Pods and pads
Snowpod is a new collection of funky but cheap serviced apartments in Tignes, France, in the Val Claret area, targeting snowboarders with graffiti art, salvaged furnishings and X-boxes. From £199pp per week B&B, £299pp half-board. Drop In Chalets (+44 (0) 7864 289 134), a new venture in Chamonix,has six en-suite rooms, a home cinema and outdoor hot tub, offers off-piste skis and tuition, and aims to be eco-friendly. From £420pp per week half board. And Green Mountain Chalets, new in St Martin de Belleville in the Trois Vallées, is a stylish option with five rooms, a cellar dining room, honesty fridge and free shuttle to the lifts, from €380pp per week half-board.
Lift queues can be the bane of skiing, so a Swiss hotel is pampering its guests by giving them their own ski lift. The Tschuggen Grand Hotel (+41 81 378 99 99) in Arosa is about to launch the Tschuggen Express, a futuristic mountain railway with leather seats, which carries 12 guests at a time.
Adventures
A new and easy way to see Norway combines skiing and rail: the trip includes train travel between Oslo and Bergen, two days' skiing in Geilo and a stay in the cosy Bardola Hotel. One week including flights from Gatwick to Oslo and returning from Bergen, seven nights' B&B, three dinners and lunches, costs from £975pp with Inntravel (+44 (0) 1653 617 722), available between 2 January and 10 April.
Where do all the pros and die-hard skiers head when they've ticked off Alaska, Russia and Chile? Antarctica, apparently. It may be the most expensive ski trip ever, but if it's adventure you're after this must be the ultimate. This unique holiday to the Ellsworth Mountains is offered by Adventure Network International, and is tailored, so you can book a camping expedition or take day tours from a more comfortable base camp. Ski tourers can stick to easy trails or make first descents down hidden peaks, and ride off-piste in the backcountry, always with guides. Next departures from 16–29 Dec and 10–23 Jan (14 days), costs US$22,450pp or $23,250pp in 2010-11, including flights from Punta Arenas (Chile) to Antarctica, meals and accommodation, group camping, equipment and expedition guide. Excludes international flights.
On the cheap
Screams of "What, €10 for a beer?!" echoed around many eurozone resorts last season, so this season's bargain hunters will have to be savvy, or head east. Bulgarian resorts are expecting an influx of skiers. Deals include a week's self-catering in Bansko in an apartment for six including flights and transfers from £234pp, departing Gatwick 9 January, or half-board in a hotel departing Manchester 3 January from £299pp, with Balkan Holidays (0845 130 1114, balkanholidays.co.uk). Lift pass £84 for six days.
