Snowboard deals in hundreds of resorts with SNO
Featuring chalets, hotels and apartments - from cheap and cheerful to crazily luxurious - our snowboarding packages fly from UK airports to awesome winter resorts all over the planet.
With the option of including board and boot hire or snowboard carriage for the flight, we’ll sort out the holiday while you get excited about the snow, parks and powder waiting for you.
The best resorts for snowboarding have nice, wide runs for beginners and specialist snowboard schools to get you started on them. It’s best to avoid ski areas with lots of drag lifts (possible to use with a board, but a faff) as well as runs that flatten out and cat tracks (they require a lot of scooting). A big snow park - or multiple snow parks - with a mix of easy, medium and difficult obstacles is a bonus, and for experts, somewhere with good freeride terrain is terrific. For lists of our favourite snowboarding resorts, see the grid above.
Tips for first time snowboarders:
Nearly all ski schools also teach snowboarding, and there are more and more specialist snowboard schools popping up in the top boarding areas. They teach everything from the very basics - how to fasten bindings, fall safely, skate and turn – to park skills and freeriding.
The main types of snowboarding lesson are group classes and private lessons. Learning in a group is cheaper, and a good way to make friends who are at the same stage of snowboarding as you (great for morale and handy to have people to practice with). Private tuition fast tracks your development, giving you the undivided attention of your snowboard instructor who can tailor the lesson to your specific needs.
Snowboarding’s a winter sport, but that’s not to say you can’t board in the summer months. A handful of the highest alpine resorts open their highest lifts in the summertime, where you can hone technique on mostly blue slopes. But the real draw is the world-class snow parks, shaped to shredding perfection up on scenic, snowy glaciers. Burton hold their summer camp at the Gravity Park in Zermatt, while the Hintertux near Mayrhofen has a superpipe, and Saas-Fee hosts the international Saas-Fee Ride competition on its park each July.
When did snowboarding begin? The story starts in the sixties with a chap from Michigan called Sherman Poppen. He wanted to give his daughter a novel way of sliding down the local hills in winter and roped together two skis. The invention was patented in 1966 as a wooden board, shorter and fatter than skis with surface grips. Allowing a kind of surfing on the snow, he called it the snurfboard and snurfing was a huge hit – sales rocketed and championships soon began. One competitor was a certain Jake Burton, whose self-adapted snurfer with homemade bindings caused the championship planners to create a new event at the last minute. As the only contestant, he won. They called it snowboarding, and Burton went on to develop the worldwide boarding brand we know and love today.
In the same way as a ski trip - our properties and ski holidays don't differ for boarders/skiers- just call us or enquire online about any of the holidays that you see on the SNO website.
If you're worried, a resort might not be suitable then just ask. Snowboarders don't want to be boarding on long flat blues, especially if you're new to the sport. It's fairly rare nowadays for resorts to not allow snowboarding but Deer Valley and Alta in the USA continue to ban snowboarding.
There's very little difference in a ski trip and a snowboarding trip. The package prices and lift pass costs don't change, just the rental and snowboard schools costs may vary (either cheaper or more expensive depending on the venue but mostly they are the same).
Pack as you would for skiing:
You'll also want to consider braces/supports (knee, ankle, wrist, elbow) or padding/protectors (back, elbow, knee) if you're hitting the park. If you're really off-piste make sure you've got all the correct safety equipment (transceiver, shovel, probe, airbag, first aid kit, etc.)
European resorts have some epic riding. Here's a couple of highlights:
Across the Atlantic, Breckenridge and Whistler are phenomenal areas for snowboarders. Check out our top 10 resorts for snowboarders.
Accommodation | Resort | Price (per person) from |
---|---|---|
Chalet Monte Vera | St Anton | £ 619 |
Chalet Galzig | St Anton | £ 663 |
Chalet Kapall | St Anton | £ 693 |
Chalet Rendl | St Anton | £ 693 |
Chalet Sachette | Tignes | £ 711 |
Chalet Valluga | St Anton | £ 733 |
Chalet Phoebe | Tignes | £ 818 |
Chalet Catherine | Tignes | £ 858 |
Chalet Katalin | Tignes | £ 868 |
Hotel Precise Tale Seehof Davos | Davos | £ 913 |