NewNowNext Travel: The World's 10 Best Gay Ski Weeks
[caption id="attachment_134516" align="aligncenter" width="597"] Aspen Gay Ski Week[/caption]
January kicks off gay ski-week season, when thousands of queer guys and gals hit the slopes—not to mention hot tubs—all over the world. We've put together a list of some of our favorite wintery retreats, offering miles of fresh trails, apres-ski cocktails, pampering, parties and memories you'll never forget.
Read below and find out about the best gay ski trips of winter 2014.
NewNowNext Travel: The World's 10 Best Gay Ski Weeks
January 12-19
Aspen, Colorado
The 37th edition of the first and most famous gay ski festival hosts a week of skiing, snowboarding, parties, concerts, drag and more. Enjoy cocktail and dinner events, music with country-pop hottie Steve Grand, comedy with Mario Cantone, a downhill costume parade, theme parties and daily hot-tub gatherings starting at 3pm. And while Colorado has yet to legalize marriage equality, Aspen Gay Ski Week is sponsoring a group civil-partnership ceremony in downtown Aspen on January 18.
January 12-19
Arosa, Switzerland
For you international travelers, Switzerland is home to one of the biggest gay winter events in Europe: More than 130 miles of slopes, with daily events range from sunbathing to classical concerts, followed by themed dinners and après-ski cocktails, pool and disco parties. The closing party is a sexy White Ball, which you'll find across several other gay ski weeks events.
January 22-26
Stowe, Vermont
The longest-running gay ski week in the northeast is a seven-hour drive from New York City, but offers 40 miles of ski terrain, as well as performances by the hunky string quartet Well Strung and dragapella troupe Kinsey Sicks, giant indoor pool parties, a Sound Of Music sing-a-long, and more shenanigans.
January 26-February 2
Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
Boasting North America’s highest vertical drop, world-class Whistler welcomes LGBT snowbunnies for daily après-ski parties and themed events like FURRocious (a uniform and leather bash) and the Mad Hatter Mar-Tea-ni Party. There's also the Mr. Gay Canada grand finale and fashion show.
February 20-23
Park City, Utah
Now in its fourth year, Elevation: Utah is the brainchild of L.A. event planner Tom Whitman, brining hundreds of gay ski bunnies to some of the lightest powder on Earth. Learn the ropes from local studs, and join in the party fun each afternoon and night.
February 21-March 2
Telluride, Colorado
Surrounded by the San Juan Mountains, this popular gay ski retreat is now a full ten days long (because a week just isn't long enough). Enjoy après-ski drinkfests, dances, the popular Academy Awards Bar Bash and the closing-night White Night Party. They're still locking down talent but RuPaul's Drag Race stars have known to attend in years past.
March 2-9
Lenzerheide/Valbella, Switzerland
Residents of the Graubünden region of Switzerland are practically born with skis on, but if you're a newbie there's still plenty of hiking, ice skating, snow-shoeing and tobogganing. Or you can skip the outdoors altogether, and enjoy Hotel Schweizerhof's Turkish baths and sauna, movie nights, fondue parties and art talks.
March 2-9
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Lake Tahoe offers 4,800 acres of fresh powder, plus Bruce Vilanch, a dinner cruise, wine receptions, DJ dance parties and casinos.
March 12-16
Mammoth, California
Enjoy the companies of over 2,500 party-ready riders and skiers. Nine major parties fill the week of snow and booze, including the annual highlight of the 10,000 Feet party (literally that high above).
March 22-29
Tignest, France
Six years on, European Gay Ski Week is one of the biggest on the continent, with more than 190 miles of trails. After hanging up your skis, spend you nights in the lounge being entertained by drag divas, cabaret stars, magicians and burlesque queens. Later in the evening, international party brands—including Hustlaball, Spain's WE, Paris' LAB's and Berlin's GMF—host debauched gatherings for gays of every stripe.
Andrew Villagomez is off to take ski lessons from a bear in a kilt. He tweets as @AndyVeeNYC, and chats more travel and men's fashion on his blog, VeeTravels.com