The web has revolutionised the way we think about skiing and snowboarding. For
anyone who hasn't tried a holiday in the mountains, the vast amount of
information on the internet can really demystify the whole concept of
strapping a plank or two to your feet and throwing yourself headlong down a
vertiginous slope.
It has also helped cut the cost of what many view as an expensive holiday.
Flights to mountain gateway airports are now cheaper than ever, thanks to
low cost carriers who use the web as their preferred shopfront, while
package prices have been held in check by powerful search engines that
enable you to compare the cost of holidays in an instant.
The internet has also allowed snowboarders and skiers to share their
experiences with everyone else. So if you want to find a cheap holiday,
detailed information on why, where and when to go or just some video clips
of people wiping out spectacularly, check out our favourite snow sites.
If there are sites that you want us to look at, let us know using
the comment form.
1 Directski
was one of the first internet-only tour operators and you can tell when you
visit its slick site. Since launch in 2000, the company has grown rapidly
and now offers holidays in ten countries, including the most popular resorts
among British and Irish skiers. The company has done so well it recently
bought specialist ski travel agency Ski McNeill, adding another string to
its bow.
It is one of the easiest and fastest sites to book the key elements of a ski
package, including accommodation, transfers, equipment hire, instruction,
lift passes and insurance. One of the best features is the ability for
groups to book online. Once the group leader has made a booking, each member
of the party can then pay their balance individually. Unlike some sites, it
also allows you to pay a deposit upfront and then the balance a couple of
months before your departure.
2 Igluski
has established itself as the most visited ski travel agency on the web,
thanks to the ability to search across a wide range of tour operator
holidays and ski accommodation. The most powerful feature is the holiday
search engine, where you can specify your departure airport, the country and
resort you want to visit, range of dates and the type of property you want
to stay in - all of which are optional.
There is also a useful table showing the best seven night chalet deals in five
top resorts at Christmas, New Year, half term and Easter. Igluski also has
some excellent deals, ranging from discounts on holiday prices and lift
passes to free ski and boot hire. Also useful is a tool for group leaders,
which searches the firm's database for the best group discounts.
3 If you have dreamed the dream of becoming a ski bum, Natives
is the site to make it happen. The site lists hundreds of jobs in the
mountains, ranging from casual cleaners and bar tenders to IT staff and
resort managers. It also gives no-holds-barred accounts of what life in a
resort is actually like. As the site says - "don't say we didn't warn
you". The site also has a frequently updated news service, with stories
gathered from a network of Natives reporters in key resorts. Much of the
information is geared towards resort staff but if you want to make your
Alpine dream come true and work a 'season' this is the place to go.
4 The most respected resource on the web for off-piste advice
and information is PisteHors,
run by David George. The best thing about this site is that it avoids the
preachy tone used in much that is written about off-piste. The site runs
breaking ski and snowboard news, with an off-piste slant, throughout the
year with stories popping up every couple of days. There is also an
excellent section on avalanches, with thorough coverage on how they occur,
how to avoid them and how to rescue someone caught in an avalanche. The site
is unashamedly focused on France, particularly the smaller resorts, and
includes some detailed reviews, including off-piste routes to try.
5 Patrick Thorne, aka Snowhunter, has spent the last couple
of years building the finest database on the winter sports industry's
efforts to go green. Save
Our Snow lets you find out whether your chosen resort has waste
recycling, traffic reduction and green building policies and gives each
resort a star rating for its green credentials. Visit the site and find out
why Saas Fee and Lech are five-star resorts and Bulgaria's three major
resorts all boast just a single star. Nice work fella.
6 Skibonk
is how skiing looks in the Web 2.0 world. Central to the site is a mash-up
of Google mapping and ski resort information, such as the snow conditions,
the number of lifts and runs open. The advantage of this approach is that if
you're looking for somewhere to go at short notice, you can quickly compare
resorts to choose the on with the best conditions. It's also useful if you
plan to have a car and plan to do a tour of a number of resorts as you can
fairly quickly. A dropdown menu at the right allows you to change the
tabular display to show a snow forecast, lift pass prices and key resort
information like amount of vertical and the number of terrain parks. You can
also drill down for richer information by clicking on the skier icon
representing each resort. This gives you a link to the resort's website, a
piste map and user reviews.
7 While many believe that the Ski
Club of Great Britain clings desperately to the past, its website is
actually rather snazzy. There's a lively news section, resort information
taken from the Great Skiing and Snowboarding Guide and, perhaps its most
popular feature, snow reports. There are two types of report - one where the
figures are provided by the resorts and the other where they are provided by
the club's reps in the resorts, with the latter being perhaps a little less
exaggerated. It's also a good place to come to find out which tour operators
offer the type of holiday you are interested in - you can search the Ski
Club's database by lots of different criteria to find the right holiday. To
access some of the most interesting parts of the site - historical snow
reports from the last 13 seasons, substantial discounts on holidays and gear
and so on - you have to be a member of the Ski Club but it's worth the
investment - currently around £50 a year for individuals and £75 for
families.
8 Snow
Forecast does exactly what it says on the tin. But if you are a bit of a
geek when it comes to snow conditions, this is the place to go. The mapping
has improved dramatically recently and now you can see resort areas in great
detail, with roads, rivers and altitude contours marked. A moveable
crosshair allows you to highlight particular locations on the map. Snowfall,
either past, present or future, is shown through colour coding. The false
colours take some getting used to but after a while the colours allow you to
see instantly the slopes with the most snow. Like any forecasting, there is
an element of guesstimation but even so it's the most powerful snow
conditions resource on the web.
9 Internet forums and bulletin boards on specialist subjects
can be dangerous ground for the unwary. While there are undoubtedly users
like that on snowHeads, it is
the liveliest discussion forum on all skiing and snowboarding matters on the
web. There is an inevitable core group of addicts who seem to have little to
do with their lives other than swap in-jokes and trade insults but many are
helpful and knowledgeable when asked polite questions. That aside, if you
want the inside track on what's happening in the ski world and for expert
advice on key issues, this is the place to come. But don't forget to check
out the FAQ first.
10 WorldSki
has dramatically improved its website for the coming season. The site is
very easy to navigate and is modern and readable. Holiday search is at the
heart of the site. New for 2006/07 is a database of hotels, apartments and
chalets around the world which can be booked on an accommodation-only basis
- handy if you have booked low-cost flights elsewhere. The only thing
missing is real-time availability and booking. It has also spruced up its
package holiday search to allow you to compare the prices for peak weeks at
three different resorts on the same screen. You can also book things like
lift passes, ski hire and insurance online.
While the following are not winter sports specific sites, they are
well worth a visit if you are planning a holiday in the mountains:
11 www.skyscanner.net -
powerful search engine for the cheapest fares to gateway airports like
Geneva and Turin on both low-cost carriers and scheduled airlines
12 www.cheap4ferries.co.uk
- if you want to drive down to the Alps, this site lets you compare the cost
of ferry crossings from all the different cross-Channel companies, including
Eurotunnel
13 www.tripadvisor.co.uk
- there are thousands of independent reviews relating to resorts and
accommodation on this powerful social networking site. Check out where you
plan to go before it's too late
14 www.youtube.com - the
ubiquitous video sharing site has 15,000 snowboarding and 11,000 skiing
clips, including some of the most hilarious wipe-outs of all time
15 www.holiday-rentals.co.uk
- ideal for looking for self-catering accommodation in the mountains,
particularly in France
