Travel Tales: The Ski Week

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Let me just start by saying, “My name is Nadia El Ferdaoussi, and I can’t ski for shit”. Would I let that stop me from going on The Ski Week? Definitely not. The website has a dedicated section for non-ski activities for God’s sake…not that it mattered, who said après need actually come after skiing? Not me.[dt_gap height=”10″ /][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”843″ img_size=”large” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://instagram.com/fabianwester”][vc_single_image image=”855″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][dt_gap height=”10″ /]It’s just a normal ski holiday, right? Nope. The Ski Week is a little different… young professionals from all over the world (250 people on this trip from 30 countries, if you’re counting) come together for a week of, if it pleases you, world-class pistes in the Austrian Alps, pre-planned après ski parties (without so much as a whiff of organised-fun stuffiness) and TSW’s very own on and off piste events… did someone say pond-skimming?[dt_gap height=”10″ /][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”844″ img_size=”large” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://instagram.com/fabianwester”][vc_single_image image=”838″ img_size=”large”][vc_single_image image=”841″ img_size=”large” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://instagram.com/fabianwester”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][dt_gap height=”10″ /]So here’s the difference, TSW almost curate their crowd. I was slap bang on the average age of 28 and the girl:boy ratio is always 50:50, just like their infamous “Nothing Like the Real World” The Yacht Week.  It’s one of the major factors to making something like this a success.  I’m already a big fan of co-ed holidays, the balance of men and women just… works.

Choose to join in with the après parties, or not. Get an early night and be first out on the slopes in the morning or stay up late throwing cheesy shapes to dodgy Euro dance music, no one is going to tell you otherwise.  You’ve got the freedom of doing your own thing, with the opportunity to join in the party with your new friends as you please…there’s a lot to be said for having the best of both worlds and for someone else doing all the organising so you don’t have to.

Photo bum not intended…[dt_gap height=”10″ /][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”836″ img_size=”large”][vc_single_image image=”840″ img_size=”large”][vc_single_image image=”834″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][dt_gap height=”10″ /]Sign up for stripping off in the snow and making your way down the slopes to the anticipation of the crowd watching your pond-skim attempt, or stay dry in the sun and kick back like me with a glass of Veuve Cliquot while listening to one of the MC’s comical commentaries of those scantily clad crazies. That’s the beauty of The Ski Week.[dt_gap height=”10″ /][/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”839″ img_size=”large”][vc_single_image image=”852″ img_size=”large”][vc_single_image image=”853″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][dt_gap height=”10″ /]You’re more than likely to come home having lost a bit of dignity, weight (bonus!) and perhaps a few of your morals, but you’ll have gained a hella new friends and bruises along the way. There’s something about friends you make when you’re a bit older and aren’t forced to hang out together, isn’t there?

These guys…[dt_gap height=”10″ /][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”842″ img_size=”large” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://instagram.com/fabianwester”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][dt_gap height=”10″ /]The combo of outdoor activities, whether that’s fresh powder or a pre-noon al fresco Aperol Spritz (no one here is judging), along with after-dark debauchery is a winner.  Sign me up for next year, just don’t ever expect me to wear those torture devices on my feet again![dt_gap height=”10″ /][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”835″ img_size=”large”][vc_single_image image=”854″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][dt_gap height=”10″ /]Prices start from 990€ for 7 nights including accommodation, ski pass and wristband for entry to events. The next trips are 18th and 25th March 2017.

I travelled to Obertauern as a guest of The Ski Week. Dodgy pics my own, professional ones by Fabian Wester.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]