Find your tribe Words: Rachael Oakes-Ash
Have a gay time in Queenstown
From August 27 to September 3, 2016, Queenstown New Zealand comes alive with Gay Ski Week QT. The gay community and friends take to the Kiwi slopes of Cardrona, Coronet Peak and The Remarkables for the largest gay and lesbian ski week in the Southern Hemisphere. Dedicated intermediate and advanced groups ski together with an instructor at Cardrona throughout the week and the après-ski calendar is packed with a foam party, queer quiz night, fine dining, a cabaret and karaoke… so you may need to book a recovery holiday the following week.
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flightcentre.com.au/ski-holidays
Mammoth ladies’ lessons
Women and men ski differently: it’s called the Q angle and it’s all in the hips – women have a higher Q angle due to physiological makeup. That’s just one of the reasons why an all-woman ski camp will take your skiing to the next level. At Mammoth Mountain in California, female instructors, small groups, video analysis and an après-ski party make for a personalised and fun learning experience. The three-day camps are held four times throughout the ski season for strong intermediate, advanced and expert female skiers.
Swiss intensive
The Warren Smith Ski Academy offers fiveday camps throughout the winter in the big mountain ski village of Verbier, Switzerland. A combination of ski technique, biomechanics and ski physiology is taught daily to groups of similar-ability skiers to advance your ski level in an intensive way.
Get air in Colarado
Always wanted to heli-ski but feared you weren’t good enough? Think again. Colorado’s Telluride ski resort has a three-day heli-ski camp to get solid skiers there with two days spent on the mountain with an instructor developing skills and familiarising you with the rugged terrain. On the third day your instructor takes you heli-skiing on the San Juan Mountains, giving you plenty of tips along the way. With only three skiers per group, personalised instruction is guaranteed.
Be a backcountry bandit
Extremely Canadian have teamed up with the Whistler Blackcomb resort in Canada to offer first-time backcountry skiers and snowboarders a one-day guided small group introduction to the off-piste, unmarked terrain. The experienced guides offer safety knowledge, avalanche and mountain awareness and techniques to hone your skiing and boarding.
Photos: Alamy, Gay Ski Week QT, iStock, Peter Morning
Like attracts like and no more so than at ski and snowboard resorts. Find snow enthusiasts like you or at a similar experience level for these tailored adventures.