Skiing has always been famous for its off-piste activities but now one travel firm in Verbier, Switzerland, is taking them to a new level.

Jacuzzi and wife-swapping
Along with the traditional shared pleasures of fondues and red wine, skiers are being offered the chance to indulge in wife-swapping as a way of unwinding after a day on the slopes. These chalet holidays have been specially designed for swinging couples, who are offered mixed saunas and jacuzzis and are even encouraged to sunbathe nude together on the balcony - weather permitting, of course.

Sex not compulsory
The chalets, costing up to £580 for a week's half-board, are aimed at "broadminded and adventurous couples" by French tour operator Papillon des Alpes, whose brochure features pictures of couples in romantic clinches. But skiers are reminded that Verbier, one of Europe's most elegant ski resorts, is "not a nudist resort" and asks guests keen on naked sunbathing to do so "discreetly". Swingers are also warned that "the golden rule is no means NO!", and politeness and respect for others is stressed.

The brochure says: "It is not necessary to actually have sex with other people to have a good time in this swinger-friendly chalet." The company's chalet girls, it continues, "are not necessarily swingers, but neither are they prudish".

Verbier is not a big brothel
However, the holiday offers have sparked anger in Verbier, which prides itself on being the most family-orientated resort in the Alps. Britons are its most regular foreign visitors. Papillon des Alpes has now bowed to pressure from Verbier's tourist director, Patrick Messeiller, to remove the most explicit images from its website.

M Messeiller said: "People are wondering what it is all about. I suppose this sort of thing goes on in London." He said he did not want Verbier portrayed as "a big brothel", but added, "as long as it does not disturb the vicinity, I don't know what we can do".

[Source: Evening Standard]

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