Fernie Skiing

Sick of lift queues and bored of busy pistes? There are still some hidden gems out there just waiting to be skied. Just keep quiet about it.

Have you ever felt a sense of deja-vu when the annual ski trip comes around? Same old lifts, same old Euro pop in the mountain cafes, same old icy black run back to base (why do they always do that?). Open your eyes and head off the beaten track. Dream, discover, explore.

How great would it be to return from your next ski trip with a real story to tell? 'I rode the Vallée Blanche'. Sorry, been there, done that. 'I saw in New Year in Vail'. Very nice, but so did we, three years ago. 'I named a first descent in Greenland '. Eh? Now that's more like it. There is something uniquely satisfying about taking the path less travelled and discovering somewhere new.

THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER, SO GET OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

So where first? Let's start with the aforementioned jaw-dropper, heli-skiing in Greenland. I first heard about this when a snowboard pro pal of mine returned wide-eyed and with renewed lust for sliding sideways from an epic trip there. A few years ago when he was high on the tales of first descents, Greenland was an experience reserved for the privileged few. But now, it's becoming more accessible to all. A quick web search will reveal tour operators who specialise in first descent packages, and you can fly direct from Copenhagen, Iceland, Ottawa and Montreal. If you go, your runs will average 4,000 to 6,000ft of vertical drop, jaw-dropping scenery and terrain no one else has ever touched. There are three ski resorts in Greenland ; Aasiaat, Maniitsoq and Sisimiut, but the best terrain is accessed by helicopter.

Of course, heli-skiing tends to be pretty amazing wherever you do it. Its very essence lies in finding untouched gems, but it can be prohibitively expensive. That's why Baqueira-Beret, a little-known resort in the northern Pyrenees in Spain with the cheapest heli-skiing in Europe, makes my list of hidden gems.

Another more cost-efficient way of accessing hidden stashes of virgin powder fields is to go snowcat skiing. Two of the best priced and little known places to do it are Grand Targhee in Wyoming and Fernie in Canada. In Grand Targhee, the snowcat ski area rivals the size of the 2,000 acres of lift-served piste. Meanwhile Fernie's gentler tree runs are spectacularly beautiful and, as a young resort, the pisted terrain of linked bowls remains crowd-free. For snowboarders particularly, who will love the natural bowls and gullies, Fernie is about as close as it gets to perfect.

Just up the road (in Canadian terms) is Kicking Horse, one of the world's newest resorts. But its tender age of two hasn't stopped it already amassing a passionate following among pioneering snowsports enthusiasts. The terrain is nearly twice the size of Breckenridge, and is rapidly expanding. The one drawback of a resort in its infancy like this is that there is little mountainside accommodation and few facilities, so visitors have to stay in the nearby valley town of Golden.

Sticking with the northern hemisphere, Sweden has to be one of the most underrated places for alpine riding. Yes, you may think it's just flat and dark, but actually the resorts of Åre and Riksgränsen are true hidden gems. Although family-friendly Åre still has far too many slow drag-lifts, the sheer beauty of the place and the almost magical quality of the light make it an amazing winter destination with some truly excellent skiing. Meanwhile Riksgränsen, in the very far north, has already made it onto the list of 'must-ride' snowboard destinations, regularly playing host to the Arctic Challenge and offering riding under the midnight sun well into June.


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