Quirky Guide

Alys is a winter sports specialist who writes for publications such as The Mountain Echo, www.natives.co.uk and the brochure for the Altitude Festival 2009. She has worked two winter seasons in Meribel, France.

Qbic Hotels offer futuristic, cube shaped rooms, with double beds, a bathroom and desk all incorporated into one small square area.

For sensible souls who fail to see the point of a holiday where you have to exercise every day, there is a solution: the Sno-limo.

Inline and roller skaters happily gliding along the city’s streets en masse, accompanied by a subwoofer-equipped music bike.

Every April, the worlds of snow mobile and ski enthusiasts collide (quite literally) in this mad event.

If you’re fed up with overcrowded, built up, boozy party town ski resorts, Idaho’s back country may provide the remedy you’re looking for.

What do you get when you cross a scavenger hunt, a fancy dress competition and a series of messy, silly and sometimes scary dares?

Steering? No. Brakes? Not a chance. A hell of a lot of fun? Most definitely.

Visit the Japanese resort of Goryu-Hakuba 47 on Christmas Eve and you will be hard pressed to spot anyone not in full festive fancy dress.

A no frills, eco-friendly skiing experience where you sleep in animal furs and the closest you’ll get to a shower is a roll in the snow.

Forget snow shoe walks and cross country ski treks, the only way to explore the winter wilderness this season is on a segway.