Interview with Kona Rider Alex Stock

Sam Bowell    mountainbikingholidays     Alpe d’Huez, BMX, Canada, France, Italy, Kona, Kona Interview, Kona Process Test, Morzine, Mountain biking holidays, MTB, Team Kona

Pro-rider Alex Stock rolls BMX and rides on and off-road (bikes as well as motorbikes), but has fast become known for his top Enduro placings for Team Kona.

Pro-rider Alex Stock from Team Kona.

Here he speaks to Sam Bowell, resident mountain biking holidays blogger, and reveals how he prepares, his thoughts on UK bike parks and DH tracks, and what he looks for in a perfect bike set-up.

He’s also booked in a return ride-off between the pair on Alpe d’Huez – because the last time Sam and Alex met…

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Best places to ski in Canada are its hot tub havens

Lucy Grewcock    bestskiholidays, New Ski Holiday Ideas     Banff Upper Hot Springs, British Colombia, Canada, Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, Gwaii Haanas National Park, Harrison Hot Springs, Hiking, Iskut River Hot Springs, Kayaking, Kootenay National Park, Mount Layton Hot Springs, mountain biking, Ski in Canada, Ski Trips, Skiing, skiing in Canada

Canada has some of the finest skiing on the planet. But the best places to ski in Canada are those that are near to, or have their own thermal springs. It’s pure après-ski hot tub heaven!

Ski then bathe in natural thermal pools. Image: Flickr/ eliduke

The country is home to more than 50 hot spring sites, where visitors can bathe in natural thermal pools and feel the soothing benefits of warm mineral waters on their muscles.

This is hugely popular after a day of thigh-burning hiking or mountain biking in Cascade Mountains, punishing ski-descents in the Rockies, or a day of kayaking Canada’s white waters.

But where can you find these hot tub hot spots?

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Overland Holidays in the US: Rough it or Road it?

Tamsin    Overland Holiday Ideas, overlandholidays     Canada, Greyhound Bus, Hitchhike, Mexico, Motorhomes, Overland holidays, Overland Holidays in the US, RVs, US

Thanks to Hollywood films, good infrastructure and a magnificent landscape, overland holidays in the US are, and always will be incredible popular.

Deluxe motorhomes help you travel in comfort. Image: Flickr/ apollorv

Stretching from its chilly border with Canada down to tropical Mexico and incorporating thousands of small towns and mega-metropolises along the way. There’s more variety in this vast country than the pick and mix counter at Woolworths.

But if you’re planning an overland holiday in the US you have a dilemma to face, to rough it or to road it?

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Driving the three loneliest roads in the world

Tamsin    Overland Holiday Ideas, overlandholidays     australia, Canada, Carnegie Station, Gunbarrel Highway, James bay Road, Life Magazine, Matagami, Nevada, Overland holidays, Overland Tour, Quebec, Radisson, Trans-Taiga, Victory Downs, western australia

With the human-to-car ratio now at around the 1:1.5 mark in most western countries, you could be forgiven for thinking that the entire world is turning into one big car park.

Nevada: Home to 'The Loneliest Road in America'

But there are still some roads where the sound of horns honking and breaks screeching are blissfully unusual. Roads where you would be lucky to even see another driver, let alone get stuck behind one.

In 1986 Life Magazine named the Nevada section of Highway 50 as ‘The loneliest road in America’. The route earned the dubious honour thanks to the very few signs of civilisation along its length and the scale of wilderness that it traverses.

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Adventure Honeymoons on the Ski Slopes: 5 ways to make them work

Lucy Grewcock    bestskiholidays, New Ski Holiday Ideas     adventure honeymoon, Adventure honeymoons, Canada, Dog sledding, heli skiing, Honeymoon, Ice diving, jackson hole, japan, Lake Louise, Montgenevre, north america, off piste, Saas Fee, Sainte-Foy, Ski Slopes, Skiing, snowshoeing, Yonezawa

There’s no set rule that says you have to spend your honeymoon lying flat out on a tropical beach or wandering dreamily around a historic city. Whether you’d prefer adventure honeymoons that find romance in remote wilderness locations or ones packed with adventure and crammed with extreme activities, there are plenty to really get your heart thumping.

Plan a honeymoon packed with adventure. Image: Flickr/ bradleypjohnson

One of the best ways to combine romance with adventure is to swap white sands for fresh snow. Iced mountains, falling snowflakes, flickering log fires and candlelight dinners: a ski-based honeymoon can be a truly magical and memorable way to start married life together.

But how can you make sure that your honeymoon is more than an average ski trip?

Here’s how:

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Amazing Holidays: Destinations where the sun never sets

Lucy Grewcock    ash     adventure holidays, Adventure Travel, Alaska, Amazing Holidays, Antarctica, Argentina, Artic Circle, Biking, camping trips, Canada, Fairbanks, Hiking, ice climbing, Iceland, Island of Grimsey, Kayaking, Longyearbyen, Moscow, Mount Logan, Murmansk, north pole, Norway, Oslo, Patagonian Forest, Reykjavik, russia, South Pole, St. Petersburg, Tierra del Fuego National Park, Tromso, Ushuaia, Yukon

Venture inside the Arctic or Antarctic Circles there are amazing holidays to be had, and visiting you’ll enter a whole different realm of light and dark. With the sun hovering above the poles in mid-summer and abandoning them completely in mid-winter, visitors find themselves in either eternal daylight or darkness during certain months of the year.

Try some kayaking in Antarctica. Image: Flickr/ Polar Cruises

Summer in the northern hemisphere hits its peak around the 20^th of June, when the sun stays highest for longest for the summer solstice. The opposite happens down south; with June and July in near-darkness, and January and December enjoying extended days.

Ever lived where the sun never sets?

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Snowboarding in BC: Canada’s Winter Playground

Tom Sykes    snowboardingholidays     BC, British Columbia, Canada, Kelowna, Snowboarding, snowboarding holidays, whistler

When the continental landforms under Canada shifted all those millions of years ago, a dramatic alpine terrain emerged that now seems as if it were tailor-made for snowboarding in BC (British Columbia).

Snowboarding in Whistler, BC Image: Flickr/ couloir

In resorts across the province, natural runs, bowls and gullies are complemented by man-made pipes, boxes and groomed snow. All of which adds up to a veritable theme park for boarders of all inclinations. These resorts all boast professional service, fun après-ski pursuits and a friendly atmosphere.

The Canadian Rockies, Coast Mountains and Yukon Plateau all fall within BC’s boundaries – how lucky we are.

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