SUSAN LEESE
MY TOP FIVE
Susan Leese, who missed out on skiing last season, picks five things she can’t wait to experience when she gets back on snow
1. Powder When anyone asks me what my favourite resort is, my answer is “the one with fresh powder”. Some of the lesser-known resorts are the best as they are off the radar of the powder hounds. Sauze D’Oulx, part of the Italian Via Lattea (Milky Way) ski area, certainly falls into this category. Alternatively, head out with a guide, who’ll find you untracked powder long after the last snow has fallen.
Memorable powder days for me include a trip off the back of the Valuga lift in St Anton. You can only go up with skis if you have a guide. This was in my early days of off-piste, so I used the entire width of the mountain to make my turns. Two years ago we were lucky enough to have a heliski trip to Revelstoke, meaning every turn was in pristine powder.
2. Après-ski After a hard day’s skiing nothing beats cosying up in a bar with a roaring log fire, or sitting out on a sunny terrace with your ski buddies, recounting memories from the day. In my younger years the Folie Douce in Val d’Isère (pictured below) or the MooserWirt in St Anton were favourites, especially with their outdoor dancing. The Sennhütte in St Anton is a new favourite with live music – although dancing on the chairs is encouraged! La Sosta on the home run in Sauze d’Oulx is a cosy bar with an outdoor terrace, and serves the best bombardinos (Italian eggnog cocktail) I’ve ever sampled… and I’ve had a few!
3.Ski Club Repping I became a Ski Club Leader in 2013 and haven’t looked back. Leading changed to Repping, but it still means I get to meet lots of new people and introduce them to resorts I love. Skiing as a group is always more fun, as are mountain lunches and the après. The past few years I’ve repped in Sauze d’Oulx, which includes Sestriere and Montgenèvre in France. Sauze has become a firm favourite and I now have many locals as friends.
4. Mountain restaurants Given my love of powder skiing, lunch for me is often a late affair after the powder is tracked out or I run
out of energy. A firm favourite is Ciao Pais in Sauze. The wild boar is exceptional, especially when washed down with a glass of Barolo. Then it’s just a short, easy ski back to resort. Two seasons ago I was in Alagna on a SCGB Freshtracks trip. The main resort closed due to high winds, so the guides took us down to the small resort of Alpe di Mera – not somewhere you’d particularly choose to ski, but the lunch in the Agriturismo restaurant (local meats, cheeses and wines) was a delicious surprise.
5. Hot tubs Skiing may require cold to make snow, but that is only part of the pleasure of the mountain experience. The other extreme, the heat of the hot tub, is an almost essential element. First experienced many moons ago in Canada, the hot tub has moved from ‘luxury’ to ‘essential’ for me in a few short years.
While the sports scientists advocate ice baths for muscle recovery, I believe it’s best achieved in a hot tub with a glass of bubbly in hand – whether it’s on the roof of a condo, in the garden of a B&B, or overlooking the car park in the powder hounds’ hometown of Revelstoke.
On a Freshtracks trip to Flaine we skied to a remote restaurant for lunch that had a hot tub, and at the guide’s advice we’d prepared with swimsuits and towels in our backpacks. On a return trip a few years later, Diane, our instructor, informed me that the YouTube video from the event had received more than 60,000 likes!
It’s all about the powder, the hot tubs and the après-ski for Ski Club Rep Susan Leese
SUSAN LEESE FACTFILE
Susan made her first turns... in Borovets, Bulgaria: “I was a late starter at the age of 22.”
She passed the SCGB Mountain Safety and Leadership course... in 2013: “It’s been great for improving my skiing and personal development, both on and off the slopes,” she tells us.
Her favourite skiing is... light and fluffy powder. The first time she experienced bouncing through powder was on a blue bird New Year’s Day in Chamonix. It had snowed all night and hardly anyone was out. Bliss!
Her favourite après spot is... Sennhütte in St Anton. Dancing on the tables and chairs is encouraged and you’ll always make new friends.
Her tipple of choice is... prosecco. Best savoured in a hot tub, of course...
