17 July 2014

Banish Those Summer Blues...

Whilst many look forward to the sweltering temperatures that summer brings, it can leave winter sports enthusiasts, such as ourselves, feeling a little fed up. We long for the snow covered mountains and, during the summer (and especially during this heatwave we are currently experiencing), we could not feel further away.

However, there is hope! Did you know that it is possible to ski during the summer months, even in Europe? This means that snow heads like us, if we are clever, can ski all year-round!

Generally, if you want to ski in Europe during the summer, you will do so on a high-altitude glacier, typically of at least 2500m. There are several perks of skiing in summer, including:

• Combining your ski holiday with other outdoor activities – mountain biking, hiking etc. will give you a completely different perspective on your surroundings

• Cheaper lift passes – granted, this usually reflects the more limited ski area, but this does mean that a ski holiday in summer can be great value

• Less crowded – quite simply, there will be less people on the slopes than during the winter peak season, which is great news for those of us that hate queuing

• Watch the pro’s train – now, we can’t guarantee this, but you may be lucky enough to stumble across the professionals during training sessions, particularly at the terrain parks, where any falls caused by new tricks are cushioned by softer snow

There are several resorts which offer summer skiing, such as Tignes and Les 2 Alpes in France, as well as Cervinia in Italy. There are also several ski resorts in Austria and Switzerland that offer this.