What do proper catholic schoolgirls, 7-11, death, and Engelberg, Switzerland have in common? Well not much, but they all have something to do with heaven... if you include rhyming. Heaven has always sounded pretty awesome, so we at doglotion.com were keen to get a taste of it. Death didn't sound very fun, convenient stores are a dime a dozen, and there's already plenty of websites featuring catholic schoolgirls, uh, so we're told. So with Engelberg Titlis ski resort boasting the motto "It's Heaven", it was an obvious stop on our Europe Tour.

With rumors of Aspen-esque cougars, rampant fur coats and Royal Family sightings, how could we miss a chance to visit this European utopia known to mortals as Lech am Arlberg. Originally one of the poorest villages in Austria, Lech was an isolated cattle and dairy farming town with very little connection to nearby valleys.

They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. But what I wanted to know was why there was any grass at all? Grass skiing has it's moments, don't get me wrong, but a whole winter of it leaves a bit to be desired. Watching the reports of big winter storms bashing Austria and North East Switzerland was tough to cope with. Then as the stories and photos of deeeeep pow came rolling in, it was time to get over there and see for ourselves.

BY HOLLY WALKER 

As snow and wind pounded Kirkwood, road closures and chair wind holds may have ensued but skiers still began to arrive in numbers. Flights from Europe, buses from Reno, cars from Canada... The slew came despite weather, ready to compete in the annual big mountain competition, locally known as the "Extremes."