One Steamboat Place, Steamboat Springs. Photo: Supplied Our rating 4 out of 5 The place Steamboat Ski Resort in northern Colorado’s Yampa Valley is at the foot of the mountain range comprising Mount Werner, Sunshine Peak, Pioneer Ridge and Christie Peak. Surrounded by working ranches, the area is a mix of both wild and mild […]
Whakapapa ski field, New Zealand. Photo: Supplied It is not every day you get to leap off the face of a god and land in a blindingly white spray of powder snow. But this is exactly what is on the cards if you visit New Zealand’s “forgotten” ski areas on Mount Ruapehu. The North Island’s […]
The first snowfall of 2016 has arrived at Perisher. Photo: Perisher Winter has hit the Snowy Mountains. Photo: Thredbo Resort Thredbo received between two and three centimetres of snow overnight on Wednesday. Photo: Thredbo Resort Thredbo received between two and three centimetres of snow overnight on Wednesday. Photo: Thredbo Resort Winter has hit the Snowy […]
Away from the crowds: Ski touring in Verbier Photo: Pascal Gertschen The steady, rhythmic beat of our skis is a “clip-clop-claaaack” as we lift and slide them up the slope, heading for the ridge and what lies beyond. The terrain is steep in places: “look ahead, don’t look at your feet, stand tall, stay balanced and breathe,” says our guide, Hans Solmssen, coaching us […]
The mixed terrain in Jasper includes alpine bowls and challenging backcountry. When it comes to a ski and snowboard trip, people choose their destination for a variety of reasons. For some, it’s all about the terrain, others the apres ski scene or the culture of the country. Me, I loathe crowds. There is a strange […]
Good times in the snow at Thredbo. Photo: Thredbo Australians might like to have the odd joke at New Zealand’s expense, but when it comes to skiing, New Zealanders have always believed they have the last laugh. New Zealanders don’t just think they have better ski-fields than their vexatious trans-Tasman neighbour, they know it. Australia […]
Steve Lee flies through powder at Falls Creek. Photo: Chris Hocking Snowsports are all about adventure and there’s an extra element on undiscovered terrain beyond the lift lines. The view changes, there’s the flexibility to choose your slope for the best aspect and best snow. There are trees to turn through, steep drops if you […]
Club Med’s Sahoro resort targets the ‘grounded, down to earth consumer’. Photo: Caleb Ming My recollections of Club Med were somewhat vague. I was maybe 10 or 11, besotted with my archery teacher until I blew it by telling her not to bend back the cover of a book I was reading. I developed a […]
Skiing with the family gives children the priceless gift of being able to handle themselves on mountains. Photo: Getty Images It’s sometimes said that skiing is the only sport where you spend an arm and a leg to break an arm and a leg. As a child in Queensland I couldn’t understand the allure. What […]
FINALIST: First summit sunset of the season. Photo: @elise_young_ FINALIST: Smashing laps at Hotham. Photo: @maxybon12 FINALIST: Hooker Valley Track. Photo: @man.meets.wine FINALIST: Field of snow monsters. Photo: @john.n.kellie A little under-dressed for the weather. Photo: @willhauserman FINALIST: Perisher awesome as always. Photo: @pomiejohn FINALIST: Freshly groomed. Photo: @patchono FINALIST: Mountains were made to punch […]
Skiing with children gets easier with time and can soon become your favourite family holiday. Photo: Getty Images It starts something like this: “Right! Let’s squeeze these sausage legs into tights. Now, please, refrain from kicking. I’ve got to get the thermal socks on, then the ski pants, jacket, scarf… Oh, why are you crying, […]
Perisher saw 20cm of snow dumped across the valley on the weekend. Photo: Perisher Ski Resort Snow covered village: Perisher Ski Resort. Photo: Perisher Ski Resort Perisher Ski Resort- Tracks in the snow Photo: Perisher Ski Resort Snow covered village: Perisher Ski Resort. Photo: Perisher Ski Resort A snow plow clearing the road at Perisher […]
Mount Buller got a new lift installed in 2019 replacing its old one, pictured in 2014. Photo: Supplied Once again, the snow has come early, with falls of up to 45 centimetres across the Australian mountains in the last week of May. The snow also came thick and fast – and early – in the 2017 and […]
You’ll have a better circle of friends after a ski trip to Thredbo. SPONSORED CONTENT Snow virgin? Here are 21 reasons why you should hit Thredbo this season. 1 Skiing and snowboarding is fun Even when you’re learning and falling over you will still be laughing. Once you get the hang of it and progress […]
What do you do when you’re in a cowboy town in the middle of winter? Why, you saddle up and join them on a ride through the snow of course. Photo: Mark Daffey A horse walks into a bar. Its rider, aloft in the saddle, orders a beer. The unimpressed barman rebukes his patron, leading […]
What do you do when you’re in a cowboy town in the middle of winter? Why, you saddle up and join them on a ride through the snow of course. Photo: Mark Daffey A horse walks into a bar. Its rider, aloft in the saddle, orders a beer. The unimpressed barman rebukes his patron, leading […]
Kiwi freeskier Sam Smoothy is used to going off-piste – but when it comes to strange ski destinations, North Korea is right up there. The Wanaka-based athlete spent 10 days in the isolated nation in February, hitting the slopes at Kim Jong-un’s Masikryong Ski Resort. In a video posted on YouTube this week, Smoothy can be seen staying in a luxury lodge, and eating skewers of […]
Services at the luxury Lumiere Hotel, Telluride, include a ski valet. WHY Unlike many ski resorts, Victorian-era settlement Telluride has history, character and one of the most beautiful settings in Colorado. The skiing is superb, offering a great mix of sunny and snowy days, and groomed and steep runs. It has challenging terrain, but beginners […]
Svalbard, Norway: While good chunks of Norway are inside the Arctic Circle, the islands of Svalbard to the north are deep, deep inside it. Don’t expect to see any daylight during the depths of winter – although this doesn’t stop snowmobiling and husky-sledding adventures or the chance of polar bear encounters. And, also, this means […]
EXPLORA PATAGONIA, LAKE PEHOE, CHILE. It has arguably the best view of any lodge in Patagonia, looking out over Lake Pehoe and across to towering, ice-covered peaks soaring 2000 metres into the sky. EXPLORA PATAGONIA, LAKE PEHOE, CHILE. It has arguably the best view of any lodge in Patagonia, looking out over Lake Pehoe and […]
Overland Track, Cradle Mountain with Western Bluff in distance. Blue lagoons and tropical islands may claim to be the poster destinations of travel, but stick to the hot-climate cliches and you miss out on all the varied landscapes, adventures and experiences that only winter can provide. In winter destinations, ice-encrusted wonderlands and alpine panoramas lend a […]
Spend the winter hitting the slopes in Thredbo. With less than six weeks till the Australian and New Zealand ski seasons begin Australian resorts celebrated with the first flakes hitting the ground last weekend. There’s still time to save money with early bird ski and snowboard holiday bookings available for this year for beginners through […]
The Falls Creek app gives up to the minute lift status, social sharing and a leaderboard to compete with your mates. Photo: Chris Hocking/Falls Creek While we wait for the snow to come in, and it will, because, well, it always does, we’ve rounded up the best snow apps for your smart phone or android […]
Perisher joined the Vail Resorts family in 2015, giving birth to the Epic Australia Pass. Photo: Perisher Media Since Vail Resorts bought Perisher in 2015 and launched the Epic Australia Pass for $799, other Australian and New Zealand resorts have been scrambling to keep up. How can you compete with an Australian season pass that […]
Perisher terrain park. Photo: Steve Cuff As the days cool and the mountains call, the snow people stir. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and with different pursuits in mind. The snow is their common commodity, but they split into packs when it comes to the ways they use it. From the […]
Perisher terrain park. Photo: Steve Cuff As the days cool and the mountains call, the snow people stir. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and with different pursuits in mind. The snow is their common commodity, but they split into packs when it comes to the ways they use it. From the […]
Coronet Peak, Queenstown, New Zealand. Photo: TNZ/Miles Holden Winter means skiing and snowboarding and skiing and snowboarding mean good times, and you’ll always find good times at a festival. These six festivals combine the best of winter with a titillating festival program to keep you and your family entertained on and off the slopes. The […]
Eating alfresco inn Queenstown, New Zealand. Photo: FDC It should speak volumes that the best run I’ve had all day – and this, at the early stages of a New Zealand ski holiday – is a chauffeured lift from cutesy Brennan Wines to the swank of Chard Farm Vineyard, deep-etched between calico-coloured hills and snowcapped […]
Mount Hotham. There is so much that is great about the Australian winter above the snowline, things that are well worth an award. Where else can you ski among snow gums or wander through villages with crimson rosellas darting past? But it’s not all perfect; if our resorts were always at their best, there would […]
First run of the day in Crested Butte. WHY Crested Butte might be overshadowed by fellow Colorado ski resorts Vail and Aspen, but offers some of North America’s best skiing and outstanding powder snow. Beginners and intermediates can hog four-fifths of the mountain, while the other fifth has some of the most challenging inbounds runs […]
PHOTOS – FIRST SNOW FALLS OF 2018: The icy blast in Victoria saw up to 20cm of snow falling at Mt Hotham. Temperatures dipped to minus 6 on Friday morning with reports of snow falling as low as 300m last night. Heavy snowfalls are expected during the day. Photo: Chris Hocking Snow at Mount Hotham. […]
The Banff Springs Hotel in Canada. Paradise is not always a sandy beach. Not to me, anyway. Not to every traveller. The official vision of holiday perfection might involve swaying palm trees and a burning hot sun, but travel doesn’t always have to be that way. There are some of us who like the cold. […]
MooserWirt, St Anton, Austria: The MooserWirt is typical ski in, stumble out, dance on tables from mid-afternoon in the sun. There’s a DJ and jugs of beers and the usual alpine shots. Be warned, you will have to ski back down to the village once you are done. MooserWirt, St Anton, Austria: The MooserWirt is […]
New lift investments means there’s plenty of intermediate blue runs alongside more testing options for expert riders at The Remarkables. It’s still dark when I emerge from my hotel room. Outside it’s freezing. Slinging my snowboard into the back of the 4WD, I fire up the engine and tear off, with the midnight blue waters […]
Snowmass offers an escape from the pace of Aspen’s mid-winter frivolity. Photo: Matt Power/Snowmass Tourism It takes extraordinary news for Snowmass to steal the glory from its cross-valley neighbour, Aspen. In 2010, a bloke on a bulldozer stumbled upon the fossilised remains of an entire Pleistocene ecosystem and in one accidental moment he put Snowmass on […]
If you’re female, the odds are definitely in your favour. Photo: iStock Ladies if you’re looking for love in a snow town then the odds are definitely in your favour. More men than women ski and snowboard (roughly 60:40 percentage breakdown) and in some towns, it can be up to seven men per woman come […]