Content
About Us
Our contributors
The Ultimate-Ski.com website is a the result of thousands of hours work including contributions from our team of ski journalists whose impartiality, authority and expertise is central to our endeavour - we aim to bring you the best ski resort information online anywhere and then to make it better. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it...
David Holyoak
Publisher, Ultimate-Ski.com
Founder of Ultimate Sports Media Ltd and Ultimate-Ski.com, David has a passion for all things skiing, especially St Anton am Arlberg which he has visited more often than we care to remember, always taking regular tea breaks between turns - as the picture proves! David is the driving force behind Ultimate-Ski.com but fortunately he is mostly too busy with commercial activities and Internet to have time to ski or to write, so those better qualified than him get the opportunity to do so with minimum interference.
Eric Kendall
Editor, Ultimate-Ski.com
Eric has been writing about and photographing adventure sports for fifteen years. He has skied in Europe, North America, South America and New Zealand, writing about his adventures for newspapers and magazines in the UK and beyond. In summer 2007, Eric and wife Penny, relocated from London to their new home – an Auberge at 1,500m in Zinal, Valais, Switzerland which they are now busy renovating until it’s time to get back on the slopes. A recent count left him woefully short of Arnie Wilson’s resort tally, though of course he’s not nearly as old.
Isobel Rostron
Editorial Contributor, Ultimate-Ski.com
Passionate about skiing from an early age, Isobel founded the Snowmole range of guidebooks after a season in Verbier convinced her to abandon a sensible career in the law. She now spends each winter researching ski resorts worldwide - and each summer dreaming about the next winter. She is also the editor of the Warren Smith Ski Academy handbooks and a BASI Instructor. Now living winter and summer in Chamonix - her favourite place in the Alps - Isobel has skied extensively, in France and Switzerland especially
Christine Ottery
Editorial Contributor, Ultimate-Ski.com
The former editor of Snow magazine, Christine always hankers after more two-planked action. She has been far and wide on the quest for a story, including resorts in Poland, Sweden and Canada. Working as a ski host one winter, she showed off Val D’Isère’s cruisy blues, ungroomed freshies and knee-rattling bumps, and on her days off learnt to dodge trees and shoot down couloirs. She properly learnt how to ski aged eight when her parents pointed to a gourmet lunch-stop halfway down a very steep, icy run with moguls the size of old minis.
Will Holyoak
News Editor, Ultimate-Ski.com
Will first 'learned' to ski the hard way, on a dry ski slope in Esher where he missed his first turn and broke a leg, but he has since had plenty more fun earning his turns mostly in Canada, Austria and Switzerland. While studying Politics and International Relations at the University of Manchester, he spends free time liaising with resorts and reporting their ski news, with time to spare for weekend skiing. Favourite ski resort? It's far too soon to say, but ask him about football and there's only one team that matters, Crewe Alex FC.
Arnie Wilson
Ski author and editor
Arnie spent 15 years in television before becoming the Financial Times ski correspondent in 1986. In 2001 he also became editor of Ski & Board magazine. In 1994 he skied every day for a year - a feat that took him to 240 resorts in 13 countries around the world, and into the Guinness Book of Records. Arnie has now skied in over 660 resorts and has no plans to hang up his skis until he has made it 1,000. His next mission is to ski in all 39 of America’s “skiing states” – he has 5 to go. Our most experienced ski writer by far and a true gent!
Leslie Woit
Ski journalist
Canadian Leslie Woit has skied since childhood and is a certified member of the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance. She instructed in Canada and Switzerland and then worked as marketing director for Mike Wiegele Heliskiing in British Columbia before editing Fall Line Skiing Magazine. Well regarded for her entertaining writing style, Leslie now writes about skiing - and more - for publications around the world. After a 12-week summer stint working as a milkmaid and living in a wooden hut at 1,500m in Austria’s Steinerne Meer mountains, Leslie is itching to get back to the Alps.
Felix Milns
Ski journalist and photographer
A keen player in the hunt for global powder and always the first to jump into a couloir, Felix Milns is a freelance travel journalist and photographer who specialises in skiing. He writes for The Evening Standard, The Express and The Times and is also a regular contributor to Ski and Board Magazine. Felix has co-authored several books on skiing and regularly appears on the BBC as a travel expert. His favourite resort is St Anton, home of the Mooserwirt , the world's best après ski bar. Prosit!
Rob Freeman
Ski journalist
Rob Freeman has been lucky for many years that the ski trip he is always about to go on is work, not a holiday. He believes it's only fair to readers that every run on the mountain should be explored, every bar visited and every restaurant tested for quality. That's the aim anyway. A staff journalist on the Daily Mail and a qualified ski instructor, Rob writes for magazines, newspapers and ski websites. Thankfully there's always another run to be checked out, he says, and always another traverse to be made to find the best snow.
Vince Shuley
Ski Instructor and Journalist
Vince is an Australian ski instructor who spends his northern hemisphere winters in Whistler teaching teenagers and coaching local kids. Having taught in the USA, Canada and Australia, he is now brushing up on his Spanish and travelling to Chile for the next winter?s work. He is currently writing for Australian ski publications and looks for any excuse to take a road trip and explore new places to ski and tour. He shares time between the terrain park, the steeps and the backcountry and will drop everything to go chase powder.
David Cronheim
Skier and Writer
Currently a student at Cornell Law School, David still finds time to escape his Ivy League legal studies for 30+ days each year on snow. An East Coaster by birth, David has skied extensively throughout North America and was a staff writer at Snowjournal.com before jumping across the pond to write for Ultimate-Ski.com. Proud to be the last one at the bar and the first one on the slopes, his favorite resorts are Killington in the East and Snowbird in the West. Sadly, despite being fluent in German, he’s not yet skied in Europe... but hopefully we can fix that.
Douglas Krause
Snow Safety Director and Heli-ski Guide
Doug is the Snow Safety Director and lead patroller and heli-ski guide for Silverton Mountain Ski Area in Silverton, Colorado where he runs the avalanche forecasting and control program. Doug also teaches avalanche and backcountry skiing courses, is an emergency medical technician and a big fan of argentine meat. For the past eight years he has spent his summers skiing in South America, as lead guide for South America Ski in Las Lenas with extensive knowledge and experience guiding expert skiers on and off-piste all over Argentina and Chile.
Siôn Ishmael
Editorial Contributor, Ultimate-Ski.com
A sport psychology graduate with a passion for skiing, Sion grew up in Germany and Switzerland and started skiing from an early age, supposedly before he could walk. He has skied numerous resorts, mostly in Switzerland, as well as Andorra, Austria and France. His favourite resort is Laax in Switzerland – great atmosphere, good skiing including tree-runs, and amazing terrain parks, the fact that few people know of it and the Rider’s Palace which is one of the coolest hotels in the Alps. Sion will be based in the French Alps this winter.
James Morland
Expert heli-skier and guide
James is an experienced heli skier having spent the past 10 years searching the world for the best powder. He founded Elemental Adventure, a specialist heli ski tour operator, in 2001 since which time his heli-ski adventures have taken him to the far corners of the Kamchatka peninsula, the western Caucasus, Turkey, Alaska, British Columbia, India and Greenland. James is currently training to become an ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides) Ski Guide and lives in Chamonix France. Before starting Elemental Adventure he worked as a professional ski patroller in British Columbia, a yacht skipper and manager of fishing lodges in Arctic Russia.
Ruth Lawrenson & Giorgio Bisotti
Italian Ski Specialists and Editorial Contributors
Ruth and Giorgio run Echo Travel, a specialist Tour Operator, offering tailor made ski and board holidays in the Italian mountains. Passionate about the mountains, they are true Italian experts and divide their time between Italy and the UK. Winters are always spent in the Italian Alps, where Giorgio, a qualified ISIA ski and board instructor, has a life time of ski and mountaineering experience. Ruth is a keen Alpine skier as well as a cross country ski enthusiast, and enjoys spending any free time writing about great Italian ski areas for Ultimate-Ski.com.
Graham Austick
Mountain guide and expedition leader
Graham is owner and leading guide at Piste To Powder, the ski guiding company based in St Anton, Austria. Where he has been guiding off-piste in the Arlberg every winter for nearly 20 years. He also offers tuition for skiers wanting to improve their deep snow skiing skills.The rest of his year is spent mountaineeing and leading ski expeditions including first descents in Alaska, Greenland and the Himalayas. Lately he has been in the Lyngen Alps in Norways Artic Circle where he is building a swish log cabin as a base for guided ski tours by boat.
Nick Parks
Mountain guide and expedition leader
Nick has been an IFMGA mountain guide since 1987. He got into ski racing as a junior and was an instructor in Scotland before his addiction to off-piste. He founded the guiding company Mountain Tracks in 2000 following 10 years as Director of Outdoor Education at Marlborough College. He has been leading mountain expeditions on skis and on foot for almost 20 years, taking clients to some of the most remote corners of the globe. Today Nick is equally at home on alpine and telemark skis and is getting there on a snowboard.
Henrik Hultberg
Ski expert and expedition leader
Henrik has 15 years experience arranging trips and guiding groups around most of the best ski resorts of the Alps and since 2001 he has been based in Saint Jacques, Monterosa, Italy, where he also runs the B&B Sherpa Prasec. The last year Henrik became a partner with new ski tour operator Alpine Legends, based in Stockholm. Except for skinning up the hills of Valle d´Aosta hunting the longest powder runs, Henrik also enjoys a good glass of fine grappa in his Grappabar and writing about great skiing areas for Ultimate-ski.com
Warren Smith
Performance ski trainer and coach
Warren Smith is the founder of Snowsport Synergy Ltd and our Verbier off-piste expert. He is one of Britain’s leading professional freeskiers and an internationally certified performance coach. He has spent many years teaching recreational skiers, developing ski instructors and coaching racers all over Europe, and has earned a name for getting results with his students. Warren and his partner, photographer Melody Sky, live in the Swiss resort of Verbier where they have spent 15 years skiing some of the world’s best ski terrain and diving his time between coaching for his Academy, filming and organising events.
Peter Wilson
Skier and Student at Newcastle University
I love to ski whenever I can and have skied in America, South America and all over the Alps. My favourite resort is La Plagne, because I go there the most, but I also love the deep powder in Utah and South America off-piste. My favourite skiing is off-piste - the mountain makes you feel really humble - and I’m beginning to do more and more hikes to get to better, untouched snow. I am also a member of the Newcastle University Freestyle Team, which teaches tricks and jumps in the park.
David Murdoch
Skier
David Murdoch has been an obsessively passionate skier since his first sliding experience at Cairngorm aged 4. He now alternates between a real job marketing investment software and a real love of mountains and skiing. His current objective is maximise the numbers of days skied each year while holding down a full time corporate position. He has skied in many European and US resorts, is a keen heli-skier having twice visited TLH Helisking and regularly competes in the annual Inferno ski race. David and wife Sophie now live in Geneva and Chamonix.
Steve Angus
Ski and snowboard instructor
Steve holds inernational, British and Canadian ski and snowboard instructor qualifications (ISIA, BASI and CASI). Working in Val d’Isère, France from December to April and Coronet Peak, New Zealand from June to September. With more than 12 countries under his skis he has spent considerable time as an instructor in Whistler and the French Alps, as well as Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Having worked with tour operators, British Universities Snowsports Council and ski racing he reckons he spent more hours on skis than at school and university combined.
Richard McGibbon
Photojournalist
Richard is an Australian photojournalist who spends half the year in the Austrian resort of St. Anton and the other half roaming the planet looking for adventure. His ski trips have taken him up remote mountains in Columbia, to the snow-capped peaks of Bolivia and deep into the backcountry of Patagonia. Its been many years since he has last seen a real summer and hopes it will still be a few more. His childhood passion for photography has become his way of documenting and helping to fund his adventures. His photos have found their way into magazines, brochures, books and websites, although he is not always sure how.
Penny Kendall
Photographer
A comparative late-comer to skiing, Penny has spent the last ten years making up for lost time, getting plenty of miles on snow while taking photos for the ski press. Married to our ski Editor and adventure travel writer, Eric Kendall, Penny is accustomed to travelling around the world and recording their experiences on camera as well as chasing Eric up and down some gnarly descents. Her work can be seen in magazines, newspapers and websites, as well as on Ultimate-Ski.com.
Send us your news
Our snowsports enthusiasts are hungry for reliable information so send us your press releases and news updates to help keep our audience fully informed with ski resort opening dates, infra structure developments, snow conditions and what's going on in the village including details of new hotels, restaurants and events and special deals. Send your press releases and ski and snowsports news to:Will Holyoak, News Editor: will@ultimate-ski.com
Boxes leftside
Navigation
Resort shortcuts
Boxes rightside
Search Site
Custom Search
Competition
Ultimate-Ski.com and the Canadian Ski Destination Consortium are giving away a 7-day ski holiday for 2 to one of 10 great Canadian ski resorts. The winner gets to choose which resort with flights from UK courtesy of Canadian Affair.
Enter here
Enter here
Ski Insurance
