Events
Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season
Slide Nr 1Is the après part of your skiing holiday is as important as what happens on the slopes? Or would you generally prefer to have fun in the snow without strapping one or two boards to your feet? These resorts offer entertainment to complement – or substitute – the athletic aspect of your winter break. [Photo: Fabian Wester]
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Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 250th Anniversary of the Snowmass Ski Area (Aspen, Colorado, USA) – Aspen Snowmass celebrates 50 years with an epic weekend of parties, fireworks and a heavy dose of nostalgia. There won’t be any shortage of well-wishers, thanks to a limited offer of $6.50 day tickets – available only on December 15th, the day the resort was opened in 1967. The following retro party will likely offer the opportunity to spend what used to buy you a whole day on the slopes on a single drink. Cheers! [Photo: Aspen Skiing Company]
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Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 3Bavarian IceFest (Leavenworth, Washington, USA) – You could go to a winter festival in Bavaria – or you could visit a festival that bears only a superficial resemblance to the traditions of the Southern German region (but is great fun regardless). The Bavarian IceFest in the Washington State mountains is a family-friendly weekend of snow- and ice-based activities, illuminated by twinkling lights and spectacular fireworks.
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Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 4Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival (Banff, Alberta, Canada) – You may have encountered this renowned outdoor film festival on its annual world tour, but nothing matches the original event in the Canadian Rockies. In addition to exhibitions, film screenings and readings, a side schedule of markets and art walks rounds off the week-long programme, getting visitors in the mood just before ski season begins in the surrounding “Big Three” resorts. [Photo: Larry Shiu, Cascade Mountain, Banff National Park © John Price]
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Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 5Wine Week/Wine Fest (Portillo, Chile) – During the Southern Hemisphere winter, the oldest ski area in South America offers off-season snow for those who want to hit the powder year-round. The resort also hosts a range of slopeside events, including not one, but two wine festivals. Chilean Wine Week offers free tastings, while the Wine Fest is more focused on educating visitors on wine produced in Chile (but also: free wine!). [Photo: Jonathan Selkowitz]
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Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 6Snowtunes (Jindabyne, New South Wales, Australia) – For more Southern Hemisphere winter, head Down Under. This two-day festival on Lake Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains halfway between Melbourne and Sydney features mainly Australian acts. The main stage is located a short drive from Thredbo and Perisher, two of Australia’s premier ski resorts. Those who don’t want to hit the slopes can enjoy daytime entertainment before the first acts hit the stage.
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Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 7Winter Festival (Queenstown, New Zealand) – New Zealand is probably the best Antipodean ski destination – and Queenstown is definitely the best place to party in the snow. The city’s Winter Festival has been growing steadily for over 40 years and takes over the entire region – including the surrounding ski resorts – with a programme offering live music, fine food and wine, indigenous culture, and of course après ski parties.
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Events
Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 8Sommelier on the Slopes (Alta Badia, Italy) – Alta Badia, a small valley within the vast Dolomites mountains, has slowly but steadily built itself a reputation as South Tyrol’s gourmet mountain resort. With the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants in the European Alps and a variety of foodie events, it’s the perfect destination for those who want to eat well after a day on the slopes. This new wine event has made the area even more attractive for epicures, with guided tastings in mountain huts. [Photo: Alta Badia © Freddy Planinschek]
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Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 9Fantastic Gondolas (Lech am Arlberg, Austria) – Light festivals usually take place in an urban setting. During this unique event, however, light artists illuminate slopes, mountains and cable car masts instead of a city skyline. The surrounding darkness is deeper, the snow-covered canvas purer, so the effect of the colourful light projected into the night is heightened. In addition to several indoor and outdoor DJ sets, a disco gondola gives guests a view from above.
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Events
Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 10Rave on Snow (Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria) – Rave on Snow is all about the numbers: Up to 80 electronic music acts play in 10 locations in a ski resort offering 200 kilometres of slopes. With a 24-year history, the festival is a reliable favourite for European ravers that actually enjoy hitting the slopes as much as they look forward to hitting the dance floor. The famous Schattberg run connects the peak party and the main open air stage, so you can ski/board from one to the other.
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Events
Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 11The Ski Week (Obertauern, Austria) – Elsewhere in Austria, revellers keep it small and intimate with this boutique mountain festival. The all-inclusive event offers day- and nighttime activities ranging from guided snowshoe hikes and outdoor yoga to a mountain banquet set in the snow and an igloo sleepover. Revellers are put up in comfy apartments, usually shared by a group of friends. Offshoots in Canada, Japan and the US have taken the concept abroad. [Photo: Fabian Wester]
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Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 12Snowbombing (Mayrhofen, Austria) – This mountain music festival, aimed squarely at Brits holidaying in Austria, was named Best Small Festival at the 2016 European Festival Awards. It’s held at the tail end of the season, so there’s still enough snow to enjoy the slopes, with temperatures high enough to party outdoors without suffering hypothermia. Instead of one massive stage, acts perform in a variety of unique locations, including forest, mountain and igloo stages. [Photo: Idris Elba Arctic Disco © Andrew Whitton]
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Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 13FIS Alpine World Cup Finals (Åre, Sweden) – As the largest ski resort in Scandinavia gears up to host the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 2019, the upcoming World Cup Finals are an excellent opportunity for a dress rehearsal of all Åre has to offer. The small town with a big winter sports history will be showing off its friendly Nordic hospitality and vibrant nightlife over 5 days in March.
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Events
Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 14Cricket on Ice Trophy Tournament (St. Moritz, Switzerland) – You probably know this tiny Swiss resort as the venue of posh events like the Snow Polo World Cup and the traditional White Turf horse race, but its frozen lake hosts another, even more unusual event each winter. Cricket on Ice is, unfortunately, not played in full cricket whites on an all-white surface. Watching the game traditionally associated with the baking heat of former British colonies amidst snow-covered mountains is nonetheless delightfully odd. [Photo: Alexander Mackay]
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Events
Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 15Skifasching (Oberwiesenthal, Germany) – Think of German Carnival, and you’ll probably come up with images of the costumed street parades in Cologne and Düsseldorf, but there are other regional traditions, for example the so-called Skifasching celebrated in some mountain villages in Bavaria, the Black Forest or in eastern Germany. In Oberwiesenthal, near the Czech border, costumed locals and visitors take to the slopes – often on home-built, elaborately decorated sledges.
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Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
Slide Nr 16Horizon (Arinsal, Andorra) – Want to chase a week partying in the snow with a visit to the beach? Then check out this festival, which has moved from its original location in Bulgaria to the Pyrenees. The resort is easily accessible from Toulouse, France and Barcelona, Spain, so you could be dancing in the snow one day, and chilling out by the Mediterranean the next. The 7-day programme includes 2 mountaintop stages, several club venues and a “secret” forest rave. [Photo: Entirety LABS Ross Silcocks]
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Ski And Do: 15 Mountaintop Festivals For The Snowy Season.
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