Apres Season
First tracks. Long lunches. Thin air.
The winter at altitude: St Moritz, Courchevel and Aspen, from January to March.
Apres Season, in full.
The high winter
Après Season is the winter at altitude: St Moritz in the Engadine, Courchevel 1850 in the Three Valleys and Aspen in the Rockies. The skiing is the reason; the lunch is the event.
Sub-zero mornings, the light on fresh snow, wood smoke and heavy knits, and a terrace lunch that runs well past three. The good photograph remembers the table and the weather, not the summit.
The places
St Moritz for the frozen lake, the Cresta Run and the snow polo in January. Courchevel 1850 for the slopes of the Three Valleys and the hotels at the top of the village. Aspen for four mountains and a town that keeps its Victorian streets.
When to go
January to March. January for the polo and the quieter slopes; February for White Turf on the lake at St Moritz; March for the long days and the sun on the terraces.
On the wall
The house carries the winter home in its après-ski photographs: the terrace, the chalet window and the lift at the end of the day.
First tracks. Long lunches. Thin air.