wherever you go for your skiing holiday you’ll probably suffer at least one of these
wherever you go for your skiing holiday, you’ll probably suffer at least one of these. Any extra ascents on the same day are at the bargain rate of pounds 23.Snowmobiling is offered at many North American resorts. The vehicles can reach 50mph or more on the flat, but when touring 25-30mph is more usual. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is the base for snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park. Tours of two to five days, staying in mountain refuges in the park, can be arranged through Ski Independence. Arctic Experience offers four days of snowmobiling on its Discover Spitsbergen tour.If you can’t make up your mind, you can always combine activities. Finlandia’s three-day, pounds 333 “ice-breaker adventure” includes a snowmobile safari over frozen sea, a cruise on an ice-breaker and a try at reindeer driving.
A dip in the Arctic Ocean wearing insulated gear is, thankfully, optional.. Long queues, poor links, a surfeit of Brits… Thanks to the invention of fat (double-width) powder skis, the transition to powder skiing is relatively simple for competent piste skiers.Ski Independence (0131 557 8555), specialising in tailor-made holidays in North America, offers a day’s heli-skiing from Whistler that includes three ascents, 8,000-10,000ft of vertical, food and refreshments for pounds 209. The Canadian Rockies are ideal for heli-skiing, because there is relatively little development compared with the number of mountains. Arctic Experience (01737 218800) offers husky-sledding holidays or a two-week sledding course in Swedish Lapland from pounds 1,254, or 10 days in the Yukon from pounds 1,895.Frequently described as the ultimate skiing experience, heli-skiing provides an unbeatable opportunity to striate virgin powder. It’s back to nature at the accommodation, too: wilderness huts have few facilities, but some may have saunas.
The Finlandia Travel Agency (0171-409 7334) offers a seven-day husky tour across the fells of Lapland for pounds 1,015 all-inclusive. There is a selection of tours on offer, from Lapland to Alaska. Waymark Holidays (01753 516477) offers a week in France for pounds 450 with half-board, or a week in Norway in January for pounds 460 all- inclusive.Answering the call of the wild means husky dogs, and mushing (driving) a team of three to eight dogs has its dangers Huskies are not cuddly pets. Cross-country skis are up to two-thirds lighter than downhill skis and have bindings that leave the heel free. The technique can be picked up quickly, but non-skiers should practise before embarking on a hut-to-hut tour.
The Ski Club of Great Britain (0171-245 1033) has an extensive safari and touring programme.Cross-country skiing, or ski-walking, can be done on almost-level or undulating terrain. Most resorts have a few kilometres of cross-country tracks, but for the best touring circuits Austria and Scandinavia are recommended. Poles Apart has a three-day introduction to ski touring in Chamonix and offers the six-day Haute Route tour, complete with guide, for pounds 550. Waymark has a 13-night tour in the Canadian Rockies, staying at back-country lodges. The good thing about it is that you don’t have to be an expert skier: intermediates can cope. Beginners have a tendency to go with gravity, and landing takes a bit of mastering.