Luxury London Magazine January 2019

MAGAZINE

January 2019 £7.00

A B OV E & B E YO N D THE SNOW ISSUE EXPLORING THE NATURAL WONDER OF THE WORLD IN WINTER

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CONTENTS 64

70 UP FRONT

38 MAN ON A MISSION Explorer and balloonist

10 EDITOR’S LETTER

Bertrand Piccard on his pursuit

12 THE SNOW REPORT

to save the environment

High attitude accessories for

44 F ROM MEMORY TO MYTH

high altitude performances

The fascinating life and times

28 CHAMPAGNE ON ICE

of British travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor

20 Fenchurch Street gets an Arctic makeover 30 ON LONDON TIME

48 TAYLOR BURK The Canadian shutterbug shares his most arresting snaps

Mr & Mrs Smith’s Tamara Lohan on her top ski resort

F E AT U R E S

53 IN THE SNOW

The inside scoop from the

world’s best ski resorts

64 MOUNTAIN MAN 32 EMOTION PICTURE

The highs and lows of alpine

Martin Heck’s captivating

skier and businessman

Lasse Kjus

time-lapse fi lms

T H E S N OW I SS U E

99

32

108

70 WHERE EAGLES DARE

114 COURCHEVEL

A Red Bull documentary captures

What stands the villages of France’s most famous resort apart

an epic slalom in action 84 RUNNING OF THE BULLS

120 VALAIS IN WINTER

Road-testing Lamborghini’s

Why Crans-Montana offers an

authentic alpine experience

first Super SUV 92 DANCING ON ICE A slippery slope for the McLaren

PROPERTY

570S Spider

FIRST RESORTS 100 PEAK LUXURY

Discover the best ski chalets

in Europe

108 T OP OF THE WORLD Exploring St Moritz, the world’s first great ski resort

130 INSIDER KNOWLEDGE

The latest property news from

luxury journal PrimeResi.com

138 SPOTLIGHT Inside Gianni Botsford’s Notting

Hill home

140 STREETS AHEAD The hottest houses hitting the market this month

COV E R Washington’s Mount Baker is captured at sunrise in all its technicolour glory (p.48), photography by Taylor Burk, taylorburk.com

FROM THE EDITOR January 2019 Issue 08

EDITOR Richard Brown CONTENT DIRECTOR Dawn Alford DEPUTY EDITOR Ellen Millard

Perhaps it’s because puny Snowdon has left us with an inferiority complex, maybe it’s because we don’t have a Montblanc or an Elbrus of our own, but the siren call of the summit has always proven particularly strong among the British.

Between Sir Alfred Wills’s 1854 ascent of Switzerland’s Wetterhorn, and Edward Whymper’s scaling of the neighbouring Matterhorn in 1865, the golden age of alpinism was characterised by a collection of upper-class Brits racing to the top of Europe’s highest peaks. The world’s first mountaineering society, the Alpine Club, was founded in 1857 in London – a city that sits on a floodplain 11 metres above sea level.

Around the same time, the steam train was opening up previously inaccessible areas of the Alps, inviting inhabitants of a predominantly flat country with a marked absence of snow to contribute a disproportionately large number of footnotes to the narrative of the ski resort.

Four of the first Brits to discover the wonder of Alpine villages in the winter arrived in St Moritz in 1864 (p.108). They were answering the wager of Johannes Badrutt, owner of the Kulm Hotel, the town’s first large-scale guesthouse, who promised to reimburse their costs should they fail to be enamoured by St Moritz in the snow. They arrived at Christmas and stayed until Easter – inventing the white winter holiday in the process.

In the ensuing years, Brits in St Moritz are credited for conceiving the precursors to all manner of sports, from figure skating and tobogganing to curling and ice hockey.

Following the world’s first downhill ski race in Crans-Montana (p.120) – arranged by Field Marshal Earl Roberts of Kandahar, won by compatriot Cecil Hopkinson – fellow Briton Sir Henry Lunn was persuading authorities to open a winter railway to Mürren.

It was here that his son, Arnold, wrote the rules for downhill skiing, organised the first slalom (1922) and staged the first world championships (1931). His son, Bernard, captained the British Olympic team at the 1936 Winter Olympics in GarmischPartenkirchen, Germany. There are few things more British than inventing a sport and then inviting the world to thrash you at it.

Also in this issue: we interview non-Brit Lasse Kjus (p.64), the only athlete to win a medal in every alpine discipline at the same event (FIS World Ski Championships, Vail, 1999); discover how environmentalist explorer Bertrand Piccard’s next mission is to save our planet (p.38); and document what happened when the world’s fastest freerider raced an Olympic downhill legend on one of Switzerland’s steepest descents (p.70).

ONLINE EDITOR Mhairi Graham EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Abisha Sritharan CLIENT CONTENT MANAGER Sunna Naseer EDITOR-AT-LARGE Annabel Harrison HEAD OF DESIGN Laddawan Juhong DESIGNER Ismail Vedat GENERAL MANAGER Fiona Smith PRODUCTION MANAGER Alice Ford COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Andrew Turner BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTORS Rachel Gilfillan Colin Saunders BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE Madelyn Curnyn MANAGING DIRECTOR Eren Ellwood

Happy skiing.

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THE SNOW REPORT THE LATEST FASHION, PHOTOGRAPHY & COFFEE-TABLE TOMES INSPIRED BY ALTITUDE

ONE CLICK IS ALL IT TAKES AVOID THE CHILL WITH HUBLOT’S CUDDLY CUFF

H

aving become the horologic face of football, boxing and basketball, Hublot is now the watchmaker of the mountains. As well as partnering with the Courchevel French Ski School and acting as official timekeeper to après-ski party-bar La Folie Douce, the brand has launched limited-edition timepieces in reverence to glitzy ski resorts Courchevel and Zermatt, where it operates chaletinspired wood-panelled boutiques.

Hublot has even become the official watch of Bansko, the most prestigious ski resort in Bulgaria.

Nestled within Hublot’s Big Bang

collection is this, the One Click Cuddly Cuff. In 2016, the brand presented the new women’s Big Bang (left): a 39-mm case in gold or steel, available with a bezel paved with diamonds, and a patented ‘One Click’ attachment system – allowing wearers to switch between straps at whim. Those straps now include three Cuddly Cuffs, made of extremely fine, super-soft rabbit down, available in fuchsia, electric turquoise, and a mottled grey. The automatic watch is water resistant to 100 metres, although arguably better suited to the streets of St. Moritz than the sea. hublot.com

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THE WORLD’S FIRST 14K GOLD SKIS In partnership with Italian ski manufacturer Foil Skis, Courchevel’s Grandes Alpes hotel has developed a pair of glamorous skis for its guests to rent during their stay. The Signature Grandes Alpes Foil Skis have been designed by competitive alpine skier Andreas Pichler exclusively for the hotel and come equipped with a classic hip flask and a monogrammed leather case.

The brand’s signature Oro Nero Gold Skis will also be available to rent or buy at the hotel; made from 8,000-year-old Bog Oak and finished with 14k gold, the model is custom built to suit the wearer’s needs.

The Grande Alpes opened in 1948, the same year Courchevel 1850 opened its first ski lift. Today, it

offers a chalet-inspired experience with all of the mod-cons of a five star retreat, including a personalised butler service, a Bellini lounge bar and a spa by Bellefontaine. Its USP, however, is its bespoke services, which include private helicopters, limousines, expert ski guides and exclusive wine tasting events.

Signature Grandes Alpes Foil Skis, available to rent for approx. £850 per day; Oro Nero Gold Skis avaialble to rent for approx. £2,460 per day or buy for approx. £38,045, grandesalpes.com

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LUXURY SHOPPING & DINING IN THE CITY PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR A FULL LIST OF STORES AND OPENING TIMES

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PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID RYLE CAPTURES SKI JUMPERS MID-FLIGHT In his breathtaking Skihopp series, internationallyrenowned London-based photographer David Ryle captured Norwegian ski jumpers as they took to the slopes.

Ryle’s short film and photograph series see Oslobased adrenaline junkies Jonas Schøien Øvsegård and Jorgen Madsen take their turn on the notorious 60m Holmenkollen ski jump. Something of a Norwegian national landmark, the Holmenkollen jump has hosted competitions since 1892, including the 1952 Winter Games and multiple Nordic World Ski Championships. It is also home to the oldest ski museum in the world.

“Ski jumpers in Norway start out when they’re three or four years old,” says Ryle. “There are so many ski jumps – or hills as they’re called – it is so natural for them growing up.

“It is all about religiously going through a certain process that they trust. They’re flying 140m through the air and yet are seemingly super-nonchalant, but sometimes there’s a fear they don’t always admit to.”

Follow David Ryle on Instagram at @david_ryle; prints are available at studio@davidryle.com, davidryle.com

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BRIGHT SIDE Arizona Muse takes to the slopes for skiwear brand Perfect Moment

Supermodel and ski fanatic Arizona Muse sports Perfect Moment’s latest skiwear range – a selection of retro-inspired winter warmers and 70s- and 80s-style silhouettes – in its new campaign. Combining fashion with function, the brand’s new line features its technical fabrics reworked in a host of new styles, from striped thermals to star-print snow suits. Fur-trimmed helmets, kitsch bum bags and goggles complete the collection. perfectmoment.com

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MOODY BLUES Instagrammer Leo Thomas battles extreme weather for his dramatic landscape shots Landscape and outdoor photographer Leo Thomas started his career on Instagram, where he currently has 225,000 followers. After meeting fellow German photographer Lennart Pagel in the American northwest, and seeing the scope of his nature imagery, Thomas decided to train as a professional photographer himself. Many of his shots are taken in bad or extreme weather, portraying the natural world in a powerful light. Get inspired at @theolator. instagram.com/theolator

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Chanel’s debut winter sports collection is exactly what you would imagine a winter sports collection from Chanel to look like: black quilted puffer jackets featuring the brand’s Camellia flower motif, gold embroidered salopettes, tweed knits and shearling accessories, all embossed with the fashion house’s signature CC logo.

NYLON AND TWEED BOWLING BAG, £2,750

CHANEL UNVEILS ITS FIRST SKIWEAR COLLECTION

PILOT SUNGLASSES, £750

CANVAS AND TWEED HAT, £780

chanel.com

LAMBSKIN ANKLE BOOTS, £1,130

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The brand is no stranger to winter sports, having already produced a line of monochrome skis and snowboards. The Coco Neige collection continues the theme with a classic black-and-white colour palette offset with gold and silver embellishments.

LAMBSKIN AND TWEED MITTENS, £960

CANADA GOOSE CATERS TO THE URBAN EXPLORER Canada Goose’s Expedition Parka was created for scientists working in the McMurdo station, a research centre in Antarctica. Today, it is still used by the National Science division of Polar Research.

This, the Macculloch Parka, is a contemporary update on the extreme weather warmer, with a camouflage print and a hood with a removable fur trim.

The parka has been crafted using the brand’s signature Arctic Tech material, a fabric designed to stay dry in extreme conditions and climates. A Canadian white duck down filling will keep you warm in temperatures as low as -25˚C, and the adjustable down-filled hood adds extra warmth and element protection.

In typical Canada Goose style, no detail has been spared: reflective strips sewn onto the back of the hood and the right chest pocket help to add visilibity in low lighting; there’s a chin guard – made from soft tricot fabric for extra comfort – to protect your face from the elements; and a D ring attachment on the left chest pocket makes for a handy place to hang gloves or provide easy access to necessities. Reinforced elbows add durability in high-abrasion areas and there are 12 pockets, two of which are fleecelined and double up as hand-warmers. £1,050, canadagoose.com

GREATNESS IS OUT THERE An Assouline book explores 60 years of Canada Goose To mark its 60th anniversary, Canada Goose called on the help of Assouline to create a literary ode to its heritage.

Lose yourself in 204 pages of frosty vistas, sincere interviews and case

studies of the true users of Canada Goose, with more than 250 illustrations and a foreward by the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. £135, published by Assouline, 196a Piccadilly, W1J, assouline.com

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MONCLER DEBUTS A BOLDER LOOK For his latest Moncler collection, creative director Sandro Mandrino strayed from the slopes, using fabrics, prints and patterns often overlooked when it comes to winter sportswear: 60s-inspired paisley prints, clashing floral and striped designs and velvet jackets take centre stage in the 3 Moncler Grenoble range. Shapes have also been considered: bottoms are flared and jackets belted and cropped. Finish the look with a pair of matching printed gloves and two-tone hiking boots. moncler.com

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SKI CHIC Top kit from world-class winter sports brands

PORTAL RLS SKI GOGGLES, £134, ZEAL, MATCHESFASHION.CO.UK

RALPH LAUREN’S 90S-INSPIRED SKI COLLECTION Calling on classic sports silhouettes and styles from the 80s and 90s, Polo Ralph Lauren has unveiled its Downhill Skier capsule collection, a range of heavy pullover tricot jumpers, joggers and puffer jackets decorated with nostalgic graphic prints and bright block colours.

A follow-on from its Polo CP-93 collection, a line of streetwearinspired pieces, the winter sports range has been heavily influenced by the label’s archive prints.

40L NYLON BACKPACK, £348, AND WANDER, MATCHESFASHION.CO.UK

ralphlauren.co.uk

VERTI FIRST LAYER, £160, BOGNER.COM

ROCCIA VET BOOT, £305, DIEMME, ENDCLOTHING.CO.UK

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BORN TO ICE Paul Nicklen’s Arctic photography is showcased in a new book by TeNeues Born and raised on Baffin Island in northern Canada as part of one of the only non-Inuit families in the area, Paul Nicklen spent his childhood learning how to read the weather, find shelter from the snow and live off the land as his native neighbours did. Now a naturalist, wildlife photographer and ocean conservationist, Nicklen shares his love of the Arctic through his arresting snaps, and in doing so aims to portray the devastating affects of climate change on these Arctic regions and their human and animal inhabitants.

In his new book, Born to Ice (published by teNeues), the photographer captures the polar world at its best, from freezing oceans to charming penguins, craggy icebergs and curious sea creatures. Between images, he shares his experiences shooting in the natural world, and calls on the people to help protect earth’s ecosystems.

Alongside photography, Nicklen runs SeaLegacy, which he co-founded in 2014 with fellow conservationist and photographer Cristina Mittermeier. The not-for-profit organisation’s mission is to create healthy and abundant oceans. The team raises awareness by taking groups of photographers and filmmakers on expeditions to capture the beauty and threats to these submarine worlds.

For information about SeaLegacy and for works available as fine art, contact: zoe@sealegacy.org

Born to Ice by Paul Nicklen, £80, published by teNeues, teneues.com; All rights reserved; sealegacy.org OPPOSITE PAGE BORN TO ICE, ROSS SEA, ANTARCTICA, 2018; THIS PAGE, FROM TOP FACE TO FACE, SVALBARD, NORWAY, 2018; ICE WATERFALL, SVALBARD, NORWAY, 2018; ORCA BALLET, NORTHERN NORWAY, 2018; LEAP OF FAITH, ROSS SEA, ANTARCTICA, 2018

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CHAMPAGNE ON ICE MOËT & CHANDON UNVEILS ITS WINTER POP-UP

I

AT F E N C H U R C H S T R E E T ’ S S K Y G A R D E N

f, like us, the thought of braving Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland and its throngs of merrymaking tourists rouses your inner Scrooge, look instead to Sky Garden, where Moët & Chandon has unveiled a seasonal, somewhat more civilised, pop-up in which to raise a toast to the winter months.

London’s highest landscaped garden (at 155m) has been invaded by a waddle of charming penguins, icecovered sledges and golden snow scenes. Enjoy a glass of Moët Imperial Brut at the aptly renamed Frozen Garden Bar – with a bowl of truffle popcorn – or sample one of the

many limited edition cocktails on offer, including a boozy hot chocolate comprising Disaronno, cinnamon syrup, chocolate and shortbread.

Bar snacks such as wild boar sausage rolls and chestnut tarts are on offer to line the stomach, but should you want something more substantial, there are festive tasting menus being served at The Walkie-Talkie’s resident restaurants Darwin Brasserie (three courses for £55) and Fenchurch Restaurant (three courses for £90).

Tickets include garden access and the cocktail of the day or a glass of champagne, from £10, 20 Fenchurch Street, EC3M, skygarden.london

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Interview: Annabel Harrison

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INTERVIEW

Best place for skiing? “Verbier, Switzerland, thanks to exciting new hotel the Experimental Chalet”

A

fisherman’s boat. Add to that a spa which uses native ingredients and you’ve got laid-back luxury at its finest – which is why it features on the cover of our new book, The World’s Sexiest Bedrooms.

disastrous night in a Lake District spa retreat that was more hotel from hell than country escape led Tamara and James Lohan to found Mr & Mrs Smith in 2002. Initially a 41-strong guide to the best boutique boltholes in Britain, the now members’ club presents a curated collection of more than 1,000 hotels worldwide, each of which has been tried and tested by the team’s tastemakers to ensure it meets the brand’s specific criterea: unique, couples-orientated, relaxed, friendly and good value for money. Stella McCartney, Tom Aikens and Raymond Blanc are among the reviewers who frequent the hotels anonymously.

In a nod to its unique vetting process, and to celebrate 15 years in business, the brand recently published a new book, The World’s Sexiest Bedrooms – an ode to 35 hotel suites that the Mr & Mrs Smith critics have praised most highly.

Best place for skiing? Verbier, Switzerland, thanks to exciting new hotel the Experimental Chalet. It’s from the Experimental Cocktail Club – a trio of French friends who started a speakeasy-style cocktail bar in Paris and also London’s Henrietta Hotel. It brings a dash of playful Gallic design to the slopes of a traditional Swiss ski resort, with creative cocktails as the centrepiece and access to the Farm Club – a 40-year-old Verbier institution – for guests seeking exclusive après-ski.

How would you show someone a good time in London? We’d have lunch at Maltby Street market, followed by Alfies Antique Market for shopping. Next, evening cocktails at L’Oscar – whose decadent interiors are by designer Jacques Garcia – then we’d check-in to the Groucho Club, where Britpop bands and the YBAs used to hang out. Damien Hirst put his entire Turner Prize winnings behind the bar here. It’s normally a private members’ club, but Smith guests get full run of the place, including the new informal restaurant, Bernie’s, named after the club’s long-serving maître d’, who died last year.

What is true luxury? For me, luxury is having the time and space to do something I wouldn’t do every day. It has to be indulgent, special and memorable, but it could be as simple as curling up by the fire after a day out walking. Checking into a special hotel should embody those feelings: whether it’s a celebratory weekend away, an impromptu ‘why not?’ trip, or a holiday of a lifetime.

What are your little luxuries in life? I love toiletries that are designed for travel: De Mamiel Altitude oil goes everywhere with me, as it’s specifically designed for people who are on and off planes a lot. I like my home to smell amazing too, so Clement & Claude candles are a go-to – especially the White Wood, one of their signature fragrances.

The Londoner you find most inspiring: Jo Malone, creator of Jo Malone and Jo Loves. Her story is incredible and it’s rare to meet someone with both inner strength and outer warmth.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? Uxua Casa in Brazil – an amazing hotel and spa in tropical Trancoso, on the Bahian coast. The town itself is unique: a car-free main square, known as the Quadrado, surrounded by wildlife-rich jungle and a broad strip of beach.

The 11 villa-like rooms are spread out in centuriesold colonial casas, with an atmospheric restaurant overlooking the square and a beach bar in an old

What are you reading at the moment? Becoming by Michelle Obama. Who isn’t?

What’s your style? If I had my wish (and all the money in the world) I’d dress head-to-toe in Amanda Wakeley.

The best piece of advice you’ve been given: My father-in-law always says: ‘If it was easy, everyone would be doing it’. It reminds me to keep going when things get tough.

The World’s Sexiest Bedrooms, £29.95, mrandmrssmith.com

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Location: Plansee, Tirol, Austria Date: 19.04.2017 Camera: DJI Phantom 4

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INTERVIEW

E M OTI O N G E R M A N G L O B E T R OT T E R , C I N E M ATO G R A P H E R A N D T I M E - L A P S E TA L E N T, M A R T I N H E C K C A P T U R E S N AT U R E AT I T S M O S T S T R I K I N G I N H I S M E S M E R I S I N G 8K MOTION-CONTROLLED MOVIES

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Location: La Palma, Spain Date: 20.05.2018 Camera: Nikon D850

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F E AT U R E

Location: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany Date: 20.11.2018 Camera: Nikon D850

Location: Norway Date: 14.09.2018 Camera: Sony A7RII

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Location: Norway Date: 14.09.2018 Camera: Sony A7RIII

All images have been taken from timelapses, except the first image which was stitched together from multiple shots. Find Martin’s work at timestormfilms.net or playing on a giant screen at Ice Rink Canary Wharf until 16 February 2019

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INTERVIEW

MAN ON A

MISSION

N

ine in the morning. 1 March 1999. A full six hours after crew members had begun the process of inflating the Breitling Orbiter 3’s enormous, shiny-skinned envelope, the siren of a fire engine and the ringing of church bells announced the moment when the chief of staff severed the final rope tethering the giant, silvery inflatable to the ground.

The Bristol-built balloon, 55m tall, rose slowly at first, ascending gently over Château-d’Oex, a small Swiss village 53 miles south-west of Bern. Inside the egg-shaped, bright red, carbon-composite craft that hung beneath the globule of hot air and helium were Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard.

Nineteen days, 21 hours, and 47 minutes later, having manoeuvred into a series of jet streams that took them to altitudes of 38,507 feet and speeds of 185mph, the two men touched down in Egypt. They had become the first people to circumnavigate the globe non-stop in a hot-air balloon.

‘We brought the balloon down to 6,000 feet,’ Piccard later wrote, describing an experience eight days into the flight.

‘Below us the Pacific Ocean lay totally calm… When we climbed out through the top hatch for a few moments we sat there awestruck by the utter silence – no cry of a bird, not the slightest sound of wind or sea.’

With a family like his, Piccard was never destined for a job in IT. His grandfather Auguste, a professor of physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, devised the first pressurised gondola for high-altitude flights, as well as a bathyscaphe for deep-sea exploration. “My grandfather invented the pressurised cabin,” explains Piccard. “He wanted to show that it was possible to fly above the bad weather in thinner air where the fuel consumption would be lower.

Having made the first balloon flight into the stratosphere in 1931, he was the first person to see the curvature of the earth with his own eyes.”

In 1960, Piccard’s father, Jacques, became one of two men to dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench for the first

“ E X P L O R AT I O N S H O U L D N O T B E A B O U T D I S COV E R I N G N E W T E R R I TO R I E S ; T H E N E W G OA L I S TO I M P R OV E Q UA L I T Y O F L I F E O N E A R T H . W E H AV E S O M A N Y T H I N G S T O C H A N G E : P O V E R T Y, E D U C A T I O N , H E A L T H , H U M A N R I G H T S , G O V E R N A N C E , S U S T A I N A B LY — I T ’ S A L L Y E T T O BE ACHIEVED.” RECORD-BREAKING BALLOONIST A N D E N V I R O N M E N TA L E X P L O R E R BERTRAND PICCARD IS EMBARKING ON HIS G R E AT E S T A D V E N T U R E Y E T — P R O V I N G T O W O R L D L E A D E R S T H AT E N V I R O N M E N TA L I S M REPRESENTS THE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY OF THE CENTURY

Words: Richard Brown

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ANDRÉ BORSCHBERG AND BERTRAND PICCARD MEETING US CONGRESSMEN IN 2013 © SOLAR IMPULSE

time when he took the bathyscaphe his father had designed to a depth of 10,911m. The Piccard family thus had the unique distinction of breaking world records for both the highest flight and the deepest dive.

Piccard and I are speaking at the Breitling Summit, a press conference held in London last autumn. The Swiss horologist has just launched a new family of dress watches. The Swiss balloonist is here as an official brand ambassador – the upshot of an opportunistic phone call he made to the watchmaker in 1992.

“I was invited to be the co-pilot of a fellow balloonist in a race across the Atlantic,” explains Piccard. “I called the then owner of Breitling and said, ‘Look, I’m a medical doctor taking part in a trans-ocean balloon race and I need two months’ salary in order to compete. Would you agree?’ He said, ‘Well, it’s my birthday today and I’m in a good mood, so yes, come along tomorrow and you can collect your cheque as well as a complimentary watch.’ He forgot all about it until I won the race, at which point he came back to me and said ‘I never expected it would be such a big success – if you ever have another idea, let me know.’” The Breitling Orbiter was that next idea.

Despite being scared of heights as a child, the romance of exploration was instilled in Piccard at an early age. During his youth, he was taken by his father to the launch of several space flights from Cape Canaveral.

Astronauts became his idols. “The astronauts of the early American space programme, the astronauts of the Mercury and early Apollo programmes, those that appeared in [the 1983 space film] The Right Stuff – they were friends of my father and I met them all when I was a kid. I thought, ‘Wow that’s the life I want to have.’”

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Piccard developed an interest in flight and human behaviour in extreme situations. He gained a degree in psychiatry at the University of Lausanne before becoming an expert in hypnotherapy, teaching and supervising at the Swiss Medical Society for Hypnosis. During the 1970s, he was one of the pioneers of hang-gliding and microlight flying, crowned European hang-glider aerobatics champion in 1985. He went on to obtain licences to fly balloons, aeroplanes, gliders and motor gliders.

“My hang-gliding experience showed me how you can deal with risk, danger, crisis, problems, difficulties in life just by managing yourself better,” explains Piccard. “When you take risks, you are more aware of yourself, more present. When you are pushed to your limits, you feel most alive – your performance, your agility, your awareness of situations all increases. I use a lot of hypnotherapy with my patients because it helps them connect with a deeper part of themselves in order to solve the problems of their lives. Flying was my own psychological laboratory.”

Shortly after his successful round-the-world balloon adventure, Piccard had another idea. The Breitling Orbiter 3 had burned 3.7 tons of fuel

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© SOLAR IMPULSE / REZO.CH

while circumnavigating the globe. Piccard wanted to do the same journey without using any petrol, oil or gas.

In 2003, he announced a project in cooperation with engineer André Borschberg and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne to develop a solar-powered, long-range aircraft named Solar Impulse. In March 2015, following years of development and test flights, Piccard and Borschberg took off from Abu Dhabi in Solar Impulse 2, a carbon-fibre aircraft that had a wingspan larger than a Boeing 747 yet weighed roughly the same as a Range Rover. The plane had 17,248 solar cells on its wings, fuselage and tail, which charged four lithium batteries that drove its four propellers. Solar Impulse 2 was the first solar-powered plane capable of flying through the night.

After stopovers in India, Myanmar, China, Japan, Hawaii, California and Phoenix, the men achieved their objective when they touched down in Abu Dhabi on 26 July 2016, more than 16 months after they’d left. A year later, Piccard announced the formation of the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions. “The Solo Impulse flight was the symbolic part, catching the attention of the people,” he says. “My goal then turned to bringing together

“It’s ethereal, unreal. The propellers are turning, there is no noise, no fuel, and it is running just from the sun.

It’s like being in a fairy tale” all the start-ups, corporations and research labs who are currently working on profitable solutions that protect the environment.”

The World Alliance for Efficient Solutions acts as a bridge between the protagonists involved in developing and financing products, services, processes and technologies intended to protect the environment in a profitable way. The body assesses solutions submitted by members, and, with the help of independent technical and financial experts, plans to select 1,000 of the most promising schemes.

“I have always said that protection of the environment would become a reality only if it requires no financial or behavioural sacrifices,” says Piccard.

“Who would renounce driving their car or heating their house because of sea levels rising in 20 years’ time? The truth is that today, even if climate change didn’t exist, building clean and efficient infrastructures would make sense.

They represent the greatest industrial market ever, with the introduction of electric mobility, fully insulated constructions, heat pumps and LED lighting, smart grids and modern industrial processes. Clean growth is certainly better than the dirty status quo we have today. It’s a win-win situation.”

So far, around 1,300 companies have signed up to the World Alliance.

More than 600 have submitted solutions, of which 50 have been ‘fully labelled’ – that is, assessed as financially and environmentally credible. The plan is to have the other 950 solutions certified by the end of 2024.

“We keep setting goals for 2050, 2040, 2030,” says Piccard. “I hate this because it is too far away – no one feels accountable or responsible for such a distant target. Decision-makers need to focus on solutions and shorter-term achievable goals.

“At the end of 2024, I will travel around the world again, delivering a portfolio of 1,000 solutions to governments, companies and institutions. The portfolio must be so heavy that when I put it on the desk, it will break the table.”

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JACQUES GRÉGOIRE, PATRICK LEIGH FERMOR, 2016

FROM MEMORY TO MYTH F O R H I S H I G H - S P I R I T E D AC C O U N T S O F A DV E N T U R E S A R O U N D P R E - WA R E U R O P E , F O R M E R S P E C I A L F O R C E ’ S O F F I C E R P A T R I C K L E I G H F E R M O R I S W I D E LY R E G A R D E D A S O N E O F B R I TA I N ’ S B E S T E V E R T R AV E L W R I T E R S . A N E W B O O K B Y M I C H A E L O ’ S U L L I VA N E X P L O R E S H O W, T H R O U G H S H E E R F O R C E O F C H A R M , C O N F I D E N C E A N D E N T H U S I A S M , A T W E N T Y- S O M E T H I N G L E I G H F E R M O R WA S WELCOMED INTO THE CASTLES AND MANOR HOUSES OF SOME OF THE GRANDEST A N D M O S T A N C I E N T FA M I L I E S O F H U N G A R I A N A R I S TO C R AC Y

Words: Chris Allsop

I

t’s odd that a man best known for walking across Europe is depicted on a horse on the cover of his own book about the journey. Now here is Patrick Leigh Fermor again on a horse, this time on the cover of Michael O’Sullivan’s recently released Noble Encounters Between Budapest and Transylvania – a fascinating new work of social archaeology about Leigh Fermor’s famous journey.

The horses seem a somewhat brazen inconsistency that appears to fit perfectly with Leigh

Fermor’s approach to writing, which was to never allow the truth to mar a good story. And a good story in three parts is exactly what his classic account of walking from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul during the 1930s became – enshrined in A Time of Gifts, Between the Woods and the Water, and a final third instalment, The Broken Road, published posthumously.

“Oh yes, he fabricated the entire journey by car around Transylvania,” O’Sullivan says, at the November launch of his own book on Fermor, about a section

in Between the Woods and the Water.

“But he did it so brilliantly; it’s actually the best part of the book.”

A LIFE LIVED Leigh Fermor – described by the BBC as a cross between Indiana Jones, James Bond and Graham Greene – is widely viewed as the greatest travel writer of his generation. But despite that lofty title, O’Sullivan describes Leigh Fermor as preferring “to booze than write … he was like Oscar Wilde: putting most of his genius

into his rather life than his work”. And what genius it was, as a handful of highlights from his life demonstrate: capturing a Nazi commander and being awarded the Distinguished Service Order (an episode immortalised by Hollywood in Ill Met By Moonlight with Dirk Bogarde playing Leigh Fermor); tangling between the sheets with a Byzantine princess; reading in eight languages; falling foul of a Cretan blood feud; and, in homage to Byron, swimming the Hellespont between Europe and Asia – at the age of 69.

For O’Sullivan, a former foreign correspondent who was introduced to Leigh Fermor’s writings while living in Vienna in the 1980s, it was another extraordinary element of this outsized life that seized his imagination.

“How did an unknown English youth, barely speaking schoolboy French – and farcical German – find his way into the manor houses of the Hungarian nobility?”

It’s this question that O’Sullivan attempts to answer in his book, but his tapestry of meticulously researched mini-biographies offers much more.

Lawrence Durrell referred to the ‘truffled style and dense plumage’ of Leigh Fermor’s storytelling.

O’Sullivan contributes a historical depth and pathos to the observations of a young man.

This rapt tone surely would have suffered if Leigh Fermor, publishing his trilogy some 50 years after the fact,

had retrospectively introduced musings about how his mid-1930s travelogue was, to all intents and purposes, a record of an ancient way of aristocratic life on the brink of annihilation by the onset of World War II and communism.

T R E AT E D L I K E R O YA LT Y To return once again to the matter of the horses. While the inference might be that Leigh Fermor essentially ‘blagged’ his way into the homes of “some of the oldest and grandest families in Europe”, it was actually more of an innocent mistake, at least on his part.

Stopping in Bratislava during his journey, he met an aristocrat, Tibor von Thuróczy, in a bar. It was the letters of introduction that von Thuróczy subsequently sent on that opened up Hungarian high society for Leigh Fermor – except that the noble pedigree to which he had laid claim to von Thuróczy had been a fabrication.

“Leigh Fermor’s mother was a charming old girl,” O’Sullivan says, “but an Olympian-class fantasist.”

The young man had set off under the belief that he was descended from the Tasse family – aristocrats who

Leigh Fermor essentially ‘blagged’ his way into the homes of “some of the oldest and grandest families” had travelled from Ireland to Central Europe to become well placed in the upper echelons of the Habsburg Empire (one even became chancellor under Franz Joseph I). With this myth perpetuated by von Thuróczy, the wealthiest addresses of 1930s Budapest were open to him.

“There is much to recommend moving straight from straw to a fourposter,” Leigh Fermor wrote, “and then back again.”

According to letters penned by him in the 1990s, Leigh Fermor seems to have persisted in believing in this noble connection right throughout his life; it’s unknown whether he was in fact deluded or maintaining a façade.

But O’Sullivan suggests that while the letters of introduction opened the doors

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to Leigh Fermor, it was his magnetic personality that allowed him to stay.

The magnetism could, however, be a little too intense. While Leigh Fermor was relatively coy about any romantic conquests in his own writings, O’Sullivan unearthed a number of trysts that the youthful writer engaged in during his epic journey, from literally rolling in the hay with two peasant girls at an estate he was staying at to a love affair with the just married Xenia Csernovits de Mácsa et Kisoroszi – an aristocrat descended from a Serbian family that was ancient – to paraphrase Leigh Fermor – when God was a boy.

O’Sullivan researched the progress of the young woman’s life after the arrival of communism in Hungary.

“Xenia was put to work in a Budapest paint factory,” he says. “From living in an extraordinary house, she had to share a flat with a woman who had had the property given to her by the communists. And this woman drove Xenia to such an extent of frenzy that

she actually murdered her. But at the trial, all the neighbours went to court and supported Xenia, saying that the woman was so intolerable that she deserved to be murdered.”

O’Sullivan experienced first-hand the dismal results of the deprivations that this class had to endure when he met many of their number in 1980s Vienna. He has described how he shared with Leigh Fermor a fascination for their stories.

“I knew them, liked them and stayed in touch,” writes O’Sullivan. “When the communists fell I returned to Budapest and encountered some of those old families again, living there and trying to regain their heritage,” he now says, describing how, unlike in Romania or Slovakia, there was no restitution of lands or estates in Hungary. Instead, a voucher system was put in place.

A friend of told him, “well, we got these vouchers, and we were one of the largest land-owning families in Hungary, and now I can exchange this voucher for a colour television.”

According to O’Sullivan, Leigh Fermor also returned to Budapest throughout his life, doing what he could to help those who had once so generously opened their homes to him.

A L E G ACY O F G I F TS It feels prescient that this book is being published now, with the resurgence of the far right and a nationalist mood on the march. One vignette, about the right-wing Hungarian prime minister who boasted about having the same

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chest size as Mussolini, seems to carry the same whiff as the overtures made

by Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro to Donald Trump. And while the future remains unwritten, Leigh Fermor’s legacy is assured, having inspired travel writers such as Dervla Murphy, Jan Morris and Bruce Chatwin, to name but a few.

But his greatest legacy, according to O’Sullivan, is that he inspires the young. “Young people read this book and they are just riveted by what he did and how he did it.”

As an example, he points to Katy MacMillan-Scott who (at the time of writing) is engaged in a repeat of Leigh Fermor’s trans-European stroll as a charity walk in memory of a friend.

MacMillan-Scott will actually stay in Leigh Fermor’s bedroom, hosted

by Baroness Gloria von Berg – a descendant of an aristocrat with whom Leigh Fermor lodged when he first arrived in Budapest. Despite the house having been divided into flats by the communists, von Berg has managed, piece by piece, to buy nearly the entire house back.

O’Sullivan writes of the room: ‘The chair, embroidered with a blue rampant lion with a forked tail and a scarlet tongue, on which Leigh Fermor’s borrowed dinner jacket was strewn, survived the ravages of war, German, Soviet and local plundering during Communist times, but little else remains of the original interior furnishings.’

Not that this should bother MacMillan-Scott. She’ll only need to delve into her undoubtedly wellthumbed copy of Between the Woods and the Water to have it all brought back to joyous, ineradicable life.

Patrick Leigh Fermor: Noble Encounters Between Budapest and Transylvania, Michael O’Sullivan, £18.99, Central European University Press

MONT BLANC MASSIF IN ITALY

T H E COV E R I N T E RV I E W

TAY LO R B U R K

L A N D S C A P E A N D A D V E N T U R E T R AV E L P H O T O G R A P H E R TAY L O R B U R K B E G A N H I S C A R E E R O N I N S TA G R A M . N O W H E T R AV E L S T H E P L A N E T C A P T U R I N G T H E N AT U R A L W O R L D F R O M I T S B E S T S I D E

“I find that mountains, in all shapes and sizes, challenge you, teach you and humble you” One of the main reasons I own a camera now is due to social media. Before I downloaded Instagram (@taylormichaelburk) in 2012, I kept my photos to myself or friends and family. Since I started to share photos from my travels early on when the app was new, I have continued to grow a following. The more eyes that you have on your work the more opportunity there is.

attention. I find that the mountains, in all shapes and sizes, challenge you, teach you and humble you.

My most memorable travel moment was climbing up a canyon wall in Jordan with my friend. He blindly reached around a corner and punched his fist through a massive hornet nest. Within seconds we were engulfed by hundreds of giant angry hornets who wanted their revenge on us. After nearly falling off the cliff we managed to jump into the river below with more than 20 stings each head to toe.

I was originally a plumber but, as I am sure you can imagine, the pros of being a photographer outweigh those of being a plumber. As my photography skills started to develop and more freelance work started to build up on the side, I took the leap and decided to run my business full time in 2015.

It’s impossible to pick a favourite photography location, but I’m always still amazed by the incredible places in my own backyard in British Columbia. Through photography I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to see a lot of British Columbia, and I’ll never grow tired of the diversity and vast scale of the wilderness here.

I grew up in the prairies so I didn’t see mountains very often. Whenever I had the chance to visit the Canadian Rockies growing up, I would be left in awe by their scale and presence that demanded your

For years I have wanted to document the Pacific salmon migration along the Canadian west coast.

Salmon are an incredible keystone species that help connect the rainforest and mountain ecosystems I’ve grown to love.

THIS PAGE, FROM LEFT GLACIER LAKE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA; KLUANE NATIONAL PARK, CANADA; SILVER LAKE, CALIFORNIA; OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM TOP WESTERN BROOK POND, NEWFOUNDLAND CANADA; PATAGONIA; ALL IMAGES ©TAYLOR BURK

There are so many amazing photographers out there who are always pushing the limits of the art, but one that comes to mind is Ian McAllister. He has been able to blend photography with activism, and through his incredible photos of Kermode (or spirit) bears and coastal rainforest ecosystems, he contributed significantly to the protection of the Great Bear Rainforest. taylorburk.com

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POWDER ONSEN PARTY REPEAT

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IN THE SNOW T H E L AT E S T N E W S F R O M T H E W O R L D ’ S FINEST WINTER RESORTS

Words: Ellen Millard

THE HOTEL RIDERS, LAAX

Despite its charmingly simple rustic design, Riders Hotel is anything but quaint. Following a recent revamp, the 63-room hotel has become a hit with adrenaline junkies, thanks to its neighbouring Freestyle Academy: a mecca of skate ramps, trampolines and dry-slope jumps.

The bijou no-frills rooms are modest but homely, and clearly designed to cater to a crowd that won’t be spending a huge amount of time in them. And why would you, when the (unfortunately named) Crap Sogn Gion cable car is just five minutes up the road, giving you access to four snow parks?

If you do want to partake in a spot of après-ski, however, head to Riders’ 700-capacity nightclub. There are also free gigs on Friday nights in the resident bar, and a rolling agenda of performers, artists and live screenings to keep guests entertained.

Elsewhere, there’s a fully-equipped private gym, which is free for guests to use (just in case the slopes aren’t giving you enough of a workout) and a waxing room – for skis, not people.

From £140, ridershotel.com

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THIS PAGE FROM TOP 007 ELEMENTS, PHOTOGRAPHY

BY KRISTOPHER GRUNERT; ICE Q RESTAURANT; OPPOSITE PAGE 007 ELEMENTS PHOTOGRAPHY

BY CHRISTOPH NÖSIG

THE MUSEUM

007 ELEMENTS, SÖLDEN

The world’s first permanent James Bond exhibition has opened – and it’s not in the gilded halls of MI6. 007 Elements is found in Austria’s Sölden, home of Spectre’s ficticious private medical facility Hoffler Klinik, which in reality is the glacial Ice Q restaurant. To accommodate filming, the entire mountain was closed to the public for several weeks in the middle of winter – a.k.a peak ski season – so that it could play a starring role in Spectre.

The exhibition is housed in a bespoke building next door to the restaurant, which has been built into the summit of the Gaislachkogl Mountain. While it focuses on the 2015 film, elements from the other 24 titles are included too, with a series of interactive galleries (spanning two floors) that pay homage to signature features from the James Bond franchise: cars, gadgets, action scenes and technology, as well as the films’ iconic and dramatic scores.

Naomie Harris, the current Miss Moneypenny, flew in to open the museum.

007elements.soelden.com

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T H E S PA EL LODGE SKI & SPA, SIERRA NEVADA

El Lodge Ski & Spa has launched a new wellness experience for guests at the Sierra Nevada-located retreat. Already something of a spa destination – it boasts both indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna, two treatment rooms, a gym, a Turkish bath and a Jacuzzi – the hotel has launched a three-night mountain programme, which combines morning outdoor activities with afternoons on the slopes in a bid to enhance guests’ overall wellbeing.

Activities include morning mountain-top yoga classes, aqua-fit sessions in the outdoor heated pool, horse riding through the snow in the Sierra Nevada National Park

and hiking in Los Cahorros, a network of gorges, rock pools and waterfalls.

In the evenings, the programme includes a sleep-inducing spa ritual, an invigorating snowcat ride to watch the sun set over the mountains and a unique stargazing lesson from a team of trained astrologers.

Designed by Martin Waller of Andrew Martin fame, El Lodge Ski & Spa has a cosy alpine vibe with Chesterfield armchairs and cowhide rugs. There are nine rooms and 12 suites – each equipped with a private hot tub – and three restaurants to choose from.

From approx. £4,162 per person for three nights, based on two people sharing, ellodge.com

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T H E R E S TA U R A N T

KING HOUSE SOCIAL, ST MORITZ

Switzerland’s oldest nightclub, King’s Club, has been re-born with Michelinstarred chef Jason Atherton at the helm. King’s Social House at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, St. Moritz, is a new restaurant, bar and club designed by Rosendale Design and manned by head chef Marcus Rohlen. He is serving Atherton’s famed sharing plates alongside wood-fired meat and fish dishes – plus, in a nod to Atherton’s British roots, a roaming Pork Pie Trolley.

“I love to ski with my family in St. Moritz and have been going for as long as I can remember,” says Atherton. “I enjoy the energy and excitement of skiing and want to echo this in a dining experience for customers that is somewhere they can socialise and integrate. The service, atmosphere and sharing plates on the menu encourage a sociable dining experience.”

The bar will serve champagne, punches, mulled wine and cocktails, while an evolving programme of international DJs – curated by DJ Mr Mike – will keep the nightclub’s formidable reputation going. badruttspalace.com

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DOLOMITES SKI SAFARI

There’s no chance of seeing the big five on this safari; an exclusive Carrier experience, the Dolomites Ski Safari is led by a professional mountain guide and includes five or seven nights in high-altitude mountain lodges and alpine hotels – giving guests the chance to be the very first people on the slopes. The trip is tailored to you, and can include the likes of snowmobile transfers, helicopter sightseeing and dining at Michelin-starred restaurants, plus ample opportunity to ski on the striking UNESCO-protected Italian mountain range. Not just for advanced skiers, this safari is suitable for those who are confident navigating red runs.

Carrier offers five nights from £4,485 per person based on two people sharing on a half board basis. Price includes two nights at Alta Badia, one night at Cortina d’Ampezzo, two nights in mountain inns, a Dolomiti Superski pass and a local English-speaking ski guide for four days, transport in the area, luggage transfers and return flights from London Gatwick.

Offer valid from 11 March – 7 April. Based on departures from 12 March, excluding airport transfers, 0161 492 1359 carrier.co.uk

©GIUSEPPE GHEDINA

THE EXPERIENCE

NOW OPE N

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To celebrate the opening of Natura Bissé Spa at the Village, the brand is delighted to offer Luxury London Magazine readers a full size Diamond Cocoon Ultimate Shield (valued £112)* with every Signature Treatment until 31st January 2019 or until stocks last. thevillage@naturabissespa.com

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THE MEMBERS’ CLUB CALDERA HOUSE, JACKSON HOLE

It took six years and $100m to build private equity billionaire Wes Edens’ Caldera House, but it was worth the wait – and the money.

The hotel and members’ club has everything you could ever imagine a fivestar alpine resort to have: unrivalled ski access (it’s located moments from Wyoming’s Jackson Hole), a ski valet, valet parking, an on-site ski shop and slick suites furnished with Ralph Lauren upholstery.

It also has everything you couldn’t imagine a five-star resort to have, including a costume closet from which you can pinch a fancy dress outfit for

Jackson Hole’s annual Gaper Day (a mountain tradition in America).

There are just eight suites to choose from – four of which are fourbedroom and four of which are two-bedroom – and three restaurants, including Paulie O’Connor’s Old Yellowstone Garage, which has been relocated to Caldera House.

Memberships include ski tuning and demos at the on-site shop Mudroom, year round ski storage, a ski valet, parking and high-tech lockers. They also have access to the hotel’s facilities and the members’ lounge.

From approx. £1,985 per night, calderahouse.com

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PHOTOGRAPHY

BY IAN BECKLEY, @IAMBKLY, BKLYSTUDIOS.COM

THE ECO RESORT

WOLF CREEK, COLORADO

Colorado-based Wolf Creek has become the first ski resort in the world to switch all of its energy consumption to solar, carbon-free power. Thanks to the state’s 300 days of sunshine a year, the resort has employed a 25-acre solar farm to power all of its electricity – including its nine chairlifts.

The Penitente Solar Project is located 50 miles away from the resort in San Luis Valley, which benefits from more sunshine and drier weather than Wolf Creek. Continuing its eco efforts, the Wolf Creek team also uses biodegradable grapeseed oil to power its snowcat machines, and has three water-free toilet facilities on the mountain.

Sustainability has been hot topic among ski resorts for a while, and Wolf Creek isn’t alone in its efforts.

California-based Alpine Meadows has pledged to be supplied by 100 per cent renewable energy by the end of the year, while Laax in Switzerland is working on a project with Greenstyle to become the world’s first self-sufficient ski resort. wolfcreekski.com

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you can be THE SELF-IMPROVER THE CONSERVATIONIST THE ADVENTURER THE PIONEER THE GOURMET GLOBETROTTER THE ESCAPIST

Don’t just discover the world.

Discover YOU.

A curated edit of luxury holidays that transcend just the destination.

Order your copy now carrier.co.uk/discover Visit: carrier.co.uk | Call: 0161 826 1914

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MAN Words: Hugh Francis Anderson

C A R E E R - D E F I N I N G D E F E AT S

H E T A L K S W O R L D R E C O R D S , O LY M P I C M E D A L S A N D

P I O N E E R I N G A N E W WAV E O F T E C H N I C A L S K I W E A R ,

H I G H LY D E C O R A T E D S K I E R S O F A L L T I M E . N O W

CHAMPIONSHIPS, LASSE KJUS IS ONE OF THE MOST

E V E R Y D I S C I P L I N E AT T H E F I S A L P I N E W O R L D S K I

A S T H E O N LY A T H L E T E T O W I N A M E D A L I N

MOUNTAIN

I

t’s not every day that one has the opportunity to interview athletic royalty, let alone a skier from a remote mountain range in the middle of Norway. However, as I soon learn, there is little ordinary about former alpine ski racer Lasse Kjus. We’re in the depths of the Sunnmørsalpane mountains, testing some of the new kit for his acclaimed skiwear brand Kjus (pronounced ‘shoos’), and though his

professional career may have ended some 13 years ago, his athleticism is still that of a champion. He charges up the mountain ahead of me, his legs powerful from a lifetime of racing.

Born in Oslo but raised in the small village of Siggerud, Kjus’ entire life revolved around skiing. Both his older brother and sister competed as juniors, and his father even built a 137m slalom course in the village, complete

“I was given the opportunity to race and I took it and went down fast. Back then no one knew me and no one was expecting anything of me. I had nothing to lose”

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with a rope-lift. “My parents told me I started to walk with ski poles when I was two years old and that I started to ski when I was three,” recounts Kjus, who won his first race just five years after his initial brush with skiing, aged eight. “As a kid, I remember going to the slalom alone after school. I knew where my dad kept the key for the lift, so I would open it and go up and down until my dad realised where I was.”

ALL IMAGES LASSE KJUS ON A SKI TOUR OF THE SUNNMØRSALPANE MOUNTAINS, ©FLASHSTUDIO/KJUS

While it’s certainly not unusual for Norwegians to spend their childhoods on the slopes – the country boasts one of the best climates for skiing – as time went on, Kjus’ natural prowess became increasingly evident.

In 1990, at just 19 years old, he achieved one gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the Junior World Ski Championships in Zinal,

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Switzerland, a feat that cemented his spot in the senior team, despite his young age. “I was young, self-confident, and I think I was almost too young at the time to know what it all meant,” says Kjus of his senior World Cup debut.

“I was given the opportunity to race and I took it and went down fast. Back then no one knew me, and no one was expecting anything of me. I had nothing to lose.”

Yet just a year later, in August 1991, Kjus would suffer the worst crash of his life while on a training camp in Chile, and it would be another two years before he found his feet again. “I dislocated my shoulder and tore the nerve controlling my right deltoid muscle,” he says. “With my deltoid permanently paralysed, the doctor told me that would hinder the use of my left arm forever and announced that my career as a professional skier was probably over.”

Though the recovery was both physically and mentally exhausting, Kjus was able to train the muscles surrounding his deltoid to do the work for it. Although this was successful in terms of skiing, the injury led to the permanent loss of full mobility. It’s staggering to think, then, that just 18 months later the skier was competing again, and was even able to win a gold medal at the 1993 Morioka World Championships in the combined event.

A year later, at the tender age of 23, Kjus won his first and only Olympic gold at his home Games in Lillehammer. Though the crash of 1991 had signalled the end of his burgeoning racing career, his stubbornness, determination and sheer physical domination put him back at the very top. “Winning gold that year was a real turning point for me and marked the end of a challenging couple of years in my career,” he agrees. “It was the beginning of me really getting back on track and starting to improve once again.”

Remarkably, while Kjus was achieving success in the combined event (a combination of both slalom and downhill races), he was also competing across all alpine disciplines, a feat some claimed to be sheer lunacy due to the vastly different natures of the speed disciplines (downhill and super G – super giant slalom) and technical disciplines (slalom and giant slalom). “I always wanted to do the technical disciplines, especially giant slalom – it was always the event I loved the most and what I wanted to succeed in the most,” he explains. “However, my

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“The skiing we did in the early 1990s wouldn’t be good enough to compete at junior level today”

coaches motivated me to do the speed disciplines, and I ended up having a talent for those too.”

The athlete went on to achieve the one thing that nobody thought possible, or indeed has ever achieved since: in 1999, at the World Championships in Vail, Colorado, Kjus became the first and only person in the history of alpine skiing to medal in all five disciplines at the event.

“When people talk about the challenge of succeeding in a championship across lots of disciplines, they talk about ‘resetting’ between every race. For me, it was about continuing,” he explains.

“I got a medal, I forgot about it and moved on to the next. It was about staying in the zone and not giving myself time to stop and think about the medal I had won. When the championship was over, that’s when I stopped and enjoyed it.”

Throughout his racing career, Kjus achieved a total of 16 Olympic and World Championship medals. It’s now been 13 years since he stopped competing on the slopes and he admits the game is vastly different today – largely due to advances in equipment production and design. “The skiing we did in the early 1990s wouldn’t even be good enough to compete at junior level today,” he agrees. “Take the 100m sprint, for example; generally the performance and the times stay relatively stable from year to year – it is different today because of the massive role equipment plays. By using better performing equipment, and adapting your techniques to that new equipment, as a pro skier you can keep improving.”

By the time Kjus retired in 2006, aged 35, he was already firmly prepared for life after skiing. After his success at Vail in 1999, he co-founded his eponymous technical skiwear brand. “I had felt for a while that no one in the skiwear market was focused on technical, functional garments; instead it was all fashion-driven.

To me it was an obvious gap in the market and I wanted to be the one to fill it.”

Together with co-founder Didi Serena, Kjus set about developing garments that merge style and technology, finding many references in golf-wear (namely four-way stretching fabric), which the brand also produces. “My goal was to create the most technologically advanced skiwear on the market; to set a whole new standard for skiwear,” says Kjus.

“The rest, as they say, is history, and I have never looked back.” kjus.com

ALL IMAGES LASSE KJUS ON A SKI TOUR OF THE SUNNMØRSALPANE MOUNTAINS, ©FLASHSTUDIO/KJUS

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THE LUXURY OF A BRAND

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R E D B U L L’ S L AT E S T S T U N T S E E S T H E W O R L D ’ S F A S T E S T F R E E S K I E R T A K E O N A N O LY M P I C ALPINE LEGEND IN A SLALOM RACE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS

Words: Ellen Millard

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THIS IMAGE ©JEREMY BERNARD; OPPOSITE IMAGE AND PREVIOUS PAGE ©MIKA MERIKANTO, COURTESY OF RED BULL CONTENT POOL

The summit of Switzerland’s Hohberghorn mountan reaches 4,129 metres

THE CLIMB

Freeskier Jérémie Heitz and Olympian Daron Rahlves scaled Hohberghorn in preperation for their race. With a nearly vertical face, this mountain can only be skied in perfect conditions

©MIKA MERIKANTO, COURTESY OF RED BULL CONTENT POOL

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Retired downhill Olympian Daron Rahlves threw in the skis in 2006 following an award-winning career – but this, his most challenging slalom to date, was too good an opportunity to miss.

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IMAGES ©MIKA MERIKANTO, COURTESY OF RED BULL CONTENT POOL

When filming his documentary La Liste, a short film about the history of steep skiing, Swiss freerider Jérémie Heitz struck upon an idea. Having tackled some of the most impressive 4,000m peaks of the Alps, including 11 mountain faces with 50 degree steeps or more, he considered his next challenge: a giant slalom race from the 4,129m summit of Switzerland’s Hohberghorn – a descent akin to skiing off a cliff face.

American Daron Rahlves was the natural choice for his competitor; the retired Olympian amassed 12 World Cup victories and three World Championship medals during his career, ranking fourth in the world at the time of his retirement in 2006.

He is also Heitz’s childhood hero.

With Red Bull on hand to film the pursuit, the skiers accepted their challenge.

The project was two years in the making – not helped by a knee injury Heitz sustained during the third leg of the Freeride World Tour in 2017. The race eventually took place

in the spring of 2018, following more than a month of waiting at base camp for optimal skiing conditions: thick snow that sticks to the ice, with little to no wind to ensure that the snow is compact. A large crew accompanied them on the climb, taking charge of safety, production and logistics, and setting the course as they scaled the mountain face.

The night before race day, the team slept in the advanced base camp at Riedgletscher (a glacier in the Pennine Alps), which, at 3,596m, is in close proximity to the course. The plan was to get as early a start as possible to ensure they took advantage of the best weather conditions. They awoke at 4:30am on race day and began the final ascent by foot, allowing the skiers to learn the course as they climbed.

The two year project was over in seconds.

Rahlves went first, completing the course in just 26.44 seconds. Heitz followed with a 27.27 second speed, crowning Rahlves the Hohberghorn slalom champion.

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gates and an average slope of 48 degrees

THE DESCENT

The team set a 430m course with 10

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The race was documented in a new short film

by Red Bull, aptly named Race to Face.

Available now on Red Bull TV, redbull.com

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BRITISH JEWELLER BOODLES UNVEILS ITS ORCHARD COLLECTION Boodles’ design team looked to the humble pear for inspiration when crafting its Orchard collection. The result is a line of dainty white and yellow gold drop earrings,

pendants, bracelets and rings themed around the fruit motif.

Boodles’ designer, Lorna Shaw, said of the collection: “Inspired by our British seasons and walled kitchen gardens, these delicate sun-kissed gold pears hang from glittering diamond pavé leaves, appearing ready and ripe for picking”. This long

double necklace (pictured) is a standout piece from the collection: two 18k white gold pear pendants are dusted with pavé set diamonds and dangled from a diamondstudded chain in a sparkling tribute to the British fruit. £35,500, 3 Central Courtyard, EC3V

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SAGE BROWN Sage Brown’s Cassidy tote is handmade from supple calf leather and features a unique crossweave design. Store your valuables in the detachable suedette purse. £295, 21-22 The Royal Exchange, EC3V

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Whether you’re celebrating the New Year, birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions, or simply hosting a gathering with a difference, the intimate setting that ikisho offers ensures a memorable culinary experience for all to enjoy.

In Japan, food is central to the many events and festivals that take place over the year. The master sushi chefs (i-ta-ma-e) at ikisho design and serve tailor-made luxury menus using the finest ingredients. From start to finish, ikisho handles every requirement of your evening, leaving you to tend to your guests.

Relishing in Japan’s very distinctive seasons, the chefs take great pride in celebrating and respecting the seasonality of food, savoring each

tantalizing ingredient at its peak. This is called shun (sh-un) and describes when fish is at its most succulent or vegetables or fruit are at their very best.

Each dinner party is provided with a host or hostess who can explain the chef’s process, choice of ingredients, traditions and also presentation during the evening.

Omotenashi (o-mo-te-nashi) is deep rooted in the Japanese culture and represents the way in which the host pays attention to detail and anticipates their guests’ needs. The ikisho experience embodies the omotenashi spirit with sensitivity, flexibility and

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knowledge, making sure everyone is taken care of throughout the meal.

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What is a celebration or gathering without a drink amongst friends and family? A Japanese culinary experience is certainly not complete without sake. The national beverage has a 2,000-year history and, just like wine, is rich in variety. To accompany its dinner services, ikisho has sake sommeliers who visit your home and teach you how to serve sake, from the perfect temperature to the best serving cups and serving styles to suit your omakase menu.

Savour the finest Japanese cuisine as it should be experienced – with passion and mastery. ikisho.com

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RUNNING OF THE BULLS S I X Y E A R S A F T E R L A M B O R G H I N I D E C L A R E D T H AT I T W O U L D R E D E F I N E T H E S U V S E G M E N T, L U X U R Y LO N D O N G O E S C R O S S C O U N T R Y W I T H C O M PA N Y C E O S T E FA N O D O M E N I C A L I T O S E E I F I T A LY ’ S M O S T I C O N O C L A S T I C M A R Q U E H A S D E L I V E R E D O N I T S P R O M I S E

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celand is known as the land of fire and ice, but it also boasts a fledgling car industry, too. The Isar Torveg is a monster SUV designed to tackle the country’s brutal back roads during the winter months.

Equipped with 54-inch tyres and 18 seats, the Isar was created for ‘safe, nondestructive travel in wilderness areas’.

Icelanders definitely like their SUVs big, so how will the relatively tiny Lamborghini Urus fair when the going gets rough?

To say Stefano Domenicali is a stickler for detail is an understatement. I’ve just parked a Lamborghini Urus at Dyrhólaey

lighthouse, on the southern tip of Iceland, when the Lamborghini CEO notices a speck of condensation inside a headlight unit.

Considering we’ve crashed across some of Iceland’s lesser-used tracks in a colourcoded convoy of automotive exotica, perhaps it should be no surprise that one of the seven Lambos on tour has taken a hit.

The former team principal of Ferrari Formula One is having none of it. A mechanic is dispatched with pit lane-esque speed, whisking away the key so my SUV can be removed and parked in a more discreet location.

Stone chip or not, nothing must de-rail

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Lamborghini Avventura Iceland – the Italian company’s car launch of this century.

The Urus is arguably the most important model in Lamborghini’s 55-year history. It may not have the astounding beauty of the Miura, the madness of the Diablo, or even the craziness of the Countach, but the pretty Urus is about to give Lambo sales a welcome shot in the arm.

It is already a sell-out for the first year of production and the Italians are looking to double sales volumes in 2019 to around 8,000 cars. The majority of

owners will be family folk who would never have considered a psychopathic Huracan or Aventador in a million years.

No wonder Domenicali is smiling.

After a string of launch events on tarmac, the raging bull has arrived in Iceland to prove that a pretty, 4.0-litre, twin-turbo SUV can cope with off-road terrain and the odd stone chip. Can it really scrabble up a volcano – the 641bhp should help – or will it crumble like a Gucci handbag dragged down a cobbled street?

“Lamborghini is still a macho car – we are not softening the brand with an SUV,”

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LAMBORGHINI URUS PRICE: From £160,000 WEIGHT: 2,197kg ENGINE: 4.0-litre twin turbo V8 POWER: 641bhp PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph in 3.6 seconds MAXIMUM SPEED: 189mph ECONOMY: 23mpg (combined)

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insists Domenicali, who claims a sports utility vehicle was already on the cards when he joined Lamborghini in 2016, following his brief stint with Audi.

“The first reaction to the Urus from our traditional owners was sceptical. Then they drove it and said ‘Wow’! If you want hairychested then it’s still there with our supercars.

Lamborghini had to develop for the future if it was going to survive and have the finances to build more supercars like the Huracan and Aventador. In the past we polarised people – you either loved our cars or you hated them.

With the Urus you either love it or you don’t like it. That is a big step forward, although I’m sure you are going to love it.”

Lamborghinis are traditionally painted in a range of funky, tutti-frutti colours. There has

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been Verde Ithaca (lime green), Giallo Horus (yellow) and Viola Ophelia (purple). Our Icelandic seven pack was a rather sober mix of black, white, blue and yellow.

The drive to Klettsvegi on the south coast road includes a chance to try the Urus on more extreme gravel tracks. The SUV features Neve, Terra and Sabbia modes – snow, earth and sand. They combine with the usual Strada (street), Sport and Corsa (track) modes already found in other Lamborghinis.

The Kötlujökull glacier is famous for its multi-coloured ice layers – it also provides some of the most challenging driving on Lamborghini’s Icelandic adventure. This is no Land Rover, but the Urus can cope with challenging terrain, even shod with standard road tyres.

The most popular T-shirt in the tourist shop at Hjörleifshöfði reads ‘If you don’t like the weather in Iceland, just wait five minutes’. Unlike your average supercar, Domenicali is keen to prove the Urus glides effortlessly across the snow in Neve mode.

On the road, the Urus is a totally different beast. It out accelerates any current SUV model – even the Bentley Bentayga W12 with which it shares many VW Group underpinnings.

The V8 engine delivers power to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox, slightly biased towards the rear for better handling. The air sprung suspension can be adjusted through six different driving modes, as well as raised for off-road work.

Even driven aggressively there is little body roll. It may not be as good in the rough as a Range Rover or Bentayga, but on tarmac it feels every bit as comfortable.

Inside, choose between four or five seats.

Boot capacity is 616 litres, which is about the same as a Porsche Cayenne. An infotainment system is driven by two touchscreens and the sound system is excellent.

I ask Domenicali why I should choose an Urus over a Bentley Bentayga? “With

all due respect,” he says, “because this is a Lamborghini! Let’s not forget these cars have very different souls. Bentley is an incredible brand and part of the same Volkswagen Group, but it appeals to a different type of customer.”

The Italian says his goal is to ensure stable sales growth and prepare the company for the challenge of hybrid and electric power plants. “This is a moment of big change in the industry. I will be here for the arrival of Lamborghini’s first hybrid and possibly the first all-electric car, but that is still many years off. We don’t need to be the first in that segment, but we need to be the best.”

Domenicali still lives in Monza, not far from the Formula One track where he once watched his F1 heroes race. He spends weekdays in Modena and also has a holiday home in the Dolomites. “I have a family so now, with the Urus, I can drive home in a Lamborghini. Believe it or not, my garage is empty. I used to have several motorbikes but my wife said I was too old – and she is the boss.”

Would he ever return to Formula One? “No, but never say never. I wouldn’t go back into a team because I did it for 22 years and I still have a little hair left. As a sign of

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respect, I don’t like to talk about what has happened to my former team.

“I’m very happy with what we are doing at Lamborghini. Urus is going to open up a whole new market for us and introduce the brand to a lot more customers. There’s no other car that does everything quite so well.”

That’s open to debate. By the time you have added some desirable options the Urus will easily top £180,000 – a total that can buy an awful lot of car.

Among them are models which share that same Volkswagen Group platform. The Bentayga is certainly more luxurious, the Cayenne equally as

sporty and the much cheaper Audi Q7 far more practical.

But what will make this SUV extra desirable is the Lamborghini DNA. It oozes from every nut and lightweight bolt. The Urus may share turbochargers with an Audi but even the keyfob feels sexy.

And it has all the usual equipment you would expect in a luxury fourwheel drive: electric tailgate, superior leather trim, electrically adjustable heated front seats and a pair of excellent LED headlights that can cut through the worst Icelandic fog.

I doubt the Lamborghini will ever

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offer ‘best in class’ handling off-road, but on tarmac it’s stunningly quick and will exit a corner like a ‘proper’ supercar. The steering is light and responsive, the seats are supportive and that rasping exhaust just adds to the drama.

We didn’t have the opportunity to try the Urus on a circuit in Iceland but I’ve no doubt it would be more than competent. Expect Lamborghini to launch a racing series for the Urus within the year.

Until the Aston Martin DBX arrives later in 2019, Domenicali will have plenty to smile about.

WHY MCLAREN’S ARCTIC EXPERIENCE MIGHT JUST BE THE MOST FUN MOTORING EXPERIENCE MONEY CAN BUY

DA N C I N G Words: Hugh Francis Anderson

ON ICE

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wake with a jolt as the plane judders through the clouds. Glancing out of the window, a barren white landscape radiates in every direction. The pilot’s voice sounds over the tannoy; we will shortly be arriving in Ivalo, Lapland, the northernmost region of Finland.

At 300km north of the Arctic Circle, and just 80km from the border of Russia, Ivalo is a minuscule, bleak, immense, beautiful location. As we make our way towards Jávri Lodge, our accommodation for the next few days, feet upon feet of fresh snow lie piled beside the roads, magnificent pines soar skyward, and the horizon seems endless. If there’s one place on earth one where a supercar would be an unexpected sight, this would be it.

As part of its extensive list of global driving experiences, which in 2018 included a rally through the Iberian Peninsula and a journey across South Africa, McLaren has honed its ability not only to produce some of the finest supercars on the planet, but also to create once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

The Pure McLaren Arctic Experience is one of the most extravagant journeys the marque offers.

Some 30 minutes from Jávri Lodge lies Test World, a secretive cold-weather testing site for the world’s leading automotive manufacturers where I will learn how to drift on ice. Here, each participant is assigned their own professional racing driver and let loose on an assortment of racing tracks, each designed to test and improve a new skill. By the fire of the welcome cabin, I’m introduced to Bradley Ellis, a former British GT Championship winner and a Pure McLaren driving coach since 2013. He leads me out into the -15˚C chill and shows me to our steed, a volcano-yellow 570S Spider.

As we make our way to track number six, a simple ovalshaped circuit used to teach people how to drift into a corner, Ellis talks me through the basics. “When driving on ice, it is very important to be relaxed and confident,” he says. “The same physics apply on the ice as they do on the tarmac, but you are just slightly slower and a little more sideways.”

Once on the track, Ellis hammers at the throttle and careers into the first corner, tapping the brakes and turning into the bend. The rear of the car drifts out until we’re almost perpendicular before he catches the slide and dabs the throttle again, racing into the next corner of this endless loop. We stop abruptly. “Your turn,” he laughs.

So how does one drift on ice? “When drifting, always keep traction with the front tyres whilst maintaining broken traction with the rear tyres,” he says, as I clamber behind the wheel.

“This is done by having wheel spin to keep the rear wheels spinning faster than the front. This will make the back slide when you try to corner. The real art is to be able to use the slide to steer you around the corner whilst you control the angle of the slide by balancing the throttle and the amount

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of counter-steer you apply.” Sounds simple enough. After a few failed attempts, enormous spin-outs and some close calls with the snowbank that marks the edge of the track, I’ve almost got it. It is one of the most unusual yet thrilling sensations, and you must put aside everything you’ve ever been taught while driving on the road. As the car begins to slide, your initial instinct is to panic. On the road, unless you’re deliberately trying to oversteer, a sliding car means something has gone wrong. On ice, a sliding car means something has gone right. This is the first hurdle. You then need to learn how to hold the slide, which is a very fine line to toe.

We move onto track three, a wide circle designed to perfect holding a slide. “It’s important to have the rear of the car feeling light, which is done by hard acceleration and creating wheel spin, or, if you already have speed in the car, then you’ll need to use the brakes hard to shift the weight of the car to the front,” says Ellis, sliding in an endless drift around the track, one hand on the steering wheel and the other gesticulating wildly. “To hold this slide without spinning you need to counter steer into the slide, and just as you’ve caught the slide to avoid the car straightening back out, you need to re-apply some power to keep the rear wheels spinning. When you’ve caught the slide, use small adjustments of throttle and steering to balance and steer the car in the direction of travel.” I take the helm once again and give it some beans. More spin-outs ensue, but before long it’s starting to make sense, and by the end of the day I’m spending most of my time sideways and loving every minute of it.

Time spent out of the car is exceptional, too. Built by Urho Kekkonen, Finland’s longest serving president, Jávri Lodge is a luxury bolthole in the middle of a white wasteland. There are rumours that JFK stayed here. Our party fills the entire lodge, which has just 13 rooms and feels more home than hotel. We drink in front of the open fires, eat locally sourced reindeer and elk around the communal dining table, swim in the indoor pool, explore the traditional Finnish sauna (which includes rolling in the fresh snow afterwards), embark on a dog-sledding tour and take a midnight stroll in search of the Northern Lights. Even without the driving, this would be a seriously enjoyable trip.

Yet driving is what we are all here for, and a second day helps to hone the lessons taught on day one. Once I’m warmed up again to the notion of going sideways, Ellis takes me through the five Dynamic and two Handling tracks, a mixture of hairpins, longbends and narrow straights, all in preparation for the technical GP track set off among the trees. Where I have been going 25-35mph at a push, I’m now hitting speeds of 70mph on the GP track, sending my adrenaline levels soaring. And then, suddenly, it all clicks – the moment you master drifting from one corner to the next, when you swiftly transform into a stunt driver from Fast & Furious. It’s edge-of-the-seat stuff, and I completely understand why customers shell out a rather princely entry fee to take part.

“Drifting a McLaren on ice is pure, unadulterated fun,” said Ellis back in the welcome cabin on day one. I now know exactly what he meant.

The next Pure McLaren Arctic Experience runs from 28 January – 15 February, prices from £12,750 plus taxes. For more information contact experiences@mclaren.com

ALL IMAGERY COURTESY OF PATRICK GOSLING, PATRICKGOSLING.COM

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CABIN FEVER Europe’s most exclusive chalets

P.108 ST. MORITZ The Swiss resort that inspired all others

P.114 COURCHEVEL Where to stay in France’s most famous skiing destination

P.120 CRANS-MONTANA Exploring the lesser-celebrated Swiss resort

Switzerlandbased sports photographer Filip Zuan captures the slopes of St. Moritz filipzuan.com

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LUXURY CHALET N O B E R L E CH, AUST R IA SLEEPS: 20 USP: Ultimate relaxation PRICE: From approx. £189,295 per week, leotrippi.com Describing itself as six-star, this ninebedroom chalet is indeed as stellar as it gets. With its own cinema, an enviable wine cellar and a whole floor dedicated to a spa, including a swimming pool, whirlpool, two saunas, a salt mine steam bath, and hair salon, nothing has been overlooked – including a welcome massage for guests on arrival. It also comes staffed with a butler, concierge, chef and chauffeur.

All you have to do is ski.

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CHALET P I E R R E AV O I VER BIE R , SWI TZER LAND SLEEPS: 14 USP: Champagne on tap PRICE: From approx. £21,641, firefly-collection.com There are 10 complimentary house wines and two champagnes – Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut and G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge – to choose

from during your stay at Chalet Pierre Avoi, which takes aprèsski to the next level thanks to its open bar. Between bottles, relax in the outdoor Jacuzzi or sauna, or opt for a massage in the chalet’s private treatment room. The resort centre and two main lift stations are just a five-minute car journey away and, naturally, the house comes with its own 24-hour chauffeur to shuttle you to the slopes.

C H A L E T MO N T B LANC M E G È V E , F RA N CE S L E E P S : 12 adults + 4 children USP: Rooms with a view PRICE: From approx. £111,372 per week, oxfordski.com With every luxury amenity box well and truly ticked, Chalet Mont Blanc is hard to beat. The exhaustive list includes an outdoor heated infinity pool, an indoor pool, a private gym and a hammam, a cocktail bar, an integrated Bang & Olufsen sound system, a cinema and a wine cellar.

Oh, and don’t forget about the private helipad.

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CHALET Ü BER HAU S LECH, AU ST RIA SLEEPS: 10 USP: For serious skiing PRICE: From £49,000 per week, uberhaus-lech.com Austria’s Chalet Überhaus lives up to its name, with a wine cellar, a hammam

and an outdoor heated swimming pool with superb views of the surrounding peaks – but skiing is the big pull here.

There is a personal Ski Butler, who can assist with equipment hire and ski passes, a heated boot room and, perhaps best of all, guests are given two complimentary days of private ski instruction.

CHA LET L’A L P EN SI A COURCH EV EL, F RANC E SLEEPS: 10 USP: Award-winning design PRICE: Approx. £9,728 per night on a half board basis, oetkercollection.com Masterminded by Parisian double act Joseph Dirand and India Mahdavi – the brain behind Sketch’s award-winning bubblegum tea room – Chalet L’Alpensia is a lesson in slick design: think velvet upholstery and marble bathrooms. Outside, the views are equally exquisite; this chalet is perched on the top of a former Olympic ski jump.

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C HA L ET ED ELW EI SS CO U RC H EV EL, F RA N C E SLEEPS: 16 USP: For art lovers PRICE: Approx. £71,207 per week, leotrippi.com It’s no surprise that the alpine retreat of art collector Christian Levett is home to a plethora of exquisite pieces.

From Damien Hirst to Picasso, to Salvador Dalí to Joan Miró, Levett’s collection is regularly rotated in this lodge-turnedgallery. Not so into art? Not a problem: there’s a nightclub, a wine cellar and a 16m swimming pool.

C H A L E T H U S KY VA L D ’ I S È R E , F RA N C E SLEEPS: 14 USP: The ultimate games room PRICE: From £1,700 per week during low season, scottdunn.com There’s no danger of cabin fever

in this chalet-cum-arcade.

Chalet Husky is home to a climbing wall, an archery range and rifle shooting.

There is also a wellness area complete with a huge pool and infinity waterfall, sauna and Jacuzzi.

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CHALET Z E R MATT P E AK Z E R M AT T, SW ITZER L AND SLEEPS: 12 USP: For James Bond lovers PRICE: From £46,225 per week, leotrippi.com Accessed via a tunnel carved out of the mountain, this chalet is a thrill-a-minute from the moment you arrive. A top-floor gallery bedroom has a glass roof for star-gazing, while the floating glass staircase will impress even the most jaded of architects.

Don’t forget to pick up Zermatt Peak’s complimentary Zai skis and Ugg walking boots en route to the slopes.

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LE P ETIT PA L A I S COURCHEV EL, FRANCE SLEEPS: 14 USP: Après-ski entertainment PRICE: From approx. £72,131 per week, firefly-collection.com A black-and-gold colour theme gives this six-storey chalet an opulent edge – as does its master suite, which takes up an entire floor – but it’s the royalblue subterranean bunker that steals the show. Three levels

below Le Petit Palais’ peaceful mezzanine library, you’ll find a sanctuary for those harbouring a ski-hard, play-hard mentality, equipped with a nightclub (complete with a professional DJ kit), wine cellar and poker table. If a party of 14 seems restrained, a unique concept is offered in the form of an underground tunnel to sister chalet Le Petit Chateau, enabling a 30-strong guest list.

Good luck making the first ski lift the next day.

CHALET LA BERGERIE CO U RC H E V E L , F RA N C E SLEEPS: 14 USP: Delicious dining opportunities PRICE: From approx. £130,596, firefly-collection.com The vast Chalet La Bergerie is a haven in the hilltops for foodies.

Located in a 17th-century shepherd’s hut (or ‘bergerie’), the lodge is home to a team of 10 staff, including a professional chef, who service all five floors. An extensively stocked kitchen, bar and wine cellar ensure each guest at the 18-seat dining table can indulge in a personalised culinary experience.

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A LONG WEEKEND IN THE OLDEST HOTEL IN ST MORITZ, THE WINTER SPORTS RESORT T H AT S PAW N E D T H E M A L L

Words: Richard Brown

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etting to the top of the world typically involves a two-hour flight to Zurich followed by a threehour transfer to a steep, secluded, south-facing, hillside spot, midway between the summit of the 3,056m Piz Nair and the wide, flat, lake-lined Engadine valley, that famously pretty geographic quirk that snakes its way through south-east Switzerland before petering out just before the Austrian border. Leave London early enough and you’ll be on the slopes of St Moritz – officially the Top of the World since the town’s tourism board trademarked it as such in 1987 – by mid-afternoon.

Unless, that is, an outbreak of arctic air carries all the way from Siberia to Heathrow – the Beast from the East, remember that? – in which case your flight will be delayed four hours before being redirected via a threehour stopover in Frankfurt. Then it’s simply a five-hour jaunt – four trains, one bus, with ski bags, in ski jackets, Oh what fun it is to ride – before a final alpine slog up the vertiginous Rhaetian Railway, a journey that’s interrupted by an abrupt moment when all the lights go out and carriages are plunged into darkness.

It’s at this point that an English-speaking Swiss robo-voice crackles onto the tannoy to explain that you’ve just entered the Albula stretch of the track, one of only two train lines on

the planet to have been granted UNESCO World Heritage status, a railway whose operators rightly believe is all the more enchanting for being viewed from the intimate darkness of an unlit cabin.

Silhouetted, saw-toothed summits; knolls of sparkling diamond snow; stars like backlit pinpricks in a Vantablack sky – you might have left the house more than 18 hours ago but in this implausible, magical moment you couldn’t give a flying funicular that it’s just gone 11pm and your bed for the night is still hiding out there somewhere in the arctic dark.

We checked in just after midnight.

First thing next morning we discovered why St Moritz’s official emblem is the sun. Yawning open the wooden shutters of our fifth-floor bedroom windows admitted a light so bright we were forced to retreat back into the room and return to the ledge only once we’d located our Ray-Bans.

Below lay sprawling, sparkling St Moritz, one of Europe’s – ergo the world’s – great ski resorts (the world’s first great ski resort); a multifarious assortment of turreted palace-hotels, ancient stone churches, insipid mid-rise apartment blocks, slate-grey shopping arcades, slushy cobbled streets, tarpaulincovered cranes and closed-for-the-winter construction sites. A hulking great mass of stone and stucco that tumbles towards an immense expanse of perfectly flat snow, a halo of pine trees serving to mark the perimeter of the town’s eponymous

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THIS PAGE THE GREEN TURRET OF BADRUTT’S PALACE, OPENED IN 1896

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lake, on which the high-status Snow Polo World Cup plays out each January, and which hosts the arguably even higher pedigree White Turf horse races every February.

The lake serves to separate St Moritz into two distinct villages. The less developed, valley-floor Bad generally offers more affordable accommodation while serving up significantly less wow factor (the titanic, five-star, superspa Michelin-starred Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains aside). Steep, historic, hillside Dorf is home to high-fashion emporiums and the swankiest of hotels – from one of which we’re peering out of now. (There’s also Celerina, a village three kilometres in the opposite direction, where you’ll find

Suvretta House, one of the valley’s other great spa-equipped hotels – this one set in its own private grounds.)

Less villagey than Verbier, certainly less charming than Megève, St Moritz is more a Monaco-on-snow – an old-money enclave surrounded by mountains, built on a reputation for entertaining royalty and movie stars. Like the Riviera principality, it’s been scarred by the march of the modern identikit apartment block. Far better to be uptown looking down at the lake, than down at the lake looking up at the town.

Bally, Bottega Veneta, Brunello Cucinelli, Bulgari, Ermenegildo Zegna, Harry Winston, Hermès, Jimmy Choo, Loro Piana, Moncler, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, Valentino – if you travel to ski resorts to shop in the same stores you can find on Bond Street, you’re exceedingly well catered for. Less true for any sybarite looking for a high-spirited session of

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP THE KULM HOTEL; THE LORD FOSTER -DESIGNED KULM COUNTRY CLUB; THE CRESTA TOBOGGAN RUN; KULM COUNTRY CLUB RESTAURANT; SLEDGERS BESIDE THE RHAETIAN RAILWAY

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après-ski. You won’t be clinking steins and dancing on table tops in your ski boots here – many visitors to St Moritz have no intention of going anywhere near a pair of ski boots.

As in Monaco, much of the fun in the world’s oldest alpine playground happens behind the closed doors of castellated hotels. Here, sunny St Moritz comes into its own.

It all began in 1855, when a former farmer by the name of Johannes Badrutt acquired and subsequently purchased a 12-bedroom property in the centre of town. In 1859 he added two storeys and opened St Moritz’s first purpose-built hotel – the Hotel Engadiner Kulm (known simply as the Kulm today). Five years later, in a bid to drum up some offseason custom, Badrutt invited four of his English summer guests back for the winter. If the men failed to be titillated by the merits of St Moritz in the snow, Bradrutt promised that he’d reimburse their travel costs. Otherwise the men were free to stay for as long as they liked. Staring at a win-win situation, the venturesome aristocrats arrived shortly before Christmas and sojourned until Easter.

In the next two decades, both Switzerland’s first electric light (Christmas Day, 1879) and first public telephone network (1889) were installed in the Kulm hotel – which is also credited with inventing the concept of the hotel lobby (a large reception area having been added in 1887). In 1896, Johannes Badrutt’s son Caspar opened the lakeside Badrutt’s Palace. Its green, bird-box-like turret became the resort’s most famous landmark, capping a hotel visited by the likes of Bardot, Dietrich, Hepburn, Hayworth and Hitchcock – the last of whom choose to stay at the hotel during his honeymoon.

Our time at the Kulm was characterised by lie-ins, late breakfasts and lazy afternoons whirlpooling al fresco. If the hotel’s lobby and grand ballrooms are a maximalist mash-up of Corinthian columns, floral wallpaper and kaleidoscopic carpet, its chic, subterranean, straight-line spa – complete with indoor-outdoor swimming pool –

Outside, there’s bobsledding, dog sledging, curling, snowshoeing, hiking, kite skiing, ice skating and Europe’s longest sledge run couldn’t be more modern. Large, fluffy-carpeted bedrooms sit somewhere in between.

The hotel is run by husband-and-wife management team Heinz and Jenny Hunkeler – voted hoteliers of the year by Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung in 2016. Perhaps that’s why, despite its size – comprising six interconnected blocks, seven restaurants and 172 rooms, it’s as long as a street – the Kulm feels more home than hotel.

During dinner at the hotel’s top restaurant, The K by Tim Raue, we got chatting to a couple of location scouts on a recce for the BBC’s Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby. The show profiles the best hotels on the planet. Did the Kulm make the cut? The BBC ran it as the 2018 Christmas special.

Outside the hotel, there’s bobsledding, dog sledging, curling, snowshoeing, hiking, kite skiing, ice skating and, between villages Preda and Bergün – a 20-minute ride away on the Rhaetian Railway – Europe’s longest sledge run, a 6km slide through tunnels and viaducts that’s floodlit at night. It’s breathtaking.

For foodies, there’s the annual nine-day St Moritz Gourmet Festival (usually held in January) where top chefs are invited to explore a particular subject. The theme in 2015 was British travel to St Moritz and the festival attracted the UK’s Jason Atherton, Angela Hartnett, Isaac McHale and Nathan Outlaw. For thrill-seekers, there’s the Cresta Run, the world’s oldest toboggan track. It was built in the grounds of the Kulm hotel in 1885 and reopened in 2017 following a £9m upgrade by Lord Foster, British architect and seasonal St Moritz resident. The track is open to complete beginners – as long as you book. The club’s cosy, wood-panelled restaurant is an ode to tobogganing, with antique sledges hanging from the ceiling and memorabilia lining the walls. It serves steak alongside some terrific Italian dishes.

There’s skiing, too. Fifty-seven lifts, 170 snow cannons, 350km of runs, mostly intermediate, some available to ski at night, spread across five separate ski areas, connected by bus.

But who’d want to do anything as strenuous as ski?

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COURCHEVEL A TA L E O F TWO VILLAGES C O U R C H E V E L ’ S L O W E R H A M L E T S M AY O F F E R A LAID-BACK, OLD-WORLD CHARM, BUT IT IS THE RESORT’S HIGHEST TWO TOWNS T H AT H AV E B E C O M E T H E B R I G H T E S T J E W E L S I N F R A N C E ’ S FA B L E D T H R E E VA L L E Y S – S O W H AT S E T S T H E G L I T Z Y E N C L AV E S A PA R T ?

Words: Rowena Carr-Allinson

© LES 3 VALLÉES / DAVID ANDRÉ

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ourchevel has come a long way since I last skied there as a child during the 1980s. Now synonymous with all things bling, it has a reputation as being one of the swankiest ski resorts in Europe.

Courchevel actually consists of four satellite villages – historically known as Courchevel 1330, Courchevel 1550, Courchevel 1650 and Courchevel 1850. During the 2011-2012 season, however, the resort decided to scrap the association with altitude and the villages were rebranded. Courchevel 1850 became simply Courchevel; Courchevel 1650 was renamed Courchevel Moriond; Courchevel 1550 is now called Courchevel Village and Courchevel 1330, aka Le Praz, became just Courchevel Le Praz.

Connected to the Three Valleys and its 600km of ski slopes, the Courchevel domain has its own 150km of pistes, where it’s possible not just to ski, but also to snowshoe, snowmobile and luge (Courchevel Moriond has a new 3km-long racing luge track).

There’s also an entertainment programme that runs throughout the villages, comprising everything from giant snowball fights to nightly firework displays.

While Courchevel might attract the global elite, you don’t need to be an expert to ski here. Thanks to an entire Zen zone, with 19 green and 35 blue runs, it’s fantastically beginner-friendly. Just as well for a fair-weather skier like me who’s always been more about the après.

It might be the sheer size of the skiable area, or the -12C temperatures, but, even in high season, the mountains are blissfully quiet. When the sun’s out, the views are jaw-droppingly beautiful and, despite the biting cold, I’m starting to realise why Courchevel is considered a must for real ski-lovers.

COURCHEVEL (1850) Courchevel is a surreal Alpine hideaway. Significant for being the first resort in France to be constructed from scratch, rather than based around an existing village, it has become a playground for the super-rich.

This is where the likes of Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Chanel have stores. For the ultimate selection, and if you need a €3,000 (approx. £2,700) Fendi ski suit, pop into Bernard Orcel, the top-of-the-line ski gear supplier where you can also pick up some Swarovskiencrusted Uggs for a few thousand more. It’s worth a browse, because you have to see it to believe it.

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THIS PAGE, FROM TOP L’APOGÉE; DISHES FROM BAUMANIÈRE

In 2011 France introduced a new tier to its hotel ranking system, with Palace status awarded to five-star hotels that far exceed the requirements at this level. So far, only 25 hotels in the entire country have received the rating.

Three can be found in Courchevel – Le K2, Les Airelles and the Cheval Blanc Courchevel. This, alongside a vast choice of five-star establishments, has ensured that top-rated service is the norm across the highest of the Courchevel resorts.

Want to arrange your transfer by RollsRoyce? No problem – stay at the Six Senses Residence. Fancy a caviar and cryo treatment?

Head to the Spa Diane Barriere at Les Neiges – it will only set you back €720 (approx. £650).

There are a range of more affordable treats, however, which, given your surroundings, will make you feel like a million dollars.

1850 is home to eight Michelin-starred chefs. Head to family-run hotel Le Strato,

where Jean-André Charial of L’Oustau de Baumanière fame runs the Baumanière 1850.

Forget the traditional fondue, it’s all about the Provençal influence and very haute cuisine. Try the famous smoked egg white spaghetti or the Savoie pork with truffles. If you are a sucker for truffles, like me, the rather romantic Comptoir de l’Apogée also serves a mean truffle risotto.

My top tip? Stop for a truffle-rich cashew nut moment with an apéro by the fireplace first.

Odd as it may sound, sushi is also big news in this alpine hotspot. For the most authentic Japanese experience, Nama at the Aman Le Mélézin guarantees a real change of ambiance.

Nama means raw and the restaurant is run by master chef Keiji Matoba, who takes sushi to an art form with his washoku Japanese cuisine.

Don’t miss the Maguro tuna tartare or the Tokusen Wagyu sirloin steak.

For cocktails, Le Bizan at Les Grandes Alpes is an eclectic mix of funky contemporary art, Japanese food and the best barman in town.

Let the kitchen take care of the food with an omakase menu chosen by the chef, while super-sommelier Stefano takes care of the wine pairings. He’s also an expert mixologist and his Bellini is, as they say, to die for.

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Courchevel Moriond is an altogether more down-to-earth, and affordable, offering

COURCHEVEL MORIOND

THIS PAGE COURTESY OF LE C

Two hundred metres lower, Courchevel Moriond, while still chic, is an altogether more down-to-earth, and affordable, offering. A quick drive, or free ski shuttle transfer, transports you to another world completely. For one thing, here you can sample authentic fondue and crêpes – all but extinct in 1850.

Moriond is not as chocolate box pretty as 1850. Its grey slate and wooden chalets remind me of American resorts. That said, it’s sleeker and sexier than your usual French village, clearly developed with taste to appeal to a certain clientele.

There is more self-catering accommodation ‘down’ in Moriond, but also a good choice of restaurants, ranging from the fancy Manali to the more local Le Petit Savoyard (excellent for fondues) and the family-friendly La Table de Marie. The village also has a lively bar scene.

You’ll find the seasonaires celebrating at Le Bubble and the Funky Fox, making the most of the mulled wine and warming génépi liqueur shots. A handy spa in the town centre even stocks Marmite and Cheddar cheese.

We stayed at the swanky, newly built Le C – the first and only residence in Courchevel 1650 to boast a restaurant, spa and a ski room. It’s a design fiend’s dream, from the warm mocha sofas covered with heavy fur throws and scattered with leather and faux shearling pillows to the giant TV screens in each bedroom.

A small but well-equipped kitchen proves

highly convenient, especially when travelling en famille, and there’s room service if you have a sudden urge for frites, foie gras or tiramisu.

Downstairs, the offering at Bistrot Le C stretches from gourmet tapas to full-on slow-cooked confit pork with truffled chorizo and basil scallops – more than enough to compete with 1850. The apartment is just a stone’s throw from the Ariondaz gondola.

A final tip? Forget the ESF (Englishspeaking French ski school) and instead book the excellent New Generation instructors, who teach small English speaking groups or offer one-on-one tutoring. Definitely a vast improvement on my experience in the 1980s – even if some outfits seem to have come full circle.

Le C, from €2,250 per week for a two-bedroom apartment with Alpine Resorts, alpine-residences.fr; Book group lessons with New Generation from €199 for five days, skinewgen.com

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NESTLED IN SOUTHERN SWITZERLAND AND HOME TO THE M AT T E R H O R N A N D T H E A L E T S C H G L A C I E R , T H E VA L A I S R E G I O N E N C O M PA S S E S W E L L- K N O W N L U X U R Y R E S O R T S V E R B I E R A N D Z E R M AT T – BUT FOR A MORE AUTHENTIC ALPINE EXPERIENCE, MAKE FOR C R A N S - M O N TA N A

Words: Rowena Marella-Daw

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s Sean Connery’s James Bond trailed Goldfinger in the eponymous film, he steered his Aston Martin DB5 round hairpin turns and blind curves along the Furka Pass in the Swiss canton of Valais, chasing Tilly Masterson’s Ford Mustang convertible. He got the girl, but missed out on the stunning scenery, not even catching a glimpse of the magnificent Rhône Glacier through his rear-view mirror. To this day, the Furka Pass puts daring drivers through their paces as they retrace Bond’s white-knuckle adventure (minus the tyre slashers) through switchbacks between Andermatt and Grimsel Pass in the Obergoms.

Although most passes in Switzerland, including Furka Pass, are closed during the winter months, it’s a thrilling journey to look forward to when it reopens between June and October.

Until then, more excitement awaits in the Goms sub-region in the Upper Valais. Stretching from Gletsch all the way down to Lax, it straddles the river Rhône and is lined with tiny villages punctuated by Baroque churches, their white steeples towering over traditional wooden houses and distinctive sun-baked centuries-old barns. Staying a few nights in one of these villages is a good introduction to authentic Valaisan hospitality, and the start of an amazing adventure.

The Goms valley is surrounded by 3,000m peaks, which in winter transform into a magical playground for cross-country skiing along 90km of Nordic tracks. It also provides the ideal landscape for winter hiking and snowshoe trails. In the car-free village of Fiescheralp, those who enjoy sledging will be thrilled by 11km of magical snowy forests, not to mention panoramic views of the Matterhorn. The village sits 2,222m above sea level, and can be reached by cable car from Fiesch. And within close proximity is the mighty Aletsch Glacier, which forms part of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site. The glacier is best viewed from the heights of Bettmerhorn and Eggishorn, both situated south of the glacier, although the latter provides a better angle of the glacier’s curves.

A great rail service runs regularly between the villages, and it’s worth venturing north to Niederwald, where César Ritz, founder of the eponymous luxury hotels in Paris and London, was born in 1850. Here, hiking and cycling trails run through forests and valleys, and are popular in the summer months. In winter, a well-deserved après-ski treat called cholera pie is served at the

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Drei Tannen restaurant. This delicious speciality acquired its unsavoury name from the pandemic that struck Switzerland in 1836, when villagers fearful of contracting the disease stayed away from the streets.

To survive, they ate what was readily available in the pantry: potatoes, cheese, onions, leeks, apples, pears and bacon, which they mixed together and baked in a pastry. Cholera pie is otherwise known as oberwalliser lauchkuchen (Valais leek pie), and along with raclette, is one of the region’s authentic winter comfort food.

South of the Goms region lies Crans-Montana, a prime year-round destination for families, sybarites, explorers, sports enthusiasts – even secret agents. It certainly appealed to Bond actor Sir Roger Moore, who made it his home until the end of his life.

So, what makes Crans-Montana so special? An amalgamation of two towns, Crans and Montana, the resort sits on a south-facing plateau elevated 1,500m above the town of Sierre. It gets plenty of sunshine – more than 300 days a year according to the resort’s own figures – and boasts vistas of magnificent peaks all the way from the Matterhorn to Mont Blanc.

Lakes, mountain forests, hiking trails and glaciers are abundant here, and so are high-end retail therapy, five-star hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants. The resort is going through a revival, so much so that it has reclaimed its place in the prestigious Best of the Alps circle, comprising 12 distinguished alpine destinations, including Davos, St. Anton and St. Moritz, among others.

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W H E R E T O S TAY GUARDA GOLF HOTEL & RESIDENCES

Situated in the centre of town, Guarda Golf Hotel & Residences is a five-star refuge for guests seeking tranquillity, looking to indulge their passion for golf, or both. The elegant suites exude a warm ambience, and panoramic views of the Alps can be enjoyed from the private terrace. There’s the Sir Roger Moore private cinema for late-night viewings or private parties, as well as a spa and a cigar lounge. The hotel is within walking distance of designer boutiques and restaurants. guardagolf.com CRANS AMBASSADOR

Wellbeing is the name of the game at this hotel, thanks to the 1,300sq m wellness area – the largest of its kind in the resort. Guests can take advantage of the 16m heated indoor pool, hammam, sauna and multiple treatment rooms, as well as the fully equipped gym that overlooks the Valley. At the resident Spa Nescens, a range of innovative cosmeceutical anti-ageing treatments, which use the Swiss brand’s regenerating creams, are also available. cransambassador.ch

GOURMET APRÈS-SKI MIZUKI BY KAKINUMA

This Japanese restaurant at Guarda Golf Hotel & Residences offers excellent cuisine, and the service is on a par with what you’d expect in Japan. guardagolf.com/restaurants L’OURS

THIS PAGE, FROM TOP LE CRANS; CRANS-MONTANA; CHEF PIERRE CRÉPAUD AND DINNER AT LE CRANS IN MONT BLANC

Chef Franck Reynaud’s gastronomic restaurant at the Hostellerie du Pas de l’Ours has holds one Michelin Star and 18 Gault & Millau points. pasdelours.ch LE MONT BLANC

Chef Pierre Crepaud’s restaurant Le Mont Blanc at Le Crans Hotel & Spa deserves its Michelin star and 17 Gault & Millau points for his innovative cuisine, which is as impressive as the magnificent alpine landscapes that wrap around the circular dining room. lecrans.com/hotel

Crans-Montana may not be as trendy or fashionable as rivals Zermatt and Verbier, but it tops these destinations when it comes to relatively cheaper ski season passes. The ski landscape spans 140km, and the jewel in its crown is the Plaine Morte Glacier, which rises to an altitude of 2,927m and spreads across 10 sq km. A gondola takes visitors through valleys and vertiginous rock formations, then stops at the first platform, where visitors can bask in the winter sun and admire views of alpine peaks and the valley while reclining on deck chairs. The exhilarating journey continues from here to Pointe de la Plaine Morte, where the broad glacial expanse is accessible to skiers of all levels, although advanced skiers head for La Toula’s steep pistes and the Piste Nationale, which at 12km is the region’s longest downhill course. Night skiing is also possible on certain illuminated trails.

There are around 20km of cross-country trails spread across Crans-Montana, from golf courses to glacial trails. The resort hosted the 1987 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, and is also popular for snowboarding. CransMontana also knows how to party, and hosts the Caprices Festival, the region’s annual winter pop-rock mountain event. The 2019 festival, scheduled for 11-14 April, will run through the day and night across two stages, and will feature electronic, house and techno music.

Valais is home to the world’s top ski resorts, but there’s more to this versatile region than snow

BOTH IMAGES GUARDA GOLF HOTEL & RESIDENCES

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This winter, a new challenge awaits ski mountaineers, when Crans-Montana’s Rando Parc opens 15 new ski mountaineering routes.

Devised with the help of Séverine Pont-Combe, four-time winner for the Patrouille des Glaciers ski-mountaineering championship, the routes will feature marked, secure paths across 40 km. Beginners will be catered for with three introductory level routes, while La X’trême, as the name suggests, is a challenging ascent to 3,000m with four uphill trails.

In winter, Valais is home to the world’s top ski resorts, but there’s more to this versatile region than snow. When the white stuff has melted and the pastures come alive, Switzerland’s largest wine region uncovers an abundance of surprises: vertiginous vineyards dating back to Roman time, including the smallest vineyard in the world, which belongs to the Dalai Lama.

Then there’s the museum in Saillon that’s devoted to counterfeit money and pays homage to 19th century forger, Joseph-Samuel Farinet, fondly referred to as the Robin Hood of the Alps. Another benefit of visiting the region in summer? You get to find your inner 007 along the Furka Pass.

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IT’S NOT A LIFESTYLE HOTEL. IT IS THE HOTEL WHERE STYLE LIVES.

BLESS your hedonism.

MADRID JANUARY 2019

BlessCollectionHotels.com

TO READ MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS VISIT TO READwww.luxurylondon.co.uk MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS VISIT www.luxurylondon.co.uk TO READ MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS VISIT www.luxurylondon.co.uk

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P R O P E R T Y T H E F I N E S T H O M E S I N T H E C A P I TA L

INSIDER KNOWLEDGE Property news from prime central London

P.140 STREETS AHEAD The best homes on the market

The concave roof of the Gianni Botsford-designed Pavilion in Notting Hill takes innovative ceilings to new heights (p.138)

Connecting people & property, perfectly.

Lowndes Street SW1X A newly renovated duplex apartment in this well maintained building with porter.

• Wood floors • Furnished/unfurnished

3

Victoria Square SW1W

5

3

A spacious and charming townhouse with period features on pretty garden square.

4

• Eat in kitchen • Approximately 2,005 sq ft

Guide price £2,000 per week wendy.gilchrist@knightfrank.com

020 3641 6004

Belgrave Mews West SW1

3

A newly refurbished mews house located just off Belgrave Square.

2

• Large master bedroom • Flexible accommodation

• Period features • Unfurnished

3

• Private patio • Approximately 2,846 sq ft

Guide price £6,600,000 susannah.odgers@knightfrank.com

020 3641 5911

• Communal Garden • Approximately 3,780 sq ft

Guide price £2,950 per week ryan.stokes@knightfrank.com

020 3641 6004

Wilton Street SW1

6

An incredibly attractive townhouse offering elegant entertaining spaces and excellent accommodation.

4

• Excellent dinning room • Roof terrace

3

4

• Grade II listed • Approximately 3,390 sq ft

Guide price £7,250,000 susannah.odgers@knightfrank.com

020 3641 5911

All potential tenants should be advised that, as well as rent, an administration fee of £288 and referencing fees of £48 per person will apply when renting a property. There will also be a £48 charge to register your deposit with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme if applicable. (All fees shown are inclusive of VAT.) Please ask us for more information about other fees that will apply or visit www.knightfrank.co.uk/tenantfees. Knight Frank is a member of the ARLA Client Money Protection Scheme and our redress scheme for consumers is Property Redress Scheme.

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INSIDER KNOWLEDGE FROM LUXURY PROPERTY JOURNAL PRIMERESI.COM

THIS PAGE ©MICHAEL SINCLAIR

THE PRICE IS RIGHT MAYFAIR MANSION SELLS FOR £40M

A six-storey property in the heart of Mayfair has been sold for more than £40m. Dating back to the reign of George II, the Grade II-listed house was an office space for the best part of two decades, before it was restored to an 11,100 sq ft residence in a painstaking 18-month refurbishment.

Beauchamp Estates is believed to have brokered the deal.

LUXURY LONDON

PROPERTY

PLANNING A P P R OV E D KENSINGTON RETIREMENT SCHEME GETS GO-AHEAD

Plans for a 230,000 sq ft, £600m ultra-luxury retirement complex on the 2.7-acre Heythrop College site in Kensington have been for approved by RBKC’s planning committee. Designs by KPF Architects include reinstating townhouses on Kensington Square, refurbishing the existing college building at

23 Kensington Square – and the demolition of all other buildings on the site to make way for a significant high-end retirement campus. The scheme promises to deliver a yoga studio, cinema, spa with hydro pools, a library, restaurant, and a wine room for residents (who must be over 55), alongside “flexible and adaptable” on-site care facilities.

Chelsea Flower Show winner Andy Sturgeon is lined up to design 1.6 acres of landscaped gardens.

BIG TICKET ITEM PROPERTY DEVELOPER LAUNCHES NEW RAFFLE SCHEME

B E S T S E AT S I N T H E H O U S E RARE ROYAL ALBERT HALL BOX FOR SALE

Harrods Estates presents an unusual instruction: a 12-seat golden box in the Royal Albert Hall’s Grand Tier. Neighbouring the royals, the box is only the second to appear on the market in more than a decade – the last, also sold by Harrods Estates, went for £2.5m last year. A buyer who is willing to pay the asking price of £3m will also be automatically granted membership to the Corporation of the Hall of Arts and Science.

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Following the recent trend for raffling off properties, Jonny Jackson, co-founder of Gatsby Property, and Harry Dee have launched Cadivus, a new raffle website with a turn-key property as the grand prize. A two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in South Kensington is up for grabs in the £10-a-ticket scheme, which will end in June 2019. The fullyfurnished property – which is on a 964year lease – is currently valued at £2m, and the firm plans to sell a minimum of 300,000 tickets, raising £3m in total. The winner’s pot also includes stamp duty fees, service charge for the first year, council tax and legal fees.

St George’s Court, South Kensington Situated in the residential area of stylish South Kensington, St George’s Court is ideally located for Kensington High Street and boasts its own private garden for exclusive use by residents. In addition, the Royal Albert Hall and the museums of South Kensington are nearby.

Pegasi Management Company Limited 207 Sloane Street London SW1X 9QX E: enquiries@pegasi.co.uk | T: +44 (0)207 245 4500 pegasi.co.uk

Beautifully presented apartment Rutland Gate, SW7 Oxford Street: 0.4 miles, Regent Street: 0.7 miles An impressive property with its own street entrance. Double reception room, kitchen, 2 bedroom suites, patio garden, communal gardens, secure lock up garage. EPC = E

Share of Freehold | 1,398 sq ft | Guide ÂŁ2.95 million William Hughes-Ward Savills Knightsbridge 020 7581 5234 william.hughesward@savills.com

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Luxurious lateral apartment Holland Park Villas, W8 High Street Kensington: 0.5 miles Reception room, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, guest cloak room, laundry room, designated underground parking space and storage unit, 24hr concierge and leisure facilities including a gymnasium, swimming pool, cinema and spa. EPC = B

Leasehold approximately 998 years remaining | 2,238 sq ft | Guide ÂŁ7.95 million Stephen Holmes Savills Kensington 0207 535 3300 sholmes@savills.com

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Exceptional penthouse with terrace Great Portland Street, W1W Oxford Street: 0.4 miles, Regent Street: 0.7 miles Modern penthouse living in this new build lateral apartment. Reception room, open-plan kitchen, dining room, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and wrap-around terrace. EPC = B

Leasehold approximately 998 years remaining | 1,518 sq ft | Guide ÂŁ5.45 million Alex Ross Savills Marylebone 020 3527 0400 ahross@savills.com

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Beautifully restored and designed Bruton Place, W1 Green Park Underground station: 0.4 miles Set over 3 floors this Grade II listed house is located just off bustling Berkeley Square. Open-plan reception room and kitchen/dining room, master bedroom suite, 2 further bedrooms with en suite shower rooms, roof terrace, patio and garage.

Freehold | 2,608 sq ft | Guide ÂŁ7.5 million Charles Lloyd Mayfair & St James 020 7578 5100 clloyd@savills.com

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David Turner David Turner Property 07340 010080 djtstable@gmail.com

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LUXURY LONDON

PROPERTY

SPOTLIG HT A R C H I T E C T G I A N N I B OTS FO R D ’ S PAS S I O N P R OJ E C T H I TS T H E M A R K E T

A

concave roof steals the show at Pavilion, a Gianni Botsforddesigned three-bedroom house in Notting Hill. Once a dilapidated bungalow that the architect could see from his top floor flat in the neighbouring townhouse, the property was redesigned in 2017 following an eightyear planning and building process. The sweeping copper crown that tops the now three-storey building was prefabricated in the Dolomites and is so vast it had to be craned into the space. Today, the property is home to a cinema, a Jacuzzi and a marble swimming pool complete with underwater speakers. It has been nicknamed ‘House in a Garden’ in a nod to its location and it does indeed live up to its name; in the kitchen, floor-to-ceiling glass walls provide a lookout point to the grounds, which are evocative of a Japanese Zen garden. £5.95m, 020 7727 5750, savills.com

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GIVE YOUR PROPERTY A TRUE GLOBAL EXPOSURE

LIST WITH US THROUGH 115 INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE PORTALS INTO 64 COUNTRIES

CURRENT FEATURED PROPERTIES

3 BEDROOMS | NEWLY REFURBISHED FLAT | BELGRAVIA £2,299,000

6 BEDROOMS | HOUSE | CHELSEA £1,950pw

For more information please contact Jonny@nestseekers.com

For more information please contact Jamie@nestseekers.com

3 BEDROOMS | ST GEORGE WHARF TOWER | VAUXHALL £4,400,000

4 BEDROOMS | NEWLY REFURBISHED | CHELSEA £3,500 pw

For more information please contact NickJ@nestseekers.com

For more information please contact Jonny@nestseekers.com

4 BEDROOMS | THE CARLOS OTT PENTHOUSE | MIAMI $41,800,000

5 BEDROOMS | CENTRAL PARK VIEWS | MANHATTAN $13,995,000

For more information please contact JM@nestseekers.com

For more information please contact RyanS@nestseekers.com

One Mayfair Place, London, W1J 8AJ T: +44 20 7268 4845 www.nestseekers.com timob@nestseekers.com | alexd@nestseekers.com

NEW YORK | HAMPTONS | GOLD COAST, LI | NEW JERSEY | MIAMI | SAN FRANCISCO | BEVERLY HILLS | LONDON | SEOUL Nest Seekers International is a Real Estate broker. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only and has been compiled from sources deemed reliable. Though information is believed to be correct, it is presented subject to errors, omissions, changes or withdrawal without notice.

STREETS AHEAD DISTINCTIVE HOMES ON THE PROPERTY MARKET THIS MONTH

B AY S WA T E R R O A D , W 2

This five-bedroom penthouse has floor-to-ceiling glass doors and panels from which you can see across Kensington Gardens. Newly built in 2012, the apartment has a plethora of mod-cons, including air conditioning, underfloor heating, a double garage, direct lift access and 24 hour porterage. £18.5m, 020 7938 3666, struttandparker.com

LUXURY LONDON

PROPERTY

W E ST B O U R N E T E R R AC E , W 2

Following a 10-month renovation by interior designer Elspeth Lynn, this former photography studio has been redesigned with Clement London iron and glass doors, gold wallpaper, bespoke cabinetry, marble and restored oak parquet floorboards and a marble and honey onyx bathroom. £2.65m, 020 7262 2030, kayandco.com

M A R L B O R O U G H R OA D, T W 1 0

Located in Richmond, this five-floor semidetached house has five bedrooms and three bathrooms, plus three large reception rooms.

There’s also a south-facing landscaped garden with a protected Mulberry tree and two fig trees, plus a studio at the back which is currently being used as a gym with garden storage. £5m, 020 3758 3222, chestertons.com

LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

141

Halsey Street, Chelsea SW3 £1,750 per week

Unfurnished

Clarendon Road, Notting Hill W11 £12,000 per week Furnished/Unfurnished

An excellent example of a traditional Chelsea townhouse, within close proximity to excellent amenities and transfer links.

A stunning five-bedroom detached family house located on one of Notting Hill’s most sought after streets.

2,277 sq ft (211.5 sq m) Reception room | Kitchen | Utility room | Three en suite bedrooms | Further two bedrooms | Four bathrooms | Walk-in dressing room | Garden patio | Terrace | Storage room | Cellar | EPC rating E

5,465 sq ft (507.7 sq m) Entrance hall | Reception room | Office | Kitchen/dining room | Utility | Snug | Five bedrooms | Dressing room | Four bathrooms | Roof terrace | Garden | Off street parking | Gym | EPC rating D

Chelsea 020 3504 5588 | chelsea.lettings@struttandparker.com

Notting Hill 020 3773 4114 | nottinghill@struttandparker.com

Abingdon Road, Kensington W8 £2,250 per week

Clabon Mews, Knightsbridge SW1X £4,250 per week Unfurnished

Unfurnished

An impressive and beautifully presented four-bedroom family house with a newly installed kitchen and fabulous roof terrace.

A beautifully refurbished mews house in turnkey condition.

2,534 sq ft (235.44 sq m) Drawing room | Kitchen/breakfast room | Master bedroom with en suite bathroom | Three further bedrooms | Bathroom | Two studies | Utility room | Cloakroom | Paved garden | Balcony | Roof terrace | EPC rating E

3,353 sq ft (311.5 sq m) Drawing room | Sitting room | Kitchen/breakfast room | Dining room | Media room | Gym | Three double bedrooms | Five bathrooms | Terrace | Garage | EPC rating D

Kensington 020 3813 9477 | kensington.lettings@struttandparker.com

Knightsbridge 020 3504 8796 | KnightsbridgeLettings@struttandparker.com

*After an offer is accepted by the Landlord, which is subject to contract and acceptable references, the following charges and fees will be payable before the commencement of the tenancy: Preparation of Tenancy Agreement £222 (Inc VAT),

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

struttandparker.com

60 Offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

Higham House West, Fulham SW6 £1,250 per week

Unfurnished

Cranley Gardens, Chelsea SW7 £1,950 per week

Part Furnished

A stunning three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse with a wraparound terrace and underground parking.

Bright and spacious three-bedroom, three-bathroom duplex apartment with a private garden in the heart of South Kensington.

1,600 sq ft (149 sq m) Kitchen | Reception room | Master bedroom with en suite bathroom and dressing room | Two further bedrooms | Two bathrooms | Wraparound terrace | EPC rating B

1,703 sq ft (158.23 sq m) Reception room | Master bedroom suite | Two further bedrooms | Two further bathrooms | Kitchen | Cloakroom | Balcony | Garden | Patio | EPC rating C

Fulham 020 8023 6671 | fulham@struttandparker.com

Chelsea SW10 020 3813 9185 | chelseaSW10@struttandparker.com

Hyde Park Gate, Kensington SW7 £3,950 per week Part Furnished

Clabon Mews, Knightsbridge SW1X

A stunning lateral five-bedroom apartment with parking, porter and breathtaking uninterrupted views.

This newly refurbished dual aspect mews house has three bedrooms and bathrooms (all en suite).

3,612 sq ft (335.56 sq m) Two reception rooms | Kitchen/dining | Five bedrooms | Four bathrooms | Balcony | Lift | EPC rating D

1,326 sq ft (123.2 sq m) Reception room | Kitchen | Dining room | Master bedroom with en suite bathroom | Two further double bedrooms with en suite bathrooms | EPC rating E

South Kensington 020 3504 5901 | southken@struttandparker.com

Knightsbridge 020 3504 8796 | knightsbridgeLettings@struttandparker.com

£1,700 per week/£3,250,000 Unfurnished/Share of Freehold

References per Tenant £54 (Inc VAT), a deposit – usually between 6-10 weeks of the agreed rent. Any rent advertised is pure rent and does not include any additional services such as council tax, water or utility charges.

Strutt & Parker is a trading style of BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory & Property Management UK Limited, which provides a full range of services across the residential, commercial and the rural property sectors.

Ovington Street, Chelsea SW3 £3,850,000

Freehold

A fabulous three-bedroom Grade II Listed family house, on a popular Chelsea street.

1,821 sq ft (169.2 sq m) Three bedrooms | Two reception rooms | Two bathrooms | Kitchen | Patio garden | Two terraces | Laundry room | EPC rating exempt Chelsea 020 3504 5588 | chelsea@struttandparker.com

Berkeley Gardens, Kensington W8 £5,250,000

Simon Close, Notting Hill W11 £5,295,000

Freehold

A truly unique and stunningly designed house, positioned within a quiet cobbled mews in the heart of Notting Hill, with a right to apply for Ladbroke Square membership.

3,265 sq ft (303.3 sq m) Kitchen/dining room | Sitting room | Living room | Four bedrooms | Four bath/shower rooms | Garden | Parking | EPC rating C Notting Hill 020 3773 4114 | nottinghill@struttandparker.com

Freehold

Brunswick Gardens, Kensington W8 £4,750,000

Freehold

A stunning and beautifully presented four-bedroom Victorian stucco fronted family house.

An impressive five-bedroom stucco fronted family house.

2,953 sq ft (274.3 sq m) Entrance hall | Kitchen/breakfast room | Dining room | Drawing room | Sitting room | Family room | Four bedrooms | Three bath/shower rooms | Two cloakrooms | Study | Terrace | Patio | Storage/utility area | EPC rating D

2,989 sq ft (277.7 sq m) Drawing room | Kitchen/breakfast room | Dining room | Sitting room | Five bedrooms | Three bath/shower rooms | Further bathroom | Playroom | Study | Cloakroom | Terrace | Garden | EPC rating D

Kensington 020 3813 9477 | kensington@struttandparker.com

Kensington 020 3813 9477 | kensington@struttandparker.com

*After an offer is accepted by the Landlord, which is subject to contract and acceptable references, the following charges and fees will be payable before the commencement of the tenancy: Preparation of Tenancy Agreement £222 (Inc VAT),

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

struttandparker.com

60 Offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

Chipstead Street, Fulham SW6 £3,100,000

Freehold

Eaton Mews North, Belgravia SW1X £6,500,000

Freehold

An outstanding and beautifully presented six-bedroom ‘Lion house’ on one of the most popular streets in the prestigious Peterborough Estate.

An immaculate modern house, meticulously reconstructed to the very highest of standards.

2,943 sq ft (273 sq m) Reception room | Kitchen | Dining room | Office/media room | Four bedrooms with en suite bathrooms | Further bedroom | Shower room | Utility room | Cloakroom | Garden | EPC rating D

2,050 sq ft (190.5 sq m) Entrance hall | Reception room | Kitchen/breakfast room | Study | TV room | Master bedroom suite | Two further double bedrooms | Family bathroom | Guest WC | EPC rating D

Fulham 020 8023 6671 | fulham@struttandparker.com

Knightsbridge 020 3504 8796 | knightsbridge@struttandparker.com

Queen’s Gate, South Kensington SW7 £1,350,000 Share of Freehold

Roland Gardens, South Kensington SW7 £2,650,000 Share of Freehold

A wonderful two-bedroom first floor flat with balcony and lift.

Top floor maisonette, three-bedrooms, three-bathrooms, fantastic roof terrace with far reaching views, renovated to a very high standard.

748 sq ft (70 sq m) Reception room | Kitchen | Two bedrooms | One bathroom | One guest WC | Balcony | Lift | First floor flat | EPC rating D

1,493 sq ft (134 sq m) Reception room | Kitchen | Master bedroom suite | Two further bedrooms | Two further bedrooms | Study | Roof terrace | EPC rating E

South Kensington 020 3504 5901 | southken@struttandparker.com

Chelsea SW10 020 3813 9185 | chelseaSW10@struttandparker.com

References per Tenant £54 (Inc VAT), a deposit – usually between 6-10 weeks of the agreed rent. Any rent advertised is pure rent and does not include any additional services such as council tax, water or utility charges.

Strutt & Parker is a trading style of BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory & Property Management UK Limited, which provides a full range of services across the residential, commercial and the rural property sectors.

Fairholt Street, Knightsbridge SW7

ÂŁ11,950,000 Freehold

A wide and low built brand newly constructed house, with five-bedrooms, lift, terraces and spa.

4,595 sq ft (426.9 sq m) Entrance hall | Reception room | Dining area | Kitchen | Master bedroom suite | Four further bedrooms | Three bath/shower rooms | Cinema room | Study | Spa: Jacuzzi, Massage room, Gym, Sauna and Shower | Cloakroom | Utility room | Two terraces | Passenger lift | EPC rating D

Knightsbridge 020 3504 8796 | knightsbridge@struttandparker.com Strutt & Parker is a trading style of BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory & Property Management UK Limited, which provides a full range of services across the residential, commercial and the rural property sectors.

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

struttandparker.com

60 Offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

Proper partners

Emma

Will SW5

We don’t have clients. Just friends.

If you are thinking of selling or letting your home contact us today struttandparker.com 020 3930 2818