Glacier
(
noun) glass-ee-er
Large, often-ancient sea of ice formed
from compacted snow. From La Grand
Motte in the French resort of Tignes to
Stubai, the largest in Austria, the main
appeal is year-round skiing, though many
offer a host of other attractions. For
instance, inside Chamonix’s famous
Mer de Glace, the biggest glacier in the
Alps, there’s an ice cave full of carvings.
Just remember to wrap up warmly.
chamonix.net
Heliskiing
(
verb) hel-ee-skee-ing
Refers to the act of hopping into a
helicopter, flying to the top of a mountain,
hopping out of the helicopter, skiing
down and repeating. That’s the appeal
of heliskiing: you can access the most
remote, dramatic terrain and ski empty,
untracked slopes of perfect powder. You
can’t heliski just anywhere though – it’s
banned in the French Alps. However,
canny pilots get over that by dropping
skiers next door in Italy, where things
are more relaxed. That’s certainly the
case with the excellent, newly formed
Val Heliski (
valheliski.com
),
and Chalet
Rosière (
chaletrosiere.fr
),
which also has
spa facilities. Of course, if you want to
go further afield, then the north coast of
Iceland offers some of the most dramatic,
extreme landscapes in the world – as well
as the opportunity to take on thousands of
runs that have never been skied before. As
James Morland, director of EA Heliskiing
(
eaheliskiing.com
),
points out, “Skiing is all
about fun – heliskiing is about taking fun
and giving it a big injection of steroids”.
schgl
(
noun) ish-gul
The Alp’s
number-
one party town –
and it doesn’t let
up until the huge,
free, Top of the
Mountain music
festival on 1 April,
where the likes of
the Killers have
performed in the
past. But even
more fun is all the
après-ski before
At Niki’s Stadl
you’ll find people
getting down in
their ski boots
to a bizarre mix
of Euro-pop and
Austrian oompah
every night.
ischgl.com
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