Seven Top Ski Destinations

The Haynes Seven Top Skiing Destinations

With many peoples next holiday a Ski holiday and to celebrate the publication of the Haynes Skiing Manual, Author and Skiing Expert Bill Mattos has put together the top Seven skiing destinations.

Best for just skiing – Banff, Canada

Near (driving distance) Banff village are the three ski areas of Norquay, Sunshine and Lake Louise. All are awesome and surprisingly uncrowded most days. Featuring huge skiing, huge powder, huge backcountry and bowls, or bimble gently on wide, intermediate groomers. It's all there. http://www.skibanff.com/sunshine-village/

Best for variety –  Zermatt, Switzerland

With skiable slopes up to nearly 4000m and two separate countries (Switzerland and Italy – so you’ll need your passport), Zermatt is widely regarded as one of the best resorts in Europe. http://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/resorts/Zermatt/

Best for powder –Niseko, Japan

For a balance of some of the world's best and most consistent powder (over 15m per year) and an all-round decent score on everything else you’d want from a ski holiday. Unless you live on Hokkaido, Japan, it's not the easiest to get to but it is worth it... http://www.niseko-village.com/en/

Best for indoor Skiing – Ski Dubai, UAE

The city of Dubai may be a lush oasis in the middle of arid desert, but snowy is definitely one of the things it isn't. Ski Dubai is the first indoor ski resort in the Middle East and offers authentic snow, chair lifts and an Alpine style lodge. Five runs vary in difficulty, height and gradient, just like an outdoor resort. The longest run is 400m with a drop of around 60m. The ski resort is also the home of twenty penguins, and some would say that's reason enough to go there! http://www.skidubai.com

Best for bragging rights – Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France

Probably the world's most famous ski resort and located at the foot of Mont-Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps and the second highest in Europe! Chamonix-Mont-Blanc has a colossal vertical height of nearly 10,000' (3000m) and some of the world's longest runs, like the Vallée Blanche at 13.7 miles (8.5km). While the town is somewhat hectic, the outlying resorts like Argentieres and Les Houches are quieter places to be, but you can still access the Cham ski area. http://www.chamonix.net

Best for high flyers – Aspen, United States

Ski with the rich and famous! It's shiny and expensive, but it's filled with steeps and bumps, and has many groomed intermediate runs as well. With huge areas of backcountry/off-piste skiing. Alternatively, for hob-nobbing with the toffs a bit closer to home, try Klosters in Europe. http://www.aspensnowmass.com

Best for out of season – the rest of the world

In the northern hemisphere we often forget that the other half have snow when we do not. Australia and New Zealand beckon to those who crave spoken English, but for low cost and incredible scope try South America – Chilean resort Valle Nevado, just over an hour's car journey from Santiago, delivers reliable snow and a big selection of groomed and off-piste areas. http://www.vallenevado.com/en/

The danger of internet research and statistics.

Powder does not fall from blue skies. If you are looking for constant pow, you must resign yourself to many lo-vis days, which stands to reason. Equally there is no point in trawling the internet for the maximum snowfall resort, if all that snow falls in big dumps with weeks of freeze/thaw in between.

Things people don't normally think about

I've always thought people have some odd criteria when choosing where to go on a skiing trip. It's best to write a list of what's important to you – like how many runs there are, that truly suit my skiing ability/style, for instance.

High altitude is not always best. While it does guarantee more snow and a longer season because the snow never thaws up there, it can also mean ice, cold and high winds and a generally unpleasant time. Low altitude, conversely, runs the risk of rain instead of snow, and on otherwise fine days the snow can be slushy, making it hard work no matter what your skiing ability. If you have to book a trip in advance, hedge for the resorts that have a lot of runs in the middle altitudes of 2000-3000m.

In these days of modern, well managed resorts and manufactured snow, it is unlikely that you'll find yourself without any snow. What is worth considering is how you want to get around. Some resorts have everything in walking distance from the village, including the ski lifts (or even ski in/ski out for some exclusive accommodation), but some require a lot of travel by bus or car. My number one question about a resort would be, how long will it take me each day to get to/from a lift that can access the top?

Whatever you do and wherever you go… remember to have fun but be safe! There is a massive range of safety equipment on the market and it is all there to keep you safe when skiing! Year after year accidents happen on the slope that could be avoided if the proper precautions were taken to start with and proper equipment used. Skiing is one of the most enjoyable sports in the world when done safely.

You can find out everything you want to know about the sport in the Haynes Skiing Manual, out now and available at www.haynes.co.uk or all good book shops.

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