FROMMERS, GET A CRASH COURSE TO 3 OF EUROPE'S GREATEST SLOPES
24 March 2008

By Claire Walter

When people take a one-week ski vacation, it is usually to a single resort or, when multi-day, multi-area tickets are available (Utah areas near Salt Lake City, Lake Tahoe, Aspen's four mountains, Summit County/Vail Valley) to ski several areas from one lodging base. Baobab Expeditions (tel. 303/260-6489; www.baobabexpeditions.com), an African safari operator, has a Ski & Snowboard Expeditions branch that customizes multi-resort ski trips for those who just can't narrow down a decision to just one.

The three-resort Alpine version includes three countries, and that is very appealing to American skiers who would like to sample Switzerland, Austria and Italy on one trip and couldn't begin to go about figuring out the logistics. Baobab can organize one- or two-week options, respectively with two and four days in each of the three resorts that, coincidentally or not, have hosted three of the most recent World Alpine Ski Championships. That means visitors can follow in the tracks of the 21st-century's biggest ski stars.

The European trip starts in St. Moritz, Switzerland, a five-star resort if ever there was one. Two days or even four are enough to sample only a fraction of the nine separate ski areas at or near the resort, but that taste of glorious scenery, the large and elegant mountain village and a matchless array of non-ski and après-ski activities. St. Moritz twice hosted the Olympic Winter Games (1928 and 1948, as well as the 2003 World Alpine Ski Championships. St. Moritz is currently bidding for the 2013 championships.

Across the border in Italy, Bormio, is a large town in the little-known province of Sondrio. Its old section is totally charming, with cobblestone streets, vintage buildings and an air of timelessness, not surprising since its thermal spas attracted visitors as far back as Roman times. The newer part is more convenient to the lifts that serve the main ski area with a massive vertical of nearly 6,000 feet that offers something for every level of skier from tentative novice to world champions. The lift pass is also valid in neighboring Valtellina. Bormio twice hosted the World Alpine Ski Championships, first in 1985 and again in 2005.

The third resort in this peripatetic ski itinerary is St. Anton, the biggest, liveliest town in Austria's wide-ranging Arlberg region. Long known as a place where people ski hard and party hard, St. Anton's rocking nightlife has quieted down a bit in order to attract both younger families and aging long-time skiers, even as its ski facilities continue to evolve and improve. The Arlberg lift pass is valid at 85 lifts in the region's seven mostly interconnected villages, ranging from international-caliber resorts to tiny mountain communities. St. Anton itself hosted the World Alpine Ski Championships in 2001.

Baobab Ski & Snowboard can also customize a ski vacation, modifying this three-resort format or including other ski destinations. Which ones can be included in one trip is, of course, a function of location and logistics, but it is as seamless as possible with customized transportation -- either a self-drive 4X4 with explicit directions, a 4X4 with a driver-guide or even by air. Each one of them is really a pretty swank way to travel. Hotels are in the upper medium- to high-end range to provide the most authentic European level of hospitality.

SLOPE STATS

St. Moritz
Lifts: 56 total
Hourly capacity: 65,000 in region
Runs: 80 km directly in St. Moritz; 350 km in region
Vertical: 4,051 feet
Season: mid-November through late April (late May on Diavolezza)

Bormio
Lifts: 1 cable car, 2 gondolas, 4 quad chairlifts, 1 triple chairlift, 7 surface lift, 2 moving carpets
Hourly capacity: 20,544
Runs: 50 kilometers marked
Vertical: 5,862 feet
Season: December through April, plus summer skiing at Passo di Stelvio (20 km), from late May through early November

St. Anton am Arlberg
Lifts (Arlberg region): 10 cablecars and gondolas, 1 8-seater chairlift, 9 6-seater chairlifts, 11 quads, 1 triple, 16 doubles, 1 single, 36 T-bars
Hourly capacity: 123,600
Runs: 276 kilometers groomed; 170 marked "powder runs"
Vertical: 4,428 feet
Season: Late November through late April