Football and skiing
Thursday June 10, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

With the World Cup starting at the weekend we thought you might like to see this feature again. The possibilities of skiing in Southern Africa while the World Cup finals are underway. Ski slopes are not so far away from the football grounds.

There is of course no doubt that England will hoist the cup on July 11^th as they thrash their opponents 6-0.

But for the fans there will be large amounts of time in between waiting for the next match.

So instead of drinking beer, having kick-abouts with rival fans or discussing the benefits of the 4-4-2 formation why not going skiing?

Southern Africa's two ski areas are due to open for their ski seasons a few days before The World Cup kicks off.

The ski slopes are some hours from the football grounds, but a snow and football holiday is a realistic possibility.

In Southern Africa, Afriski in Lesotho, plans to open for the season at the end of May so by the time of The World Cup it should be in full swing.

One of PlanetSKI's readers, Stephan Wiehe was there last year and told us that it was well worth a visit.

See here for what it is like.

Afriski in 2009; patchy!

South Africa's only ski centre Tiffindell, plans to start its season on June 3^rd, a week beforeThe World Cup Finals kick off.

The centre relies on natural snowfall and artificial snow.

It can cover all its slopes in just 24 hours if the temperature is cold enough. The season lasts until early September so you could go and celebrate there after England lift the cup.

It stands on the slopes of the highest mountain in the Cape - Ben McDhui, at 3001m, on the Lesotho border and is just 4.5 hours away by car.

The nearest football stadium to the slopes is Bloemfontein, which is 419km away.

As you may have already read on PlanetSKI many of the World Cup football teams, including England, are out in The Alps at the moment doing altitude training haead of the World Cup which is now just a few weeks away.

See here for our report on England in the Austrian Alps.