The ultimate in travel experiences
With a backdrop of Switzerland’s most beautiful mountains, SnowpenAir allows punters to get high listening to the likes of James Blunt and Bryan Adams. For two days in April, the world’s highest open-air concert showcases some of the world’s biggest acts, as well as some homegrown heroes to keep the local crowd happy.
Party hard in an abandoned factory and brush off the cobwebs with the help of crisp air and powder snow the following day. Open from December through May, Bansko, Bulgaria’s largest ski resort, offers one of Europe’s longest ski seasons but the best time to go is in March when Horizon Festival hits the slopes.
No matter what time of year you get the bug to strap on the skis (or the board), you can take to Oregon’s Mount Hood. Here, you’ll find Timberline Lodge at about 1,200 metres.
Pack your wettie and your skis and take off on a thrill-seeking Californian day trip. Spend your morning surfing the friendly Bolinas break locals have tried so desperately to keep secret (they remove road signs almost as soon as they’re put up), then buckle up for the four-hour drive to Squaw Valley, host of the 1960 Winter Olympics. There’s no need to rush – runs are floodlit by night, giving you plenty of time to ride the legendary slopes.
If you decide to add Cyprus to your next itinerary, put a few days aside for some fun in the snow. That’s right, in the heart of the Troodos Mountains, Mount Olympus has four ski slopes.
It’s a short season, from January to March, and it’s all pretty gentle, but it does have the honour of being one of the few places in the world where you can get your hit of snow-based action for part of the day then sunbake yourself silly at a beach resort just an hour later. Nearby Paphos has 27 beaches ranging from very popular to almost deserted, the perfect way to warm up after your unexpected snow experience.
When you hit slopes around the world you expect vistas daubed in snow, but the pistes of Sierra Nevada boast panoramas far more unusual – the shimmering expanse of the Mediterranean Sea. Andalucían rays beam down on Europe’s southernmost ski slopes most days of the year, making it the ideal place to go if you’re torn between sun and snow.
Morocco tends to conjure thoughts of tagines, deserts and inescapable heat, so you’ll be forgiven for forgetting to pack your skis. Yet only 70 kilometres from Marrakesh, the Atlas Mountains are home to Oukaïmeden, Africa’s highest ski resort.
Oukaïmeden offers a Moroccan take on the classic sport. Clamber onto a donkey instead of a chairlift, haggle for a cheap set of skis and spend a bizarre après-ski in awe of the snake charmers and street performers who roam Jemaa El Fna.
While some wring their hands at the mention of shrinking glaciers, a beautiful side-effect of glacial retreat peppers Alaska’s Prince William Sound. A 16-kilometre trail of ever-changing ice sculptures graces the bay, creating a striking landscape best explored by kayak. It’s a two-hour water taxi trip to the Columbia Glacier, but keep your eyes peeled along the way for seals, sea lions and, if you’re lucky, whales.
The thought of walking into an igloo in a bathing suit is enough to make anyone shiver. But Engelberg Iglu-Dorf has its own in-igloo spa and sauna equipped with a heating system to fend off the cold. The igloo village it resides in is built from scratch every year, and the spa igloo accommodates up to six guests within its icy walls, which are adorned with Inuit art carvings. It’s a constant –5°C inside, but the 38°C jacuzzi will make you forget the chill.
If you’ve done enough tropical dives to have found Nemo 50 times over, it’s time for a new adventure. Grab the thickest possible drysuit, check the water is clear from floating chunks of ice and roll into Greenland’s Disko Bay.
The thick-skinned take off from Ilulissat, where 20 million tonnes of ice fall per day, for a hit of iceberg diving. The ocean temperature hovers around freezing point, but exploring the shifting and sighing underwater world of icebergs is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
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