Getting off your rocker on the slopes September 19, 2010 WHEN the late daredevil skier and base jumper Shane McConkey strapped his bindings to waterskis and set off down the mountain, it wasn’t expected that he’d cause a revolution in ski technology. But McConkey realised that the curvier, scooped camber of the waterskis gave him greater control when haring down the deep, soft snow drifts [...]
SKI SEASON TRAVEL NOTES September 19, 2010 Scott Dunn’s superb Austrian chalet Scott Dunn, the travel company with a core business in luxury ski accommodation, is launching a spectacular new chalet. Artemis chalet in St Anton sleeps 12 is high enough to guarantee good snow and is magnificently luxurious. It includes a cinema, spa area with sauna, steam room, pool and more, [...]
MARK JONES’ TOP SKI PICKS September 19, 2010 SALOMON GEISHA £450 At higher speeds this women’s ski has the stability to feel secure, but is still soft enough to be playful and easy to use. It’s a hard ski to fault. It’s not great on the piste, but for back country it’s perfect. www.salomon.com FISCHER WATEA 98 BC TT £649 inc bindings The [...]
UK HOTEL REVIEW: THE GROVE September 19, 2010 IF ASKED, I wouldn’t list Watford in my top ten destinations for a romantic getaway. Yet after negotiating a swarm of roundabouts we were cruising through the breathtaking grounds of the Grove hotel, flanked by 300 acres of exquisitely-kept English gardens. This revamped 18th century mansion still throws up a sense of its lavish past, [...]
The seaside bohemia that’s in your backyard September 16, 2010 EVEN the most devoted Londoners can tire of the big smoke – especially those raising families. But rather than heading to established commuter havens in Kent, Hampshire and Hertfordshire to pursue your pastoral dream, you could do far worse than consider Brighton. It’s cheaper, cheerful and offers a totally unique combination of sea, beautiful countryside [...]
FOCUS ON: HAMMERSMITH September 16, 2010 OVERSTONE RD Price: £264,950 A one-bedroom flat on the raised ground floor of a mid-terrace Victorian house. It is situated between Hammersmith and Brackenbury Village. It also has a reception room, a kitchen and a shower room. The property does lack outside space but it is close to Ravenscourt Park. Contact: Winkworth on 020 7371 [...]
PROPERTY NEWS September 16, 2010 FOODIE BRITS FORK OUT FOR KITCHEN UPGRADES A poor economic climate combined with the popularity of television cookery shows has encouraged homeowners to fork out almost twice as much on their kitchens than on any other part of the home, property website Rightmove said earlier this week. Its survey found that over the past year [...]
BUYING September 16, 2010 MANAGING PARTNER AT BLACK BRICK Q.Dear Camilla, there has been a fair amount of negative news in the papers relating to property prices. Do you think prices are going to crash again like they did in 2008? A.With so much conflicting data and house price indices, trying to determine what is happening with house prices [...]
Girl power: what makes the perfect bachelorette pad September 16, 2010 AS the number of high-earning single women purchasing property steadily rises, it’s fair to say we’ve entered the age of the bachelorette pad. “There has been a 15 per cent increase in the number of girls buying property alone in London over the last five years,” says George Franks, sales director of Douglas & Gordon [...]
What to wear on a shoot September 16, 2010 CITY FASHION NEWS hackett comes to canary wharf There was a time when Hackett seemed to be chiefly the preserve of rugby types – Johnny Wilkinson was the face of its marketing, after all. Right now, though, it’s a brand with some debonair zip in its step, thanks to the popularity of old-fashioned tailoring and [...]