Newspaper Article

Travel: WinterSpecial: The time is white: To kick off our winter special, 10 experts give their top skiing and snowboarding tips. Over the next 12 pages, discover what's new this season, places to stay, green activities and much more

Chemmy Alcott, Konrad Bartelski, Lesley McKenna, Alain Baxter, Sam Cullum, Kate Whittaker, Ed Blomfield, Nick Parks, Ed Leigh, Richard Lett

2007

Overview

I haven't been to Lyngen Lodge in Norway yet, but I've booked a trip in April and I can't wait. After half a century of skiing, I've racked up quite a few miles on the slopes and have been privileged to enjoy skiing in some obscure yet enchanting spots. But Lyngen looks like nothing else I've ever seen. I first heard about it in St Anton when Graham Austick, a guide with Piste to Powder, mentioned that he was building a lodge above the Arctic Circle. Back in my office I logged on to the website. I was mesmerised. The photos of the mountains snaking along the side of the sea, with not a building in sight, are amazing. My favourite place to do this is near the village of Sainte Foy in the Tarentaise valley in the French Alps, tucked away in the mountains between Les Arcs, Tignes and Val D'Isere. It is very small compared with its neighbours, but there is some amazing terrain that really comes into its own on a powder day - the majority of the resort is steep, and there are lots of little couloirs and drops to explore. It's also fairly quiet, which means that you don't have to race around to beat the crowds to fresh snow. The people in Breckenridge are ridiculously friendly, and you don't get any of the over-the-top, table-mounting apres-ski shenanigans you get elsewhere. But it can be pretty pricey in the resort proper. It's a fairly upmarket place - we went off-piste one day and found ourselves riding through the grounds of local mansions. For cheap accommodation, I'd recommend staying in Frisco, 10 minutes away and with half the prices.

• Publisher: Guardian News & Media Limited