Hit the slopes
Our guide to the best short ski holiday destinations
Winter sports lovers take heart: whatever Belgium’s lack in mountains it more than makes up for in terms of the range of good short ski resorts close by. And snow or no snow, even in Belgium there are places where you can pass a few hours on the slopes. Here is our guide to some of the best.
Benelux
Belgians love skiing but our lack of mountains has forced us to find other solutions. As a result, there are several artificial ski slopes throughout the country. The older ones are quite small and only offer dry ski slopes instead of real snow. However, they are very suitable for those learning to ski or for improving your technique. You can find this kind of artificial ski slope as close as Anderlecht at Yeti Ski or at Aspen in Wilrijk near Antwerp. There are also some indoor slopes with artificial snow, which are ideal to learn to ski or snowboard, or to prepare for a real snow vacation. These include Snowvalley in Peer, Ice Mountain in Komen and just over the Dutch border in Limburg lies Snow World, the world’s biggest indoor ski resort. If and when it snows, Wallonia has a couple of options. For alpine skiing there are a few slopes that are a couple of hundred metres long such as Baraque de Fraiture 35km south-west of Mont des Brumes. Although the highest Alpine slope in Wallonia it is not that steep; it however a great place for beginners and children. There are many more possibilities for cross-country skiers, however, including a number of cross-country ski centres where the trails are well-maintained and you can rent your equipment. Their des Rexhons in Spa, for example, offers 3km, 5km and 10km Nordic ski routes, and if you have your own equipment, there are other places you can try in the High Fens or the Ardennes to cross-country ski. Visit the East Belgium and Wallonia Tourist Board websites for more information.
Germany
While Germany isn’t as famous for skiing as its neighbours France and Switzerland, there are certainly a few places you can go for a short ski weekend. Around 350km from Brussels to the east of Cologne lies Sauerland. There you will find 55 ski lifts and 200 km of cross-country trails. On average, you are guaranteed about 80 days of skiing per year and if there is not enough natural snow, they have a battery of snow canons available. At their highest, the slopes reach 840m and the most famous station is Winterberg, which lies on a plateau surrounded by hills. There you will find plenty of accommodation and the ski area of Winterberg is spread across several mountain tops that are partly connected. The slopes vary from very easy to difficult – in the ski area of Kappe, you can find a black diamond slope with a 38 percent decline. But the disadvantage of Winterberg is that it can be very busy, especially when the weather is good. A smaller, calmer area in Sauerland is Willingen where the slopes range from 580m high to 838m.
Elsewhere in western Germany lies Eifel. Roughly 250km from Brussels, it is a beautiful region to wander around and discover traditional villages, but there are also a few small ski stations: Hellenthal (two lifts), Daun (three lifts) and Monschau (three lifts). Although it is not really ideal for a whole weekend of skiing, it offers a nice half-day diversion during a relaxing weekend. And then of course there is the Black Forest which is best known amongst hikers, but is also a great destination for winter sports. It lies some 560km from Brussels and offers very decent ski infrastructure. The region has 170 ski lifts and more than 250 designated slopes. Moreover, there are more than 2000km of cross-country routes. Feldberg is the most famous and the biggest ski station in the Black Forest. It has 14 ski lifts and 16 slopes ranging from starter slopes to an actual FSI (International Ski Federation) World Cup descent. Besides Feldberg, there are also 15 other places in the area to ski, however the infrastructure in these places is often limited (only one or two slopes).
For information on Sauerland, visit: www.winterberg.de, www.wintersport-arena.de, www.willingen.de, www.eifel-tourismus.de, www.blackforest-tourism.com
France
Situated around 460km from Brussels, the Vosges is the closest real ski area that is easily reachable by car from Belgium. It offers a total of seven winter resorts. The two most important ones are Gérardmer and La Bresse. Skiing here is between 650m and 1366m and thanks to the heights, you can be pretty sure of being able to ski here all winter long. If there isn’t enough snow, there are 350 snow canons on hand to help. In total, the Vosges area offers 300km of slopes. That might seem like a lot, but they are scattered over several smaller areas that are not connected. Gérardmer is the largest ski area in the Vosges. It counts 20 slopes: several easy ones and four of average difficulty, but also two difficult ones. In total there are 40km of slopes and 18 ski lifts. La Bresse-Hohneck is the best known area of the Vosges. Here, there are a total of 38 slopes, seven sitting lifts and 18 ski tows. On some days you can ski until 22.00 on lit slopes.
