"PlanetSKI has a simple aim; to entertain and inform skiers and boarders about life in the mountains. Most importantly it aims to do it with passion and a love for everything to do with skiing and boarding.

It carries news stories, features, video reports, superb photos and a few surprises too. It's not influenced by glossy press releases and free trips, but rather the unbiased opinions of its writers.

It's about life in The Alps. Real life."

The above statement was written in October 2008 just before the site went live. It is now almost October 2011 and we hope we have kept true to our aims.

We have clocked up almost 3,500 news stories and tens of millions of page impressions. We get about 30,000 visits a month and are regularly on the front page of google new searches for key words like snow, skiing, snowboarding and others.

Many seek out our advice on matters and keep us informed about what is going on in the snowsports world.  We are probably the primary source of accurate and independent news and information for the UK ski industry (at least that's what we are told) and are proud to have reached that position.

PlanetSKI is written by people who live and work out in the mountains. Some are professional journalists/writers, while others are skiers and boarders simply with something to say.

It aims to be of interest to everyone with a passion for skiing; from pro-riders and seasonaires through to families and beginners just starting to get hooked. 

All you need is a love for snow. 

Our content editor, James Cove, has skied in over 250 resorts across the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Rockies and the Andes. He's a journalist with over 20 years of experience. With his range of contacts and correspondents he oversees the pages.

If you want to write for the site or get some photos published then this could be your chance. 

We want articles from skiers and boarders with real experiences out in the mountains.  You don't have to be a professional writer, you just need something interesting to say.

PlanetSKI doesn't have detailed reports on every resort crammed with facts and figures and extensive news on snow conditions. We'll leave that to the other ski web sites.  We don't aim to cover everything - just things that are interesting.

When we started three years ago we also defined ourselves by saying what we are not. Here is what we said:

  -   It is not another information over-loaded ski web site. 

  -   It is not trying to do everything all the time.

  -   It is not written to please advertisers.

  -   It is not padded out with PR stories.

  -   It is not going to say everything is fantastic the whole time.

  -   It is not going to ignore stories for fear of upsetting resorts.

  -   It is not going to sit on the web growing cobwebs.

  -   It is going to entertain and inform you in a way that no other site does. It's an organic site that will develop and quite frankly we're not sure quite how it will grow or where it will go. 

So how have we done? Keep clicking on and we hope you enjoy the site.

For the spirit of the mountains