The Alps come to Battersea at The Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Festival.
With summer now in the rearview mirror, it’s time to turn our eyes once more to winter – and if you’re already planning a trip to the Alps, then you may want to make a pitstop in Battersea Park first. From October 24th-27th, the park will play host to The Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Festival, an awesome alpine jamboree that’ll whet your appetite for a winter getaway. Read on for more, and find your tickets here.
Yes, I hear you naysayers raising the obvious problem: how does one hold a ski & snowboard festival in a city with no mountains? Luckily, the festival organisers have 46 years of experience, so naturally they’ve already thought of that, and will build Mount Battersea – an epic, 50 foot kicker – in honour of the occasion. It’s the UK’s largest real snow Big Air, and gives some of the world’s finest skiers and snowboarders the chance to launch themselves off of it, all in search of head-turning tricks and flips.
The competitions and demos will feature riders and skiers who medalled at the 2018 Pyongchang Winter Olympics (including GB rider Billy Morgan), and insider talks and interviews will give you the opportunity to pick the brains of a champion. Meanwhile, the Ski & Snowboard Festival will also feature the Crystal Ice Rink, a huge indoor rink that gives you the chance to hone your skills ahead of the Christmas rink openings – and sessions are helpfully included in the price of your ticket.
Other fabulous features include a vintage ferris wheel (the only thing that can match Mount Battersea for height, in fact), and a chance to indulge in the UK’s leading quadrennial obsession over at the curling rinks. For any adrenaline junkies envious of the Big Air competitors, there’s a sports paradise that features parkour and skateboarding, certain to get the pulse racing.
It’s not all about the sports though! If you’re more of an apres-skier (count me firmly in your camp), your best bet is to head to the Mountain Village, where you can lock down your winter look with a tour of some outstanding slopewear retailers. This is also where you’ll find your holiday inspiration, with experts on hand to walk you through the features of ski resorts from the Alps to the Rockies and back.
All that, and we’ve not even mentioned the alpine street food, craft beer bar, dedicated kids zone, and Friday night party, complete with live music and DJ sets. Oh, and Sir Ranulph Fiennes is dropping by on Friday afternoon for a talk about his incredible adventures. Really, with all this on offer, The Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Festival is in danger of overshadowing your actual ski holiday…