By Everett Potter

January may be the ideal month to take a European ski trip, to hit the slopes of Zermatt or Grindelwald or Kitzbühel and spend a full week skiing and dive deep into the rich ski lifestyle that Europe offers.

Why January? Start with airfares. In January, they typically run in the mid-$500 roundtrip from JFK to Zurich for example, less than half of what they often are the rest of the year and maybe a third of the cost of summer fares.

When you ski in January you benefit from relatively empty slopes and avoid the endless weeks of crowds courtesy of European school vacations that start in February. The Dutch, the Germans, the Swiss, the French and English et al, all seem to have different designated weeks and often overlap. It’s something worth missing.

Ah, but where to go? For seriously well-planned European ski trips, I always turn to Chips Lindenmeyr, founder of Lindenmeyr Travel in Manhattan. Lindenmeyr offers the personal touch in planning a European ski trip. She’s known for inspecting every hotel she sells – it’s a short and very refined list — and for personally knowing managers and staff … continue reading