The Culture Bank

Considered to be the first capital of modern Italy, Turin is also one of the most popular ski resorts entire country, and although it is not as famous as places like Rome or Venice; its charm lies in the fact that it combines elements such as the Po River, the Alps of the Piedmont region, and a variety of ski resorts that were used in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. Considered by many,( including the famous architect Le Corbusier),  to be one of the most beautiful natural locations in the world, Turn is not only a popular ski resort but is also a major city for technology and industry, and doubles as a headquarters for many of the largest Italian companies, including Fiat.

The Alps are considered to be the premier skiing mountains on the planet, and Turin is nestled up against the southern slopes of the range. During the winter months the Alps transform into a haven for ski-lovers from around the world, and Turin is one of the places that offer a complete winter package, regardless of the veteran or novice status of the skier.

In addition to the ski resorts and slopes offered by Turin during the winter months, the city is also a major architectural headquarters for Italian Baroque-style buildings. It is also home to the Parco della Pellerina, which is the largest urban park in Italy, and dozens of other parks that offer a refreshing view of nature, during the summer months when the snow is but a lingering memory.

Méribel is the collective name of three villages in the French Alps. The home of the 1992 Winter Olympiad, Méribel has been a site for skiing holidays since its first resort was established there over sixty years ago. Now this picturesque area has a collection of chalets and hotels for every budget to correspond with the world-class skiing.

Two star hotels offer affordability and comfort, such as the Savoy Hotel which is centrally located, providing half board with a buffet breakfast and multi-course dinner. The Hotel Doron is conveniently located near the Méribel Tourist office. Also centrally located, the Hotel Doron is a bed and breakfast aimed for those on a budget. With the Méribel Pub next door, any après ski fun is on the doorstep for those who are not too tired from skiing.

Many of the ski resorts chalets have been converted from traditional, period farmhouses while others are new builds. Some of the smaller chalets sleep up to six people, but there are larger chalets that house up to forty or more. Chalet Charlotte is less than 500 metres from the piste, half-board, and sleeps up to sixteen guests. The chalet is for adults only unless fully reserved for the same group. Chalet Laitelet I & II, a part of the Méribel-Mottaret resort, offers affordable lodging near the Mottaret lifts.

Language is not a barrier for those with limited French-speaking skills. With plenty of British skiers and tourists, participating in the many activities from hang gliding to ten-pin bowling, or dining in one of the sixty-five restaurants, the locals of Méribel are comfortable talking in English.

Dubai is one of the more unique ski destinations, located in the middle of the Arabian Desert. This popular winter pastime can now be enjoyed all year round in the heat of the midday sun. Ski Dubai is an incredible indoor ski resort where you can enjoy traditional skiing, snowboarding and tobogganing in perfect ski conditions every day.

The resort offers full training with professional ski instructors and has a full range of ski equipment for you to hire. The only thing you need to remember to bring is your woolly hat and gloves. The complex includes soft snow slopes, chairlift rides and the thrill of a family sled run. Organisers run regular snowboarding freestyle events for skilled performers to show off their moves, while should you feel hungry after your time on the snow there are two café bars where you can enjoy a meal.

Dubai makes for an interesting holiday trip, billed as a city of the future, today. It has the world’s tallest building; there is the Wild Wadi Park and amazing water world of adventure and Ajman resort with its extensive marine based activities, water-skiing, sailing and windsurfing. For golfing enthusiasts there are five professionally designed golf courses – individual green oases in the desert sand dunes.

All in all along with your desert ski trip you are bound to find plenty of entertainment to satisfy all tastes in this intriguing city. From the pleasures of a desert safari to diving beneath the waves, Dubai also has an active and entertaining nightlife and a rich array of restaurants and café bars with cuisine from every corner of the planet.

In a perfect world it would be possible to go on a ski holiday whenever the mood strikes. Unfortunately, not everyone has that option and time and money sometimes get in the way. The following tips can help save money when wanting to get to the slopes.

Look for cancellations. No resort wants to have empty spaces, even during the peak season so it is worthwhile staying in contact with either a good travel agent or the resort itself. It may be possible to obtain champagne luxury on a cider budget. By booking accommodation only and not an all-inclusive package, it is easier to save money on both travel and the resort.

With the plethora of budget airlines and numerous daily flights, the distance between the UK and Europe has never been smaller. Look for special return flights where skis travel for free and do not count as part of the baggage allowance.

Join a ski club. There is a lot to be said about the benefits of joining a club or organization where the number of members increases the buying power. Not all clubs require group skiing but offers ski deals and generous discounts to registered members.

Hire equipment and purchase lift passes early. Instead of hauling all sorts of equipment on the plane or coach, arrange in advance to hire what is needed. Some providers offer attractive discounts for those who plan ahead.

Being flexible with dates is the biggest key factor in finding ski deals. By booking weeks in advance at a discount or having the willingness to ski at the tail-end of the season when prices start to taper off helps. Ski resorts want to have as many people visit for as long as possible.

Before you go on that long awaited French skiing holiday, the best piece of advice anyone can give you if you want to improve your skiing is to get the all important equipment serviced. This applies whether these are traditional skis or modern snowboards, your performance on the ski slopes can only improve if your edges are blunt, you will lose a lot of grip, especially on hard packed snow, even more so on ice.

It is a common scenario; we get back from our ski holiday perhaps having unwisely skied down to the village on the last day which may have had poor snow cover or it was melting in the warm afternoon sun, commonly referred to as the “sugar slalom” arrived back home and threw our beloved well used equipment into the loft or garage until our next trip to the French Alps. When you are getting ready to ski again, you’ll pull those skis out only to find a fuzzy layer of rust on the edges and damage to the base and if you use them in this condition your skiing will suffer.

Take your skis to a reputable ski service shop to have the bases trued and the edges cleaned and sharpened and you will not look back. Soon you will be cruising the blues and tackling those reds like a veteran. If you are in one of the resorts such as the Three Valleys and you are taking full advantage of the area lift pass, you can cover many miles in a day.   Half way through your holiday you should take your skis to a local technician who will check the edges and rectify them in needed, major service will not be required unless you have been “rock hopping” go out and enjoy your newly found skiing ability!

Skiing in Austria is more expensive than some of the other options. However, it does have very good infrastructure which, especially if you are a beginner, may be worth paying a bit more for. It is expected that in 2010 fewer people will be taking a skiing holiday and this will increase pressure on resorts to cut their prices to attract their share of visitors.

Budget airlines, package tourism, great airfare deals and big discounts are making skiing more affordable. Even top resorts are offering good ski deals. Don’t use just one website to search for ‘Ski Holidays Austria’; compare prices on a number of sites. If you have chosen your resort and the time of your trip, book early to get an early-booking discount. Alternatively book late in the season and you can get discounts of up to 10 per cent in resorts such as Innsbruck. Staying outside the city in one of the smaller villages will also save you money. It may also be worth pre-booking ski equipment and lift passes to get lower prices. Tailor your ski pass to what you will actually be doing; buying a six-day pass makes no sense if you will only be skiing in the morning. Self drive or ski train holidays can also save you a lot of money as can booking self-catering accommodation.

Choosing one of the smaller and quieter resorts such as Finkenberg can also offer better value for money. Schladming in the Enns Valley is only an hour from Salzburg with flights from Ryanair, Thomsonfly and British Airways. The accommodation is reasonably priced and skiers can ski across the Ski Amade region. Skiing in Austria may not be for those who have price as their number one consideration, but it can represent value for money.

Bulgaria first came to prominence in the late 1990s when much money was invested in its ski resorts in the post-Socialist era. The quality of its resorts was improved, but prices remained low, attracting many skiers looking for a budget ski holiday. Skiing in Bulgaria is popular and the most popular ski resort is the modern Bansko.

In recent years there has been major investment in the resorts and this is rapidly transforming the facilities and the quality of skiing available. The main resorts of Borovets and Bansko are growing in popularity and Bansko in particular has seen a marked improvement in its lift systems, skiing conditions, new hotels and resort facilities.

However, despite all these improvements Bulgarian resorts still lag behind West European resorts in terms of things to see and do. In some resorts it can be hard to even find a supermarket. One advantage the resorts do have is that most are reasonably close to some of the major Bulgarian cities such as Sofia. So if you are interested in Bulgarian culture a skiing holiday can be combined with a trip to the capital or a local town.

The night life is varied and whilst some of it might raise an eyebrow, there is generally something for everyone. The cuisine is not up to the standards of Italian or French ski resorts, but as Western culture is embraced pizza restaurants are appearing.

Bulgarian ski schools have been praised in recent years and the small piste ski areas are ideal for beginners. For intermediate skiers who are a bit adventurous skiing in Bulgaria can offer a completely different experience to that of the average European ski holiday. A sense of humour does help.

Belle Plagne is a small, relaxed, atmospheric, family-friendly skiing and boarding destination in the French Alps, close to, but not part of the substantial La Plagne resort. La Plagne comprises six high-altitude resorts, including Belle Plagne at 2,500m, and four village resorts. The facilities in the area are second to none and do not suffer from the stark modern architecture of the resort of La Plagne itself. You will find plenty of restaurants if you decide to take advantage of some of the low cost apartments, or you could enjoy the facilities of a hotel and enjoy your evening in their restaurant with the kids tucked up in bed.

Skiing is great in the La Plagne area and is an ideal base for you to spend the whole day out and never cross the same piste until you return in the evening. The whole of the La Plagne region is part of the Paradiski the linked ski areas of La Plagne and Les Arcs, offering 425km of pistes and 141 lifts, you will enjoy the experience of the double decker transverse lift between the two ski areas. Great ski holidays are still available for you to take that winter break.

If you have always wanted to learn how to ski, why not take advantage of one of the beginners’ ski holidays currently available? With a bit of research, you can find a resort offering ‘learn to ski’ packages included in their pricing. You can have fun on the slopes while learning the sport from an expert.

You may have heard family and friends describing the fun they have been having on their ski holidays and wished you could join in. Some people want to learn how to ski, but fear that if they didn’t learn as a child that their time to hit the slopes has passed. Nothing could be further from the truth. As long as you have a desire to learn, you can gain the skill necessary to take part in this most enjoyable pastime.

The great thing about going on a beginners’ ski holiday is that you can take the time to have a series of lessons in a relatively short time. No need to be concerned that you will forget something the instructor went over in a previous lesson when you are taking them for several days in a row.

Instructors at ski resorts are very patient with people who are new to the sport, and they want to make sure that guests stay safe while they learn. Why not do some online research or see a travel consultant today to find out more about the ski holidays that are available?

Champagny is near the borders of France, Switzerland and Italy and is a great resort for ski holidays. It has ten green runs, 80 blue, 29 red, and 15 black. An express cable car that is a double-decker links the area to Les Arcs, and a gondola gives access to the La Plagne ski slopes. There are 125 pistes and 125 ski lifts, and people can ski and snowboard on slopes that have snowmakers to keep them well covered for the entire season.

Five airports provide access to the area with the Chambery and Geneva airports being within two hours of the community. Eight hotels serve the region and there are weekly tours that take visitors to the local farms and churches.

Crest Voland is a resort best suited to beginners and intermediate skiers as most of the slopes are for beginners (fully 70 percent). The area has 39 ski lifts and 196 pistes. There are also slopes available for snowboarding, and the resort is above 1500 metres; so people can literally ski or snowboard right back to the hotels.

Four airports are in the area, among them Chambery and Geneva; all of them are no more than two hours from the community. Half a dozen chalets serve the area; there are two ski schools, and one day care centre for children aged two to five years. Four bars and one nightclub are nearby, as are a baker’s dozen of restaurants providing local, French and Italian cuisine. You can also swim, go ice skating, soak in a sauna, and try paragliding whilst on your ski holidays in Crest Voland.