New ski features

Now the gusty days are whipping up autumn leaves and the nights are drawing in, it’s time to plan ahead to the ski season.

We might not have the budget to follow celebrities to Klosters, but my latest ski features looking at luxury resorts in Switzerland and Austria for Meze magazine (page 64) , will get you in the mood. Think thermal spas, stringy raclette and chocolate-box alpine villages and you’ll be well on the way to booking.

Amazingly, the recession hasn’t rocked the ski property market as much as some areas and ski accommodation can still make a sound investment. I look at the pros and cons in my feature about investing in a ski property abroad (page 95).

Those that have been on the slopes with me (the once) will realise I’m probably the world’s worst skier. I took to the slopes for the first time in my thirties, when the natural impulse to hurtle down the snowy runs, didn’t quite ever appear. I’m far happier on horseback.

In fact, I was interminably cold and hungry and wedged into a terrified snow plough stance for most of the trip. The problem was that I had left it all to late to learn and La Plagne wasn’t really a novice resort. Low points include having to crawl on my hands and knees around experienced skiers ankles when I couldn’t get my balance on a blue run and pulling an instructor with me into a heap off a ski lift.

So, seasoned skiers and boarders, I’ll be turning down your kind offers again this year! But I have loved writing about the sumptuous accommodation up there on the slopes. Enjoy!