not an adrenaline sport.
czcams.com/video/KVXJ2E41_xE/video.html
You mean walking with the skies in the back half a day up a mountain and than skiing back once?
No thanks.
I switched to skiing after about 10 years snowboarding which I’d started in 1994 at age 30. My reasoning was the versatility of skis on the flats, ice, moguls, on drag lifts, and vs getting off chairs one-legged… After my first day on skis and only falling twice I also realised how much easier it is on the body too. Waking up on the first few mornings after boarding I always hurt everywhere!
On switching over there was no wasted energy getting up and down from the snow. Drag lifts, once a nightmare to be actively avoided were now a piece of cake and I could travel anywhere on the map without limitations except for skill. I figured I’d be able to have many more years of pain free holidays on skis. Once my recent ill health recovers, I’ll not be planning to go back to my board except occasionally to teach my daughter.
👍🏿🇬🇧
Very informative.
Excellent and accurate video! Our favorite place to ski in Austria is Kaprun! The apres ski, in Austria in particular, is something that has to be experienced as I'm not sure there's any place in North America that even comes close. BTW, here in Vermont lowering the safety bar is a state law so I can't say I've ever been on a chair when it hasn't been lowered.
On the newer chairlifts safetybar goes down automatically.
Get the Epic Season pass like rest of us! Go 5 times in a year and you paod for your pass, rest of days are basically free! Also if military, we get our epic full season pass for less than a single day pass.
Not everyone lifes close to an ski area so buying a season pass would be useles.
I've NEVER been stressed out at skilift lines in France. Sure, everybody just crams together but, overall there are MANY installations to go up so you don't always have to just pick one skilift. There's always time to grab a beer and fries and to just watch the magnificient scenery. No rush.
Nice leisurely lunch !! Not really normally in Europe we go for big breakfast and pack some breads for Lunch and that’s it ...
That’s not what I’ve observed haha
The ridiculously high prices in America probably also contribute to the fact that Americans want to get in as many runs on a day as they can. I'd probably do exactly the same. The quicker pace at which Americans live is indeed probably the other factor in this. An American friend of mine, who came over to study over here in the Netherlands, also had this high pace. He was always in a rush in the beginning of his stay here. We actually went to eat at a restaurant with a small group sometime during the first weeks of our first year. After we were done eating, we stayed to drink a coffee and had some smalltalk and he actually got uncomfortable staying there that long. When I asked him afterwards, he told me that he wasn't used to it and that he didn't like that slow pace and that he just wanted to go on and do the next thing. He eventually adjusted to the slower European pace after a few months.
But then we went skiing in January and his high pace and urge to always do everything as quick (and efficiently) as possible was back. After two runs, we wanted to eat something and drink a beer. He just wanted to keep going. We really had to talk him into going with us or otherwise he would've just gone for another run. He also didn't want to go to the après ski with us, as he wanted to go to bed early, so he could get out of bed in time to be at the ski lift when they started in the morning. Eventually he adjusted to all this too.
As American, I resemble this
It doesn't actually matter in Europe HOW OFTEN you go with the lifts, so that does not make the price difference. The difference is that the mountains here are owned by a company and not run by the towns or municipalities (hi from a Dutchie in Canada).
Or maybe your friend simply didn't like small talk and preferred skiing. In the end, the main reason you travelled to a ski destination is to... ski. I don't want to spend hours in the train/car/airplane to get somewhere only to end up drinking a beer, which I could have done anywhere in my city
I am American and travel to Europe, couple times now, and the amount of time you sit at restaurants and servers don’t bring your check is insane I literally have to hunt them down to ask to pay so I can leave… I guess everyone sits there and talks for hours I agree it’s very uncomfortable. I just start asking for check when the food comes now lol
I tried skiing in Poland for the first time at a small municipal hill and I felt that a 1-hour lesson was insufficient. It was not allowed to book a longer lesson than that or more than 1 lesson per day. The second time, I went to a different municipal facility nearby and booked a 4-hour pass and rental with a 2-hour lesson, giving me 2 hours free practice after the lesson, and I went for the full 4 hours with no break (on my 2nd time skiing). I still felt I could have gone for 2-3 hours more, however, that facility imposed a 4 hour daily maximum time limit on all users. The instructor on my second lesson seemed to be exceedingly worried about exercise fatigue.
10:33 is this Les Houches, La Cha restaurant?
Great video 👍
American living in Europe, thanks for this video about to ski Austria for the first time! I am definitely someone who skis the whole time, but that’s because I love skiing and also once you stop, your muscles freeze up
I think approaching the moutain in a relaxed way for us europeans is just part of enjoying the mountain, the slopes and the day.. it feels less than a holiday if I have to run and stress all the time
Actually, I would say that in Europe, snowboarding is on the decline. I guess it had its peak around the late 90s, early 2000s.
The reason being that on a regular, well prepared slope, with the rise of carving skis the snowboard only has disadvantages. It really was the carving skis that killed snowboarding in Europe.
If you go to a fun-park or powdering, then the snowboard is of course superior. But few people do predominantly those things.
Hello there, I just want to point out that breckenridge is one of the most expensive places to go in Colorado. I lived there for 2 years and there's multiple places cheaper, like monarch, loveland, copper mtn, etc. I also lived in Washington for 3 years and is not super bad. Now I've been living in Germany for last 2 years (I'm in the military btw, that's why I been in all this places), yes in Europe is a bit cheaper, but not so cheap that it's better to flight to Europe with the whole family, lol. Anyway, just want to point that out. Great video.
That's what I thought as soon as she said breck. Smaller resorts are the same price as the ones she listed in Europe
@@susieasado6675 i never understood ski school. Like watch a few youtube videos and have a more experienced friend come along
Snowboarding was very popular in Europe in the past (late 90). But for some years now, there is a ski renaissance and a lot people moved back.
Hi Kelly - From the snow I've experienced in Europe - N. Italy, Austria and Germany the snow is generally not the best for boarding. We have so many more epic powder days even in Oregon than I have seen in the last 3 years in Europe. The snow is groomed on most pistes nightly and it just doesn't lend itself to boarding. I've made the mistake one too many times to try to find some pow in the morning. Sigh. I'm sending my boards home this year. I have enjoyed the renaissance of ski - the new designs are so fun to carve that it matches the skiing here much better. Lift lines, kaffe pause & Apres ski - on the spot. Also the casual nature of European skiing is that many not living below the mountain don't go for just a day - often it's a week. There's plenty of skiing to be had in a week. The overall experience is different for sure. Lastly - Europeans value personal responsibility and are thusly rewarded with the lack of 'rules or signage. But they also own up to it.
Another difference -- the lift systems in Europe are far more advanced and offer much higher capacity. US is still catching up, which is strange given how much they charge!
Also, in Europe you can find many resorts that are interconnected -- even across international borders! Zermatt, Tirol, 3 Valleys (all in France), etc...
What is your opinion? Where do you prefer to ski?
Jeffrey Fantl Zermatt and tirol are not jn France.
Sorry, but that is a misleading generalisation. Which areas are you comparing? Some local mountain in the US to St. Anton? Both the US and Europe have advanced and older lift systems. I have been skiing at multiple ski areas in both regions, famous and not famous.
Actualstarfish but generally, saying that Europe has better infrastructure is a factual statement; more investment into chairlifts, gondolas and funiculars is present there.
Just say Dolomiti Superski ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
@@goenavund5175 I meant the three valleys are all in France, not international.
as an austrian the situation at the ski-lifts is only that chaotic when there are holidays, any other time its less stressful
also if you know how, it‘s pretty easy to stay with your group imo.
Same in Switzerland!
@@lucifer4263 True . But also no big issue if you split & meet at the exit point .
It gets chaotic only if russians decides to spend holidays at the ski slopes 🙃✌ fact
Another big difference is how much vacaction we have in "Europe" (Europe being of cours somewhat an abstract term as there are far more differences between european countries compared to US states). In Europe most people have 4 to 5 weeks of vacation, so not only is it less expensive.it means more options to ski, so less urgency to maximize your time. As to the schnaps, not common in my french and swiss experience, saunas are very rare, hot tubs less so, but certainly not common.
So interesting! I am no skier myself, I only took part in the school course at the elementary school. But I enjoyed watching your video!
Biggest difference is US actually has snow. Verbier is the best lift accessed skiing in Europe and averages "120 a year. Last year Snowbird got 777". I'd rather ski 3,000 vertical of chest deep snow than 6,000 vert of hardpack.
Après ski is the best thing after skiing in general, if you’ve been to folie douce, mooserwirt, krazy kanguruh you know what I’m talking about
Mooserwirt veteran here. I can vouch for this. Often the best part of ski is the aprés!
Sygnus_ well I’m a veteran of nothing because I’m 17 but this winter I’ve visited a lot these places
Ah, so you haven't 'legally' been to the Mooserwirt for Aprés?
Sygnus_ the bouncers are chill
@@maxou15ful Haha, that they are! Mind you, considering how many people are there and the amount of alcohol consumed, there's very little trouble. So they don't have to be too aggro. It's a nicer class of people in ski resorts I find.
That’s case closed for me, the rustic traditional lodge style restaurants on the alps, and that culture, is the very magic of skiing. That is an absolute must. I never heard a restaurant described as a “hut” before though! Thanks for this
I live in Virginia and have skied in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. I’d like to comment about what skiing is like on the east coast of the US, especially after seeing this video. The lift tickets are more like how she describes Europe, roughly $60 or so. She said that in places like Colorado some of the lifts have people working there ushering everyone on in and orderly fashion. In our pansy region of the country every single lift has multiple people working there ushering people on the lift in an orderly fashion. They also frequently stop the lift if someone is having a hard time getting on the lift. A feature we have that would most likely be way less common in the US west or Europe is that the mountain frequently ices over. It’s one of the most terrifying and not-at-all fun things imaginable to be at the top of the mountain and looking down on a sheet of ice that is extremely hard to maneuver on. It seems like every Wednesday and Thursday the temp gets up to 60 degrees, the fake snow starts melting away, but then every Friday it’s back to 28 degrees, and all that melting water turns into a sheet of ice. This is the most common in Virginia, warmer on average than WV, MD, or PA. Another thing about our region is that I think people like to take breaks more often, like the way she describes Europeans, but without the shnaps drinking. We like to ski and enjoy it, but our area is hard to ski all day, so we need the breaks. We also are less outdoorsy and we tire faster and need the time to recover.
Forgot something.
The reason sauna's aren't popular in the US is also that I have noticed that Americans are very prudish. They are scared to get naked, even topless is not done on a beach in the US.
Onsens are extremely popular in Japan. Does that mean Japanese people aren't "prudish" according to your biases? Topless beaches are less common in the US but they exist. Be careful with Eurocentric generalisations
@@actualstarfish3449 it isn't generalisation, it's true. You actually say the same "there are some beaches" over here there are no rules for topless sunbathing! 😂😂😂
Why are the chairlift prices so expensive in the us? In austria i paid 250 euro's for a 6day pas
Really fun video, I always go to Alpendorf so its fun to see the spots where you filmed. I still really want to go the America or Canada to snowboard because of the freestyle parks, but in Europe there are also really big parks like Absolute park, Laax, Saas fee that are really fun
I know that cafe! Just came back from Chamonix and all your observations were spot on and hilarious!!! 😂😂😂😂😂
Imagine americans first time skiing in france and seeing la folie douce 🤣 or hearing the music from the other side of the mountain on a sunny day.
Imagine Europeans first time skiing in the US and skiing chest deep powder for a week straight. The snow in Europe is awful. If you think it is good then you have never skied in the US.
Blah Blah depends where in the us, but if you’re talking real good powder then Japan is better, but there isn’t a lot of steep stuff.
@@blahblah2344 you probably went to an low elevation resort in Austria in april
Cool. Next time someone tells me Zermatt is expensive I tell them about Colorado :)
Yes!!
I last skied about a dozen years ago when the prices in CO, UT, WY, were just getting to $100 a day. One of the reasons I stopped skiing that was the price was getting too high. There are probably many reasons for the huge increase but I sure one of them is the price of insurance the resorts have to pay. The daily price may also be higher as a way to entice skiers to buy multi-resort season passes.
Back in the 1990s and 2000s I used to do two week trips in the Rocky Mountain areas (I was from NY) and while I would always like to get as many runs in as possible (I once did 54,000 vertical in one day at Steamboat) I never thought that others had that mindset, perhaps nowadays with the high cost of lift tickets people don't want to stop as much. One other thing, back in my day a higher end set of skis cost around $400 and boots $200.
This is something I really missed during my winter season in Whistler. Authentic huts and restaurants run by independent and passionate owners. In whistler it they were run by a random manager accord
according to corporate guidelines. No soul.
When I was snowboarding in Canada for a season I felt like it was way less crowded than in Europe.
I have the same impression
I'm assuming you're not talking about Whistler. There are a lot of good, quiet mountains in Canada, but if they're too quiet you can have comically poor lift infrastructure. But be there midweek with powder and you can get lots of it.
I can imagine skiers in the North America take more time on the piste than their European counterparts having only a short amount of vacation time. So far I've managed 23 ski days this year - I'm in no rush! 35 days holiday in Bavaria ;)
I live in salt lake city. Managed to ski 3+ days a week before they closed the resorts. 13 m yearly snowfall and taking the city bus from my house made it never get old.
@@bionicleman1231 awesome! Would love to visit someday.
In Slovenia is just like in Austria. Kids in school go for a week to do it. Every child has to learn how to properly ride a bike in traffic, swim and ski till they are 12. I don't know how is in America but we have a lots of small ski resorts which are just as great and much cheaper (down to 20 eur for a skiing day). Night skiing is very popular as well, so people can just do it after work (I live in Maribor, where we have a small ski resort (40 km) that also host world cup for women).
So true!! I am in Utah and there is no time for lunch. I do as many runs as possible and then have a big dinner home!
really shocked about the prices in america .... and from _everything_ i've seen so far, and that includes this vid, the lifts in america always look like the ones torn down in europe to have them replaced with nicer, more luxurious ones. the high end areas in europe like dolomiti superski, st. anton or saalbach have new lifts almost every year. and often these are just replacements to increase comfort and capacity.
ski lifts and pistes in europe are often at least partly on land that belongs to farmers/ranchers and that's also the reason why the huts are run independently by these people.
Idk if I agree with you. The ski lifts I’ve been on the US are usually nice and I even remember having some heated ones or ones with windshields in Canada
The most Austrians are absolutely in to skiing, here is it part of culture, almost everybody is able to some kind of winter sport, mostly skiing. The people are growing up with skis and the country is not so big so you can possibly travel almost every week to the mountains if like, by car, by train. So you don't have to be in such a hurry. Nice video, very interesting.
Thanks!! Yeah I think I should’ve talked more about how skiing is truly a a part of one’s upbringing or culture in Austria and other parts or Europe whereas not so much in the US unless you live nearby some resorts. Thanks for sharing :) that’s definitely the part that I know little about since I’m one of those Americans that didn’t grow up with it haha
@@Kellydoesherthing in such a huge country like the US with these long distance between the city's and parts of the country, i guess you have to do the skiing a little bit faster then in Europe use every moment for the important thing. From Vienna, Stuttgart or Munich you just need a few hours to the alps, also from Berlin to Saxony or Thuringia, you can spend a nice weekend or maybe need only one extra holiday for a good time.
Good vid. I like both destination and try to get to both every couple of years with Japan being my regular/annual destination. All very different, all awesome.
Haha. I don't ski or snowboard but found your comparisons interesting and speaks to the wider cultural differences between the two regions.
One big difference I think you missed is how accessible the ski resorts are. In Europe, it is common for local residents to do a day trip. rain, ski and train back. You can even see people wearing ski boots on the bus and train. Yet in the US, it is almost exclusively accessible by car and day trip isn't a common option at all.
Because North America is huge and far.
@@Far-eastern2012 exactly
My whole channel is based off of the idea of "Boarding on a budget". I'm 100% with ya on teaching yourself. But you can't pay window prices for a lift pass. Gotta get an early bird special, or better yet know someone who works there. It only cost me $25 a day at steamboat CO.
i am from Colorado, there is always a cheap pass somewhere. Breck and Vail are extreme top price. One way around is to take up cross country skiing and ski up the slopes.
I like to lowering the bar during the ride. You can rest your legs for few minutes.
After years its normal to sit and just lean back in the seat because always sby is going to lower the bar very quick. I always relax few seconds and then grab the bar.
The most chairlifts in Europe that were build the last 3 years lower and open there bars automaticly and lock them so you didnt have to do it.
This is really accurate.
I do remember skiing in Germany in 1982 when I was a US army soldier stationed there. But for the life of me I don't remember how much it cost. I do remember the guys I was with were astounded at my skiing ability. But I was born and raised in Michigan and skiing since I was a kid, so it was nothing new to me.
Anyway, love watching your "differences" vids about Europe vs America, Kelly. So nostalgic for me. I lived there for 2.5 years starting 1980.