If you’re looking to take to the slopes for a ski holiday, we’ve pulled together a list of the top resorts and offers available. Please note, offers correct at time of publication (Nov 2017), for up to date prices and offers call Silver Travel Advisor on 0800 412 5678.
1: Ski amadé’s sixty plus package
© Ski amadé
The Ski amadé region covers the five Austrian ski areas of Salzburger Sportwelt, Schladming-Dachstein, Gastein, Hochkönig and Großarltal, with a total of 760 pistes – expansive, but not expensive if you’re aged over sixty and ski here before the 24th December 2017, or between the 31st March and 8th April 2018. On these particular weeks, a selection of hotels are offering free six-day ski passes – just prove you were born in/before 1958 and you’re off.
2: Andorra’s Gold pass for your golden years
© Grandvalira
Get your mittens on Grandvilara’s Gold season pass if you’re over seventy, and you can ski the largest ski area in the Pyrenees for free as much as you like throughout the winter. The offer is available through SkiAndorra and pass holders also qualify for a bracelet that lets you queue jump at lift stations. The Grandvilara ski area also provides free day passes for the same age group, as well as very good discounts for those aged 65+ (30 Euros a day rather than the regular 49 Euros a day).
3: Paradiski for as long as you like – for only 10€
Paradiski is a 425km ski area linking La Plagne and Les Arcs in France’s Haute Tarentause valley. Whether you ski there for one day, six days or a whole season, if you’re aged 75 or over you’ll only have to pay 10 Euros for a lift pass. We’ve seen coffees costing more than that in the French Alps!
4: France for Free
© Office de Tourisme Les 2 Alpes / Bruno LONGO
European resorts offer silver skiers varying degrees of discounts on ski passes – usually if you’re aged over 65 or 70. France is the most generous, with some resorts giving free lift passes to those of us who’ve reached a certain milestone:
Over 72s can enjoy the cruisey, high altitude pistes of Les 2 Alpes for free. If you’re aged 75 or above, you won’t have to pay a penny for your pass in Flaine, Val Cenis, Montgenevre, Val d’Isere, Tignes or the biggest ski area on earth, the Three Valleys.
5: Still young at heart: over 65s get student discounts in Alpe d’Huez
Pensioners pay the same as students for day passes to the sunny Alpe d’Huez ski area. That’s 47 Euros a day, with the price plummeting to 16.50 Euros a day if you’re over 72.
6: Free ski passes in America
Cataloochee in North Carolina gives free ski passes to over 65s. In Cannon Mountain, New Hampshire, passes are free on weekdays if you’re 65 and above.
Lift passes for Whitefish Mountain, Montana and the Arizona Snow Bowl are free for skiers aged 70+.
Timberline Lodge and Mt. Hood Skibowl in Oregon offer free passes to those aged 71 and above.
7: Canada’s free ski passes
The ski resorts of White Water, Panorama and Red Mountain Resort in British Columbia won’t charge you for a lift pass if you’re aged over 75.
8: Social senior skiing in Sundance
© Sundance Mountain Resort
Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah has sponsored a senior ski group for 18 years now. Membership is free, just buy your ski pass ($20 for a day or $150 for a whole season – a nice reduction from the adult cost of $715) and prove you’re 65 or over. The club arranges group ski days throughout the season, where you can enjoy the mountain with peers.
9: Sunny Spain for 3 Euros a day
Experience the Spanish ski scene with change from a fiver – Baqueira Beret charges skiers aged 70+ only 3 Euros for a day ski pass, or 32 Euros for a whole season. You may come across one of the most notable senior skiers on the continent – King Juan Carlos has a house here.
10: Ski and spa at youth rates
If you’re 65 or older, you pay the same as a 15-year-old would for Bad Kleinkirchheim’s ski+thermal spa day pass. Costing 48 Euros, the pass covers the whole 100km+ ski area and three hours at the Römerbad thermal spa. Bad Kleinkirchheim’s hot springs have been used for their remedial purposes since the middle ages. They do a cracking job at replenishing worn out limbs after an exploration of the slopes, or entertaining any non-skiers you’re travelling with.
