Mountains are masculine domains. The ski schools are packed with men, as are the cable cars that head up the slopes in the morning. Men line the bars of après-ski venues at night. In some resorts, the ratio of men to women is said to be seven to one.

So, what’s a girl to do when faced with so much testosterone? In my case, it’s meant turning myself into a ladette each winter holiday. I’ve stimulated my adrenal glands each night to the sound of thrashing music and dragged my sorry, hungover body down the mountain at uncompromising speeds each day, because, as any man will tell you: “It’s not how good you look, it’s how tough the terrain is that counts.”

Injury has always been part of the equation. So, too, a tempestuous relationship with instructors. After years on the slopes as a keen snowboarder, I find it a reliable rule of thumb to assume that one in three of them is a macho moron who will either try to get off with me over the gluhwein or humiliate me because I don’t immediately get the hang of staying upright/turning/jumping/using the lift.

Clearly, there has to be another way – and by that I don’t mean turning myself into a feeble, fur-wrapped poseur who spends her day sipping champagne on a sundeck. To find out what it might be, I joined an all-woman party heading for St Anton, in Austria, at the end of last season.

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BACKGROUND

• Girls-only ski trip to Austria

• Switzerland's magic mountains

• Is 50 too late to ski?

• Head to head: Val d'Isère or Verbier?

Related Links

• Women only snowboarding

• Ask our expert: skiing for singles

The adage goes, “You take your wife to Lech, your mistress to Zürs and your skis to St Anton” – a phrase that neatly sums up the stupid culture of many ski resorts. Fortunately, it no longer applies to St Anton itself, which is trying hard to pink up its corner of the Arlberg massif with female-friendly facilities such as a municipal Wellness Centre, and a series of Ladies’ Powder Weeks through the season, offering yoga and aerobics classes as well as women’s ski-testing.

This allegedly, was what had attracted my fellow females, and I flew out to join them, fantasising about my perfect trip – one of early starts, long days on the hill, healthy eating, massage, stretching, steam rooms and saunas.

At first, things looked hopeful. We were almost all single women, and ranged widely in ability and age. Almost all of us, except for a couple of experienced and gung-ho execs, shared one common experience, which became clear at the first night’s dinner.

“My problem is, I’ve still got the fear,” one of us said, and the chorus went up: “Me too!” Then the horror stories came out: the bullying instructor; the boyfriends/dads/brothers who say, “Just throw yourself down”. The plonk-fuelled empathy at the first night’s dinner was so emotionally nourishing that it felt like group therapy.

But there the similarities ended. None of my fellow lady skiers wanted to come out to St Anton’s better restaurants – the Museum, the Hacienda, Benvenuto or the Anton Bar, with its good Italian coffee, Ibiza vibes and good-looking (sober) men. No, the “ladies” preferred getting tanked and outrageous at bars and nightclubs such as the Mooserwirt, Kandahar and Krazy Kanguruh. Clearly, what really interested them most about the trip was that seven-to-one man-woman ratio. Early on, I was sworn to “what goes on the trip, stays on the trip” secrecy. Let’s settle for the euphemistic expression “St Anton has a lively singles atmosphere”.

So it was that I found myself on my own at the ayurvedic spa in the Schwarzer Adler Hotel, just down the road. They do a decent cocktail there, too, and it was while drinking one that I met a couple of chic City women who like to mix up a bit of pampering with their time on the piste. These were my kind of girls.

In the end, off the slopes, I became almost entirely separated from the group because their idea (young and old) of a good afternoon was heading up to the infamous Mooserwirt to get shamefully drunk. I wouldn’t say that’s bad, it’s just that drinking beer from a man’s Timberland boot is not what I’d come for.

Après-ski, for me, was having my weary legs and bottom pummelled by a masseur, swimming in an outdoor heated pool, then – in between visits to the pristine steams and saunas – lying butt naked on a deckchair in the snow, looking up at the first stars appearing in a dusky blue sky.

On the slopes, things were mercifully different. We skied and boarded as a group, and the supportive atmosphere was a revelation. When I caught an edge and had a hideous, brain-battering, mascara-smearing wipeout, I was smothered in sympathy. It was heartwarming stuff.

And, even if we couldn’t agree on how to relax in the evenings, we still had a clear sense of our common enemy. We met a classic example on the last day – an emotionally stunted, macho guide whose job it was to lead us round the Weisse Ring, a 15-mile skiing and snowboarding circuit of the Arlberg. With so much distance to cover, it was important not to hang about: but, when he suggested instituting a series of “faff points for ditherers”, we smiled sweetly and told him to shut up.

“Sorry, mate, but you’re overruled,” we chorused. “This is a girls’ trip. We’ll do it our way.”

Travel brief

Kate Spicer travelled to St Anton as a guest of Flexiski (01273 244668, www.flexiski.com ), which has packages in St Anton, ranging from four to seven nights, staying at its large, 16-bedroom Amalien Haus chalet. One week, arriving on March 15, costs £1,250pp, including flights and transfers. Other operators featuring the resort include Momentum (020 7371 9111, www.momentumski.com ) and Mark Warner (0870 770 4226, www.markwarner.co.uk ).

Ski Morzine (0845 370 1104, www.skimorzine.com ) is running two 3½day women-only clinics in Morzine, France, in February, for £775pp, half-board, excluding flights. Inspired to Ski (0845 890 0390, www.inspiredtoski.com ) is running two women-only courses for more advanced skiers in Chamonix, France, from March 15 to 18 for £434pp, half-board, including three days’ tuition and transfers, but not flights. Redpoint (0845 680 1214, www.redpoint.co.uk ) has one-week women-only courses from March 1 to 8 in the Zillertal, Austria, from £527pp, half-board, including tuition and transfers, but not flights.