What is it? Banish all thoughts of cross-country as the genteel cousin of downhill skiing. Regular punters can pit themselves against it whenever they want, while a 'family Streif' course signpost directs you away from the more extreme sections. The Streif, named after the Streifalm meadow on the upper part of the course is infamous for its blind corners, uphill sections and high-speed jumps compounding the difficulty of a technically extreme course. Prices start from £115 for the two-day (three hours each day) course, 08, Īny resort that hosts a World Cup downhill event would be a great place to practise your high-speed carving but one of the most legendary has to be Kitzbühel. Tignes-based ski school New Generation runs regular clinics catering for everyone from beginners to advanced skiers. Experienced skiers have the pick of the race camps that utilise the glacier in winter and summer for ski-race training. As part of the Espace Killy ski area, you get 186 miles of slopes and a plethora of runs in the greens and blues.

Tignes may lack the charm of its sister resort Val d'Isère but that means you get slightly lower prices and an altitude that almost always provides snow. In the downhill event these fearless individuals can hit speeds of 75mph as they compete for the fastest time, while in the slalom events athletes have to swerve their way through gates marked out with flags. What is it? Perhaps one of the most popular and accessible winter sports, alpine skiing describes a variety of events in which athletes race down steep courses on, you guessed it, a pair of skis. One-day adult liftpass £70, Alpine Skiingįrance's halfpipe skier Thomas Krief trains during a practice session in Tignes in November 2013. It also hosts a 7m superpipe designed by White himself, which presumably means most of us will stand at the lip and weep instead of riding it. The resort has seven, yes seven, different terrain parks with features rated from small to large so you know what you're in for before you take off. Shaun White's home mountain should be on the bucket list of every snowboarder. Where to practise: Northstar, California, USA

You'll forget they ever invented twin-tip skis … Mint is a snowboard-only school run by Roxy-sponsored rider Tammy Esten whose camps and lessons will take you from a nervous beginner snowboarder to a full-on ripper on the huge jumps in the Arare park or the Burton Stash. Morzine loves snowboarding and while you won't get any summer training camps held on glaciers (it's way too low for that) you do get a resort which heartily embraces the sport.

Bobsled vs skeleton speed