Booking a skiing holiday for April involves taking a gamble. You can arrive to sunshine and late-season snow or barren slopes and green fields. My brother Andrew chose well, however, and the slopes of Montgenèvre in France delivered epic pistes amid glorious surroundings. This was the second time that I’d joined my family and friends…
Tag: The Alps
Zell am See: Lake and mountains
Zell am See has masses of appeal. It’s a typical Alpine town with cuckoo clock chalets, a magical lake and glorious mountains. In winter the slopes are the preserve of skiers and boarders, in summer they’re the playground of hikers and bikers. We arrived in town for five days after a sunny July weekend in…
Skiing in Champagny en Vanoise
A few years back I thought my skiing days were over when Graham announced halfway through a week in Ischgl that flying down mountains strapped to thin bits of metal was not something he considered a particularly safe, let alone enjoyable, way to pass the time. But then family came to my rescue and gave me…
Summer in the mountains: Kitzbuhel, Austria
Kitzbühel means the Hahnenkamm – the most exciting and terrifying of men’s downhill ski races on the planet. Every January, the World Cup race is beamed around the world from this charming village in the Austrian Tyrol. And I catch all the edge-of-the-seat action on Ski Sunday. But I’ve never skied at the famous resort….
Skiing in Selva, high up in Italy’s Val Gardena
I’d been away from the ski slopes for many years despite my love of the mountains in winter. But with Graham ready to give the sport a go, we booked a week in the Italian Dolomites for a week of the white stuff. Selva lies at the head of the beautiful Val Gardena in northern…
Walking in the hills around Morzine
The French Alpine resort of Morzine has grand landscapes and numerous summer walking paths but during our August weekend stay the weather had been mixed. Fortunately our last day delivered sunshine and blue skies so after studying our maps we decided to spend the day walking on Le Pleney – the hill on the other side of…
Morzine, Lake Montriond and the waterfalls
Just a few miles from the French Alpine resort of Morzine lies magical Lake Montriond and some spectacular waterfalls. The area is criss-crossed by walking routes and has magnificent views, making it an ideal spot to shake off a crashing headache brought on by mixing vodka, wine, beer and a mysterious local liquor in the…
A walk from Morzine to Avoriaz
Day three of our stay in the French Alps found us walking in the mountains from Morzine to Avoriaz and sheltering from a spectacular downpour. The rain had long been forecast and, as we tucked into breakfast at our hotel, the clouds started to roll in. Things were not looking good for a day out –…
Visiting Morzine in the French Alps
A long weekend in the French ski resort of Morzine gave us the chance to experience the majestic Alps in summer and to soak up the sunshine on mountain walks. It was chucking it down with rain in London as we left Heathrow Terminal 5 on British Airways flight 730 for Geneva and the weather forecast for our weekend…
Skiing in Ischgl, Austria
Back when I had youth on my side, apres ski was as integral to my winter holiday as the skiing. Shame, then, that I didn’t discover the Austrian resort of Ischgl in my 20s. Back then I could’ve stayed up until the early hours, swilling lager and dancing to 70s and 80s disco hits, as…
The Partnach Gorge, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
If I was given the chance to live abroad, the Alps is where I’d buy my dream home. They’re perfect for sunny walks in summer, skiing in winter and natural wonders all year round. Natural wonders like the Partnach Gorge at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany. We spent a week in the Bavarian town late one summer (by coincidence…