Skiing away from the Alps

• Best for: skiing with Hobbits
• Nearest airport: Queenstown
• When to go: mid-June to end October
• Top tip: beware the keas, these clown-like parrots look cute but they like eating ski equipment

You can ski both of New Zealand's islands but the mountains around Queenstown on the South island are bigger and better. While this is a long way to come just for the skiing, it is an excellent place for a few days skiing as part of a wider tour. 'Coronet Peak' is good for intermediates, with 'The Remarkables' better for beginners. They also claim to have more heli-skiing than anywhere outside Canada - definitely worth the extra cash if you have come all this way. The marvellously named Whakapapa is the best of the North island resorts, but beware the volcanic ash which falls nearly as frequently as the snow from the neighbouring volcano, Ruapehu.
For more information visit: www.nzski.com or www.skiexpress.co.nz

The Andes, Chile and Argentina
Majestically dramatic South American wilderness

• Best for: smooth Latino carving turns
• Nearest airport: Santiago/Buenos Aires
• When to go: July to mid-September
• Top tip: you need special documentation to drive across the Chile/Argentine border in a rental car

South America is the king of summer skiing and there are a string of resorts either side of the 'cordillera', the high-altitude border between the two countries. Fortunately, the Chilean 'Three Valleys' is less than 30 miles away from Santiago. Just up to the North is Portillo, the country's best resort and not far from the border from where you can start a long drive to the Argentinean resort of Las Lenas, home to the best off-piste in the Southern Hemisphere. Many of the pistes you ski here are rumbling volcanoes. Sulphuric mists regularly haze the skies.
For more information visit: www.scottdunn.com/latinamerica