Run WILD

Ski season in Europe is just a few months away, so start planning your luxury winter experiences now. Here are Vogue Living’s top picks.

WHEN THE SNOW COMES TO EUROPE in the autumn, and thousands of fairy lights are put up to decorate the streets of quiet mountain towns, suddenly these places, so sombre in the summer, become busy and bustling again. Fondue pots are fetched from cupboards and hordes of staff move in to take care of guests. The season has begun. From ski-in, ski-out hotels hoisted up onto mountains to heli-skiing in Iceland or France, we’ve found some of the best luxury ski experiences on the continent. And for those more aesthete than athletic, then cold-clime hotels like L’Apogée Courchevel, designed by India Mahdavi and Joseph Dirand; and the architectural triumph of Treehotel in Sweden will see that nobody misses out. Because the best thing about snow is its ability to shroud the world in its own serene, soft, boundless kind of beauty — skiing’s just the tip of the iceberg. ››