On the Road with Flip Byrnes

travel.com.au Roving Reporter

With snow falling near Prague, Flip decides there is only one thing to do...Czech it out.

Przemsylaw screwed up his face in concentration, leaned over the bar and said "And now, I vill kill you". I simply raised an eyebrow. Firstly, you can’t take someone seriously who has a name of almost all consonants, and secondly, this was his best attempt at impersonating a James Bond movie.

In the Czech Republic prepare yourself for the fact that with their Eastern European accent even new-found friends will sound like the "baddie" extra from a James Bond movie. My new found riding guide also happened to be dressed in black, was a missile on a pair of skis and, by the looks of things, also had quite a wicked sense of humour.

It was a tricky move tearing myself away form Prague, but I had my Powder-hound snout on and from all reports, the mountains of Spindelurv Myln just 2 hours away were being coated with fresh flakes. So I grabbed Sparky the Wonderboard and headed for the hills.

And what a surprise. This is one of the biggest resorts in Central Europe and while it is off our radar, for Poles, Hungarians and Czechs it is the hunting ground for fresh tracks. On a weekend beware of long lift queues, but on a mid week day, you can have it all to yourself for a measly $15AUD.

It is also advisable to head into this 'rural' part of the Czech Republic, an area that Communism clearly forgot. Expecting huge concrete bunker housing, the city of Prague instead gives way to open fields and houses that are the blue print for Swiss villages and French chateaus. Charming.

While the nightlife of Myln is on a permanent vacation, it is more than family friendly with hotels and pensions dotted around the surrounding hills. As for the ski hills themselves? Medevin and Svaty Petr are either side of a picturesque, friendly village, which sits astride a bubbling river. Combined, the two areas, which are linked by bus, have 23 lifts, a total of 4 (the hardest) black runs, but with a top point of only 1310m, the skiing is low lying. Which doesn’t at all expain why the snow was so incredibly good.

Next week we head to Romania to catch the last of the snow deep in Transylvania.