This season don't miss... The World Monoski Championships

"Three, two, one, let's monoski!" boomed a voice on the tannoy, and the first two competitors shuffled across the start line and raced through the eight gate giant slalom course, in a blur of banana yellow and flamingo pink.

Last  April, I was in Val d'Isere at the World Monoski Championships - an event which started off as a few friends having a laugh with some old skool ski gear but, six years later, has become one of the hottest events in Espace Killy.

Whilst entry into the competition isn't essential, fancy dress is. Don't even think about turning up unless you're sporting a day-glo one piece suit, fresh from the 1970s, a fluorescent head band or, at the very least, a pair of mirrored sunglasses.

Most competitors have never set feet on a monoski before, so there's no need to worry about lack of experience. In fact, it's the low skill level which makes the event such good fun: many struggle to make it up to the start line in the first place, usually catching an edge and getting dragged the rest of the way up the slope with the Poma still stuck between their thighs.

And spectators are well looked after, with steak haches sizzling on the barbeque and soft drinks flowing - bring your own booze if you fancy chilling out with a beer in the spring sunshine.

The competition itself is a knock-out event, with pairs of monoskiiers racing each other in turn. Last season, Simon Twigge of the Tignes Chalet Company, won the event for the third time, and Amanda Pirie took the trophy for the women.

The awards ceremony and after party is hosted at Blue Note Bar, and the celebrations tend to go well into the night, with fete-style drinking games at various pubs and bars in Val d'Isere.

Read my full article about last year's champs in this month's Ski and Board Magazine, or visit themountainecho.co.uk to find out more.

The 2013 Champs

This year's champs are on April 17th. To enter, visit Blue Note Bar or Planks Clothing in Val d'Isere to sign up.

YSE chalets (yseski.co.uk) offer a week's half board with flights from £535.

If organising board and flights separately, snowdroptransfers.com offer good value transfers.

Hanging out with Hammerheads

THREE hundred kilometres north of Sabah and surrounded by unfathomably clear waters, the island of Layang Layang is hammerhead heaven. Fishing is banned here and the island’s 13 coral reefs create breathtaking underwater scenery that teems with marine life. Expect everything from giant clams, barrel sponges and immense gorgonian fans to peaceful turtles, arrowcrabs and anemones. Spectacular nudibranchs offer endless fascination for macro photographers and huge schools of redtooth triggerfish, pyramid butterflyfish and unicornfish make for superb snorkelling.

Layang Layang’s unfathomably clear waters, by U.U.Nudi, Flickr.

With the ocean floor dropping away to around 2000 metres at the edge of the reef, the real draw cards are in the deep. Tuna, leopard shark, manta rays and barracuda can be seen in the abyss, and even whale sharks put in an appearance. But it’s the hammerhead sharks that top many divers’ wish lists, as this is one of the few places in the world you can expect to see hundreds of hammerheads.

April and May are the best months to see them. Sightings aren’t guaranteed every dive but, at depths of 30-40 metres, if you’re patient enough you can find yourself amongst schools of over 100 sharks, each around three metres in length. Stay for a full week and dive every day to maximise your chances.

There are around 20 different dive sites to choose from at Layang Layang, all accessible via a short boat ride from the island. Each site is spectacular in its own right, but some offer more chance of hammerhead sightings than others.

Most hammerhead dives start at ‘The Point’. Here, divers swim away from the reef and descend into the blue to about 30-35 metres, before ascending slowly back up the reef wall. ‘D’Wall’ is another top spot. Here, the sheer wall is adorned with crustaceans, sea fans and soft corals. Schools of surgeons and jacks teem around the reef, with white and grey tipped sharks and manta rays common visitors, alongside schools of hammerheads which can be seen cruising in the abyss.

Hanging out with hammerheads, by bocagrandelasvegas, Flickr.

‘Dogtooth Lair’ is famous for its barracuda, jacks, butterflyfish and, of course, dogtooth tuna. But these can quickly become overshadowed when the hammerheads come into view. ‘Gorgonian Forest’ is a particularly beautiful dive site, where hammerheads can be seen soaring above the barrel sponges, gorgonian fans and giant clams.

‘Wrasse Strip’ is renowned for its intricate and techicolour corals. Hammer-heads have been known to arrive in their hundreds and the small caverns here are home to batfish, sweet lips, soldier fish and trigger fish.

But Laying Layang isn’t all about hammerheads, and if you’re not lucky enough to bump into a school whilst you’re out there, your log book will still be bursting with spectacular sightings and dramatic dive sites, which have earned the island its nickname, “Jewel of the Borneo Banks”.

‘Sharks’ Cave’ is a tranquil cavern where leopard sharks rest amongst the sea fans; ‘The Valley’ is a magnet for groupers, sweet-lips, surgeon fish and fusiliers, as well as flat-worms, nudibranchs and crustations. With its abundance of small tropical reef fish, ‘Wreck Point’ is a good option for snorkelers, and divers can descend over the edge to find manta rays, dogtooth tuna and reef sharks. This is also a good spot for night diving, where huge bumphead parrot fish can be found sleeping in the shallow drop-off.

To get to Layang Layang take the hour-long chartered flight from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. There’s only one resort on the island, which stays open for just four months of the year, with the monsoon season putting it off limits for the remainder.

Layang Layang is also known as ‘Jewel of the Borneo Banks’, by U.U. Nudi, Flickr.

As an isolated island, with no decompression chamber, safety is paramount and so dive rules are tight. Don’t expect to go boozing at lunchtime and then head back into the water – it’s not allowed. There’s a no gloves policy, maximum depths are set at 40 metres and no decompression time is allowed. There’s no Nitrox gas available and so technical dives are off the menu.

A breeding ground for thousands of sea swallows, avid bird-watchers could also enjoy a few days here, with black-napped terns, Pacific golden plovers and Plumed egrets amongst the highlights.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to find out more about travelling to Malaysia, please visit the Tourism Malaysia website

Hiking in Malaysia's National Parks

Taman Negara Nationa Park. Pic: HooLengSiong, Flickr.

From high-altitude mountain tops to underground caves, virgin rainforests to alpine ecosystems, and freshwater swamps to salty shorelines; Malaysia’s National Parks make up an area comparable in size to the United Kingdom and stretch from Sabah and Sarawak, on Borneo, to Peninsula Malaysia. Most reserves offer a range of trails suitable for anyone from the occasional walker through to pioneering explorers.

The 4343 sq km Taman Negara, on Peninsula Malaysia, is the world’s oldest tropical rainforest. It has been protected since 1938 and forms the country’s largest conservation area. The flora and fauna here has evolved over millions of years and can be experienced via day-long treks, extended expeditions, night safaris or canopy-level walkways. Ambitious trekkers can tackle the 4-7 day ascent of Gunung Tahan (2,187 m) - the highest mountain in Peninsular Malaysia.

Renowned for: Ancient flora and fauna

For the best experience: Book a multi-day trek

 Endau-Rompin National Park is the second largest in Peninsular Malaysia. The 900 sq km park nurtures a host of rare species such as Peninsula Malaysia’s largest population of Sumatran rhinoceros and native Malay tribes like theOrang Asli people. It also features outstanding natural landscapes. A trekking highlight is the route to the three waterfalls, Pandan, Beringin and Tinggi – a cascade over volcanic rock formations dating back 200 million years.

Renowned for: Waterfalls and Sumatran rhinoceros

For the best experience: Spend at least three days here and visit the waterfalls

Sumatran Rhino -  Endau-Rompin National Park. Pic: Just chaos, Flickr.

 At just 10 sq miles, Penang National Park is Malaysia’s smallest – you could explore it in one day. Highlights include nesting beaches for endangered turtles, shorelines patrolled by macaque monkeys and one of the few mixed saltwater and freshwater lakes in the world. Take your pick from three different marked trails, or explore the park via the canopy walkway.

Renowned for: Its compact size

For the best experience: Stay a couple of days

Batang Ai National Park, in Sarawak, links with Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary (Malaysia) and the Bentuang-Karimun National Park (Indonesia) to form 10,000 sq km of protected rainforest. The park boasts Borneon gibbons, hornbills, giant squirrels, the clouded leopard, Malaysian honeyguide and the densest concentration of orang-utans in central Borneo. Experience the diversity via the five marked trails; visitors must be accompanied by a registered guide.

Renowned for: Orang-utan sightings

For the best experience: Book a multi-day orang-utan spotting expedition

Batang Ai National Park. Pic: tajai, Flickr

Niah National Park, in Sarawak, harbours 31 sq km of dense forest and is considered one of the world’s most important archaeological reserves. Thought to be one of the birthplaces of civilisation, the oldest human remains in Southeast Asia were found here in 1958 at the Niah caves. Watched over by the summit of Gunung Subis (394m) this small reserve draws archaeologists, ecologists and tourists from across the globe, and is marked with a network of trails.

Renowned for: Archaeology

For the best experience: Explore the caves and then walk through the forest at sunset to see millions of swarming swiflets and bats

Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak has also been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2000. Best known for its spectacular limestone karsts, Mulu is characterised by its network of underground caves and its razor-sharp rock formations, known as ‘The Pinnacles’. Home to some of the largest caves in the world, it’s thought that around 70 per cent of these still lie undiscovered.

Renowned for: Caving and limestone karsts

For the best experience: Hike to the Pinnacles or explore the underground caves

Bako National Park, is Sarawak’s oldest park. Located near Kuching, Bako stretches along the coastline for around 27 sq km featuring plunging cliffs, white sandy beaches and craggy headlands. Seventeen colour-coded trails offer a range of challenges. A guide is invaluable for pointing out the mouse dear, bearded pigs, proboscis monkeys and other wildlife.

Renowned for: High concentration of wildlife and plant diversity

For the best experience: Look for proboscis monkeys along the Telok Delima trail

Kinabalu National Park in Sabah was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000, and over its 754 sq km boasts every type of plant-life, from eucalyptus to oak. It is also crowned by Mount Kinabalu (4,095m) – Malaysia’s tallest mountain. The astounding diversity of flora and fauna, spectacular scenery and irresistible summits here draw in excess of 400,000 visitors each year.

Renowned for: Mountain climbing and biodiversity

For the best experience: Attempt the Mount Kinabalu ascent

tallest mountain in Malaysia – Mount Kinabalu. Pic: Chang'r, Flickr.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to find out more about travelling to Malaysia, please visit the Tourism Malaysia website

Muck Diving in Malaysia

WHERE to dive with hairy frogfish and pygmy seahorses.

It’s got to be the most unappealing sounding sport but, for many divers, muck diving is the holy grail of scuba. And if the name isn’t enough to put you off, the sell that follows might do: with limited visibility, shallow dive sites, no stunning corals and zero chance of seeing deep-sea wrecks or big pelagic fish, it’s a wonder that so many divers have been inspired to try out this painstaking discipline. But those who do, however, rarely look back…

The appeal of muck diving is in the bizarre, extraordinary and disgustingly beautiful. Paradise for photographers, muck diving allows them to capture some of the ocean’s rarest inhabitants, snapping intricate and sophisticated species right up-close, in calm and controlled waters.

Paradise for macro photographers – Nudibranch. Pic: Nicolas Voisin, Flickr.

Instead of competing with your dive buddies to spot sharks and manta-rays, muck divers slowly and meticulously scan the seabed, searching for minute creatures, some less than a centimetre or so long, known as critters. In comparison to most other types of diving, poor visibility, suspended particles and silty sea-beds are of less concern, as the creatures you’re looking for are never more than a few centimetres from your face.

Typical critters to look out for include multi-coloured nudibranchs, pipefish, frogfish and seahorses, but there are millions more species lurking in the muck, many still unidentified, which simply adds to the appeal.

Muck diving in Mabul – Transparent Nudibranch. Pic: Nicolas Voisin, Flickr.

A big attraction of muck diving is that anyone can do it. No special equipment is required and, typically diving at shallower depths, the risk of decompression sickness is reduced. Excellent buoyancy, however, is important – your fellow divers won’t thank you if you spend your muck dive bobbing up and down on the seabed, finning up clouds of silt.

Some of the best muck diving spots in the world are found in South East Asia. Places like the Lembeh Straits and Secret Bay, in Indonesia, enjoy international fame. But one of the most illustrious muck diving sites of all is found in the waters just off Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo.

Mabul Island is a location synonymous with muck diving. Located off the north-east coast of Sabah, a 25 minute boat ride north of Sipadan Island, Mabul is a magnet for muck divers and one of the best places on the planet for macro photography. This tiny island has a coral reef that slips down to form a sandy bottom, freckled with coral growth and teeming with macro life and molluscs. Nudibranchs, shrimp and exotic urchins; purple and red fire gobies; seahorses and multicoloured frogfish can all be found here in clear, 30 degree waters, alongside loads of lobster and crabs, as well as every species of pipefish known to man.

Ghost Pipefish – one of many in Mabul. Pic: Nicolas Voisin, Flickr.

There are stacks of muck diving sites to choose from at Mabul, but the grassy seabed at Crocodile Avenue is a favourite with many. This is the place to see crocodile-fish and garden eels, as well as seamoths, seahorses and the occasional eagle ray. Night dives are also popular here, where you can shine your torch over the colourful cuttlefish, nudibranchs and crabs.

Or, for the best frog-fish encounters, head to the aptly named Froggy Lair, where you can also expect to see cuttlefish and cowries, alongside ornate pipefish and numerous nudibranchs.

Another exciting dive site at Mabul is Eel garden, where colourful gobies and garden eels inhabit a network of tunnels in the sandy seabed. Blue ribbon eels, cleaning shrimp, rose-red frogfish and lemon-coloured moray eels are also commonly sighted here.

Nudibranh nembrotha chamberlaini. Pic: Nicolas Voisin, Flickr.

Muck diving in Malaysia doesn’t have to be all about Mabul though. If you fancy giving it a go but don’t want to make the trek down to Borneo, then Peninsula Malaysia still has some surprisingly good offerings, from the mimic octopus at Pulau Rumbia, on the west coast, to seahorse-filled sites in the north: coral fringed and best known for sea turtles, sharks and spectacular wrecks, muck diving in the Perhentian Islands is often overlooked but, from rarely seen nudibranchs and stacks of seahorses, to frogfish and blue ringed octopus’, it’s all here.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to find out more about travelling to Malaysia, please visit the Tourism Malaysia website

Malaysia's Biggest Annual Sports Events

Post three of my work for Tourism Malaysia this week details the country's best annual sports events. From the Grand Prix to Monsoon Cup, read Malaysia's Biggest Annual Sports Events to find out what's on over the next 12 months.

World's best dive sites?

Malaysia is packed with world-class scuba-diving sites. Three of the very best are:

Layang Layang - an isolated dive spot off  the north coast of Sabah where some of the richest marine biodiversity and clearest waters in Malaysia are found - a magnet for manta rays and hammer head sharks; Sipadan - found in the Celebes Sea and famed for its drop-offs, wall dives and breeding turtles; and Tioman - a jungle-clad island, surrounded  reefs, wrecks and underwater caves.

Find out more about these dive sites in my recent blog for Travelwire Asia, Malaysia: Three of the best dive spots - part of a publication for Tourism Malaysia

Borneo basics

If you've never been to Borneo, better get your skates on. With the rainy season kicking in at the end of October, you've got about eight weeks left of 2012 to discover one of the most magical places on the planet.

For most people, Borneo means orang-utans, and this was the impetus for my first-ever trip to the island, back in 2002. Still at uni, I couldn't have been more excited as I packed my long shirts (to hold back the bugs), rubber boots (to resist the leather-eating peat bogs) and read up on howler monkeys, orang-utan nests and floating villages.

To most people, Borneo means 'orang-utans'

But when I told my friends and family I was off to 'Kalimantan', they hadn't a clue where I was going. Despite being the third largest island on the planet and home to one of the oldest rainforests in the world, only a fraction of UK tourists seem to know that Borneo is actually divided between three separate countries: Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. 

Borneo's virgin rainforests have suffered from deforestation

Kalimantan, the Indonesian section, covers around 73% of Borneo's land mass. Found in the southern area of the island, it's home to unique peat swamp forests, which harbour rare species, including orang-utans. One of the most heavily forested areas of Borneo, Kalimantan has seen vast sections of its rainforest cleared for the farming and logging industries during the '70s and '80s. With the environmental impacts of these clearances brought to the limelight - most notably through the reduction in orang-utan populations - reforestation programs and environmental campaigns have seen positive steps taken towards the regeneration of Kalimantan's precious habitats in recent years. 

Kalimantan is best known for its orphaned orang-utans

Brunei: Borneo's only sovereign state is found on the north coast and is vastly different to the Indonesian and Malaysian sections of the island. Extensive petroleum and natural gas fields have fuelled significant economic growth, which has made Brunei one of the most developed and wealthiest countries in SE Asia. Nonetheless, Brunei still has its fair share of rainforests, with lowland forests covering much of the country and mountainous forests found further inland. 

Brunei is one of the richest countries in SE Asia

Sabah and Sarawak: Malaysia claims two states in Borneo, together covering around 26% of the island and, for most tourists, this is the place to come. Travel and tourist infrastructure is better than in Kalimantan and, although significant logging for palm oil plantations has occurred here, several wildlife reserves and protected areas make it easier for tourists to interact. Sabah and Sarawak also offer some of the best opportunities for hiking in Borneo, and with well-marked trails in the national parks, exploring without a guide is manageable.  

Sabah and Sarawak have some of the most accessible hiking trails in  Borneo

Read more about my adventures in Kalimantan in my article 'Up the creek in an orange carton', which was long-listed for the Bradt Travel Writing Awards 2011, or discover the Best places to hike in Sabah and Sarawak in my recent blog-post for Travelwire Asia - an article that was part of a publication for Tourism Malaysia.