Bah Humbug >> How to Ski Avoiding Christmas
Supermarkets have been selling stocking fillers since September, and now festive fellows all over the planet are gleefully peeling back number 1 on those blasted Advent Calendars. If you’ve had enough of Christmas before it’s even begun, the last thing you want is more merriment on the mountains…
Whatever your feelings about The Most Wonderful(?) Time of Year, there’s no denying that the end of December’s a terrific time to ski ― it’s the beginning of the season after a long, snowless summer and autumn with bank holidays left, right and centre.
If you’re tempted by the timing but would rather avoid the sugary-sweet celebrations this Christmas, read on for a guide that will set you on the right, tinsel-free piste. We cover places to avoid, resorts for celebrating a less commercialised Chrimbo and top tips for escaping yuletide, wherever you ski.
1. Avoid the resorts that clearly wish it could be Christmas everyday:
Walking in a Whistler Wonderland – Bah, Humbug!
Whistler: one of the most festive resorts on the planet © Coast Mountain Photography
It’s a time-honoured tradition to dress up as Santa on the slopes here, leading to the weird (and for some, wonderful) experience of sharing a chair lift with 3 Father Christmases… The ticket office actively encourage skiers to don the iconic red hat, beard and suit (offering free lift passes to those that do).
Merry Little Megeve
Christmas charm pours out of every nook and cranny © Megeve Tourisme & Simon Garnier
This place is so ‘Winter Wonderland’ that even Vogue have waxed lyrical about it’s Christmases. We expect the Place d’Eglise here would give the Grinch a heart attack – famed for an enormous tree once decorated with Swarovski crystals. One-horse open sleighs jingle to and fro just like the Christmas song (including one ferrying around Mr Claus himself, who annually visits to give out free gifts). This place REALLY loves Christmas – there’s even a piste called ‘Pere Noel’…
Lapland – we love children, but couldn’t eat a whole one…
Lapland, where Santa and his reindeer live. Photo: Visit Finland & Lapland
If you’re hoping to steer clear of yuletide joviality, it’s not a wise move to spend the week in Jolly Old St Nicholas’ back yard, where reindeer outnumber people and everyday activities include sleigh rides, carol concerts and trips to “Santa Land” … steer clear.
2. Instead, ski somewhere we doubt Wizzard has been played yet:
A small Austrian resort
Axamer Lizum is usually quiet, the main event being a small traditional market.
If it’s the commercial claptrap you’re fed up with, there’s nowhere better to take refuge than in one of Austria’s tiny villages – Axamer Lizum and Bad Kleinkirchheim are full of the olde-worlde charm we don’t see much of these days. Instead of sitting, arms-crossed, through parachuting Santas and Christmas discos, you’ll join in age-old celebrations like markets and midnight mass.
Somewhere quiet in Italy
Crowd free skiing in Champoluc
Christmases in the Italian resorts are probably among the least commercial: when the smaller resorts put on any sort of ceremony, it’s a long-established annual market (less Christmas tat, more genuine article) or a church service. You certainly won’t spare a thought for the turkey when tucking into the mile-wide pizzas here… Try Sansicario, a diddy village in the massive Milky Way ski area, or Gressoney and Champoluc, low-key options in the Monterosa ski area.
A country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas
Oukaimeden, Morocco, Photo: Flickr user simon_music Paris, France, caperet.com
Primarily an Islamic nation, Christian events are less likely to be a big thing in Morocco. Oukaimeden in the Atlas mountains is the highest ski resort in Africa, where the skiing (let alone Christmas) is far from the standard affair. The closest thing you’ll get to Christmas is that donkeys (but not Little Donkeys) are used to ferry skiers from the ski lifts. Marrakesh isn’t much more than an hour away, for a December 25th of palm reading and spice tasting in a Moroccan souk.
3. If you can’t bear to part from a favourite resort, never fear, there are methods of fending off the inevitable festivities:
Book a chalet for sole occupancy
You can wager pretty heavily, if you’re staying in a catered chalet, that the big day will see a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings: crackers, champagne and if you’re in a family property, sometimes a special guest appearance from Santa himself. Book sole occupancy, and you can request a week of non-Christmassy catering and make sure there are strictly no Chestnuts Roasting on the Open Fire when you arrive.
Or Self Cater
You’ll have an apartment to yourself, leaving you blissfully free to make the week as un-Christmassy as you like ― tuck into a takeaway pizza or lasagne ready meal on the big day and lock yourself away with a good DVD box set (avoid Richard Curtis flicks at all costs) while the rest of resort’s celebrating. The more remote the less merrier, it reduces the likelihood of those pesky carol singers knocking on your door…
Let it Snow – Spend the day off-piste, ski touring, heli-skiing or cross country
Aspen Snowmass has great powder at the moment. Photo: Zach Luchs
Rise at the crack of dawn, head out while the rest of the world are opening their stockings and ski until the sun goes down. Hire a local expert and get them to take you as far from the madding crowd as possible (companies are usually still in operation throughout the holidays) – that way it’s just you and those mountains.
It’s not too late to snap up a week of skiing over you-know-what – check out what’s available here and have a very unchristmassy Christmas!
