I’m volunteering for a project called 100 Stories for Haiti.

We’re putting together an e-book of short fiction to sell to raise money for the Red Cross and their relief efforts in Haiti after the earthquake. If you’ve got a few hours spare to help it would be massively appreciated.

We need: short story submissions, editors and sub-editors

If you want to send a short story, please follow these guidelines:
- No more than 1,000 words
- Stories themed around hope and no stories containing graphic violence, death or destruction
- Send all stories in the body text of an email to 100storiesforhaiti AT gmail.com. Stories sent as attachments will not be opened.
- Stories must be received by Monday 25 January 2010

I’m happy to answer any questions but you’re probably best going straight to the originator of the project Greg McQueen at 100storiesforhaiti AT gmail.com

Press release available from me on request

Thanks muchly.

Sarah

To start let’s have a quick update from this year’s Explore at the Royal Geographical Society. Did you know there are more than 90 organisations on the RGS’s books looking for volunteers or staff to join their expeditions?

To give you a prime example, the gates have just closed for gap-year students with a lust for adventure and a passion for environmental science on The British Schools Exploring Society’s Extreme Arctic expedition to Svalbard this spring.

To find out more and search the database of organisations looking for people just like you, go here.

In the next two articles I’ll be profiling some of the opportunities available and giving you ideas for two years of space exploration, driving skills and tactical firearms on British soil.

Being Bedouin - A Talk

The evenings are drawing in, but it’s time once again to girdle your loins and brave the weather for an evening at the National Geographic on Regent Street.

This months speaker, Mark Abouzeid, is flying in directly from expedition in Jordan to join us on the 24th. His talk “Being Bedouin” will be about the disappearing desert culture of Wadi Rum, accompanied by video and images.

“How do you capture the entire character of a culture that has no written record, has lived for centuries in relative isolation and exists in complete harmony with one of the world’s most extreme environments?”

I’ve worked closely with Mark over the last couple of years, from the North Pole to the desert, and I can guarantee that he is a totally engaging speaker and this is an opportunity not to miss.

He is one of the founders of the Bedouin Heritage Project and I’ll be featuring some more videos from them over the coming weeks.

As ever the talks are free and last an hour and you will retire to a local hostelry after.

WHERE: 1st Floor, The National Geographic Store, 83-97 Regents Street, London W1B 4EW (see map)

WHEN: 6.30pm, Tuesday, 24th November, 2009.

Full details on the talk below, more details on the weekend here, or go to: www.rgs.org/Explore.

George McGavin Lecture: Full Details Explore 2009 Friday night lecture Exploring biological discoveries from the ends of the earth. A talk by George McGavin · Friday 13 November 2009 at 18.30 · Royal Geographical Society with IBG, London SW7 2AR Cost: £10. Free to Explore delegates and speakers. A handful of scientists and some of the world’s top wildlife filmmakers have visited remote locations in the dense jungles of Borneo, Guyana and Papua New Guinea to document the wealth of wildlife that lives there and highlight the threats to its survival. Working in these difficult environments can test people and equipment to breaking point but the rewards are more than worth it. Nothing else comes close to exploration and biological discovery for drama, excitement and danger. George McGavin shares his exciting discoveries with film clips from his three BBC expeditions, with a talk to open  the Explore 2009 weekend. George McGavin is an Honorary Research Associate of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Visiting Professor of Entomology at the University of Derby. His research has taken him from the tropical forests of papua New Guinea to the caves of Thailand and from the jungles of Belize to the savannas of Tanzania. George has written numerous books on insects and other animals , and was the chief scientific consultant for the BBC landmark series, Life in the Undergrowth, presented by David Attenborough. He co-presented Expedition Borneo a five part BBC series shown in 2007 and Lost Land of the Jaguar, a three part series screened in 2008. The most recent BBC expedition series,Lost Land of the Volcano, filmed in Papua New Guinea, will be shown on BBC1 in September 2009.

Watch the Video: What is Explore?

Ever wanted to plan your own expedition? Raise funds? Learn how to communicate and navigate, deal with logistics and politics when you’re on the road, or find out what to do with all that information and experience when you’re back?

Then you need to get yourself along to EXPLORE – the expedition & fieldwork planning weekend. Held each year for the last four decades it’s where the potential explorers of the future meet to plan their expeditions, network, and learn from those who’ve already been. 

It’s the kind of thing I wish I’d known about years ago.

The weekend includes lectures and workshops with expert speakers in all fields designed to help you realise your dreams and give you the opportunity to mingle with other like minded people. So don’t sit there wondering ‘What if?’, make it happen.

You could be designing and leading your own expedition before you know it, whether it’s a mountaineering and trekking expedition, tropical forest expedition, polar & arctic environment, desert and savanna environment, above and below the oceans, river canoeing and kayaking, vehicle based expedition, or a bicycle expedition.

To find out more click one of the following links or watch the ‘What is Explore?’ video presented by Paul Deegan.

Programme | Speakers | Opening Lecture (with George McGavin) | Book Online

The first is to show you how easy some fingerprint scanners are to crack. As you’ll usually find it explained somewhere in the documentation on your home computer, they’re not security measures. First check out the guys at Mythbusters as they show you how easy it is to crack open a ’secure’ locked doorway using nothing but a photocopier print out:

Then, for readers of the book, you’ll remember me talking about Catherine Zeta Jones oozing through the laser beams revealed by talcum powder? I bet you do. But here’s a real world technique that actually works from author Marc Weber Tobias.

You can read more of Marc’s techniques on his blog or his website.

But it would very naughty of me not show you the movie myth being busted too, so here are the inimitable mythbusters once again:

Originally appeared in the Friday Magazine in Gulf News

Skiing to the Pole | Gallery

The true geographic pole of 90 degrees north is one of the most inaccessible places on the planet. It’s where temperatures of -20 to -30 degrees C are considered balmy. The only life you’re likely to see there are seals, bearded scientists, or possibly the polar bear that’s been silently stalking you for its supper.

Unlike the South Pole it’s not even on dry land. It lies beneath a shifting sheet of ice that stretches from the shores of Russia to the glacial plains of Canada and Greenland. But now thanks to the enterprising Russian agency VICAAR the North Pole is becoming more accessible. In addition to ice breaker tours in summer they also operate the floating ice camp Barneo during the month of April. A time of year when the daylight lasts all night and the ice is still solid enough to support you.

From there it’s just a short helicopter ride to the last degree of latitude before you hit the pole. So what used to cost a small fortune – a North Pole expedition – now costs about as much as a new sensible family car, still not cheap, but then who wants to be sensible anyway?

-4 Days

It takes four flights to reach Svalbard, an island off the Norwegian coast, and the most northerly inhabited place on the planet. I set off for the airport before dawn, the waning moon a reminder that I won’t be seeing night for at least another nine days. This really isn’t a trip like any I’ve ever taken before.

My connection through Paris makes its way north to Oslo. Then onto Tromsø the self titled ‘Gateway to the Arctic’. The flight in is something else. I’ve read about the beauty of the Norwegian Fjords and as the plane descends into the small city through picture postcard mountains and rocky inlets the realisation hits me – I’m going to the North Pole. In the airport I’m greeted by a poster of cheesily cheerful Norwegians sitting in a hot tub at Mary-Ann’s Polarrigg, it’s the first hotel of my trip and I can’t wait to get there.

On the final leg to Svalbard the hairstyles and high fashions of Oslo and Paris are long gone. ‘I’m pleased to announce the weather in Svalbard’s Longyearbyen is a glorious -29⁰C.’ quips the captain. The sturdy looking passengers appreciate his timely humour.

We fly in over an even more mountainous Svalbard shoreline. In the murky twilight that passes for night time at this latitude I’m struck by the sheer size and emptiness of the place. As we approach Longyearbyen airport small bergs dot the cold slate grey of the unforgiving sea beneath us. The forced good humour of the captain makes sense, if the engines fail and we plunge into those freezing waters, we’re dead, it’s that simple.

Thankfully we don’t and I’m met at the airport by a smiling Sascha, our driver, and Mikhail Lamakin, an arctic climatologist by training and guide for our journey to the pole. He tells me there have been delays at the ice camp due to a tractor that refused to work and the dearth of replacement parts in the region. He hasn’t slept for days.

Behind me an excitable Alexei Dmitriev bounds over to tell us he’s just seen the arctic marathoners heading out to Barneo. They’ve been hanging around in the hotels of Longyearbyen while the equipment problems are dealt with and the weather clears. A marathon at the pole makes a strange kind of sense; to stay warm you just have to keep going.

-3 Days

Mary-Ann’s is an old mining lodge; the clean and simple single room I’ve booked is functional and above all warm. Neither chained nor themed the hotel retains the character of its former occupants. The people that stay there today crave comfort without pretension. The kind of people I want to meet. In the lounge the previous evening I even managed to speak some rusty Arabic with Hassan. A Libyan who’s been working for three years in this northern frontier town where the men ride skidoos and nobody leaves home without a shotgun – those polar bears might look cute from a distance, but up close they’re fast and deadly.

Over breakfast I meet ten submariners from the Indian Navy on their way to ski the last degree of latitude to the North Pole. Raj Kumar the leader of their expedition tells me that they have a passion for adventure; they’ve previously scaled Everest and trekked to the South Pole. It’s great to see that the arctic isn’t just the domain of crusty old white boys called Ranulph or Vladimir.

The morning is spent collecting our arctic kit from the expedition warehouse. Then Alexei takes me to meet the town’s cultural heritage advisor to discuss the flexible dynamics of land issues and citizenship that affect Russian and Norwegian business interests. We then head out for food, coffee and last minute supplies. At the Kroa Bar we realise we really are a long way from everywhere else. It’s the first place I’ve ever seen whale meat on the menu, a forbidden food in most parts of the world.

Mikhail treats our six person group to dinner at a restaurant on the edge of town. It used to be the place for miners to drink and fight, but now hosts a suitably high brow reputation. It’s an opportunity for us all to meet for the first time. We’re independent men and women with bloodlines from the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas. World citizens with nationalities that don’t necessarily match our heritage. This leads to an inevitable but short lived game of ‘who’s the spook?’ Nobody wins.

We make the most of our last opportunity for a real meal, from here on in it’s packet food and melt water.

-2 Days

Our sleds are packed high with tents, cooking equipment, gas, dried provisions and skis. On board the Russian Antonov 74 airplane we’re joined by the Indian Navy, along with an American and a Russian, Kai and Sergei, here for a longer nine day ski trek to the pole with their Austrian guide Christophe. Also on the flight is Georges Baumann a lone explorer on a test run for a coast to coast trek from Siberia to Canada.

The AN74 looks rickety but thankfully flies more smoothly than most airlines could ever hope and, with its jet engines mounted above the wings rather than beneath, it lands easily on narrow runways cut through jungles or ice.

At Barneo we are met by Victor Boyarsky, arctic explorer and organizer of our trip. It’s his agency VICAAR that makes all this possible. We hump our gear to the wonderfully warm mess tent only to find out our departure is going to be delayed at least a day. With nothing else to do we pitch a camp nearby and get to know our way around. Victor shows us how to make the gas stoves work in cold temperatures, essential guidance as they’re our only source of heat.

When I venture outside to take photographs of the Indians leaving for their first day of skiing the temperature falls below -35⁰C. I’m wearing thin camera friendly gloves and within two minutes my hands are so cold they hurt, really hurt, to the point where my head spins and I begin to feel sick. I rush back to the tent and literally thrust them into the stove’s flame to warm them up. Once they’ve defrosted I grab a heavier set of gloves and head back out.

That evening my tent mate and I tuck into one of the many packs of dehydrated food we’ve been given. They’re labelled in Russian so it’s a literal pot luck what we end up with. One chicken, noodle and couscous concoction later we finish up with excessive amounts of chocolates, biscuits and handfuls of trail mix.

In the Arctic Circle you don’t have to watch your calories. Even sitting still in those temperatures is an effort and your body uses energy stored as fat to keep you warm. On an average trek you’ll burn somewhere in the region of 7000 calories a day. In our daily meal boxes there’s over 5000 high-fat calories and it seems like we’re eating constantly just to maintain energy levels.

Water is also not an issue, we’re surrounded by it. The pot is constantly on the boil melting the palatable drift snow and the less tasty salt water of the ice.

And there’s the thing about the Arctic, it feels like land but it isn’t, even though you can walk over the horizon in any direction the occasional whiff of salt water and the sensation of the ice moving beneath your feet reminds you where you are.

Night stubbornly refuses to fall but we eventually settle into our -40⁰C rated sleeping bags, remembering to zip up the neck section to seal the warmth into our bodies. Then it’s warm hat pulled down over the eyes and the sleeping bag’s hood over the face to block out the midnight sun.

It doesn’t work, the light keeps us awake and we chat until the early hours, too excited to sleep.

-1 Day

We’re supposed to head out today and make for the pole, but one of our team is ill. She stays wrapped up in the tent and tries to recover while Christophe takes us on a training day with skis and partially loaded sledges. We change into thinner gear which in the extreme cold seems a perverse thing to do. Christophe tells us that if we don’t we’ll overheat when we’re skiing hard.

We head out into the icy expanse of this great northern desert. It’s wonderful to be away from the claustrophobia of camp. The two strongest skiers break away from the pack. I’m not far behind them and just like yesterday my hands begin to worry me. This time I can’t feel the ends of my fingers and we’re barely ten minutes away from base.

I want to ask someone what I should do, but the guys ahead are out of hearing range and the rest of the group is a way behind me. I could stop and wait for them to catch up but that will only make me colder. I push on as hard as I can in an effort to keep the blood flowing through my extremities. Even with hand warmers in my gloves it doesn’t get any better. Eventually Christophe stops and gives me a questioning thumbs up? I give him the thumbs down. He tells me to spin my arms through the air to get the blood flowing, but after two minutes I still can’t feel a thing. Then he gets me to straighten my hands out. Hot needles of pain stab through the senseless finger tips as the blood begins to flow back into them. But I don’t care, it’s a happy pain.

Christophe tells me later that he was beginning to get worried, but right then we ski on through the startling alien landscape of the arctic and with the adrenalin pumping I really don’t want to be anywhere else.

0 Days

The camp is stripped down and packed on our sleds and we board the MI-8 helicopter that will take us to our final destination a half day’s ski from the pole. We’ve lost a day already and with illness still in the group the decision has been made that we camp out for an extra day rather than ski.

For a city kid like me, only a few short hours from the North Pole, it’s still a dream coming true.

The helicopter is noisy but warm and flown by the hardiest and hairiest looking pilots I’ve seen outside a war zone. We sit in two long lines on either side of the deck and stare out over the vast emptiness and wide cracks of open water beneath us.

There’s nothing and nobody out there, no wonder my insurers were getting twitchy about recovery costs. We drop off Kai, Sergei and Christophe for the 110 kilometres and seven days of their last degree ski trip. They have a lot of distance to make up. Like us they’ve left a little later than planned and with the ice constantly moving beneath your feet you can ski all day and find the drift has taken you back further than you’ve skied.

Then it’s our turn, we drag our sleds from the chopper and prepare our harnesses and skis for the trek ahead. It’s beautifully sunny but it’s deceptive, subconsciously you still expect the sun to be warm.

With no camp nearby and the helicopter gone the last vestiges of civilization are behind us and for the first time since we arrived in the arctic I feel free.

The wind is behind us and our pace fast, the sweat is pouring off us. My hand freezes up again but this time I know how to fix it. The sleds topple over in the snow-filled cracks between ice sheets and stick on ridges but overall there’s nothing to do except switch off the whining monologue of commutes, deadlines and suburban stress and let the wilderness take over. I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time and there are moments where the landscape simply takes my breath away. Add a red filter to my goggles and we could be on Mars.

Victor is leader for the North Pole stretch of our trip and he pauses for a break. He points in the direction of the pole and tells us it’s been moving around us as we’ve been skiing.

We push on and only a couple of kilometres later Victor cries out: “We’re here!”

By the time we’ve skied up to his position, disconnected harnesses and removed cameras from backpacks the GPS tell us we’ve already drifted a couple of hundred metres from where we first stopped, the geographic North Pole – the top of the world.

He fires a flare to mark our position and we grab quick photographs of each other. Before we’ve even had a chance for our arrival to sink in we’re off and heading towards a sheltered spot nearby.

Once we’ve made camp we all dive into our tents for a hearty rehydrated meal and a well earned sleep.

+1 Day

When I wake I can’t stop smiling. We’re at the North Pole. I repeat this quietly to myself as I light the fire. We endure a breakfast of salty porridge and brackish tea. Outside the tent we hear our neighbours talking; apparently the industrious Alexei has been walking around in bare feet and dug a camp toilet for us during the early hours. Bless him.

Victor greets us in his underwear, whereas I’ve got about four layers of thermal clothing on. I guess that’s the difference when you’ve acclimatised a little. And I find this happens during our enforced break. We have time to wander around our small camp and over the icy ridges nearby. Whereas two days ago my fingers could barely cope with a couple of minutes I’m now happily snapping away with my camera and passing the time of day chatting with my neighbours. But you can never be complacent; you can’t feel frost bite set in.

In Victor’s tent he offers me his Satellite phone and I make two calls home, one to my grandparents – a frosty greeting with lots of love I tell them – and one to my mother. And this is where it hits home what we’ve done and where we are. The hint of disbelief and awe in my family’s voice makes it all seem much more real.

Initially we even moaned about not being able to ski more and then about having to spend a day on ice simply camping, but I’m so glad we did. You get a real sense of where you are after 24 hours in the same spot. Your routines become established, you know what works to keep you warm and what doesn’t.

You also develop a sense of where you really are, sat on top of a planet with a fiery ball of light circling overhead. Time loses its meaning, depending on which way you face it can be either midnight or midday. The nearest we get to a sunset is the arctic twilight. It’s a truly magical light, one that neither I nor the camera know how to truly capture.

+2 Days

The following morning we pack up all the tents bar one and Victor offers us a traditional and perfectly chilled Russian toast for breakfast. The helicopter takes us back to Barneo and then the plane back to Longyearbyen and a comfortable night in a superior room of the Raddisson SAS Polar Hotel, the northernmost full service hotel in the world.

Over dinner Victor presents us with a certificate of our trip and small statue. A dark metal spike driven into a slice of white Italian marble that looks just like a piece of arctic ice. Traditionally the Inuit thought of the pole as a spike, the twist in its stem is Victor’s addition and represents the suffering endured by those who travel there.

+3 Days

My last day is spent recovering and buying souvenirs and postcards before catching the red eye flight back home. The receptionist of my third hotel, The Spitsbergen Guesthouse, a local, spies the VICAAR North Pole badge on my jacket. ‘You really went to the North Pole?’ she asks.

‘Yes, of course,’ I say.

She nods her head with a new found respect. I’m quite taken aback, you get it in your head that everybody does this, even though I know only 200 people will make the trip from Barneo this year and we were the first people to ski from there this season. Emma-Kate, one of our group, was only the second Australian woman to ever ski to the pole.

+ 4-8 Days

Flying out of Svalbard and along the Norwegian fjords is even more spectacular than flying in. I’m reluctant to leave. I fight the urge to run up to people and say, ‘Do you know where I’ve been?’ By the time I make my connection in Paris, I’m longing for the wide open spaces and marketing free landscape I’ve left behind.

A few days later the sensation of having done something unique, different and unlike everything else remains. I now understand why people go off and do crazy things in far flung places. Thank goodness I didn’t buy a sensible car. Next time I think I’ll try to stay a little longer.

HOW TO GET THERE

Expeditions

VICAAR and www.northpolextreme.com run North Pole expeditions and operate the  Barneo ice camp during the month of April as well as ice breaker tours and husky rides throughout  the rest of the year.

There are several other operators offering specialised trips through VICAAR/Barneo such as  www.voyageconcepts.co.uk who the Indian Navy used, www.icetrek.com and if you’ve got the  stamina for an arctic marathon www.npmarathon.com.

You can also travel to the pole from Canada and Greenland, see www.thepoles.com.

Svalbard accommodation

Mary-Ann’s Polarrigg: One to four person guest house rooms in the Polarrigg and Luksus-riggen.  www.polarriggen.com | +47 79 02 37 02

Radisson SAS Polar Hotel Spitsbergen: This full service hotel offers suites and superiors all year round. The hotel has amazing view from the dining area and a spa on the way. www.radissonsas.com | +47 79 02 34 50

Spitsbergen Guesthouse: The backpacking and budget traveller option, again clean, comfortable and warm but less sound proofed than all the rest. www.spitsbergentravel.no | +47 79 02 63 00

Basecamp Hotel: A timber themed but well thought out hotel in the style of a trapper’s cabin with the gourmet Kroa Bar on site. www.basecampexplorer.com | +47 7902 4600

Excursions

Dog-sledding, glacier treks, skidoo expeditions, ice breaker tours, sailing and trips to old mines can all be booked through your hotel and the websites above. Do shop around for the best price.

Faraya Mzaar

Tucked away in Lebanon, there are snowfields where the crowds are small, and the attractions – both on and off-piste – are plentiful. Frank Coles reveals skiing’s big secret.

Lawrence of Arabia, that most illustrious of British business travellers, never skied and thanks to his adventurous legacy, Bedouin, belly dancers, camels, and vast empty deserts are what most visitors have come to expect from the Middle East. You could be forgiven for thinking that an indoor slope in humid Dubai is the only wintry option available, but as the area opens up to development and reform, mountains and slopes that were once the preserve of a few savvy locals are welcoming tourists with winter holidays that have little to do with sunshine or souks.

Flying into Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, it is a surprise to see not just a sunny Mediterranean shoreline but also a glistening white mountain range towering stoically over the thin strip of land that houses the capital. Historically, Lebanon is synonymous with snow; even its name derives from the ancient Semitic word for white, “laban”, and its frosted peaks are referred to in the earliest of texts from Gilgamesh to the Old Testament.

Unlike the Norwegians who have skied for thousands of years, the Lebanese initially showed little interest in the untapped potential of their slopes. That is until the early 20th century when a few enthusiastic mountain men and some French expatriates scaled the Lebanese mountains by donkey, skied down, and then kept going back for more. The locals probably thought they were crazy, but, by the 1940s, the Lebanese had established competitions, clubs and ski schools throughout the country, and were competing on the international stage. The country’s progress towards skiing modernity was then interrupted in the 1970s by a lengthy civil war and only really got going again during the 1990s. Today, this combination of circumstances has created an attractive skiing destination, relatively unspoilt by bumper-to-bumper commercialism.

Lebanon itself is a surprisingly small country, about the size of Yorkshire, and you can drive from one end to the other in around three hours. Separated by the fertile Bekaa Valley, two parallel mountain ranges dominate the country. The most skiable slopes are on the western Lebanon mountain range, with many runs less than an hour away from the fashionable capital. As British skier David Reed informed me, “It’s like having a ski resort just outside Paris.” With its historic ruins, ancient grottoes and the nearby Mediterranean, there are more than enough local distractions to occupy mixed interest couples as well, so you should be able to ski all week, while significant others will be happy not to.

Twenty-eight miles (42km) from Lebanon, Faraya Mzaar is the biggest and best-equipped resort, with 42 slopes and 50 miles (80km) of ski track. Faraya itself, once the starting point, is now just a small town that you pass through on the way to the resort, which is actually situated in the tongue-twisting Ouyoun El Simane, Kfardebian. The skiable ranges of the resort’s three peaks begin at 1,850 metres and reach 2,465 metres at the highest point of the Mzaar Mountain. The treeless slopes create a landscape of rolling white dunes that visually have more in common with the desert than the pine-clad Alps we are familiar with.

The metre-and-a-half of fresh snow that fell on the Mzaar in mid-March was firm underneath with a dry, powdery top, despite a blazing Middle Eastern sun. This provided a controllable surface for beginners and intermediates to get the best out of the longer runs. These usually take two to four days to master depending on your skill level and attention span.

When hurtling down the Mzaar’s steeper pistes, advanced skiers should try to remember to save some breath for the spectacular views out over the Mediterranean. However, you will probably exhaust the trickier descents in a couple of days; at this point it is worth paying for a guide to show you what is not on the official maps.

The queues at most of the Mzaar’s 18 ski lifts are refreshingly short. Combined with the absence of vitriolic hordes elbowing their way through, this makes turnaround times of 20-30 seconds normal, which compares well with the 20-30 minutes of some European resorts. The plentiful lifts close by 4pm at the latest and you will almost certainly be grateful for the opportunity to rest. It is a shock to the sinews how much ground you can cover when queues are almost non-existent.

Après-ski activities are based around the Intercontinental Resort and Spa, Mzaar, which sits at the foot of several steep runs that drop straight down from the panoramic peak of the mountain, directly onto the terrace of the popular, Le Refuge restaurant, and the only five-star ski resort in the whole of Lebanon. At weekends the hotel and private apartments are packed to their Alpine-lodge-style rafters with the great, the good and the good-looking of Lebanese society. According to socialite Ditta Comair, the hotel and village is the centre of “Lebanon’s la dolce vita” during winter months. Thankfully, only a small percentage of these social high-flyers ski, so the slopes remain unexpectedly accessible.

Adding to the weekend buzz are busloads of school children and those who, oblivious to the cold, have made the long trip to see snow for the first time, smoke shisha on the slopes, toboggan, picnic on the piste and party to makeshift sound systems, turning the narrow mountain roads into four lanes of incredibly friendly traffic jam.

By 8pm on Sunday night it’s all over, as Beirutis take their hangovers back to the city and the cosy, relaxed mountain lodge ambiance returns. When the weather makes skiing impossible, a wallow in Les Therme du Mzaar’s heated pool watching snow swirl around the glass canopy overhead is a highly recommended change of pace to soothe aching thighs.

Further downhill there are several slopes on the smaller private resorts of Faqra and Zaarour to explore, along with Qanat Bakish, one of Lebanon’s better preserved towns.

Upcountry, Laqlouq, known as Lucky Luke, favours families and beginners with its unspoilt countryside and tree-lined ridges. Beyond that is the Cedars, Lebanon’s northernmost resort and home to its highest slope, at 3,088 metres. The runs here are more limited than on the Mzaar but there are still a few off-piste thrills to be had, and thanks to a natural amphitheatre-like setting, it also plays host to international competitions run by the Lebanese Ski Federation.

The resort is being modernised in time for the 2009 Asian Ski Championship to be held in Lebanon, but that’s not the only development on the horizon. The Sannine Zenith resort, with a projected cost of $1.2 billion (£690 million), plans to cater for 22,000 skiers on the Sannine Mountain, overlooking the picturesque Bekaa Valley. Its designers are working on Whistler’s current Olympic bid and Lebanon hopes to one day make its own pitch for the Winter Games.

Anything could happen, but this season or next, for snow-loving Europeans keen to carve powder on pastures new, a trip to Lebanon could make a refreshing break from the uber-resort, especially when the crowds are long gone and you can make-believe you are all alone on your own private mountain range.

Way to go

The season starts in December and runs into April. Visit www.skileb.com to book your ski holidays in Lebanon. Guardian readers can take advantage of 5% to 20% discounts by entering GUARDIAN as the promotional code when booking.

Flights can be booked separately. Direct flights from London with British Airways and Middle East Airlines take four to five hours.

Intercontinental Resort & Spa, Mzaar www.intercontinental.com; reservations 0870 400 9650; hotel front desk +961-9-340000. Les Therme du Mzaar www.lesthermesdumzaar.com

Bilderberg | Stresa, Italy

This is the piece that sparked a new direction in my life. I was working with AC Milan in Italy and heard the a real life conspiracy theory was going on just up the road in Stresa, so I headed out with my camera and notepad for three days to find out if there was any basis in reality for the theories on the web: secret world government, ruling cabal, or benign private business meeting?

Call it what you like, but it exists in a high security environment where the heads of business meet with the movers and shakers of the political world. The story ended up in the Sunday papers in Europe and the photos all over the web and in various US publications.

Here’s the original story.

I’ll add a gallery to this page at earliest opportunity.

Whether it’s something cool and classy for balmy nights on a rooftop terrace, or Savile Row styling at a fraction of the cost, Dubai maintains the long tradition of providing tailor-made garments crafted for the more discerning traveller, combining Middle Eastern value with European quality and styling.

There are a wealth of tailors and textile shops in the back alleys and Souks of Bur Dubai where you can select materials from any of the thousands on offer and take them to one of many local tailors who will construct suits, shirts, skirts or shorts in next to no time. If it is an outright bargain that you are after then this is the place to go, however if you want something of high-quality that you are going to wear more than a couple of times at prices that still feel like you are stealing, then you would be wise to look into some of Dubai’s more refined outfitters.

Recommended Retailers
As with any personalised service, if possible, it is always worth asking for recommendations from others. I was advised to try one of three Dubai tailors: Royal Fashions, Lobo or Kachin [further recommendations can be found in the Retail Therapy article in the shopping section]. All three have branches in or around Bur Dubai and Karama, however Royal Fashions also have two shops conveniently situated in Madinat Jumeirah and Jumeirah Beach Hotel and as their tailored shirts come recommended by The Economist no less, I decided to pay them a visit.

Royal Fashions is run by the Sawlani family, who have been in Dubai since 1952, from a time when there wasn’t even a retail trade to speak of. What started out as a few small shops soon grew into a successful textile business and when in the late Eighties there was a big push to develop the economy and particularly tourism, Royal Fashions decided that this was a good time to create a tourist friendly tailoring business. They now provide a service where a tailor made shirt can be delivered in less than 48 hours and a two piece suit in just two to three days. If you are here on business and are pushed for time they can even arrange to bring their service direct to your hotel room.

This formula has proven very successful with three branches now open in the Dubai area. Due to their location the two Jumeirah branches primarily cater for the tourism market while the third although being open to all, mainly provides services for high-profile locals, including the deputy ruler of Dubai, his Highness Sheikh Hamdan, as well as bankers and diplomats. Their success and hopefully this also means their quality, can also be measured by the growing number of clients who are visiting Dubai in order to have their suits made by them.

What to Expect
If you are familiar with tailoring, then you will already have experienced the leisurely and gratifying process of picking a material, specifying your style and being measured for the cut. If not then I am happy to report that the experience is distinctly more satisfying than the usual ‘shop ‘til you drop’ experience of trekking from one Mall to the next looking for the elusive item that fits and looks just how you want it to.

On entering the boutique-like ambience of Royal Fashions you are first ushered into a seat and brought a drink before being guided through the first step of deciding what you would eventually like to wear from the vast array of materials on offer. The walls bulge from floor to ceiling with fabric and many of the materials are sourced from the same suppliers that would be used in a Hugo Boss, Armani or Brioni suit. This was the only time-consuming part of the process as there were so many fabrics on offer that I was quite overwhelmed with choice by the number of renowned European names lining the wall; Dormeuil, Charles Clayton, Zegna, Clissold, Stotz, John Foster and Hammerle to name just a few. Rather than the one suit I had come for I think I would quite happily have walked out with four or five.

After much deliberation, I finally settled on a luxurious charcoal, crease-proof and subtly pinstriped ‘Super 100’s’ woollen yarn from Giovanni Tonella. In Dubai’s heat I was uncertain about picking something so dark in colour but was confidently assured that being based in the sunny Middle East one of the house specialities is, unsurprisingly, tailoring for a hot climate. The suit would therefore weigh around 30 percent less than something you would wear at other times of the year and so there was no pressing need for me to look like the man from Del Monte just yet!

The Cut
Regardless of the material, ultimately the final suit will only ever be as good as the tailor who makes it. The Tailor, sometimes known as the Master Cutter, is preferably the man who should take your measurements. As each master’s tailoring and measuring style will vary it is a sensible precaution to let one craftsman take control from start to finish. On my visit to Royal fashions two masters with different specialities came to take my measurements, one for the suit and one for the shirt.

This is one of the many small nuances that make a tailored item of clothing so very different from something bought in a shop. Over the years I can confidently say that I have only ever found one off-the-peg suit that fitted my shoulders properly without making the rest of the suit hang like the skirts of a whirling Dervish in full spin. Even in designer outlets I have found that from one shop to the next my shirt size has varied between large, medium and small for no particularly obvious reason. I can only assume that each designer habitually adds a little more here and takes a little more there depending on their own undeclared preference.

It is the tailor then who becomes the designer of your new outfit and it his expert cutting that defines whether a larger person will look thinner or a slim person more full-bodied and it is this attention to individual needs that can make a visit to the tailor so rewarding.

A Perfect Fit
A short time later it was back to the shop for a second and in my case final fitting where the partially made suit was tested for size and any last minute alterations made to match my taste and shape. The material, as promised, was light and wearable in the Dubai sunshine and I was informed that if the end result had been less than expected I could have had the suit remade at their cost.

This almost never happens and while waiting to pick up the final product I browsed their guest book that contains page after page of reports from satisfied customers from as far a field as Japan and Belgium. In the entire book I could only find two not entirely happy customers and even one of those intended to come back.

On discussing the benefits of tailoring with Ashok Sawlani, managing partner of Royal Fashions, he explained to me that “If you’re looking for a label then of course tailoring is not important.” However by using a reputable tailor he says “Exactly what you’re looking for, you will get. This is not possible in a ready-made garment, whether branded or unbranded, cheap or expensive.” This is why Mr Sawlani takes great satisfaction from the happy faces he sees everyday in his shop and why on receiving a modest demand for payment I left with a smile on mine.

Breakout#1: Materials 101

Fabric: From Alpaca to Tweed there is a huge variety of fabrics on offer but the finer wool of the Super 100’s and soft Cashmeres are the classic materials for formal styling, comfort and exclusivity. Aim for higher numbers in the Super 100’s range; in theory the higher the number, the finer the yarn used to weave the fabric and therefore the better the material. Dubai’s huge selection of linen and cotton are perfect for formal and more relaxed occasions however they do crease easily and can look messy.

Weight: If you live in a hot climate then it makes sense to go for one of the modern lightweight materials preferably in the range of 250-270 grams per metre. For more temperate regions a heavier fabric is required, ideally 320 grams or above. Colours: The choice of suit colour really depends on how and where you intend to wear it. Traditionally light colours tend to be for more casual occasions whereas you would usually opt for darker tones for more formal settings such as office wear, weddings or formal dinners.

Pattern: Patterns in men’s fabrics are usually reserved to the classic pinstripes or Prince of Wales checks, and while neither goes out of fashion their popularity does fluctuate from season to season. If you are daring to be different you could opt for one of the more unusual patterned fabrics such as the zigzagged Herringbone or the sharp black and white contrast of Houndstooth. If you are buying patterned suits, always make sure the lines of the pattern match up to each other along the seams.

Breakout#2: Style Guide

Shirts: Classic collars and double cuffs with cuff links are the way to go when making an impression in a formal setting. Casual occasions can be more relaxed with button down collars and cuffs. No pockets are traditional on a double cuff shirt and have been the business fashion for many years, while remaining optional for other styles.

Jackets: The sleeve of your jacket should reveal at most one half inch of shirt sleeve. For classic and formal suits 3¼- 3½ is advised for the collar, but take an inch off if you’re going casual.

Vents: Two vents allow ease of movement as well as disguising bigger bottoms. So, for the fuller figure, add vents. Ideally they should overlap by 3/4 of an inch so that your trousers are hidden from view.

Buttons: Three buttons are standard but for the more generously proportioned two or even one button can provide a more flattering cut. Four decorative buttons may also be worn on the jacket’s sleeve.

Waistcoats/Vest: Regarded as very formal and are primarily for business or wedding suits. Trousers: Hemmed trousers aren’t currently in vogue but if you do want to fly in the face of fashion opt for a one and a half inch turn-up.

Pleats also aren’t in fashion but if comfort is a priority pleats offer you just a little extra manoeuvrability and breathing space by being slightly looser around the thighs and hips.

Breakout#3: Accentuate the positive

Height: To appear thinner and taller – buy a pinstripe. If you are short already never buy checks because this will only make you look even shorter. Avoid lighter colours and opt for darker more slimming tones that have the added effect of making the wearer appear taller. For tall people the opposite holds true pinstripes will only make you taller while checks will make you appear less towering.

Weight: For skinny people if you want to add body go for light colours and checks. For the fuller figure opt for dark colours and pinstripes to hide a multitude of sins.

Breakout#4: Bubble Trouble
When a tailor doesn’t use a proper fusing machine or fabric bubbling can occur as the glue dries and cracks. What can be done?

Bespoke: Opt for the more expensive ‘floating’ panels of the bespoke suit, which allows the two layers of fabric to move independently of each other and is also referred to as hand made or horsehair canvas. The rule of thumb is you need to factor in double the cost for the tailor’s time (not material cost) to create a bespoke suit.

Fusing: Always ask your tailor how they fuse their suits, if they use good quality fusing material and a dedicated fusing machine then bubbling should rarely occur.

Breakout#5: Women’s Tailoring

Informal: If you’re after something extraordinary or more colourful then head to one of the dedicated shops in the Bur Dubai textile souk where there is a wide selection of material on offer. With no commitment to a particular tailor you are then free to take your fabric to the place of your choosing. Take care when selecting your own fabrics as it is time consuming and choosing the wrong material can ruin the outfit.

Formal: For day-to-day office wear the fabrics tend to be more or less the same as men’s, so choose a trustworthy tailor as outlined in this article for your formal blouses, suits, skirts and trousers.