Åre reviews (Page 4)

Åre v. 13 2023 I will probably never forget. This is how good Åre and skiing in Sweden can be at its best - simply great! Bright sun every day and nice natural snow make it easy to be positive, of course. But you can't get around the fact that Åreskutan is a damn good mountain to ski on, both on and off the piste. Many people like to spew bile over Åre, but I think it's unfair. That Skutan was named Sweden's best off-piste mountain in 2023 here at Freeride says a lot.
Åre is weather sensitive. But that really applies to all skiing. And of course you understand that the system becomes redundant if the top lifts are closed - but that applies to a lot of other ski resorts (looking at you, Trysil). But when the sun is shining and the snow is good, then Åre is damn good.

Bad weather for a whole week, first rain then wind. Expensive as hell, the lift system doesn't hold up to wind, but as soon as it blows up and the lifts close, all riders gather at the bottom of the system and there are long queues. There are places with a better price level, better riding and fewer people elsewhere.

Generally bad impression, been there many times before we definitely dropped Åre and started going to the Alps when my daughter was 9 years old.
- poor infrastructure,
- lifts that stop abruptly in the quarter,
- significantly worse and simpler lifts than the big ski resorts in the Alps,
- simpler lifts of the anchor lift model,
- lift queues of up to 1 hour and far too many people in a small area,
- huge waiting time at restaurants to eat lunch,
- only 2 slopes from Åreskutan down towards the gondola,
- slopes are reached after a short time.
Spend the money on a trip to the Alps instead is my tip.

This will be the last time in Åre for many years to come. The feeling that Skistar wants to milk as much money as they can out of the visitors unfortunately gets stronger every season.

With lift ticket prices on par with the Alps, but with a much smaller, worse and more weather-sensitive system (and slopes!), it's not worth it. What made us return this year is the village and the range of restaurants, but it is not enough.

After an almost record-breaking sports holiday week this year, it is more justified for us to spend money and vacation days on the Alps in the future. Not worth taking a chance on the Åre weather for another year, or giving more of our money to Skistar.

Duvet rules!

We were in Åre and turned around. Unfortunately a little too much slope preparation, blank ice with artificial snow powder on the fun slopes. Understand that Skistar wants to save the ice to extend the season, but there are limits.

As ex. piste machine drivers, I wonder how it is with Sweden's answer to the Alps? Mounted at the back of Åre's piste machines, there must be fine cutters in new condition. They are never used, shame about the juicy lift ticket price. Hmmm.

Duved/Tege rules as usual, can be recommended. In the case of a dump, the snow lies untouched for a long time... ✌️

When Åre is good, it is really good by Swedish standards. But Åre is never good.
I've been there several times during the season but unfortunately the weather gods don't seem to be with me. It often rains in Åre and the ship is rarely open. This results in an insane amount of people in the lifts and long queues. The slopes are generally quite bad compared to other places. They are quickly attended and quickly filled by many riders. Unfortunately, it doesn't look very bright given the ongoing climate change. The warmer periods are becoming more and longer.

The restaurants in Åre village and the surrounding area are really good. The restaurants on the hill are not as good, especially in relation to what it costs. Occasional restaurants are really good on the hill.

A really bad thing about Åre that is also difficult to fix is the lift layout itself. It is not easy to make your way up the mountain. You often end up in a situation where you have to go all the way down to the bottom, which results in long lift queues, a long time to transport yourself and too many people on the slopes along the way down. Åre is not a big mountain compared to other ski resorts in Europe, but it takes an insanely long time to go from one side to the other.

The price picture in Åre is insanely high. Everything costs premium prices, even fast food is more expensive in the village than anywhere else in Sweden. It's rarely as good as you pay for.
Lift pass, farmer, parking, the grocery store, everything is just expensive. Considering that Åre attracts people all year round, I don't understand why everything is so terribly expensive.

What is good, however, is après ski.

In summary, I unfortunately think that Åre does not deliver. There is a poor layout of the lifts and slopes. The weather is known to be really bad and is often bad. It's crazy expensive in basically all categories, which sucks the desire out of the little joy you have left when you realize that the ride sucks.
I rarely go to Åre and considering the price picture, you can get to other places in Europe for the same money.

Åre is like a trick-or-treat castle, at best you win back SEK 30, it doesn't get any better than that.

Have always been an admirer of Åre, but after the last week it will be a long time before we return. Greed has taken its toll at Skistar and in the so-called child-friendly Björnen, families with children are being sucked out by charging for parking (I know all of Skistar) and requiring ski passes even in the smallest button lifts, which makes it expensive for two parents to ride at the same time with different children .

The capacity of the lifts is a joke, especially between Björnen & the village and when it's windy and the VM8 is closed (often) everyone gathers on a few lifts and the queues become 30 minutes long. The opening hours 9.30-15 in January are too bad and the possibility of evening skiing is small. Lots of stops in the lifts that took ages (5-10min) to resolve in -15 degrees add to the irritation.

The product that is delivered really does not live up to the approx. SEK 2,900 that the lift ticket costs.

Will be Härjedalen next New Year's week.

//Disappointed customer and shareholder.

Far too much housing has been built compared to lift capacity. It is not unusual to wait 30-60 for the lift. Always full in the restaurants on the hill. Would never go here during the sports holidays. Many lifts are closed as soon as it is windy.

It is not possible to find words for how greedy they were in the exploitation of Åre. We had to stand in line for up to 60 minutes per lift. Madness.

Sweden's only real ski area