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Independentie

News [1]
Opinion [2]
Business [3]
Sport [4]
Life [5]
Style [7]
Entertainment [8]
Travel [9]

Menu Sections

Ski

November 2022

Schladming is a pretty medieval town. Photo: Tomasz Koryl

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Beginners skiing in Austria: ‘It’s amazing, the closest thing to flying I’ve ever felt’

I was beginning to think I would never get a chance to go. Skiing, that is. Somehow, I missed this becoming ‘a thing’ for people in Ireland, only copping on when all my friends had been through their absolute beginner stages, and were fairly comfortable on the slopes.

Skiing on Planai mountain in the Schladming resort in Austria. Picture: Peter Burgstaller

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Hitting the slopes in Schladming – why Austria is so popular with Irish ski holidaymakers

My face is red, I’m pumping sweat and my legs feel like they’re on fire. Looking over my shoulder, I see the incredibly steep, mogul-laden slope I’ve just come down. What the hell was I thinking? One mistake and I could have been rolling to the bottom, my skis and poles lost forever in the snow.

October 2022

Skiing après-Covid: everything you need to know to get back on the slopes this year

Ski-resort bosses are exploring ways of fighting the energy crisis this winter.

March 2022

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'I'm in a swanky ski resort, staying at a swanky hotel, seeing how the other half lives' – Jillian Bolger does Méribel

Cloudless skies. Blazing sun. Virgin snow. And the scent of truffles.

February 2022

Catherine Murphy was hurt on the slopes in Verbier, Switzerland, but knew she had to ski once more. Picture by Yves Garneau

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Verbier is full of drama – from spectacular scenery to banjaxed knees

For more than 30 years, skiing has been my passion. Both the sport and mountain lifestyle have become so important to me that, if it’s not too corny to say, they have changed the course of my life. I have skied as often as possible and in as many places as possible, often throwing caution to the financial wind to feed my need.

December 2021

Austria’s ski resorts begin to reopen as lockdown lifts for the vaccinated

Some Austrian ski resorts are preparing to reopen as the country lifts its lockdown for those who are fully vaccinated.

November 2021

Will Europe’s ski resorts open this season?

Last year’s ski season was a mixed bag due to the pandemic, with France, Germany and Italy closing the majority of slopes for the 2020/21 season, while Austria and Switzerland opened most of their resorts.

October 2021

The Kitzbüheler Alps offer a variety of challenges to skiers. Picture by Daniel Hug

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Austria’s Tyrol: Superb skiing, with hearty eats and schnapp-happy tipples

Skiing, for me at least, is a bit like golf: no matter what your skill level you can enjoy it. You can find someone who is just as good, or useless, as you are. Just as the one good shot lifts the mood on the golf course, the one run at the limits of your abilities when you don’t fall over will bring you back to the slopes for more.

September 2021

Meribel at night. PA Photo/Alexis Cornu.

From ‘contactless’ chalet staff to pre-stocked kitchens – what skiers can expect in France this winter

Resorts in France will be accessible again this 2021/22 season, but as with everything else we’re experiencing, it will be a bit different this time.

March 2021

Swiss chalet and Alps mountains in summer at Crans-Montana, Switzerland

Slopes, golf and fine dining: How a five-star Alpine resort is adapting to Covid

The Swiss mountain resort of Crans-Montana was, in the 1960s and 1970s, a hideaway for Hollywood A-listers and royalty – Bond star Roger Moore, the queen of Belgium and members of the Kennedy family all honed their ski technique on slopes beneath the Plaine Morte glacier.

January 2021

Magnificent slopes of Verbier, Switzerland

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Dangling from a helicopter in mid air: My Bond moment being winched off a mountain on a ski holiday

Dangling from a helicopter at 3,000m with just a steel cable between me and the ground, I was having an unmistakably Bond moment.

December 2020

Ski Holidays Q&A: Snow is falling in Europe, but when will we ski again?

Parts of the Alps got over a metre of snow last weekend, but will Irish holidaymakers get to ski Europe’s slopes this winter?

October 2020

Five key changes to expect on a European ski holiday this season

If you are a regular skier, chances are you are desperate to get back on the slopes if you can this winter.

February 2020

Beginner's luck in Austria: How would a first-time skier get on in Westendorf?

Sliding down a snow-covered mountain at high speed on my back, with skis somehow tucked underneath me and fresh snowfall partially blocking my vision, I realised that persistence and patience were required traits if I ever wanted to learn to ski properly.

January 2020

Skiing in Morzine. Original Source: Sunday Independent

A snowflake in Morzine: My ski trip in an Alpine town of gingerbread gorgeousness

Snow falls softly on my shoulders as I duck deeper into the warm, bubbling water. My hot tub is surrounded by majestic mountains and I'm alone in the chilly night, apart from a handsome, bearded man standing metres away wielding an axe. He's chopping wood for the fire that will warm the families gathered inside feeding their children pasta.

November 2019

The picture-postcard L'Apogee Courchevel is located in the chic resort of Courchevel 1850, home to the biggest ski playground in the world

Courchevel: A royal pampering on the piste

I recently heard the expression, 'I'd prefer to be crying on marble', meaning when life's vicissitudes arrive, wealth cushions the blows.

October 2019

Andorra is one of the most affordable ski destinations

Andorra: Skiing in the pleasure principality

Pride comes, as the saying goes, before a fall. I'm feeling mighty pleased with myself that, after a decade-long absence from the slopes, a morning's skiing has got my snow legs working. I'm flying, high as a kite.

Springtime skiing in France: 'You get the chance to have the mountain to yourselves'

It's perhaps the best feeling in the world.

A family trip to Westendorf in Austria made a skier of an initially reluctant five-year

Austria: Skiing with the smallies

In my pre-parent life, I was an avid snowboarder and skier.

September 2019

Natural highs in Andorra: Is it possible to learn to ski in a couple of days?

The day before embarking on my first ever ski trip, I accidentally stumbled upon a YouTube compilation of the world's worst skiing accidents.

Viva Val Thorens: My all-inclusive ski holiday with Club Med

It feels like I'm in the pages of a children's pop-up book, each switchback on the mountain road leading me further away from the real world.

10 questions you were afraid to ask about skiing - a starter guide to the slopes

First-time skier? Still finding your feet on the slopes? Here are all the basics you need to have fun on the piste.

August 2019

Utah: How to ski the greatest snow on earth (and that's a registered trademark)

Skiing - it's like riding a bicycle. You never forget, right?

April 2019

Nothing beats the exhilaration of skiing on good snow and broad pistes

Pure joy, pure life, pure slopes: My Club Med ski holiday in Val Thorens

It's mid December and I'm in a coach winding its way into the French Alps. The higher we climb, the more that snow flurries obscure our visibility.

December 2018

Plagne 1800: A 'Calmakaze' holiday ski holiday combines adrenaline and calm on the slopes

I've often said that what makes skiing so unlike anything else is that it combines a high adrenaline rush with a trance like state of calm and peacefulness. Transcendental exertion. Blissed out and bonkers on the snow. Calmakaze. Ahem.

November 2018

Communications expert Alan Shortt, who is also well known as a comedian, poses on a Cortina snowmobile, “downhill slopes can be an adrenaline rush”

Cortina: It's all downhill in the Dolomites, says Alan Shortt

Pink mountains, pink Prosecco and a pink piste nose are waiting for you on the snow-covered slopes of the Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Even if you're not a veteran on the piste, you can drink in the stunning views around Valais, with the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc visible in the distance

Valais: Skiing's tricky but the food is great

'You know how to stop, you know how to stop!" my skiing instructor Vincent yells.

October 2018

Ski in Austria: The dawn patrol over Kirchberg

I'm falling and it's not pretty. I'll admit to some shrieking.

La Ferme du Lac Vert in Montriond is the perfect place to treat yourself and it’s guilt-free as you’ll burn it off

Skiing the dream in the French Alps

I always remember my island dweller's excitement the first time I drove across a border. Now I can say I've gone one better, I skied across a border from France into Switzerland for hot chocolate. It's one of the many lovely opportunities available during a stay in the breathtaking La Ferme du Lac Vert in Montriond. It's the sort of place you go to treat yourself - luxurious but comfortable, high-end but relaxed, delicious, but sure you'll burn it off. It's a ski holiday.

On top of the world: You don't have to be an expert skier to enjoy the many delights of the beautiful French mountains in winter

Revealed: The cheapest (and most expensive) ski resorts for this winter

Italy is the cheapest country in Europe for a ski holiday this winter, with four of its resorts ranking in the top 10 destinations that won’t break the bank.

Showing 1 - 30 of 105 results

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Ski

November 2022

Beginners skiing in Austria: ‘It’s amazing, the closest thing to flying I’ve ever felt’

Hitting the slopes in Schladming – why Austria is so popular with Irish ski holidaymakers

October 2022

Skiing après-Covid: everything you need to know to get back on the slopes this year

March 2022

'I'm in a swanky ski resort, staying at a swanky hotel, seeing how the other half lives' – Jillian Bolger does Méribel

February 2022

Verbier is full of drama – from spectacular scenery to banjaxed knees

December 2021

Austria’s ski resorts begin to reopen as lockdown lifts for the vaccinated

November 2021

Will Europe’s ski resorts open this season?

October 2021

Austria’s Tyrol: Superb skiing, with hearty eats and schnapp-happy tipples

September 2021

From ‘contactless’ chalet staff to pre-stocked kitchens – what skiers can expect in France this winter

March 2021

Slopes, golf and fine dining: How a five-star Alpine resort is adapting to Covid

January 2021

Dangling from a helicopter in mid air: My Bond moment being winched off a mountain on a ski holiday

December 2020

Ski Holidays Q&A: Snow is falling in Europe, but when will we ski again?

October 2020

Five key changes to expect on a European ski holiday this season

February 2020

Beginner's luck in Austria: How would a first-time skier get on in Westendorf?

January 2020

A snowflake in Morzine: My ski trip in an Alpine town of gingerbread gorgeousness

November 2019

Courchevel: A royal pampering on the piste

October 2019

Andorra: Skiing in the pleasure principality

Springtime skiing in France: 'You get the chance to have the mountain to yourselves'

Austria: Skiing with the smallies

September 2019

Natural highs in Andorra: Is it possible to learn to ski in a couple of days?

Viva Val Thorens: My all-inclusive ski holiday with Club Med

10 questions you were afraid to ask about skiing - a starter guide to the slopes

August 2019

Utah: How to ski the greatest snow on earth (and that's a registered trademark)

April 2019

Pure joy, pure life, pure slopes: My Club Med ski holiday in Val Thorens

December 2018

Plagne 1800: A 'Calmakaze' holiday ski holiday combines adrenaline and calm on the slopes

November 2018

Cortina: It's all downhill in the Dolomites, says Alan Shortt

Valais: Skiing's tricky but the food is great

October 2018

Ski in Austria: The dawn patrol over Kirchberg

Skiing the dream in the French Alps

Revealed: The cheapest (and most expensive) ski resorts for this winter

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