differences

By Charles Leocha, Special for USATODAY.com

European ski and snowboard resorts have a different flavor from the sport served up in the USA. It will only take an uninitiated American skier or snowboarder a short time in the Alps or the Pyrenees to realize that there is little similar in Europe to the American experience other than snow and the general practice of sliding down the trails on skis or a snowboard.
Many Americans learn to embrace the lifestyle differences during their European ski trips. But for those who can't, there's still a silver lining. Don't care for Europe's leisurely lunches? You'll have the slopes to yourself at midday. Can't party till dawn like the Continental contingent? Revel in the fact there are no lift lines in the morning.
Here are ten differences, both cultural and physical, gleaned from three decades of experience on both continents.

1. "Holy Cow!" (or some variation of that remark): This is one of the first exclamations from an American skier or rider when first looking up at the mountains in Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland or even Spain. The first exclamation is quickly followed by, "We're going to ski down that?"
The mountains in Europe are simply bigger — grand, jagged, rugged, inspiring and soaring. In the United States, other than at a few resorts like Taos, Jackson Hole and Mammoth Mountain, slopes seem to trace their way down what appear to be oversized hills.

2. Vertical drop: In the USA a respectable descent down at a resort is something in the range of 1,500 to 2,500 feet. Resorts tout their vertical drop as a major selling point. Jackson Hole and Big Sky, which claim the most vertical in the U.S.A., come in at just over 4,000 feet of top-to-bottom terrain. Vail doesn't break the 3,500-foot mark. Mammoth Mountain boasts a 3,100-foot vertical drop and Stratton, in Vermont, has 2,003 vertical feet, normal for New England.
In Europe, vertical drop is rarely mentioned when discussing resorts, but averages more than double of those in the U.S.A. Les Arcs in France has more than 6,500 feet of vertical. Davos in Switzerland claims a 6,600-foot vertical. Cortina in Italy has a vertical drop of almost 6,000 feet. With 4,400 feet of vertical, Austria's St. Anton still dwarfs all American resorts.

3. Friends and family: Europeans have a different attitude towards skiing and snowboarding — far more relaxed, leisurely and social. Groups of friends tend to ski together and spend as much time chatting, sipping coffee and enjoying the panoramas as they do skiing. American skiers seem to be intent on racking up the most skiing or riding possible. The talk on the lifts is about how many runs, how much vertical and trail conditions. The focus is far more on the sport and less on the experience.

4. First tracks: In Europe few skiers line up waiting for the lifts to open. In Italy, France and Spain, most skiers don't show up on the slopes until late morning (the famously punctual Swiss are an exception). At many U.S. resorts, the biggest lift lines are before the lifts have even opened.

5.Next four!: American lift lines are the essence of order. There are smoothly functioning singles lines and rarely is a ski stepped on. Lift lines in Europe are a free-for-all — until the point where barriers have been set up to funnel skiers into the lift, there are no controls. Although the various countries on the Continent differ as to the degree of pushy behavior, in general he who moves the fastest and shuffles forward the most aggressively is usually the first to get up the lift. While there is a mild effort not to blatantly trample over each other's skis, equipment will be stepped on – get over it.

6. Ticket to ride: Lift tickets at European resorts are far more reasonable that in the USA and if you stay for only a few additional days significant discounts kick in. In the USA lift companies seemingly vie to extract as much tribute as possible from those using the lifts. Lift-ticket pricing is peaking at $82 for one day at Vail. If skiers purchase a five-day lift ticket, the price is still $82 a day. Aspen's lifts are $78 a day or $75 a day if you purchase a ticket good for five days.
Compare that to Switzerland's chic St. Moritz or the legendary Zermatt, beneath the Matterhorn, where lift tickets start out at about $55, and a six-day lift ticket ends up costing less than $47 a day. For even better deals look at St. Anton, home of downhill skiing, where the walk-up window price is about $48 and the week-long pass costs less than $38 a day.

7. Off-piste adventures: Americans want to head off-trail (or at least say that they do). Europeans prefer to stay on groomed trails. American skiers are amazed at the untracked snow that lies beyond the edge of groomed trails in Europe. In my experience, both Americans and Europeans tend to stick to the prepared slopes, but Americans talk a good game of breaking out into the ungroomed. They tend to come back to the groomed quickly.

8. Beyond burgers and fries: In Europe, lunch on the slopes is an integral part of the mountain experience. Mountain lunches in Europe have no resemblance to the hamburgers, chili and fries that are ubiquitous at American resorts. In Switzerland and Germany, expect a Jägerschnitzel , a veal schnitzel smothered with mushrooms. In Austria the gasthaus owner might sweep in with Kaisersmarrren , a sizzling skillet filed with potatoes, eggs and ham. In Italy an antipasto of bresaola , dried beef, is a true mountain experience. Follow it with a hearty pasta and local cheese. The French pride themselves on tartiflette , another skillet dish with potatoes and cured ham layered with roblochon, a local cheese. In Spain a late lunch complete with salad, lamb, dessert, coffee and a cigar, stretches from 2 p.m. until about when the slopes close.
Many restaurants only have space by reservation and all are packed. For about $20 a skier can devour a hearty meal with wine or beer and then face the final hours of the day.

9. Apres (and avant)-ski: In Europe après-ski seems to be an all-day affair. Even veteran American skiers can't figure out how the Europeans maintain the energy for a full day of skiing and then party until the wee hours.
During the day, rustic mountain huts, converted to bars, offer convenient warm-up breaks. Such pit stops in Austria serve Jägertee , a warm and delicious concoction of tea, spices and a high-powered Austrian rum called Strohs (stories say it is banned from airplanes because it can be used in explosives). In Germany they drink steaming Glühwein , hot red wine spiked with a local schnapps, then heavily spiced with cloves and other goodies. The drink that can get one yodeling in Switzerland is Café Fertig , strong, dark coffee with lots of sugar and kirsch (cherry) schnapps. Obstler — a fruit schnapps frequently combining apple, pear and plum — is a favored defroster throughout the Alps. And grappa (the best is homemade) is the shot of choice in Italy.
Après-ski kicks off as the lifts close. Skis and snowboards are stacked in the snow at the bar entrances. Everyone drinks and dances in ski clothes and ski boots until about 6 p.m., when the bars seem magically empty. That's when the hotels serve dinner. Much later, around midnight, the discos begin their techno pulse. In America, that's when the discos close and most skiers go home to recharge for the next day on the mountain.

10. Stay the course: Europeans prefer to return to the same resort and the same condo year after year. Americans search for a new adventure every year when they plan their ski and snowboarding vacations. In Europe a winter vacation at a particular resort becomes a tradition. The holiday periods are often booked up a year in advance with families that return year after year. When it seems that everyone at a European resort seems to know each other, they probably do, after years of developing friendships. In the USA the first question after a successful mountain vacation is often, "Where are we going to go next year?"

Charles Leocha is the author of Ski Europe and Ski Snowboard America and Canada.