august-2009

ZELL AM SEE:
GET OUT THERE IN
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
AND HIT THOSE
MOUNTAINS HARD
64JetAway
ALL-ACTION FAMILIES
DEFINITION: Your ideal family holiday is not sitting
on the beach with a bucket and spade, instead you want
to get out there in the great outdoors and hit those
mountains hard.
RESORT OF CHOICE: ZELL AM SEE, AUSTRIA
Perennially popular with families of all ages, Zell am
See is a very pretty lakeside town with great local
skiing and lots of non-skiing activities, including
a children’s adventure park on the mountain. You can
take a sleigh ride around the frozen lake or, if the kids
still aren’t tired at the end of the day, check out the
excellent sports hall.
TOP TRIBE TIP: If you’ve got young kids, stay near the
base of the Schüttdorf gondola, which has direct access
to the ski kindergarten.
GETTING THERE: Salzburg, 2 hours
MORE INFO: www.zellamsee-kaprun.com
CONFESSIONS
OF A SNOW
ADDICT
MY BEST EVER SKI
Francesca Eyre talks us
through an idyllic day in the
Portes du Soleil…
“It was a bluebird day,
a crisp and clear January
morning two days after
a fresh snowfall. It was
my friend’s birthday and
we had planned a special
trip: skiing the entire
Portes du Soleil circuit
in one day – that’s 65km,
nine ski resorts and two
countries – before fi nishing
with a helicopter
ride back to Morzine.
Fortunately our chalet
was right by the chairlift
in the Les Prodains area
of Morzine and, this
being January, there was
no queue. We took two
lifts to the highest part
of the Portes du Soleil
and warmed up our legs
with some fast, carving
turns on a selection of
perfectly groomed blues
and reds from Avoriaz
to Chatel.
From Chatel we then
headed up to Mosette,
with its panoramic views
stretching to Mont Blanc
one way and the Swiss
Alps the other. From
here, it was time for the
first powder of the
morning, so we dropped
off the side of a testing
black run down towards
Abondance. The snow
was amazingly light but
we couldn’t linger long
because we still had
three more areas to ski
before stopping for lunch
in Switzerland – Torgon,
with its views of Lake
Geneva, Super-Châtel
and Morgins. We tucked
into a traditional Swiss
croûte (baked bread with
cheese and ham), washed
down with a crisp Swiss
white on a sunny terrace
overlooking the famous
Dents du Midi.
After lunch, it was
time to ratchet up the
pressure a little and so
we blasted up and down
through Morgins,
Champoussin, Les
Crosets and Champéry,
before heading back
towards Avoriaz and
back into France. Then
came the last lift of the
day up to the Col du
Fornet, from where we
could complete the circuit
with one of the most
famous off-piste descents
in Portes du Soleil: the
Vallée de la Manche.
Spotting an untouched
west-facing wall of powder,
we traversed a short
climb before floating
like freefallers down
1,000m of vertical. It
was an epic run, made
even better by the sight
of the helicopter appearing
across the lake out of
the late afternoon sun.”
Check out Morzine and
the Portes du Soleil with
www.chillypowder.com
CHAMBERY FROM BELFAST, LEEDS, MANCHESTER, NEWCASTLE AND EDINBURGH FROM £19.99/
GENEVA FROM BLACKPOOL, LEEDS AND MANCHESTER FROM £19.99/SALZBURG FROM LEEDS FROM £19.99