How to get cheap travel insurance for adventure holidays

Helen Warwick    ash     adventure holidays, Adventure Sports, Adventure Travel, Skiing, Skiing Holidays, Snowboarding, snowboarding holidays

Despite the warnings, one in five travellers headed abroad uninsured last year, according to ABTA, the travel association. Whether you simply don’t remember to set up a policy or want to spend your money on other things, travel insurance can prove to be a very wise investment.

When it's an adventure holiday, get insurance. Image: Flickr/ Zach Dischner

As well as buying peace of mind, it may save you thousands in hefty overseas medical bills or compensate you for lost luggage. Accidents do happen, and cutting corners really isn’t worth the risk.

If you are booking snowboarding holidays or other activity holidays that have any added risk involved, first thing’s first, ensure you have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

read more

Baby on a ski holiday: Review of the Pepi Penguin Club

Luke    ash     Crystal Ski, skiing holiday, Skiing Holidays, skiing with baby, skiing with children

Last season my wife missed out on a ski holiday due to pregnancy, and she was adamant she would go skiing this year, despite us having a baby less than a year old.

We considered leaving our son with the grandparents, but felt it would not be fair on him or them – and of course we would miss him too much! So we researched childcare on ski holidays and came across the Pepi Penguin Club run by Crystal Ski.

read more

Winter Festivals 2012: Snowboard Events and Ski Parties

Lucy Grewcock    ash     chamonix, ski fetivals, Skiing, Skiing Holidays, skiing in Austria, skiing in France, Skiing in Serbia, Skiing in the US, Snowboarding, snowboarding holidays, Switzerland, whistler, winter festivals

What could be better than spending a week in the mountains, shuushing down iced-white pistes and bounding through fresh powder? How about adding world-class DJs, all-night parties, arty events and extreme freestyle competitions? Welcome to the world of winter festivals 2012…

Winter festivals are never just about the sports Photo: Will Bremridge

From Austria to North America, ski parties have snowballed in the past few years, and they’re set to get even bigger and better in 2012. Here’s a few that are full-on winter festivals, add these to your calendar: read more

Skiing in Austria : Top 10 ski resorts

Lucy Grewcock    bestskiholidays     austria, ski, ski holidays, Skiing Holidays, Tyrol

With sweeping pistes and technical terrain, full-throttle après and Tyrolean charm, Austria’s diverse ski areas promise some of the most exciting and varied ski-trips that the Alps have to offer. Skiing in Austria you’ll find ten resorts that are up there with the very best in the world.

And the views? Well, see for yourself.

Views to ski for! Image © Österreich Werbung/ Wolfgang Zajc

Mayorhofen

Host to the annual Snowbombing festival, this sprawling village is set in the steep-sided Zillertal Valley and offers skiing on two separate plateaux. With a huge variety of terrain, internationally acclaimed snow-park and stacks of non-skiing activities, Mayorhofen is popular with all abilities.

read more

The best ski holiday ever : work a ski season

Alice Cuninghame    bestskiholidays     best ski holidays, Skiing, Skiing Holidays, skiing in Austria, skiing jobs

Anyone who has ever been on a week-long ski holiday knows how hard it is to leave the slopes at the end of the week and get back to reality. Rather than flying down powdery white pistes every morning, you get grey pavements and the slow trudge to work. However, some lucky people get to enjoy the best ski holiday ever, by staying out on the snow for the entire season!

Could you do 6 months of this? Image: © Austrian National Tourist Office/ Wolfgang Zajc

All those chalets, hotels, bars and restaurants need legions of seasonal workers each year.

Being one of them means you get to ski or board every day for a whole season: a prospect that’s hard to resist!

read more

Ski jobs: is this the best job in the world?

Gabriel    bestskiholidays     heli skiing, ski jobs, Skiing, Skiing Holidays, skiing jobs snowboarding, Snowboarding, snowboarding holidays, snowboarding jobs

What’s the best ski job? Well, others might disagree, but I think it could be the heli-ski guide. When it boils down to doing what you love, heli-ski guides love what they do because to them it is the best job in the world. But I can’t be the judge of this – I’m just a professional tour guide and ski instructor: I know they’ve got one of the coolest jobs around!

Ski Jobs: we think we've found the best job in the world Image:Flickr/ kentgoldman

So, answer the following questions and see how your job matches up. Time for a career change? Or just a skiing holiday to see for yourself? This could be one of the best jobs in the world – if you’re not jealous now, you soon will be!

How big is your office space?

Heli-ski guides’ offices are about 2.2 million acres and have an average annual snowfall of 25 meters. Getting to the copy room might be tough, but then again, we don’t make copies. Heli-ski guides have earned a 360-degree corner office, with mountaintop views. The only time they see a “cube” is when they drop them to the bottom of their tumblers and pour a drink over them.

read more

Skiing in Canada and the Banff Big 3

Mark Pawlak    bestskiholidays     Banff, Canada, ski, Skiing, skiing holiday, Skiing Holidays, skiing in Canada, snowboard, Snowboarding, snowboarding holidays

Booking a skiing holiday you want choices – we’re not talking about aisle or window, but real, on the ground, multiple lift pass choices. And one resort stands out for people skiing in Canada, and it’s Banff.

Mt. Norquay - for Olympians and families

Three resorts within Banff National Park is a good start. But what really appeals is the tri-area lift ticket and free transport from the resort to the ski areas. Choice, it’s all about the choice.  Book a skiing holiday, take all that time off work, travel halfway around the world and the last thing you want is to be faffing about with multiple passes and expensive add-ons.

Banff has almost 8,000 acres of ski-able terrain and routes for all standards. If you’re tempted, here are a few tit-bits on what you’ll be signing up for.

read more