Ultimate-Ski.com, the ultimate ski guide to the best skiing and snowboarding destinations, is written by recognised ski journalists and other expert contributors. Our in-depth ski resort guides will help you choose the right ski destination for you and now include new online booking engines to enable you to book online.
David Holyoak - Publisher & Editor
David has a passion for all things skiing, especially ski
resorts in Switzerland and Austria. most notably St Anton and
Lech-Zurs in the Arlberg region of Austria, which he has visited
year-in, year-out for over 30 years, always taking regular tea
breaks between turns! Publisher & Editor of Ultimate-Ski.com,
but with other business interests, David is invariably too busy to
have much time to write, so better writers than him get the
opportunity to do so.
Tim Colman - Webmaster
Tim has skied since the age of 16 although, sadly, he spends
more time behind a desk than on the slopes these days. His proudest
ski moment was being carded to get into the bar at the top of Squaw
Valley when the grey hair was already firmly established. A
long term resident of Japan, Tim has skied extensively in Japan and
the Far East. As the Ultimate-Ski.com Webmaster (among many other
things) he's the person who puts most of the site content onto the
page. If you like the website, the newsletter and our new online
booking engines say thanks to Tim. Lots of people do!
Editorial Contributors
Our team of editorial contributors past and present include
recognised ski journalists and other experts who have spent
thousands of hours on ski slopes and in apres ski bars in top
resorts worldwide as well as actually writing about them. It's a
tough job, but somebody's got to do it...
Arnie Wilson
Ski Author, Editor and Editorial Contributor to
Ultimate-Ski.com, Arnie spent 15 years in television before
becoming the Financial Times ski correspondent in 1986. In 2001
Arnie switched to became editor of Ski & Board magazine, but
still writes for the FT now and then. 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 almost 700 resorts and has no plans to hang up his
skis until he has made it 1,000. His most recent mission, completed
in Arizona in 2011, was to to ski in all 37 of America's "skiing
states". Our most experienced ski writer by far and a true
gent!
Geoffrey Riddle
Writer, photographer and skier, Geoffrey first caught the skiing
bug when ushered towards a piste in the Sierra Nevada aged five.
Put at the top, he was amazed at how easy it was to come back down
- call it youthful fearlessness and ever since he's been searching
for ways to remain in the mountains without resorting to the
lengths undertaken by Arnie Wilson. His professional career has
seen him tackle ski areas as far afield as Russia and Turkey. When
not writing about skiing and boarding, Geoffrey covers rugby and
racing for the Times, Sunday Times, Reuters and the National in Abu
Dhabi.
David Cronheim
An attorney at the law firm of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus
P.A. specialising in business and ski-related law and a legal
commentator for numerous USA ski publications including First
Tracks Online and the Ski Channel, David still finds time for 30+
days each year on snow. In addition to his legal work, David is
General Counsel and an Editorial Contributor to Ultimate-Ski.com
and oversees our USA & Canada content. An East Coaster by
birth, he has skied extensively throughout North America. His
favourite resorts are Sugarbush in the East, Snowbird in the West
and the Arlberg in Europe
Will Holyoak
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 Austria,
America and New Zealand. Having recently been awarded a first in
Politics & International Relations from the University of
Manchester (we don't compromise at Ultimate-Ski.com), he now works
with the Civil Service mandarins in Whitehall, but spends his free
time liaising with ski resorts, reporting news and looking after
our New Zealand content. Will has yet to decide on a favourite ski
resort, but ask him about football and only one team matters -
Crewe Alex FC.
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 UK's
Daily Mail newspaper and a qualified ski instructor, Rob writes for
magazines, newspapers, ski websites and Ultimate-Ski.com.
Thankfully there's always another run to be checked out, he says,
and always another traverse to be made to find the best snow.
Eric Kendall
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 have
fully renovated are now busy hosting guests both on and off the
slopes. A recent count left Eric woefully short of Arnie Wilson's
resort tally, though of course he's not nearly as old.
Ruth Lawrenson
Ruth is co-owner of Echo Travel, a specialist Tour Operator,
offering affordable tailor made ski and board holidays in the
Italian mountains. Anything from a simple family holiday to an
adventurous group heli-ski or ski touring excursion can be
organised to suit individual requirements. An Area Manager with
Crystal Holidays for many years, Ruth has in-depth knowledge and
experience of Italian ski resorts and is able to offer advice on
most aspects of a ski holiday! Ruth divides her time between Italy
and the UK. A keen Alpine skier and Cross Country ski enthusiast,
Ruth enjoys spending any free time writing about great Italian ski
areas for Ultimate Ski.
Rebecca Miles
Working seasons and quickly realising she wasn't good enough to
make a career as a pro skier, Rebecca got into ski journalism and
has forged a fledgling career, writing and editing for a string of
snowsports publications, including the Ski & Snowboard
magazine, Where to Ski & Snowboard, Natives, MetroSnow.co.uk
and Ultimate-Ski.com. French resorts are her first love -
especially Serre Chevalier - but she has recently been discovering
more of Austria (loving the prices and the après ski) and Italy
(loving the food and flattering slopes). When she's not frantically
typing on her laptop, she'd rather be up to her knees in powder, of
course.
Christine Ottery
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.
Vince Shuley
Vince Shuley is a published journalist and photographer
currently residing in Whistler, Canada. He has been responsible for
providing resort reviews for many of our featured Canadian resorts
as well as providing feature articles during the winter seasons. He
has experience in both online and print media, writing and shooting
for numerous Australian magazines. Vince has worked as ski
instructor in the US, Canada, Australia and Chile. An avid
backcountry enthusiast, Vince is constantly planning the next trip
to experience more and more ski destinations and helps look after
our Canada content.
Graham Austick
Graham Austick, mountain guide and expedition leader, is the
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. Graham now divides his time between St Anton and the
Lyngen Alps in Norways Artic Circle where he has built a swish log
cabin as a base for guided ski tours by boat.
Giorgio Bisotti
Giorgio is an ISIA qualified ski and board instructor with a
life time of ski and mountaineering experience. Passionate about
the mountains, in addition to climbing the north face routes up
many of Italy's highest peaks, he has also climbed mountains in
South America and the Himalaya, at a time when it was a real
adventure to do so! Former director of the Livigno Ski School, he
now co-owns Echo Travel, a specialist tour operator, organising ski
and board holidays in Italy. Giorgio's invaluable contribution to
our Aosta Valley resort reports, offers readers accurate and
detailed descriptions of the ski areas - both on- and
off-piste.
Henrik Hultberg
A ski guide and expedition leader, Henrik has 20 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
Douglas Krause
Doug Krause 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.
Nick Parks
A mountain guide and expedition leader, Nick Parks 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.
Warren Smith
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.
Acknowledgements
Thanks also to Steve Angus, Celia Fielder, Siôn Ishmael, Penny
Kendall, Richard McGibbon, Felix Milns, James Morland, Isobel
Rostron, Graeme Spratley, Leslie Woit, Kevin Wolff & Kasey
Moore.