‘I dread winter – but skiing helps fight the seasonal blues’

My friend Annabelle loves winter. She enthuses about chunky wool jumpers, roaring fires and muddy walks. But at this time of year, I just want to hibernate. My personal batteries feel drained, especially on dark mornings in Yorkshire. I have an overwhelming feeling of lethargy and procrastination. Invitations get politely declined, biscuits get eaten, the sofa becomes my sanctuary. Dry January? Mine is positively drenched.

On dull, grey days it can feel hard to drag yourself outside to exercise but it helps, as does light therapy. And lamps to combat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) don’t shine much brighter than the Alpine sun. Which is why most winters, I treat myself to a cross-country skiing break, to boost my mood and get my middle-aged limbs swinging again, after a sedentary and over-indulgent festive period.

I’ve always felt this way. As a child I’d dread winter – my mind goes back to sodden cross-country runs along the River Ouse on murky afternoons at school, or playing rugby in the mud and gloom. Nowadays I subconsciously avoid going to the cinema or theatre in summer for fear of wasting a light evening outdoors, when I could be pottering in the garden or barbecuing with friends.

According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists about three people in every 100 people have significant winter depression. While I wouldn’t class mine as such, I do feel a weight on me in the darker months that lifts as spring comes around. In January and February, time in the sun helps, whether it’s a walk in the local park on a cloudless day, or much better, a week in the Alps.

Health psychologist Kari Leibowitz – who specialises in helping people develop a more positive seasonal mindset and has spent winters above the Arctic Circle in northern Norway – agrees that just leaving the house is key. “Both movement and time in nature are natural antidepressants: research shows they can boost mood and increase wellbeing. So, getting outside can be very effective for combatting winter blues.”

Last winter, I journeyed to the Swiss village of Sils Maria in the Engadin Valley, a 20-minute bus ride from swanky St Moritz. Just a few miles from the Italian border, Sils contains a few hotels, some ski equipment rental and souvenir shops, cafes, a post office, a supermarket and not much else – its simple amenities are part of its charm. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche spent summers here in the 1880s and it’s where he wrote Thus Spoke Zarathustra. His house is now a museum, set back just off the main road, and disrupted only by the noise of clattering horse-hooves as tourists take sleigh rides into the snowy hills.

I was staying at the family-run Hotel Privata, in the middle of the village, with just 26 rooms. Most other guests were Swiss and a decent minority seemed to be there on their own, emerging every morning with a cheery grüezi (hello) before heading out to walk, snowshoe or cross-country ski.

The half-board arrangement included a four-course dinner each evening, which made the most of produce from the canton of Graubünden, and a hearty breakfast of local bread, cheese and air-cured meats. My bedroom looked out directly towards the Alps on the other side of Lake Sils, and it became a morning ritual to watch the sun crack on top of them and then slowly drip down the sides, illuminating the snow-blanketed valley.

I hadn’t cross-country skied for some time, so to refresh my skills I joined instructor Kilian Müller for an outing alongside the frozen lake. There was not a cloud in the bright-blue sky and the temperature was a fresh -5C as we set off. The wide basin was framed by craggy mountains on each side, including 3,450m-high Piz Corvatsch. Already I could feel my personal power bank charging.

There are two types of cross-country skiing: classic, where you rhythmically glide in carved ruts, and skating, which doesn’t use tracks and sees you push off more vigorously to move forward. The latter makes you go faster but the technique is trickier for a beginner to master and requires more energy. I chose classic as I found it easier, but even so, I was having to pause frequently to get my breath back.

Kilian corrected my technique, suggesting I lift my toe off the ground with each push and hold the glide for a moment each time, so momentum did more of the work. Unlike downhill, cross-country skis, boots and bindings are light – there’s no futzing around with cumbersome equipment – but the narrowness of the skis can make you feel a bit wobbly to start. Another bonus was stopping to listen to the creaking ice on the lake, which occasionally belched with a low, hypnotic roar. Occasionally a private jet rumbled above, starting its descent into St Moritz.

I asked Kilian, originally from Zürich, what had drawn him to Sils. “I’m 29. I’ve been cross-country skiing since I was two and I started right here” he told me. “You’ve got so much choice in the valley, literally hundreds of kilometres of trails, and lots of different levels – it’s great if you’re a beginner and equally good if you’re an Olympic athlete.” My reward at the end of the morning was a hot chocolate and slice of buttery Engadiner cake filled with almond cream at Café Grond, with warm sunshine streaming through the picture windows.

On other days, armed with a local bus pass (included with my hotel booking) I took my skis and explored the valley; to the far end of the lake at Maloja, as well as from Pontresina into a fairytale landscape, which included a delicious lunch on the sun terrace of the Roseg Gletscher restaurant.

I’ll admit that a week in Switzerland is not the most cost-effective way of tackling the winter blues. But if you, like me, struggle to find your oomph in Britain at this time of year, then a break in the Alps undertaking some gentle exercise, basking under crisp blue skies really can help boost you through to the warm days of spring.

Essentials

Will Hide travelled as a guest of Inntravel (inntravel.co.uk), which offers a week at Hotel Privata from £1,620pp, half board, including flights from Heathrow or rail travel from London St Pancras, return transfers in Switzerland, and local bus pass, based on two sharing.

In Sils, cross-country ski rental costs from £20 a day; a week’s cross-country ski pass costs £30. Group cross-country ski lessons with the Swiss Ski School (ssscp.ch) cost £55 for a half day. For more information on the destination visit sils.ch, and for more Information on SAD visit nhs.uk. For further reading: How to Winter by Kari Leibowitz (£14.75 (reduced from 18.99)