www.ultimate-ski.com - what's it all about?

ultimate-ski.com? “What's it all about?”, “What's different about it?” and “Where do you make your money?"

These three questions crop up quite a lot when you launch a website. So some answers, before anyone else asks.

It's all about sliding over snow, about the fact that when it's snowing at night, we can't get to sleep and have to get up every hour to check if it's still snowing and to see how much has settled and whether it's likely to keep snowing and what it might look like at first light. And that's just at home. It's all about what a great feeling it is, around -20°C, when the snot in your nose freezes as you tramp back from the bar to your hotel and you know tomorrow's snow is going to have that chalky dry, squeaky perfection. It's all about that tingle of remoteness as you head into wild, untracked mountains and make turns - great turns, lousy turns, turns on one board or two planks, whatever, just that interplay of gravity, ice crystals, and human being. We're nuts about skiing and snowboarding, mountains, snow, being scared and exhilirated at the same time, tasting the difference that 2,000 metres of altitude makes to a coffee and cake halfway through a great morning, and trying to work out how that same altered air pressure can result in the doubling in price of just about anything you can sink your teeth into.

What's different is that we're trying to bridge some gaps through the power of the interweb. Not long ago a package ski trip was almost the only option. Now mountains everywhere are up for grabs - ski-drive, fly-drive, chalet, hotel, igloo, you name it, you can sort it online. So you need a bit more info - no, a lot more info - than you can get digitally or in print so far. The web is made for the job - limitless depth and breadth for detail where required, with all the current information, from snow reports to online availability. We've started with what counts, core content, and - give or take the odd new lift or mountain restuarant - that remains useful, to you as info-seekers and for us to build on.

You can't put this stuff together for nothing, so here's the deal. We're lining up key travel partners so you can book your trips, your airport car parking, your ski passes and gear rental direct from our pages. That allows us to continue to be here and gives you some great deals, with minimum fuss. So you really have nothing to lose, other than the shirt off your back if we decide to do a runner (to the mountains, naturally) once we've got your credit card details. But that's unlikely. We're in for the long haul as a spin round ultimate-ski.com should make clear to you. So have a good look, please, and then spend some money.