OFF-THE-SLOPES FUN

YOU don’t have to like skiing to enjoy a mountain break. Two highly rated natural thermal spas add up to a winner for non-skiers. Thermal Romerbad (badklein kirchheim.com/en-EN) and Therme St Kathrein (thermekathrein.at/en) offer plenty of pools, saunas and treatments.

Chamonix, France

Get up close and personal to glaciers and Mont Blanc. The Montenvers train climbs to the Vallee Blanche – take a camera to the viewing platform and muse over lunch options at the recently renovated Terminal Neige Hotel.

Ride the dramatic cable car to Aiguille du Midi at 12,600ft on the Mont Blanc massif and have your photo taken ‘hovering’ over ice towers hundreds of feet below.

Fancy a lap in an outdoor Olympic-size pool or a game of indoor tennis? It’s all at the Richard Bozon sports complex. The Alpine Museum charts the resort’s development (chamonix.com).

Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria

Slug a vodka shot from a cup of glacial ice, then immerse yourself in the frozen world of the Ice Camp, 9,800ft up the Kitzsteinhorn glacier. Step out on to a platform, pictured above, over yawning seracs to suck up the rarity of the air and take in the beauty of Salzburgerland, or gorge on burgers and salads in the Gipfelrestaurant.

Adrenaline junkies can try alpine coaster racing, but Zell am See also boasts plenty of more sedate cross-country trails to the beautiful shores of Lake Zell. Visit zellamsee-kaprun.com for more.