The 2023 Banff Film Festival World Tour began its UK leg at the Brighton Dome on 1st February. The action-filled adventure films will be shown in over 50 locations in the UK and Ireland until autumn 2023.
Resort News & Reports
Dogs in the snow – Severin’s hotel takes the lead in Lech
With more holiday companies and hotels now making it easier to take canine friends to ski resorts, Arnie Wilson remembers his wedding day in snow covered mountains when he had a ‘best dog’
It’s a dogsend! At last! I don’t have to put my yellow labrador into kennels every time I go skiing!
Ladies’ Ski Club members go back in time for centenary celebrations in Mürren
by Matthew Lumb
As part of a series of events to celebrate the centenary of the Ladies’ Ski Club, members and guests were invited to take part in a fun costumed slalom race in Mürren, Switzerland. The race was held on 23 January 2023, the 100th anniversary, to the day, of the founding of the club.
Gurgl gears up for this season
The RAC (Royal Automobile Club) in London provided another great location for a recent lunch for ski and travel journalists, this time hosted by the Austrian ski area of Gurgl and the Tyrolean region of Ötztal.
Italian superstar to perform at Ischgl’s Top of the Mountain Closing Concert
International superstar Eros Ramazzotti (pictured) will be taking to the stage for Ischgl’s annual ‘Top of the Mountain Closing Concert’ on 30 April 2023 as the Austrian resort’s ski season comes to an end.
Relax or work out at Val Thorens’ new €40m state-of-the-art sports, aquatic and convention centre
Alf Alderson swaps his skis for a new ‘board’ of a different kind in Val Thorens which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season
Le Board is shaped like a giant snowboard
It was one of those days in Val Thorens with low cloud and poor visibility making the skiing tricky at best, so what to do? Feel our way down the slopes in the murk, or try something different?
Flying visit
A reinstated morning flight from London City Airport makes a short break in Austria even more accessible. Mark Nicholls went for the skiing, and returned with plenty of memories to treasure
Austria’s Skicircus offers 408km of pistes. PHOTO: Skicircus/Lukas Pilz
It was cold as the horses trotted away from the small Advent Fair in the trees above Leogang. As they paused, steam swirled around these magnificent beasts, not unlike the smoky aura of an ancient locomotive slowing into a remote halt.
The story of the Swiss Army Knife
The famous red-handled ‘Swiss Army Knife’ is as iconic a symbol of Switzerland as the Matterhorn itself. Ed Mannix, owner of Zermatt specialists, Matterhorn Chalets, guides us through the fascinating history of this famous of all penknives
Les Gets says ‘no more butts’… (unless you are in one of the designated smoking areas)
The French resort of Les Gets claims to be the first in Europe to ban smoking both on and off the slopes – except in five designated areas.
The ban came into force on 17 December and Benjamin Mugnier, who is in charge of the project, said: “We want to showcase our number one asset which is the clean air of the mountain. This is why thousands of people visit us every year.”
Music to my ears
Two new challenges for skiers and snowboarders are among the many reasons to visit Ski amadé and the Salzburger Sportwelt says Hilary Everitt
Have you ever shivered on a freezing chair lift swinging around in a blizzard, maybe wishing you had stayed in the bar with a warming glühwein? More often than not, the seats are also cold and uncomfortable.
Ladies Ski Club celebrates its 100th anniversary in Mürren – the birthplace of Alpine ski racing
Mürren’s status as the birthplace of Alpine ski racing in the years following the first world war is reflected in a succession of centenary celebrations in the car-free village at the heart of Switzerland’s beautiful Jungfrau Region.
The return of the Parsenn Derby ski race celebrates historic British ties with Davos Klosters
Davos Klosters’ is usually in the headlines for hosting world leaders at the annual World Economic Forum or when members of the British Royal family head there for a winter holiday, but the area has so much more to offer than this newspaper fodder and it is one of Switzerland’s snowsport capitals.
Canada’s ski season starts early after heavy snowfall
Canada’s 22/23 ski season got underway on Thursday, 3 November, after the west of the country – particularly Alberta and inland BC – saw heavy snowfall and low temperatures for much of the past fortnight.
Val Gardena continues to bolster its legendary and historic attractions
New attractions and improvements await skiers and snowboarders visiting the Italian resort of Val Gardena this season. The area, which includes the villages of Ortisei, S. Cristina and Selva, has access to 500 km of slopes.
First chair celebrates official opening of Colorado Ski Country USA ski season
The 2022-23 Colorado Ski Country USA ski season is officially open. Skiers and snowboarders celebrated getting back on the slopes recently when Arapahoe Basin’s Black Mountain Express chairlift broke through a banner announcing the ski area was open for business.
What’s new? The 22/23 ski and snowboard season in the Austrian Tirol
Culinary Craft Tours in Innsbruck
New Culinary Craft Tours invite participants to embark on a journey of discovery through Innsbruck. Offered in German and English, the tours highlight small and medium-sized producers from the city and the surrounding region, with a focus on regional beers, alcoholic drinks, and non-alcoholic beverages.
Mister Dancehall to headline Ischgl’s opening of the season concert
The 2022/23 ski and snowboard season in Ischgl starts with the ever popular ‘Top of the Mountain Opening Concert’ on 26 November 2022. The live concert will kick off at 6 pm in front of an atmospheric nocturnal mountain backdrop.
The Zermatt-Cervinia World Cup Downhill 2022: All you need to know
The Zermatt Cervinia World Cup Downhill race will start in Switzerland and finish in Italy
Ed Mannix of the Zermatt-based Matterhorn Chalets talks to Iain Martin about the World Cup Downhill races taking place in Zermatt and Cervinia in October and November – the first time in FIS history a cross border competition has taken place
Ski and snowboard holidays by train – Travelski Express adds three new resorts to its list
Travelski Express has added more packages to its programme and now includes the popular resorts of Val Thorens, Courchevel and La Rosiere.
Val Thorens
Skiers and snowboarders can choose between a range of accommodation in the three resorts with deals starting at £646 pp for a week in La Rosière – this price includes return direct Eurostar train travel, accommodation, local area lift pass and transfers to/from accommodation.
Zermatt joins list of glaciers temporarily closed for ski and snowboard activities because of ‘unprecedented’ high temperatures
The Swiss resort of Zermatt has temporarily suspended year-round skiing and snowboarding on its glacier due to high temperatures in the Alps during Spring and Summer.
The slopes have been open daily for many years now, except for a break of about three months at the start of the worldwide pandemic in spring 2020.