My 2011 travels so far..

It’s been a busy year of travels for me, so much so that my blog has been neglected – poor thing. Here’s a round-up of what I've been up to, to get us kick-started again…

Feb 2011: Sainte Foy
After spending my early twenties skiing and working in Val d'Isere, I'd always made a bee-line straight for my favourite ski-resort, without so much as a sideways glance to the umpteen other resorts I passed on my four hour journey there from the airport. This year however, I stopped half an hour before hitting 'Val', at the tiny station of sainte-Foy. Staying at Premiere-Neige's brand new hotel-chalet, 'The Peak', I shuushed down empty pistes, explored silent summer hamlets and feasted on fresh legs of lamb roasted over an open fire at Ma Maison. Find out more about this addictive resort in my upcoming article in the Independent on Sunday, this season.

March 2011: Malaysia
Anna - one of my bestest ever friends - lives and works in Kuala Lumpur. When she announced that she was getting married to a diving instructor on a tropical island in the South China Sea, I had my ticket booked within a week. A family and friends reunion in KL was followed by driving north in convoy for 6 hours and then slamming and smashing across a stormy sea to the wedding island in a tiny speed-boat, whilst clutching onto champagne flutes, tea-light holders and a very pregnant wedding guest. Anna made me promise NOT to write an article about her wedding day, so I swapped the pen in my hand for a glass of bubbly and just about managed to restrain myself.

April: Philippines
After weeks spent pouring over a map of the Philippines and picking out which of its 7107 islands to attack, we decided to stay put. Saving on the domestic flights and ferry rides, we travelled a few hours north of Manila to the Cordillera Mountains and stumbled across a lesser-visited and fascinating kingdom, where back-doors open out onto vertical drops, ancient Ifugao tribes cultivate 2000 year old rice terraces and freshly ground coffee is enjoyed with home-made yoghurt and wild strawberries. Get a taste for this spectacular region in my winning entry to the Telegraph’s ‘Just Back’ competition, Festival Time in the Philippines.

August: Menorca
For the second year running, my other half’s family and I returned to a stunning villa that teeters on the cliff-tops over Mahon harbour (right opposite Branson’s place!). We spent two decadent days floating in the infinity pool, paddling around the harbour in our much-loved inflatable kayak - and peering into the port-holes of the super yachts – before I strapped on my backpack and boots and set off to explore Menorca’s recently re-opened ancient bridleway, that circumnavigates the island’s coastline for around 185km. Find out all about my hiking, biking and horse-riding escapades in my Independent on Sunday article: All along the Watchtowers in Menorca.

July-August: Peru
Working as an expedition leader with BSES, I travelled to the Pacaya Samiria national reserve in Peru for a three week adventure, with a bunch of hormonal teenagers. After 4 days of travel, my group, or ‘fire’ and I paddled, padded, stomped and sliced our way along piranha-filled back-waters, transects teeming with tarantulas and cochas alive with crocs. Read more in an article I wrote for the Guardian: 'Taking a baby crocodile's vital statistics...'

September:
Sailing, fishing, rowing and ringo-riding in Newton Ferrers, surfing and mussel-collecting in Bigbury, autumn hikes and freshly-baked bread in Slaithwaite, riverside walks and Sunday roasts in Cambridge, Roald Dahl’s writing shed and woodland walks in Great Missenden, a steamy spa-day in a converted textile mill in Huddersfield, mountain-biking in the South Downs, white-night in Brighton…often some of my favourite trips are closest to home and I wonder why I feel the need to travel so far for adventure. Never the less, my next big trip is to....

Antarctica!
Travel dates: 11 Jan - 30 Jan 2012
Travelling with: Gap Adventures: The Spirit of Shackleton

The Times publishes damaging and ill-informed ski-resort shock stories

In The Times this Saturday, Marie Tourres and Adam Sage commented that holidaysmakers heading to French ski resorts should "brace themselves for bumps, bruises and broken bones on rock hard slopes". Having returned fully intact from a week's skiing in Sainte Foy,where all but one of the pistes had a decent covering of dense white snow, I was intrigued to learn that, according to The Times, only resorts "at the highest altitudes" "such as Les Deux Alps" (3600m), were snow covered.

According to the article, with a resort height of 1550m, Sainte Foy's ski season should be non-existent, yet being predominantly north facing and well sheltered, Sainte Foy was enjoying a spectacular season with good quality snow all the way down to resort level, despite snowfalls being less abundant than 2009-10. In fact, with my chalet, The Peak, conveniently located on the piste, I could literally ski all the way back down to resort level and shoosh right into my own driveway.

It's no secret that, right now, boarders will not find metres of champagne powder to carve through off-piste, but seriously, with most tourists spending no more than one week-a-year on the slopes, how many of us could honestly say we plan to spend our ski holidays being chased by avalanches and doing massive cliff-drops into fluffy powder bowls? In reality, push your average punter off-piste and into a foot of fresh powder, and within five minutes they'd be crawling back onto the piste, begging for something more solid.

But maybe I got lucky. Local residents explained to me that Sainte Foy is one of the best resorts in The Tarentaise are for holding onto its snow. So I contacted a few friends half an hour's drive up the hill in Val d'Isere, a resort The Times reported to have "no more than a sprinkling of white amid green pastures and grey escarpments". Hmmmm...it does seem odd that, considering skis come to an abrupt halt the second they touch but the tiniest section of turf, that 144 out of the resort's 156 pistes were still open, despite all those 'green pastures'.

The Times' article, which seemed to based on little more than exaggerated hearsay, has the potential to fuel further misguided rumors and, of most concern, to translate into damaging impacts in resorts which often depend solely on seasonal income. There's no hiding from the fact that France has seen a far lower accumulation of snow this season than is usual, but in publishing an article which portrayed all but the highest altitudes as being almost completely devoid of snow was both irresponsible and factually untrue.

Closer reading of the article allows for some lenience, with quotes from those in the know promising that pistes are still open and snow quality is "good". But these voices were lost under the tabloid-style headline, and overshadowed by a shocking photograph of skiers desperately trying to slide down a patch of snow running through a sunny meadow. And, although the sunny mood in Sainte Foy matched the weather, staff at luxury chalet company and Sainte Foy specialists, Premier Neige, were well aware at how damaging such headlines can be. However, they were confident that the genuine reports from their, somewhat surprised, guests returning to the UK would filter through.

Is it just Sainte Foy and Val d'Isere that are exempt? Do all other resorts resemble the Times' depiction of snow-starved Leysin in Switzerland? I would be very cautious to comment without physical evidence, which is perhaps where the Times went wrong; maybe they should consider commissioning journalists based in Val d'Isere, rather than in Paris...

Just returned from a ski-resort? What were your experiences of snow cover? Post your genuine piste-reports below...