Ski Here Now

Looking for ski, après-ski, and a city break all rolled into one? Patrick "the Snowhunter" Thorne rounds up some of Ryanair's best destinations for having it all

Although the most famous ski resorts are found in the big mountain ranges of Europe, almost every country on the continent — including Belgium and Portugal — has ski slopes. In fact, research by resort information provider Snow24 shows that there are nearly 4,000 of them.

Here’s my pick of nine of the best ski spots on the Ryanair network — many of which I’ve tried and tested myself. What I love about these places is that many of them combine great skiing opportunities with the chance to take in the city sights too.

1 GROSSER FELDBERG
FRANKFURT, GERMANY

Boasting over 500 ski areas, with about 12 million skiers to fill those slopes, Germany is Europe’s biggest skiing nation. At 878m, Grosser Feldberg is the highest peak in the Taunus Mountains, and lies only 38km from Frankfurt. Big crowds often arrive at the weekend, as they have for more than a century, currently with the aid of two drag lifts. WWW.TAUNUS.INFO

2 OSLO WINTER PARK
OSLO, NORWAY

The Norwegian capital's vibrant city centre is compact enough to explore on foot, and is punctuated by plenty of cool boutiques and cosy bars. Once you've had your fill of the sights, join the locals - for whom skiing is as natural as walking - when they take the tram up to the Oslo Winter Park (also known as Tryvann) after work. It's floodlit until 10pm and boasts 18 slopes and seven lifts. You'll also find terrain parks and two half-pipes. The World Snowboarding Championships is also being held here 10-19 February. WWWW.TRYVANN.NO

3 VILLACH
KLAGENFURT, AUSTRIA

Villach is a small city in southern Austria with a history dating back 5,500 years. The Romans liked it for its thermal waters and they're still gushing forth. You can fly in to nearby Klagenfurt and purchase a "Three countries" lift pass, which covers ski resorts in Austria and over the nearby borders of Slovenia and Italy too. Villach itself has five separate ski areas nearby but the small local slope of Heiligengeist is just 15 minutes from the city centre. WWW.VILLACH.AT

4 ZOCHOVA CHATA
BRATISLAVA, SLOVAK REPUBLIC

It's little known that Slovakia is home to hundreds of (mostly small) ski areas, some very close to Bratislava. Zochova Chata has just a couple of simple lifts and about a kilometre of easy-intermediate level ski slopes, plus a toboggan run, but it is very close to the city - only 35km away and is popular with locals from there and other nearby towns, including Modra and the closest, Piesok, which is also famed for its ceramics. WWW.LKBABA.SK

5 MOUNT OLYMPUS
LARNACA, CYPRUS

The average winter temperature in Cyprus is a tad over 17˚C, but that didn't stop residents of the city hiking up to ski when snow fell on the local hills in the 1930s, then later adding the most southerly ski lifts in Europe in 1960. They even named the pistes after Greek gods and mythical figures like Aphrodite and Hermes. Snowfall is diﬃcult to predict, but usually lasts from January to March and snow canons also cover the slopes. Then it's down to the beach at Larnaca so enjoy some winter sun. WWW.CYPRUSSKI.COM

6 CHAMROUSSE
GRENOBLE, FRANCE

If you're looking for a larger ski area close to an historic city, you can't do much better than Chamrousse, only 32km up the hill from Grenoble. While Grenoble was first made a city by the Romans in 381AD, Chamrousse is more recent, being built for the 1968 Winter Olympics. The 90km of runs largely consist of family friendly terrain, but there are 14 steeper reds and blacks, including the famous Men's Olympic Downhill course — at 4.5km, the longest here. WWW.CHAMROUSSE.COM

7 OUKAÏMEDEN
MARRAKESH, MOROCCO

Africa's largest ski area lies in the Atlas Mountains near Jebel Toubkal. This makes it a relatively easy drive from Marrakesh airport, meaning there's the option of snowboarding one day and enjoying the legendary atmosphere of the Jamaa el Fna and the souks the next (see our On the Ground section on page 43 for more ideas). Oukaïmeden was developed by the French in the 1940s and more recently reported to have been purchased by a company in the Middle East which has plans to develop a resort of international standing. The lifts - an ageing double chair lift and half a dozen surface lifts - remain fairly basic, but at 3,273m this is the highest skiing in Africa and worth it just to boast to your friends

8 MOUNT KOZUF
THESSALONIKI, GREECE

Greece has more than 20 ski areas of its own but Macedonia's Mount Kozuf, just over the border, is one of the easiest to reach from the country's second city, Thessaloniki. In fact, it's only an hour's drive away, so before heading to the slopes you can take a tour of the city's Unesco-listed ancient churches, soak up the incredible art scene and lively nightlife, and chill in the seafront cafés. The area was planned as a major regional ski centre and opened in 2007 with two fast chair lifts. The highest peak is at 2,201m and there's 65km of piste to explore. WWW.SKIKOZUF.COM

9 CAMPO CATINO
ROME, ITALY

The last thing most people think of on a visit to the magnificent Eternal City is skiing, but just as the Romans have their beaches they also have their ski centres - about an hour's drive from the capital. Campo Catino, one of the closest resorts to Rome, is 1,800m up on a treeless plateau. There are five ski lifts here, with a 320m vertical and 10km of runs to enjoy. And the height of the ski slopes means they're normally snow sure. WWW.COMUNE.GUARCINO.FR.IT

Snow Flash

THE SNOWHUNTER'S LATEST NEWS FROM THE SLOPES

In resorts in the Alps, Dolomites and Pyrenees dozens of new hotels and apartment complexes continue to open. And resorts across the continent continue to spend big on snowmaking machines to try to ensure they can open their pistes all season (so long as it's cold enough to make snow).

In Italy, Madonna di Campiglio (www.campiglio.to) has completed a long-planned gondola and ski run link to its neighbour, Pinzolo, creating a 150km ski area. Kronplatz (www.kronplatz.com) has opened a 7km long ski run accessed by a gondola. All three resorts are reached easily from Verona.

Austria's Saalbach Hinterglemm (www.saalbach.com) and Kitzbühel (www.kitzbuehel.com), both near Salzburg, have new lifts too.

In Saalbach's case it's another big fast gondola for their world beating fleet - the company has spent €234m upgrading its ski slopes over the past decade, and Kitzbühel has a new six-seater chairlift with pull-down weather-protection.

Music in the mountains

It seems we can't get enough of music festivals close to the slopes. Fly to one of these fests to rock out at the end of the ski season

MÉRIBEL LIVE
MÉRIBEL, FRANCE
This laid-back festival takes place from 19 to 23 March and will be headlined by The Feeling. Culminating with a massive free gig by the piste, it's the perfert ski-party spring break.
WWW.MERIBEL.NET

BRITS
LAAX, SWITZERLAND
A major event on the British skiing and snowboarding calendar, this festival, 18-25 March, combines one of the top skiing/ snowboarding competitions around with performances from huge bands.
WWW.THE-BRITS.COM

ROCK THE PISTES
PORTES DU SOLEIL, FRANCE/SWITZERLAND
Launched in 2010, this popular fest takes place 24-28 March. Skiers sign up to receive text alerts of where free gigs will be held across the vast 650km ski area the day before, then they hop on their skis and race over to them.
WWW.ROCKTHEPISTES.COM

BASSCAMP
MORZINE, FRANCE
This is a brand new event scheduled for 2-6 April that promises to bring a bass-heavy line-up to the famous French resort. One for the party crowd. Check the website for updates.
WWW.BASSCAMP-FESTIVAL.COM

SNOWBOMBING
MAYRHOFEN, AUSTRIA
Probably the most established of the winter mountain festivals, Snowbombing completely takes over the Mayrhofen resort on 9-14 April. This year Snoop Dogg and Example headline and Fat Boy Slim will be throwing a street party.
WWW.SNOWBOMBING.COM