Cervinia

Skiing in Cervinia, Italy

Cervina is one of my favourite resorts, it’s got a bit of everything which is what I prefer as a freeriding fanatic. There are seven parks, my favourite is the Indian Park, and plenty of different terrain. Some of the best on-piste boarding is at Fornet and Ventina, which comes off a glacier and it’s challenging without being too steep. Again I’m going to tell you that the scenery is spectacular. Cervina is probably best for beginners and intermediates and I’ve found it a good place to build my confidence. I suggest it to a lot of my students because I’ve always found there’s plenty of space and the vibe is quite friendly. There’s also good resort life. Cervina is right on the boarder so you have to carry your passport at all times. I thought it was a joke when people told me that but it’s true, I’ve heard some horror stories about the language barrier and dealing with police asking you for details, so it’s simpler just to carry ID. The season is quite long here, from about October to May.

Chamonix

Skiing in Chamonix, France

This is another obvious choice, but for me I just love boarding against a backdrop as inspiring as Mont Blanc. Like everyone says it does look like a chocolate box view and I can’t look at a Toblerone box without wishing I was there. On the practical side the town is a proper town as opposed to a resort town so there’s lots to do if the weather turns bad or if you’re staying for more than a week or two. It’s got a lot of space with a good selection of terrain over five main sections of mountain and though they’re not close to each other there’s a good shuttle between them. If you think boarding is improved by the view like I do, you’ll like Vallee Blanche which is off a glacier from Aiquil du Midi, you need to get a guide to take you up there, even if you‘re an experienced boarder. Most boarders prefer the runs at Le Tour, which are wide and packed well so they’re good for speed, but I thought Les Grands Montets was pretty good as well. If you do go for Le Tour the back side is better than the front. The best boarding is between December and April.

St Anton am Arlberg

Skiing in St Anton am Arlberg, Austria

St Anton is great for its night riding and freeriding, its also a fairly funky resort and its got a fairly good reputation amongst snowboarders so you get a lot of people coming down whose skills are worth watching, which I think is half the fun. The best park is at Lech, which has a good selection of obstacles and some soft hills, so it’s a good place to learn new tricks, or if you’re like me try and copy them off the more experienced guys. Lech is pretty close to the resort. On the practical side, locals say there’s good snow coverage here between December and April and when I was there in February it was well packed and groomed. I also thought the lift system was one of the best I’ve seen and I had no trouble getting around, be aware that you can’t bring your car so you need to rely on the lifts and the buses. I came in from Zurich by train which was really easy. On the girly side its a really beautiful place to be, the village is what my mum called quaint when she saw my photos and there’s good shops and lots of places to eat and drink and the mountains are an amazing background for some great boarding.

Whistler

Skiing in Whistler, Canada

Whistler is probably the biggest resort I’ve ever been to and it’s got three big parks and lots of guys who really know what they’re doing to go with it. It’s got a reputation for heavy powder and when I was there it was definitely living up to it’s reputation. Lots of people think it’s going to be more of a skiing resort, but I found there were plenty of cliffs and ridges which were great for freeriding as well as smoother runs good for speed. Some of the books say that locals wont tell tourists where the best powder spots are, but luckily I know enough people who work in resorts to know who to ask, so I saw some of the best powder I’ve ever seen, but really it’s a huge place and there’s plenty to go around. Locals will give you advice about the busy times and how to avoid queuing all day for the lifts if you ask nicely, they’ll also probably tell you which runs are best for boarders at the moment because they know the conditions best, so it‘s worth asking. I found that some of the smaller runs were actually some of the best for me. I usually look like I’m admiring their work, remember their gear and try and catch them around the town in the evenings. I went in February which is the middle of the season, but the guide books say there’s good snow between November and April.

Les Deux Alpes

Snowboarding in Les Deux Alpes, France

The Les Deux Alps resort is good for summer boarding because it’s got it’s own glacier so you can board long past the end of winter. The snowpark here is called Nitro and it’s one of those places that is being constantly upgraded and is really really well looked after. Last time I was there they had an axe pipe for practicing, a half pipe and a range of other entertainments - kickers, rails, tables and ramps. They were also having what closely resembles a BBQ (DJ, the smell of char grilled food etc.) going on, which really impressed me. One of the championship snowboarding events is held here every October/ November. Most of the onpiste runs are of a tricky beginner to intermediate level, but there are some good gullies and ridges to keep you interested and a fun canyon run - I would recommend this to brave beginners looking for their first challenge, you may fall over, but you’ll be pretty enamoured with your effort. For me the best days I spent here were hanging around the glacier, the scenery was superb, but I also went on an skidoo, which was pretty awesome.

The town itself is pretty spread out which means you can stay in or out of nightlife central depending on your need for sleep, but you can still walk everywhere, but if your legs are dying there was a free bus service running in circles around the town when I was there.

Les Deux can be pretty busy (it’s not as big as a lot of the other French resorts.) but remember that you can board here out of season so time your trip and you should be ok.