Great European Ski Resorts for Singles

If you yell "single" in the lift line, there are several European resorts catering to your desires for fun and companionship.

France’s Val d’Isère is known for its lively nightlife and its group lessons, a winning combination for single snow sport enthusiasts. In November at the Ski School, choose either a full week or a long weekend of intensive courses designed to set you up for the season. Participants ski on the Grand Motte Glacier in Tignes. Many skiers and snowboarders come on their own to these early season clinics to enjoy the group atmosphere.

Once those ski skills are honed, head to Switzerland’s legendary Verbier. Verbier, situated at an altitude of 1,500 meters (4,875 feet) is part of the skiing area in the Four Vallées, which offers over 410 kilometers (256 miles) of runs for all levels and 92 ski-lift installations, which can all be used with a single ski pass. The highest point of this area at high altitude is the summit of the Mont Fort glacier, at 3,330 meters (10,825 feet), and it offers ideal skiing conditions from the beginning to the end of the season. After a day on its challenging slopes you can head to the village center, a hub of activity where all the hotspots are found. Visit the Farinet, Fer à Cheval and Garbo, where bars and cafés can be found aplenty around the town square and alleys.

Also providing both world-renowned skiing and nightlife is Austria’s St. Anton. St. Anton am Arlberg was the host for the 2001 World Alpine Championships and is arguably one of the best ski resorts in the world. St. Anton is the resort for a challenge, with awesome off-trail, moguls and powder. Snowboarders have only recently been welcomed at this resort, but now have a great variety to choose from. In addition to variety on the hill, St Anton offers a wide range of après-ski, with bars and clubs galore.

In Italy, singles will find what they’re looking for at Sauze d’Ouix. Famous for its après-ski, Sauze d’Oulx manages to surprise many visitors. The ski area is extensive and varied, linked to Sansicario, Sestriere, and also Montgenevre just across the border in France. There are pretty, quaint little cobbled streets in the old part of the village, and it is a popular weekend retreat for Italians from Turin or Milan. Winter activities include ice skating, torchlight descents, and cinema; as well as a good range of lively bars and restaurants and a weekly market.

Every skier should go to Klosters at least once in their lifetime. The area is giant and so popular that it always feels like a big party. As it is always the case with busy resorts, the on-slope dining and bars are lively and top quality. The Youth Hostel has some cozy single rooms and is filled with singles from around the world looking for a good time on the slope and off.

Andorra is geared to the single, adult skier who is looking for something different. It is populated in the winter by mainly Spanish, French, and English skiers who don’t seem to mind the college-like atmosphere which includes cramming several people into a room, eating late in the evening, and going to loud crowded bars.

These are just of few of the European resorts designed with the single in mind.
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About the author:
Chryss Cada has been a freelance ski writer for more than a dozen years.
Her travel writing appears on-line, in print and on the airwaves. As a freelance journalist she covers breaking news and regional trends for the Boston Globe. She has a nationally syndicated lifestyle column that appears in papers across the country, including The Washington Post and she's working on her first novel.