Word: skying
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Lederhosen, fondue and dried-seaweed snacks? Guten Tag from Shenzhen! Nestled in rolling hills outside this southern boomtown is China's very own version of Interlaken. No detail of the famed Swiss alpine resort appears to have been ignored in this local facsimile, from ski chalets, mineral baths and roasting sausages to the fräulein in braids who greets you on arrival. Perhaps the only thing missing from this Chinese alpine idyll is, well, snow...
...this is not Afghanistan. It is the Swat Valley, Pakistan's biggest tourist destination, home to the country's only ski slope and a haven for trout-fishing. Its people are deeply conservative Muslims, yet highly tolerant of the liberal ways of international visitors. In recent months, however, Swat has changed. Maulana Fazlullah, a fundamentalist preacher known as the "FM Mullah" for his daily radio sermons, has launched a campaign for the establishment of Islamic law, or Shari'a, in the valley. Fazlullah is backed by Pakistani extremists who share an Islamist ideology with the Afghan Taliban next door. These...
...this is not Afghanistan, of course, or even the tribal lands of the frontier provinces. The Swat valley is Pakistan's premier tourist destination, home to its only ski slope and a haven for trout fishing. But it has become increasingly embattled in the face of an anti-government campaign, over the past five months, by the charismatic radio preacher Maulana Fazlullah, known as the FM mullah, who has spawned a wave of fundamentalist militancy that has swept from the Afghan frontier through the lawless tribal areas of Waziristan and into the settled areas far from the border. The government...
...truly intrepid can consider Russia's Kamchatka region (Vertikalny Mir, www.vertikalny-mir.com, is an experienced operator) or the Himalayas (try Himachal Heli, www.himachal.com). But wherever you choose, think long and hard, and amass plenty of funds, before you step into the chopper. The heli-ski beast is a hungry one, and will need feeding for life once unleashed...
...location determines what they offer. Trilogy at the Vineyards, near San Francisco, for example, has a wine-country feel to attract locals who don't want to give up the Napa lifestyle and émigrés who want to adopt it. Anthem Ranch, near Denver, takes advantage of its ski-country site, making it easy for residents to hit the slopes or hike the mountains...