Winterberg Ski Weekend

Overview

AFTERWORK DEPARTURE ON FRIDAY 18h00 – SUNDAY BACK BY 22h30
FREE DINNER BUFFET INCLUDED – IF BOOKED BY WEDNESDAY 6 FEB 18h00

IF YOU ONLY WANT TO JOIN TO THE HOTEL AND ENJOY YOUR TIME THERE (WITHOUT TRANSFER TO WINTERBERG), BUT WITH ACCESS TO SPA & POOL, YOU CAN APPLY THE CODE “NO-SKI” TO THE CART FOR €50 DISCOUNT. (ONLY FOR NEW BOOKINGS)

CLICK HERE TO START THE RESERVATION PROCESS >>

Do yo love skiing? The fresh mountain air? Going for a long walk between the snowy trees? Or putting on a set of Nordic skis or snow shoes? But you don’t have the time to travel all the way to the Alps, or you don’t have the energy to drive on your own. Expat Club has a perfect solution for you, your friends and your family. After our successful trips to the Vosges Mountains, we are thrilled to add another weekend ski destination to our calendar: Winterberg in the German Sauerland region. With a Friday afterwork departure and a Sunday evening return, it is the perfect weekend winter getaway with a lovely group of international people.

Click on “Reserve my spot” button on right (desktop) or below (mobile), or click here ≫

Ski resort

For this special winter weekend trip we travel to a new destination in the German Sauerland Region: Winterberg. It’s Germany’s most favourite ski area outside the Alps. The slopes are between 630 and 820 meters elevation. It has 12 state-of-the-art chair lifts, 9 drag lifts and 3 conveyor belts. The resort has 27,5km prepared slopes, with about 50% easy, and the rest for intermediate/advanced skiers. About 1,5km is black slopes. Winterberg boasts over 170 snow canons and is therefore skiable even when there is no natural snow. These do not only “top up” the slopes every evening, but are also key for having a firm base layer on which fresh snow sticks well. The area is great for hiking, snow shoeing and Nordic Skiing. It is very child friendly, offers good skiing for total beginners, beginners, medium and advanced skiers. This is a perfect destination for a great weekend ski trip!

2 super-fast 8-seats detachable chairlifts

6 super-fast 6-seats detachable chairlifts

4 super-fast 4-seater detachable chairlifts

1 traditional 2-seater chairlifts

7 drag lifts

3 conveyor belt lift

27,5km slopes: 51% blue, 44% red, 5% black

many kilometers prepared Nordic skiing tracks

170+ snow canons

Various restaurants

great Schlitte sled-rides

Sledge area for kids (& adults)

Hiking trips & Nordic Skiing
There are tons of hiking / walking / Nordic Skiing opportunities in the area. If you are interested, please let us know so we can hook you up with other people with the same interest! The surroundings are very beautiful. For Nordic skiers, you can rent your skis and poles during checkout, the same goes for snow shoes (only for two days, but let us know if you prefer it for only one day).

Transportation

We will be travelling with a 4* luxury coach with extra leg space, an on-board toilet, DVD-system with 3 flat screens, air-conditioning and reclining comfort seats with footrests. We depart from Place Schuman at 18h00 (meeting time 17h45) and Leuven about 25 minutes later. Of course it is possible to take your own ski or snowboard set with you. During the trip we provide you with some drinks and snacks (waffles, chocolate bars etc). The trip to our hotel will take about 5,5 hours, including a 45-minutes dinner stop. Our arrival time on Friday evening will be around 23h00. On Saturday and Sunday we use the same bus to travel from our hotel to Winterberg (about 55 minutes). Please note that it is impossible to find group accommodation in or near Winterberg, unless we reserve months in advance.

Accommodation

We are staying in the 4* Dorint Hotel & Sportresort Arnsberg-Sauerland.  It is located in a beautiful area near Arnsberg. a great healthy German breakfast is included in the price already!!! The hotel is large rooms with private bathrooms. It also has a nice swimming pool and spa area (sauna). You can book a single, double, twin (2 single beds) or family room (with 3 or 4 beds).

Are you travelling alone?
We got a perfect solution! For solo travellers who would like to avoid the single room surcharge, Expat Club offers a service to pair you up with a room mate so you can share a room. You do not pay a single-room supplement and we will find you a room partner (no worries about that!). We do not assign you one, but you can choose who you would like to share the room with during the outbound journey to France. This solution worked very well during our last trips. Note that all room types are limited, so the earlier you book, the better we can help you get the room you want.

Rentals

For your convenience Expat Club offers to book everything you need in advance: ski pass, ski equipment rental and helmets. Weekends are always (very) busy here, reservation is therefore essential. So don’t spend your time waiting, have fun on the slopes! Note that renting clothes is possible, but only on the spot and it cannot be guaranteed.

 Minimum waiting time upon arrival
 Exclusive group check-in (regular lines are very long)
 Get your ski pass immediately
 Your personal ski set is prepared on the spot (boots, skis/board, poles)
 No risk your set is rented out
 Optional renting of safety helmet
 Nordic skis & snow shoes rental possible
 No waiting for payment and unnecessary administration

Prices are indicated on the page after you click the “Book now” button. We only offer 2-day packages in the standard reservation system, otherwise there will be too many choices. All rentals will be fully refundable until 4 days before departure. During the checkout process you can indicate your preferences. Please note we need the following date for every traveller. This is important because the rental agency wants to prepare your set. If you travel with a friend and you don’t know his/her data, just let us know what you need and send all details of your friend(s) or family asap afterwards.**

 The full name of each traveller
 Age (in years)
 Height (in cm)
 Shoe size (European size, e.g. 36 or 44)

Also no-rental is an option of course, for instance if you take your own equipment or don’t want to go skiing. Please contact at info@expatclub.org if:

 You want to go skiing only for 1 day
 You want to combine skiing with Nordic skiing or snow shoeing
 You travel with children
 You have specific requests or concerns

Comments

• The trip will be carried out by one of our trusted coach partners.
• This trip is carefully planned. Still, all timings are indicative and may change if required by circumstances (e.g. weather).
• The trip is sold as a package. You cannot go with your own transportation or arrange your own accommodation. If there are specific things that you do not want in the package, please let us know.
• You are personally responsible for getting a good cancellation and/or travel insurance that covers you for unforeseen emergencies and medical expenses before or during the trip. 
• You are personally responsible for using the hotel room in an appropriate way. Any missing or broken items will be billed after the trip.
• Expat Club cannot be held liable for long delays that influence the program, such as traffic jams). Neither can Expat Club be held liable for weather-related cancellations or any other unforeseen events that influence the course of the trip, including, but not limited to technical problems with the coach, strikes, weather etc.
• Expat Club cannot be held liable for personal injuries during the trip, such as, but not limited to, things that happen on the slopes or other places (e.g. an icy parking lot).
• If you do not find a room partner on your own, we will find one for you (male/male, female/female). During the outbound trip we will connect you with others in the same position. You will never have to pay for a single surcharge if there is no room partner for you! If you decide to take a single room during the trip, then you will have to fully pay for it yourself.
• If you book a double / twin room and your travel partner cancels, you will have to pay the single room supplement or share a room with another person (if available).
• The cancellation with a refund, as described in the terms & conditions, does not apply to this trip since you can only book maximum 2 weeks in advance anyway. Within this period you cannot cancel the trip and get a refund. You can always find a friend or colleague who will join instead of you. And we offer you a refund on the ski pass and rentals if you cancel before Wednesday.
• Note about the hotel location. As much as we would like to stay next to the slopes, we purposefully to choose hotels away from Winterberg, because: a) hotels in Winterberg are not available for groups who book last-minute (or are simply fully booked well in advance), b) are generally extremely expensive, c) roads in the Sauerland are less cleaned evening hours so we would risk getting stuck at night in case of heavy snowfall, and d) we want to limit the driving time on Friday evening so our bus is available to drive again 9 hours later (EU regulations). Having studied the entire area well, this is our only acceptable alternative. Downside is that it requires a 55 minute transfer in the morning and evening, but that is acceptable we think.
• You are advised to get a good travel insurance. If you travel regularly you are probably already well insured for winter activities. Most European-wide insurances from Belgium cover theft and healthcare expenses in the unfortunate case something happens (e.g. if you get into an accident on the slopes… knock on wood). However, we advise you to check this with your insurance company, especially for rescue operations on the slopes. A family of four can already be insured for about €65-70 per year, and daily insurances are already available for a few euro. At the same time we recommend you to check whether you have a cancellation insurance, just in case you fall ill or something else happens that prevents you from going.