Try these new experiences
Try raclette rafting in Interlaken
A novel and interesting way to enjoy a classic alpine dish on large, inflatable boats, of the kind used for white water rafting. Don’t worry, you won’t be sent down any rapids. Instead, you’ll float serenely across down the Aare river with a guide doing all the paddling, while you wrap up warm and enjoy the scenery—plus a cheesy, sit down dinner of wine and cheese.
Ski camp in a Chéry Dome above Les Gets
Set on a hilltop with a view over the Mont Blanc massif, two new “Chéry Domes” in Les Gets offer perhaps the ultimate winter glamping experience. The yurt-like structures equipped with comfy double beds and a wood-fired stove. Owners Amelie and Valentine, both former champion skiers, offer overnight Ski Camp packages with guided ski touring excursions.
Go sunrise skiing in Saas-Fee
There can’t be many better places to enjoy sunrise than Saas-Fee: surrounded by the 4,000m peaks with their glaciers glinting in the first rays of dawn. Catch a specially-organised first lift up and enjoy a tasty breakfast at 3,500m before heading out to carve up the empty slopes, hours before the rest of the resort wakes up.
Dance at these snow festivals
Dolomiti Ski Jazz - Val di Fiemme & Val di Fassa
2-10 March 2024
This festival has been bringing jazz to the slopes of the Italian Dolomites for 25 years. With their characteristic, cathedral-like spires, the Fassa and Fiemme valleys provide the perfect backdrop for cutting edge improv. The vibe is relaxed, with concerts staged on the sun terraces of mountain-top restaurants by day, and in sit-down recital halls at night.
Zermatt Unplugged - Zermatt
9-13 April 2024
If it’s rare to have a whole music festival focussed solely on unplugged music, it’s even rarer to find one halfway up a mountain—especially one with such a strong and varied line-up. Last year saw Icelandic folk rock superstars Of Monsters & Men join Bear’s Den from the UK, and Bongeziwe Mabandla, from South Africa, on the bill.
Snowboxx Music Festival - Avoriaz
16th-23rd March 2024
Billed as “a ski trip, a music festival and a holiday, in one affordable package,” Snowboxx is France’s answer to Austria’s Snowbombing. Expect big name dance acts like Andy C, Rudimental and Faithless, alongside attractions like bottomless brunches and “the best après in the world.”
Drink these unconventional après tipples
Try the world’s highest whisky at 3,303m
In 2020, Rinaldo Willy and Pascal Mittner, who’d been making whisky together for about a decade, opened a distillery in the top lift station in Corvatsch, Switzerland, 3,303m above sea-level. Because the boiling point is lower at altitude, distillation takes place at 10 degrees cooler, allowing their whisky to develop unique flavours. The ORMA distillery offers great views too.
Brew your own beer at Belleville’s new microbrewery
Opened summer 2023, in a former goat farm in the Belleville valley beneath Val Thorens, the new Brava Vela microbrewery makes beer using pure alpine spring water and locally-sourced ingredients. As well as tasting sessions, founders Sophie and Julien offer brewing courses, with the chance to create your very own craft beer.
Taste Genepi des 4 Frères in Serre Chevalier
As the name suggests, this distillery in Serre Chevalier is owned and run by four brothers: Sylvain, Olivier, Bastien and Nicolas Ribout. Combining their knowledge of traditional techniques with a willingness to experiment, they make a wide variety of gins, genepis and other liqueurs.
Watch these ski & snowboard films
Flying High Again - Teton Gravity Research
In the distant past, before algorithms dictated our viewing habits, Mike Hatchett and his brother Dave made the legendary Totally Board series—films which shaped how a generation of snowboarders saw their sport. This winter, production company TGR has persuaded Mike to saddle up once more for a snowboard movie which promises to be both a throwback and a look towards the future: a good ol’ action-packed, hammerfest, featuring the cream of today’s riders, including Danny Davis, Bode Merril and Dusty Henriksen.
Left Right - Nidecker Snowboards
The turn is fundamental to all snowboarding, yet all too often, especially in snowboard films, it’s overlooked in favour of more flashy tricks. In this soulful movie (which will be shown at various film festivals including Kendal, as well as online) filmmaker Sam McMahon travels from Japan, to Norway, to the French Alps in search of “the perfect turn,” meeting some incredible characters along the way. Stripping the sport back to basics, he celebrates the one thing that all riders—from X Games stars to beginners—can appreciate.
Here, Hold My Kid - B Collective
When highly-decorated freeride skiers Elyse Saugstad and Jackie Paaso wanted to make a movie about the challenges of juggling a pro career with motherhood, there was only one place to turn: British writer-director-comedy trio Adam Gendle, Johno Verity and Hersha Patel have helped sculpt this into a laugh-a-minute film, which has a serious point—and seriously impressive skiing—at its heart.
