snowboarding destinations

Whistler, Canada

Altitude: 653-675m; Highest lift: 2,284m; Pistes: 40/110/50 beginner/intermediate/advanced; Closest airport: Vancouver Airport, 120km; Closest rail station: Whistler. A round trip from Vancouver costs C$199; Resort website: whistlerblackcomb.com
Why? Whistler consistently tops the podium in "best ever" polls because it never stops progressing. Its funparks are the best in the business, its pistes are always corduroy in the mornings, its freeriding terrain is easily accessible and - due to the proximity of the Pacific - often blessed with powder. New for this year is the Peak-To-Peak gondola (due to open at the beginning of December), which will directly link Whistler and Blackcomb mountains for the first time and further increase the scope of the place. And for 2009, expect the forward-thinking park shapers to be experimenting with their snow-shaping toys in readiness for the 2010 Olympics.
Getting there: Neilson (neilson.co.uk, 0845 0703460) has seven nights' accommodation at the Holiday Inn Sunspree, Whistler from £1,018 in December including scheduled Air Canada flights from Heathrow and all transfers.
Where to party: Garfunkels and The Boot are the two biggest snowboard-hangouts in town.
Les Arcs, France
Altitude: 850m (Bourg St Maurice), 1,600m, 1,800m, 1,950m and 2,000m; Highest lift: 3,250m; Pistes: 144/66/29 beginner/intermediate/advanced (with Paradiski neighbour La Plagne included); Closest airport: Geneva, 135km; Closest rail station: Bourg St Maurice; Resort website: lesarcs.com
Why? Take the train to Bourg and you're at the end of the line. As a town it's not the prettiest in the Alps, but its access to Les Arcs (via a funicular train that runs every 20 minutes between 7:30am and 7:20pm) is superb, and the resort is one of the most snowboard-friendly in France, featuring several funparks and world-class terrain. The Vanoise Express is scheduled to re-open in time for Christmas 2008, completing the Paradiski link with La Plagne and Peisey-Vallandry and further broadening Bourg's reach for snowboarders.