A few minutes later, we were travelling towards Schönried, a ski resort town neighbouring Gstaad, and as the train carried on, I barely felt a thing. Meanwhile, as the train's elevation shifted ...

A quick jaunt by train brings you to the heart of the Isère region, where Alpe d’Huez’s vast 250km ski area encompasses five villages, including the longest black run in Europe – La Sarenne.

The snow is so bountiful that the ski season lasts six months, the longest in Europe. We went in April ... of reaching Val Thorens - and that's by train. Eurostar runs a ski train service ...