From Colorado to Slovakia, Val d’Isere and Chamonix, it’s time to get your skis on

I love the idea of skiing. It’s all so wholesome and Heidi-esque: days spent swooshing down the icy mountains, inhaling Olympian-like gulps of clean Alpine air, full of health-giving negative ions that city air just doesn’t deliver to our shrivelled urban lungs.

I love that all the al fresco calorie-burning means you can guiltlessly wolf down vast quantities of exquisite food prepared by some MasterChef-worthy Henrietta or Hugo gap-yearing as a chalet person. And that at night, physically – instead of mentally – exhausted, you can tuck your weary limbs under crisp, white, light-as-air duvets.

It is enough to make you want to wriggle into lederhosen just thinking about it. So why don’t I go more often? Perhaps it’s because I like being good at things, instantly, and my how-hard-can-it-be? approach to new sports means that I learned the hard way that no amount of positive mental attitude can get you slaloming elegantly (and safely) down a piste after 15 minutes of tuition from a mate. Thankfully, there’s so much more to love about a ski holiday than hitting the slopes – but one day I am determined to master them.

Note to self: book one of these now.

Reviews by: Rowena Carr-Allinson, Tom Horan, Kerry Potter, Michelle Margherita, Sara d’Souza

Viceroy Snowmass, Colorado

Where: In the heart of the beautiful Colorado Rockies, Aspen and Snowmass are seen as one entity, but in fact are six miles apart. Snowmass is on the side of the mountain, close to various camps and resorts and a mile from Elk Camp.

Stay: With huge rooms, stylish rustic-luxe decor by designer Jean-Michel Gathy (neutral tones and a contemporary ski-lodge vibe), boutique spa and a couple of laid-back dining rooms, it’s little wonder that everyone from the Obamas to Rihanna check in for a quiet slice of piste-side luxury.

Best bit: The Viceroy Snowmass might seem to be on the wrong end of the village, but it’s only a four-minute walk to Snowmass Ski Resort (one minute on the complimentary golf-buggy shuttle). It’s also home to the coolest cocktail bar in town, has a brilliant pool and outdoor hot tub, and the best views of Snowmass Mountain.

Viceroy Snowmass, 130 Wood Road, Snowmass Village, CO 81515, Colorado; 001 970 923 8000. Doubles from £180, room only.

British Airways flies from London Heathrow to Denver from around £560 return, then take a 50-minute United Airlines flight to Aspen, from around £230 each way

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