In the northern hemisphere, the snowsports "year" starts in mid-October, when the bulk of holiday bookings are traditionally made, and ends in mid-April, when the snow begins its annual migration to the Arctic or across the equator to the mountains of the southern hemisphere. It is rare for skiers and boarders to refer to a single calender year; rather, they remember ? and look forward to ? pairs of years coupled together. For example, in a discussion of seasons which started badly reference will ( Read more... )
View full article here

Yes, the clichés are true, as always, but after a long train journey, I felt entitled to indulge in some casual (and benign, I hoped) stereotyping. We were on our way to Cervinia, which is up an Alpine cul-de-sac, on the Swiss border. Most famously, though, it is underneath the 4,477m-high Matterhorn, a constant reference point from everywhere in town.

And when I say "underneath" it is not just a presence, it is positively on top of you, sometimes obscured by clouds, ( Read more... )
View full article here

Richardson reportedly fell on soft snow on a beginners' slope. She was not wearing a helmet, and she hit her head on the ground. In the immediate aftermath of the fall she seemed hardly injured; but her condition deteriorated swiftly, and the following day she died ? as a result, said the New York City examiner's office, of a "blunt impact to the head".

It was her celebrity that made Richardson's death an international event. But it had a particular resonance for skiers. The actress was ( Read more... )
View full article here

Presidents weren't always like this. At the dedication in 1937 of Timberline Lodge, in Oregon's Mount Hood National Forest, Franklin D Roosevelt revealed his dream that "Here, to Mount Hood, will come thousands and thousands of visitors in the coming years ... for skiing and tobogganing and various other forms of winter sports." For the FDR administration, putting the country back to work after the 1929 Great Crash involved publicly funded infrastructure projects, and getting ( Read more... )
View full article here

I was more familiar with its neighbour, Flaine, which happens to be a concrete monstrosity but shares the 265km of pistes that make up the Grand Massif ski area, one of the largest in France. Samoëns itself, nestling in the Giffre valley in Haute-Savoie, is the only French resort that is classified as a national monument. It has a 16th-century church, a covered, outdoor ice-skating rink and a relaxed atmosphere. It's also part of the official cheese trail of Savoie, which got ( Read more... )
View full article here

It can be difficult to build up experience of different equipment. Many of us simply end up having to rely on what the salesperson in the shop tells us before parting with our hard-earned cash. Of course, you could always try out some rental boards when you reach the resort, but stocks of the latest kit are often limited and in poor repair. If, like me, you're a bit on the tall side, then your choice is further restricted to whatever happens to fit.

However, as I found out last season, ( Read more... )
View full article here

But the benefits of this bumper season were not spread evenly. The main beneficiaries were small ski areas in which I (and possibly you) have never skied, places like Métabief in the Jura, Plancher Les Mines in Franche-Comté and Le Lioran in the Massif Central. Although its share of France's skiing activity is very small (usually only two per cent), the Massif Central's skier-days increased by 63 per cent last season; in contrast, none of those areas of the northern and southern Alps, which attract ( Read more... )
View full article here

You can find out which snow resorts are convenient by train, and you can find out exactly how to get there. You've also got all the connections at the other end. In many cases, ski resorts are not on railway lines, but they've got train stations very nearby. Often the tricky bit isn't finding out the information about how to get to that station, it's just putting it all together. Is there a bus up to the resort? How much will a taxi cost? Does the bus connect to the train?

Other key insider ( Read more... )
View full article here

The Vallée Blanche

Being a hardened skier of three decades experience, I know I shouldn't have been alarmed by the prospect of the infamous arête ? a narrow icy, windswept ridge ? at the start of the Vallée Blanche run. But I was scared.

This off-piste descent is a global magnet for experienced skiers, perhaps attracting too many of us, with an estimated 80,000 tackling it each winter. The run begins with an ear-popping ascent, by two successive cable cars, ( Read more... )
View full article here

Olympic year or not, Cypress is often ignored. It's most often seen as a locals' resort. The majority of visitors to Canada's west coast simply touch down and head straight out to Whistler. More fool them, I thought, as I paused to take a picture halfway down the aptly named First Run on a sunny day last December. I'd decided to take the road less travelled and make my way up to Vancouver's "local" resort. My reward for trying something different was one of the most spectacular views I've ever ( Read more... )
View full article here

The prize is a seven-night skiing holiday for two people, courtesy of Ski Canada, Air Canada and the Canadian Tourism Commission, at one of five top Canadian ski resorts, including accommodation, six-day lift passes, ski hire and transfers to and from the resort, flying with Air Canada.

The resorts are Fernie Alpine Resort in British Columbia (skifernie. com), Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia (

Getting to Canada couldn?t be easier ? there are direct flights from Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester to major Canadian cities in the winter season. And, once you?re there, it?s easy to get from the major cities to the ski resorts ? Québec City, Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal and Vancouver are all close to major resorts.

In fact, Canada will be hosting the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in February and March ( Read more... )
View full article here

Long-distance rail journeys are no longer just for scaredy cats and students. Ever-faster trains and the environmental cost of flying are combining to make it a positive choice. But European rail travel is daunting, what with all the different train companies, languages and currencies. And that's before you factor in keeping the children entertained.

My two, aged 11 and 14, are old enough to plug into something electronic and unplug on arrival. And we had cut down on ( Read more... )
View full article here

The advice for anyone wanting to hit the slopes before the New Year is to head high and head north and, if that fails, there are plenty of ski resorts that have invested in snow making systems to guarantee a winter wonderland. Nevertheless, the early ski season always runs the risk of frustratingly grassy slopes and lush landscapes. So, in order to avoid any disappointment (and broken ski poles) we reveal the best resorts to head for in order to ensure a snowy December.

But what's the mood in the ski industry, battered first by climate change stories and then by the economic slowdown? "Cautiously optimistic" sums it up. The early snow put smiles on the faces of troubled tour operators because, in the end, it's always the snow, not the world economic situation, that determines whether a season is a financial success or not.

"Bookings right now are picking up. We're up on last year, although we aren't close to the levels of autumn 2007 ( Read more... )
View full article here

But there's a price to pay for that adrenaline rush, because skiing just happens to be one of the most environmentally destructive sports on the planet. Why? Well how about the habitat-trashing ski lifts and their monstrous pylons that stomp across the mountains; not to mention the pine forests that are bulldozed to make the pistes in the first place (did you honestly think that the pine trees decided not to grow in the middle of your favourite red run?). Then there are the ( Read more... )
View full article here

In other businesses this might indicate a dereliction of duty, or simple bad management. But giving all chalet staff a day off at the same time is normal practice for UK ski tour operators, and a tradition enjoyed by seasonal ski workers. Since the weekend is the busiest time in the resorts, no one gets time off on Saturdays or Sundays. But in midweek, once the clients are settled in, the tour operators give staff the chance to indulge in what they came to the mountains for: skiing. The day off ( Read more... )
View full article here

There's more to a beginner's ski holiday than house-trained ski instructors, gentle slopes and sore limbs. Finding yourself in a picture-postcard resort is a real bonus and Les Gets in France's famous Portes du Soleil is as charming a ski village as you're likely to find. A well-positioned resort with great instructors.

Getting there: Equity Ski (0870 499 2992; www.equityski.co.uk) offer a seven-night all-inclusive break at the Chalet ( Read more... )
View full article here

So what do we do? Stop skiing is the obvious answer. But for those of us who love the mountains, that's not a satisfactory option. We may even argue, why should we stop going skiing? After all, travelling to resorts is hardly the key cause of what many scientists regard as climate change triggered by human activities. It is only one small component. So giving up skiing would need to be part of a negotiated, comprehensive settlement.

In general, though, people want to keep skiing but are ( Read more... )
View full article here

The technique is known as ski touring, and my attempt involved a mountain guide, eight Swiss-Germans and me. As well as spending the day following our leader down slopes, we would be spending some time heading in the other direction.

The idea is that you attach special grippy skins to your skis in order to prevent yourself sliding backwards. When you eventually reach the top of your mountain, you take them off and ski down. Our journey would lead us over untracked, unpopulated off-piste ( Read more... )
View full article here