Snowboarding 

 Why snowboarding?
It started this year with a Winter Sports holiday for my sons. That was how I found myself on a board in Avoriaz, Haute Savoie, in the French Alps. The full story can be found elsewhere on this site as well as my quest to learn the sport.

Snowboarding is an addictive sport; once tried you will struggle to free yourself from its grip. Quick to learn, you could be hurtling down Red slopes by the end of a week. But there is so much more to aspire to if the thought of racing skiers down prepared pistes starts to bore. Boards are well suited to getting off piste (with all the requisite precautions including accurate weather forecast,guide, transceivers, probes and shovel). Then of course there are the infinite possibilities for catching some big air and other freestyle activities in the park.
Snowboarders in the early days of the sport were not accepted at ski resorts. That has now changed and you can now snowboard at virtually all ski resorts. Some resorts have not made any effort to cater for snowboarders by building snow parks.

Snowboarding on a budget
The cost of a Winter Sports vacation is probably what stops most of us takiSnowboarder Avoriazng part. Resorts where snowboarders can get their fix include the European Alps, Andorra, The Rockies in North America, New Zealand and other destinations as diverse as Iran, Kazakhstan and the Lebanon. However being a budget European travel site, Eurapart will concentrate on Europe for the time being.

Packages
There are a number of companies offering cheap deals for skiers and snowboarders.
Thomson Ski - Part of the large TUI Group. The website has a vast range of Winter Sports packages. Some include all extras such as lift passes.
Snowboard Holidays with Opodo - Opodo is a company formed by the leading airlines. They offer some good rates and the advantage that their carriers do not usually charge extra for carrying your snowboard.
Direct Ski is another good option. They offer some very cheap Winter Sports deals.

© Philippe Devanne - FOTOLIA
Cheap flights
This site has a full list of low cost airlines here. Most offer destinations close to Winter Sports Resorts unfortunately many charge extra for carrying Winter Sports equipment.
Some of the leading budget airlines with Winter Sports destinations:
Ryanair - Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow, Haugesund, Oslo Torp, Tampere, Granada, Valladolid, Santander, Girona, Perpignan, Marseille, Montpellier, Grenoble, Lyon, Rodez, Pau, Verona, Milan, Treviso, Klagenfurt, Graz, Bratislava, Linz, Salzburg, Friedrichschafen. Krakow
Thomsonfly  - Grenoble, Salzburg
EasyJet - Barcelona, Geneva, Toulouse, Marseille, Nice, Lyon, Milan, Basel, Munich, Bratislava, Krakow
flybe - Geneva, Chambery, Salszburg, Toulouse, Aberdeen
Jet2 - Barcelona, Valencia, Toulouse, Chambery, Nice, Geneva, Milan, Salzburg, Krakow

Train
Eurostar - Ideal if you want to get to the French Alps quickly but creating less damaging carbon dioxide emissions.
Snow Train - The Snow Train is a great way to start your holiday, whether you'd like to get a good night's sleep or start the party in the onboard bar/disco on the way, the Snow Train is the service to use. With an overnight trains from Paris you can maximise the amount of time in the resort with up to eight days on the slopes. Whichever way you choose, make sure you corner like you're on rails!

Accommodation
Pierre & Vacances - Europe's largest apartment chain and the company behind mountain developments suchas Avoriaz.
Odalys - Budget apartment chain with a presence in numerous French ski resorts.
Interhome - Large agency vetting and letting privately owned apartments all over Europe. Very large selection in ski resorts.