Deborah and Alan Agius during their snowboarding holidays.Board games
Travellers: Deborah and Alan Agius
Activity: Snowboarding
It all started with Alan, who has been going snowboarding every year for the past 10 years. Since it was such an important trip for him, he convinced Deborah to try it out four years ago and she fell in love with the sport.
It’s great because it’s a mixture of both an active holiday as well as a relaxing one. The sport itself is physically demanding but at the same time, the mountains are so relaxing. Snowboarding down a white mountain is a beautiful experience especially if you are an adrenaline junkie.
To snowboard, Deborah and Alan travel to different locations in the Alps. They usually go to all-inclusive resorts, as there are many to choose from. Alan checks out resort reviews, size of pistes, snow depth and history to choose the location.
The couple’s holiday usually lasts a week. In the morning they snowboard until noon, then stop to eat either in restaurants on the slopes or at the hotel. In the afternoon they snowboard again until around 4.30pm. After that there’s always a lot to do at the resort: snacks, activities, gym, pool, sauna or pampering at the spa. In the evening, after dinner, there is live entertainment, ranging from cabaret shows and dance parties to nightclubs and drinks. At least once during the week they usually explore the nearby villages.
To train, Deborah and Alan attend classes. “It’s safer and more fun to be with a group especially if you’re just starting out,” says Deborah.
Looking further afield, Deborah says that she would like to go canoeing or white-water rafting one day.
For snowboarding travel, Alan and Deborah suggest that travellers do their homework when it comes to choosing the location. Buy good gear and don’t go during peak season as slopes are too busy. “Go at your own pace,” Alan says, “but test your limits.” If you like to be pampered choose an all-inclusive resort, especially if it’s your first time. And finally, go with good company: it’s an amazing experience to share with friends.
Eleanor Bezzina combines travel with her favourite sport: shooting.Bull’s eye
Traveller: Eleanor Bezzina
Activity: Shooting
It all started as a coincidence. Eleanor had gone with friends to see a clay pigeon shooting competition at the range in Bidnija and the late Lawrence Darmanin, former president, Malta Air Rifle and Pistol Shooting Club, invited them to have a look at the indoor range where the air pistol and air rifle shooting is held. Eleanor used to play netball and waterpolo at the time and shooting was not on her agenda, but Lawrence’s enthusiasm coupled with her interest to try a new sport led to her to start practising air pistol.
Achieving positive results in local competitions led Eleanor to represent Malta in target shooting competitions abroad, including in Italy, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, the UK, Russia and India.
One of Eleanor’s most memorable trips was travelling to Delhi, India for the Commonwealth Games in 2010. “It was great to live in an athletes’ village where athletes from all over the world meet for one main reason: sports,” she says.
Her other most memorable trip took her to the Games of Small States of Europe in Luxembourg in 2013 where she won a gold medal.
The difficult part about travelling for shooting is that sometimes, it’s not easy to travel with a firearm. “But you get used to it and you learn that each country and airport has its own procedures to handle a firearm. One understands that safety procedures need to be followed,” says Eleanor.
Eleanor’s advice is that combining your favourite sport with travelling is fantastic. Train hard and do it.
David Gladwish on some of his mountaineering adventures.Climb every mountain
Traveller: David Gladwish
Activity: Mountaineering and hiking
David first discovered his fascination with mountains in his early teens during a visit to Ireland where he spent a week staring up at some of the highest peaks in the country. “They were so majestic: I was in awe,” he says. “I decided I would climb one some day, but life took me in different directions until a dull period in my mid-20s, when I finally came across an opportunity to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.”
In 2010 David and his twin brother discovered the sixth Kilimanjaro Challenge expedition from Malta who were fundraising to build a clinic in Ethiopia. After a year of preparations and the climb itself, they came back hooked and since then have been planning similar trips together every year.
The duration of these climbs varies according to altitude, from one-day peaks in the UK to two- and three-month expeditions in the Himalayas. As a general rule, the higher you go, the more time your body needs to acclimatise to the altitude and lack of oxygen.
“If I had to choose a memorable trip,” says David, “I would have to go with Kilimanjaro and our last expedition to Aconcagua in the Andes, Argentina. Both were high altitude climbs and pushed me to my limits, both mentally and physically but I came back stronger each time. There is also no view more beautiful than looking down on the world from so high up.”
David is very careful with both safety preparations and the decisions he makes when on the move. “I have had to stop a climb twice in the past due to illness and injury, both of which were among the hardest decisions of my life but I knew stopping was the right thing to do.”
“Mountain-climbing trips can be an intimidating prospect, especially if you go solo,” says David. “I would recommend looking for local or foreign groups who are planning a trip of some kind to tag along with, and try to convince a buddy or two to join you as well. You make lifelong friends and memories through adventure and you will come back a more fulfilled person because of it.”