The story goes that when the ski resort of Are, Sweden installed its night-skiing floodlights in 2006, NASA rang the Swedish government up and asked what was going on. They could see the light from space.

That may be a myth, but there’s no doubt that the night skiing lights here are BRIGHT. They were designed for TV – so the resort could run televised night-time ski races and events – and they add razor-sharp definition to the snow. In fact, the light’s almost as good as it is on a sunny day; and a lot better than on a cloudy one. You can’t help but blasting down at Mach 3 as a result.

There’s night skiing available somewhere in Are, Sweden on every night of the week – which is free for holders all of Are lift passes, except half-day ones. They’ve even got floodlit slopes for families. (Click on this link to find out what’s going on where).

But for the real thrills you’ve got to get onto the two fast and sumptuous pistes set beneath the VM8 eight-man chairlift. They’re called Gästrappet and Lundsrappet, and night skiing runs on them from 6-8pm on on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – and every night during the Swedish holidays in late February and early March. There’s often more traffic on them at night than during the day. So to get the best of the snow (and the most elbow room), start on Gästrappet and then turn right through the tunnel half-way down to the bottom half of Lundsrappet.

Altogether now: whhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Many thanks to Neilson for the flights to Are, Sweden. The company runs an extensive holiday programme to the resort with all levels of accommodation included. You can also find lots of news and information about the resort at www.skistar.com/en/Are/.