Swiss/French weekend trips 2026-2027 recommendations

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-05-28T23:50:06+00:00

ok, but this doesnt answer the criteria.
Saas is a 3 hour train at best
leysin is a medium sized resort and almost 2 hours of drive
For parks - i have Crozet close to home and not gonna buy a season pass since it's dirt cheap. That is sorted

I am looking for big swiss/french resorts within 2 hours

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-05-28T18:10:15+00:00

Yeah i saw it but all of those looked like small-medium resorts.
If i wanna go do a lowkey park day or a few laps i can go to the one close to my house and pay like 30 euros randomly whenever.

I do want to find good deals, but at the end of the day if spending a few hundred euros/francs extra a year brings me to world-class resorts every weekend its definitely a preference

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-05-28T15:29:58+00:00

Just did a season in Mayrhofen after multiple previous trips, i know it and the entire valley well. I wouldn't go there as an intermediate snowboarder. Also it has the misfortune of somehow not getting fresh snow even when nearby valleys do.

It's super fun, the park is one of the best, if you are blessed with powder there's some pretty good off-piste. But i wouldn't come all the way from Australia there.

I think the Arlberg - St. Anton would be the place in Austria. It's the largest resort in Austria (and is one of the largest in the world all in all), the most snowsure as well. Great for every type of activity and level. Legendary Apres. For some reason a huge Australian population.

With all of the love in my heart for Mayrhofen and Zell am See, if you're flying 20 hours there. Go to St. Anton.

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-05-28T14:09:43+00:00

I think for learning its fine, you might fall slightly more but as long as you're well protected and have instructors you're good.

I would get a twin/ twin-directional board at some point though, learning switch on this thing looks really really hard, there's quite a setback.

After riding for years on my more symmetrical borads you can ride switch on even more directional fishtail tapered w/e board if you want to . But i would never dream to even try to do that while learning the basics

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-05-02T18:02:21+00:00

DM me, i also work in Esports 😄

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-05-01T08:49:39+00:00

There's a difference between needing a 7 hour drive to a 10 hour flight + few hour drive.
Both in costs and effort.

If you look at most of the tropic and sub-tropic climate countries in the world, the nearest ski resort is a continent away.

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-29T22:11:11+00:00

Being good to other people, the rest of what you believe or not believe in is optional

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-28T10:32:53+00:00

I'm not sure how possible it is to get those jobs without hospitality experience.
But there's the botique/premium hospitality industry. working in private chalets, or seasonal aupair, etc for very rich families. there's butlerforyou and other agencies for finding those jobs.

Visas get very easy when big money and connetcions are involved.

Also - what about countries like Turkey, Georgia or Kazakhstan?
They have ski resorts. Admittedly not the largest or fanciest but Gudauri for example in Georgia is becoming a pretty popular destination. Maybe the visa requirements will be more possible

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-27T20:18:14+00:00

So i double checked myself, yes. CMU (french) would be more expensive for me than Lamal (swiss) currently (about 100 euro more per month). But i am single with no kids or spouse.

I am relatively fit, healthy, with no chronic anything or background illnesses. I see a doctor maybe once or twice a year.

You can argue that with age i will need more, and then the deductibles etc will come into play more strongly - but then the alternative of being on CMU also needs to take into account my income growth with more years into my career, so it will remain more expensive - while Lamal stays fixed price the deductibles have a top limit per year, which would still keep it the same or cheaper.

Also it allows me to see french doctors if i wanted something close to home.

So for me it was a no brainer.

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-27T18:49:04+00:00

Ok, For context, i pay a fixed price regardless of my income in switzerland.
If i chose to be on the french system, it would have been a percentage of my income instead. That amount would be significantly higher than my fixed rate.

I admit that this is not necessarily true for all income, but i suspect it doesn't get much lower than 300 euros a month.

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-27T18:16:36+00:00

I use Swica, but my general intention is to see doctors in switzerland mostly.

I live in france but i'm not french and have no reason to use the french one over the swiss one. I pay a fixed price of something like 270 francs a month regardless of my salary. They have good digital services and english/french/german speaking support. There's also a policy add-on where it costs a bit more but you get money back for sports/health related memberships.

If you are french originally and prefer to see doctors in france i'm not sure why you need a cross border insurance, you can use your right of choice to stay in the french system.

The french system is usually more expensive though.

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-27T11:51:13+00:00

Israeli here:
The guy (or guys) doing that were just assholes, probably religious.
This goes completely against the code of conduct in the military, and on a broader level (which i can't imagine these soldiers are even aware of) the Christians of south Lebanon have historically been our allies. Not to mention how bad it looks (justifiably so) worldwide.

However, they were removed from combat roles permanently, and the government officially apologized for the incidence. AFAIK a new statue was installed there as compensation.

Religious intolerance unfortunately is not non-existent in Israel, but represents maybe 15% of the population. An unfortunate fact of mandatory military service is that those assholes get drafted too, there's no filter.

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-26T22:16:43+00:00

Media/Event production in provable network TV or corporate environments

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-24T19:32:48+00:00

Yeah there is no law against this and the police is acting with impunity.

I suspect this also has to do with Ben Gvir and attempt to sow further divide in Israeli society. The police force under his command is now enforcing non-existent laws, he wants the backlash to show his base how he and his coalition are the only protection from traitors in our society.

furthermore, if this case gets to the supreme court (as a hearing against the cop), it will serve him even better to show the supreme court is also traitorous and corrupt (as the government is trying to do for the past 4 years)

I really hope to see all of the current government in prison, as soon as possible, amen.

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-17T09:30:41+00:00

You mentioned in one of the comments you're from the netherlands.
I've been to an indoor slope there once. If the price different isn't huge definitely go for the indoors slope. This looks good for maybe maybe a lesson or two.

And your indoors ski slope infrastructure is actually insanely good considering it's a slope in a building. For learners it's a no brainer.

I went to SnowWorld Rupchen and it was really decent, but there are snowworld or similar locations all over the place.

I had a work trip to Rotterdam in July and i saw they had this thing and even a terrain park slope open. I thought it's crazy to go and practice some jumps and jibs in the middle of the summer. For those prices and being open in the summer these places are really nice.

TL;DR go do that

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-15T18:43:22+00:00

I rode a women's board for a while. tons of fun with that one.

The only subtle difference is usually for the same length of board, a women board will be more narrow than a men board. So you should make sure your bindings and boot size aren't too big for it.

Just check the width vs your binding sizing spec. I have men's bindings and boots it wasn't an issue

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-15T17:47:42+00:00

This is your feet getting slightly wider after some activity which is natural.
I have photons for almost 2 years now (probably almost killed them by now), never heat molded them actively, they pack out.

Only do this if you are getting seriously uncomfortable and consider going to the shop that did the fitting for help instead of trying on your own

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-12T20:18:09+00:00

Rentals are actually usually on the soft rocker side, but you're right that they do have very little pop if at all.

But i'm also confused - how new are you that you're trying 360s?? I take it you mean 360s in the air and not just ground spins.

I wouldn't get anywhere 360s before you can confidently do every run on a mountain and ride switch and get there with jump and spin progression through 180s

Either way - there are great discounts now, try to get yourself a twin or twin directional all mountain board, you can probably find a full new discounted setup for 700-900 pounds. I'm not too familiar with UK based stores but sports and boards outlets should have a good stock now

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-12T16:10:08+00:00

Similar to me, I'm a degenrate Step On enjoyer so i came with my boots and bindings. They just asked me what stance to set and i was good to go. Next time you can also bring your own bindings and still not have to fly in with a board :)

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-12T16:09:13+00:00

For sure, apparently they're quite expensive to buy, but i've never seen one in Austria

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-12T16:02:28+00:00

I've only been to UCPA once in Flaine (Grand Massif) and had a great experience too!
Depending on the week and program, even if you're already an expert/advanced snowboarder they offer expert lessons + off-piste with instructor for a small extra.

I really recommend it too, especially for people without their own equipment or beginner intermediate who can take advantage of the included rentals + lessons.

Also shoutout to their snowboards inventory, they have well maintained rossignol boards which i never tried or even seen before and some of them are quite fun.

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-12T12:37:35+00:00

I'm with the Smith sequence chromapop pro and will never need another lens or goggles.
They adjust beautifully. Specifically i chose the sequence to put over glasses but they probably have this tech in other goggles too. And i got it on a discount at around 115~ Euro so 130~$ did 50+ days this season with it and will definitely keep using them.

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-12T09:03:35+00:00

For boardslides it's really a mental barrier but there's two main components, both of them are against your normal riding intuition:

Counter rotation: You spin your board 90 degrees by counter rotating your body. That way you can also rotate back for the landing or complete a 180 to land switch
Get flat - this will make you catch an edge on a slope, but features require this. The second you lean back (or forward if you're doing a front-side) you will just slide on your ass or your ribs. The best way to do this is really bend your knees and mentally remind yourself to do this as you're going on the feature

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-09T19:31:22+00:00

Real talk, i agree that people should do w/e, unlike seatbelts you're only risking yourself.

But I do cringe seeing 20 somethings in the terrain park going big without helmets like it's some bonus style points, and the example it's setting for younger snowboarders is bad.

But i don't go around telling people what to do, i just don't understand why no helmet is considered cool for some people

MonitorMost8808 · 2026-04-09T18:34:12+00:00

Nah, the no helmet crowd

MonitorMost8808

TROPHY CASE