Even the most successful people sometimes wonder if they could achieve more in the day.  If only they could focus better.

Our unconscious mind can hold a seemingly unlimited amount of information.  Our conscious minds, however, are limited by the ‘magic number 7’ – once we have around 7 items (plus or minus 2), adding anything else in will tend to make another piece of information drop out of our awareness.

You can test this by trying to recall the following number sequences, using your conscious mind, rather than any memory hooks or techniques you may know.  Note your conscious mind’s capacity.

 3      8      0      1
 8      5      1      4      9
 4      6      3      8      1      2
 2      9      5      1      7      3      4
 6      1      8      2      5      9      0      7
 5      8      6      1      9      4      3      7      2
 3      0      8      2      5      7      4      9      1      6

What can tend to happen is that, while working on one thing, something else pops into the mind to distract us.  We can explain this as the result of being too busy – just too much to think about, or procrastination perhaps.  Sometime this happens because we don’t particularly want to do the task, sometimes it may be our mind’s way of livening things up and trying to give us something more interesting to concentrate on.

Some people swear by focusing on the outcome of anything they decide to do and only doing one thing at a time until it’s finished.  That’s not realistic in today’s world of instant communications and umpteen ways to be distracted.

An alternative is to have in mind the source rather than the outcome.  As with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), often we focus on the outcome – e.g. a company’s KPIs might be its sales, share price, or profit before tax.  But focusing on what is at the source of a desired outcome can be more powerful in affecting a desired result.  For example, sales can be affected by the number of clients a business has, their average spend each time they buy and the number of times they buy in a year.  Getting to the source of what impacts on those factors can be more effective than just looking to increase sales.  What affects a client’s decision to return to the company, what affects the price elasticity and how are the ‘touches’ that a company has with its clients managed?

Change your awareness towards the source of whatever outcome it is that you’re interested in and you’ll find yourself focusing on what’s most important.  That’ll give you a better return for your time and energy.

One physiological change that can increase the ability to focus is, counter-intuitively, to use your peripheral vision.  Visually, instead of focusing in on one thing, let your awareness roll out so that you are aware of everything that is on the periphery of your visual field.  Rather like looking at those Magic Eye pictures, where you have to relax in order to look through the design and see the picture within.

You’ll find that as you use your peripheral vision, you’ll relax a little, your breathing will slow and quieten slightly and you’ll be able to think more quickly.  This is just your system moving out of sympathetic nervous system arousal (fight or flight mode) into parasympathetic system.  In this more relaxed state you’ll be able to see things more clearly, engage your memory to retrieve relevant information and you’ll feel as if you’re focusing better.
So, how to incorporate these ideas into your daily life? 

Keep your Action List down to 7 items maximum.  You may have tasks scheduled elsewhere, but keep your eye on just the 7 most important ones at a time.  Otherwise you’ll find yourself doing the small tasks just to get them ticked off your list.  This gives short-term relief only.  Better to focus on up to 7 key tasks.

Focus on the source of what will create the outcome that you want, the behaviour and actions that will be most effective in the circumstances.  And use peripheral vision to get into the kind of relaxed yet focused state that will enable you to choose those appropriate actions.

Like with the tightrope walker, the kind of focus that achieves results is a relaxed experience.  So begin to focus with ease.

Sara Longmuir, Business and Executive Coach, SLongmuir@shirlawscoaching.com 07941 015 866

The Facts

Back pain is a common condition in the UK and is the largest cause of work-related absence. 4 out of 5 of us get back pain at some time in our lifetime and the commonest age group is between 35 and 55 years. It can be very uncomfortable but most people recover spontaneously in 4-6 weeks. However the recurrence rate is high and can increase and become more of a problem year after year if preventative steps are not taken. It is difficult to accurately diagnose back pain as the spine is made up of many structures each of which can contribute to pain and frequently two similar types of pain can have very different diagnoses. For this reason back pain is often called ‘non specific’ back pain. It is essential to remember that the spine and indeed the whole body is made up of moving parts and you either ‘move it or lose it’ therefore rest is never a good idea except for short periods.

The Structure

The back is a complicated structure built around the bones of the spinal column. There are 24 vertebrae locking in to each with 7 in the cervical spine (neck), and 12 thoracic vertebrae which also attach to the ribs and 5 lumbar vertebrae which form the lower back. The skull balances on the neck and the pelvis articulates with the 5th lumbar vertebra. Interspinous discs and facet joints connect the vertebrae and are the moving parts and the discs also act as shock absorbers. Ligaments together with the spinal muscles give the back its strength. The deep muscles are smaller connecting one vertebra to the next and have the role of stabilising, and the superficial muscles are longer and stretch over several segments create movement.

The Nerves

The spinal nerve roots come off at each vertebral level and connect the brain to the rest of the body, through the spinal cord. Each nerve root will carry both sensory fibres which transmit both deep and light touch as well as pain; and motor fibres which connect with muscles to create movement.

Some of the more common causes of back pain.

Sprains

Overreaching or twisting can cause a sprain or strain of a ligament or muscle. The result can be muscle spasm which can last several days or even weeks and prolong what is really a simple problem. This may result in muscle weakness and the best remedy is gentle but frequent movement for short periods of time to reduce the spasm, maintain good blood supply and movement patterns. The loss of normal movement patterns can become a bad habit which is hard to remedy once it becomes established.

Bulging, herniated or prolapsed disc

The discs consist of thick bands of fibrous tissue surrounding a soft jelly like material called the nucleus pulposis. A good analogy is a thick car tyre with a soft centre. While acting as a shock absorber the ‘jelly’ shifts from side to side and a minor bulge should not cause a problem. However overloading the spine can cause the disc to herniate or prolapse putting pressure on the nerve roots.

Sciatica

Sciatica is pain travelling down the back of the leg to the foot and is caused by pressure on the 5th lumbar nerve root.

Spondylosis, wear and tear or degenerative joint disease.

In the normal aging process the discs in the spine become thinner and the spaces between the vertebrae become narrower. Spurs of bone, known as osteophytes, may form at the edges of the vertebrae and the facet joints.  These can pinch the nerve roots and may cause pain. The important thing to remember with degenerative joints is that good posture and muscle support is vital to remain pain free.

Spinal stenosis

Occasionally back pain can be associated with pain in the legs which comes on with walking. This is called spinal stenosis.  It is caused by narrowing of the spinal canal by osteophytes. This causes compression of the spinal cord or nerves. Typically, the pain is only felt after a few minutes’ walking and usually settles after a few minutes’ rest when the person can walk again for a while.  This type of problem may need surgery to open up the spaces for the nerves.

Rarer causes of back pain

Osteoporosis which can cause micro-fracturing of bone; the joint inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis; fractures; spondylolisthesis which is the slippage of one vertebra on another and can be either degenerative or genetic; infections and tumors are the more rare causes of back pain.

Investigations

In order to make a more accurate diagnosis an Xray, MRI scan or CT scan may be necessary.

Treatment

Physiotherapists recommend a proactive approach to back pain. In general prolonged rest is not helpful for back problems. Anti-inflammatory medication and pain killers may be prescribed by the GP and will help to reduce pain so that normal movement may be maintained. Maintaining strength in both deep and superficial back and abdominal muscles and keeping mobile is essential for both the short and long term recovery. Weight management and posture are important to reduce stresses on the spine. Pilates based exercises, a gym programme or just walking more frequently and using the stairs rather than a lift will be helpful in getting back to normal and maintaining good function. Physiotherapy treatments such as joint manipulation and mobilisation, soft tissue release and joint stabilization can expedite recovery.

Special Offer

ESPH works with Asquith clients to offer preferential rates to members. Please quote Asquith 2009 to receive a 25% discount on your first appointment if you book before February 28th 2009. For more details visit www.esph.co.uk or call directly on 020 7907 1900.

By ESPH
www.esphysicalhealth.com / www.esph.co.uk

Without a doubt 2008 was an interesting year to be an investor and has left many people wondering what they should be doing with their finances. If neither the economy nor markets can be second guessed then what we need are some ideas on how to look after our wealth and often quite straight forward financial and tax planning hold the key.

So what sort of things should be considered and by when?

In general much planning is driven by the 5th April and if not done by that date it falls away for that Tax Year. Scheduled below are a few Tax Year sensitive ideas:

• Personal pension contributions
• ISA contributions
• IHT annual exemptions
• Use of annual Capital Gains Tax allowance
• IHT gifting out of income
• Charitable donations
• Child Trust Funds (Birthday sensitive)

When looking at planning it is often important to look across two to three generations to maximise wealth management, so typically grandparents through to grandchildren.

Here is a simple family case study that illustrates the benefits of “cross family” wealth management.

Case Study

Lord and Lady Blair are in their sixties and enjoy a substantial indexed linked Civil Service pension. Lord Blair was in government for many years, whilst Lady Blair has recently just left the Bench, after a distinguished legal career. They admit to having more income then they know what to do with, plus a substantial investment portfolio pregnant with gains from some well chosen stocks recommended by friends. The Blairs have four children and eight grandchildren and have an estate considerably in excess of the nil rate band; they are looking for some ideas to reduce the ever increasing burden of tax in the UK, which they had not foreseen.

Some thoughts….

The Blairs have not used this or the previous Tax Year’s annual IHT exemption of £3000 each, so they are able to give £12,000 in total to their children, with an immediate Inheritance tax saving of £4,800. At the same time the Blairs are able to give each of the grandchildren £250 each under the small gifts exemption, with an immediate inheritance tax saving of £800.

The gifts are funded by the Blairs encashing shares and using their full CGT exemption of £9,600 each, effectively saving CGT of £3,456 between them.

As the Blairs have lots of surplus income they decide to make additional gifts out of income to their children and grandchildren amounting to £30,000 and ask their good friend Gordon to come up with some ideas. Gordon is a thrifty Scot and thinks the children and grandchildren should save their money as he is worried about the state of the public coffers and whether there will be enough money to go around in the future. Gordon suggests that all the children and grandchildren should use the gifts to make a pension contribution, as the government will put some tax money into the plan even if the grandchildren do not have any income. So the four children and eight grandchildren put the Blairs’ gifts into a pension. Each invests £3,600 and gets tax relief of £720, equivalent to an income tax saving of £8,640 across the family.

There is a bit of money left over so Gordon suggests that the balance of the Blairs’ gifts be saved in the grandchildren’s own names as they all have their own personal and CGT allowances, so the savings should  be pretty much tax free until they leave University and hopefully get jobs. Gordon reminds the Blairs of a little savings scheme he is aware of for children born after September 2002, where anybody can save money for the grandchildren up to £1,200 per child, per annum with the money locked up tax free until the child is 18.

The results….

• Lord and Lady Blair effectively save £3,456 in CGT
• Lord and Lady Blair enjoy immediate IHT savings of £5,600
• The Blair “clan” obtain a minimum income tax benefit of £8,640
• Wealth for the benefit of the children and grandchildren amounting to some £52,640 is being invested as tax efficiently as possible

Without any planning Lord and Lady Blair would have left just £26,400 to their family after IHT, instead of twice that amount being invested as demonstrated above.

The case study for the Blair family is a good example of how wealth can be preserved or maximised across generations regardless of what is happening in the Stock Market and highlights the dangers of “silo” based investing by individuals. Often families need to take a genuinely independent and holistic approach to their financial affairs and engage a financial planner and not rely on an investment manager to look at the “big picture”.

By Richard Bertin ACA CFP
www.asquith.co.uk

A few weeks ago, I met with a new client in his City office to discuss his making a Will. He had a young family and was happily married.

He admitted that he had only made the appointment under pressure from his accountant as he thought the meeting was unnecessary as if he should die without making a Will, his wife would surely ‘get everything’ anyway.

Had he not signed a Will and died, his wife would certainly not have received ‘everything’. The current position is that if you die as a married person with one or more children but without a Will, your spouse will get the first £125,000 free of inheritance tax (‘IHT’) plus your personal chattels and an income interest in half of what is left of your estate. Your children will get the other half of what is left of your estate outright at 18 in equal shares and also the underlying capital of the surviving parents’ income share on that parents’ death. If you die as a married person without children then your spouse will get the first £200,000 free of IHT plus the personal chattels and half of what is left of your estate outright with any surviving parent(s) taking the other half of your estate outright.

For most married couples, with or without children, dying without a Will is likely to throw up unfortunate consequences both from a practical and a taxation perspective, not to mention the additional stress suffered by your spouse and other dependants by not knowing how you wished your assets to be distributed. My client for example is the main bread winner. His estate is currently valued at considerably more than the threshold below which an estate will have no IHT to pay(commonly known as the nil rate band (‘NRB’)), for 2008/9 it is £312,000. If an estate – including any assets held in trust and gifts made within 7 years of death – is more than the threshold, IHT will be due at 40% on the amount over the NRB. My client felt strongly that his wife should inherit everything outright rather than him only giving her an income interest. It was important to him that the family’s lifestyle should be maintained, at least in the short term, and that financial stress should not be heaped on top of the trauma of them losing a husband and father.

As my client wanted to leave his entire estate to his wife, under current legislation, there is also a full IHT exemption available to them on death as both are UK domiciled. Furthermore, as from 9 October 2007, spouses are now able to transfer their NRB allowance so that any part of the NRB that is not used when the first spouse dies, can be transferred to the surviving spouse on their death. What this means in practise for my client is that on his death there is no IHT to pay and when his wife dies, the unused proportion of his NRB may be added to her own NRB which will reduce the IHT liability on her estate when it passes to the children.

I asked what would happen, however, if both my client and his wife died in a common accident? Of course everything should go to the children he suggested. There are tax consequences of leaving assets to children in a trust under a Will, depending on what age they receive these assets. Put simply, a child can receive assets that are IHT free on the death of a parent or step parent under their Will or on intestacy so long as the child becomes absolutely entitled to that property at 18. If this is too young and an age entitlement of between 18 and 25 is more suitable, there will be a charge to IHT if the property leaves the trust when the child is between 18 and 25. The maximum charge in this case will be 4.2%. Should an age beyond 25 be more appropriate, then the child’s share in trust will be subject to a charge to IHT of up to 6% of its value every 10 years as well as an exit charge when the property leaves the trust. The option to keep the age contingency flexible is also worth considering like for example giving a child an income interest initially with capital passing at a later age, but this did not appeal to my client who favoured the simplicity and tax efficiency of his children receiving an equal share of his estate at 18.

My final question to him was whether had he considered what should happen to his estate should he, his wife and children die in a common accident. Unsurprisingly, he had not. We agreed that another meeting was necessary to cover this and other points that we had not had time to discuss like appointing guardians, executors and trustees, disposing of chattels and cash gifts. These will be covered in Part 2 of this article in the next edition of this newsletter.

My client recognised that it is the responsibility of every spouse and parent to make a Will and we therefore agreed that his wife would join him at the next meeting to make her own Will.

By Millie Brenninkmeyer
millie@wenstan.com

In the Chancellors’ Pre-Budget speech on the 24th November 2008, the Chancellor talked of “extraordinary challenging times” and “exceptional economic circumstances” that have hit the UK economy. He also acknowledged that the Britain’s economy is weaker than predicted when he announced the last budget in March 2008.

Public borrowing is likely to be in the order of £100 billion in 2008/09. The peak of borrowing is likely to be in 2009/10 when the predicted level will reach £118 billion.

The highlight of the speech was the announcement of an immediate tax cut. The Chancellor said we need “action now to boost economic activity”. He immediately cut the rate of VAT from 17.5% to 15% effective from 1 December 2008.  However the VAT rate will be returning to 17.5% on 1 January 2010. The Chancellor hopes to encourage consumer spending with the cut in VAT.

However there is to be a new higher 45% rate of tax for earnings over £150k, but this will not come into effect until April 2011, shortly after the expected General Election.

Personal allowances will be restricted for incomes between £100K and £140K, and abolished for incomes above £140K.

With effect from April 2011 there will be a 0.5% increase in both employers’ and employees’ national insurance contributions, and the starting thresholds for NICs will be put in line with that for income tax.

However the Chancellor did announce that small businesses will be able to agree with HM Revenue & Customs a payment schedule for all taxes which suits their cash flow. In addition the planned rise in the small company’s rate to 22 per cent has been deferred for a year.

Another very welcome announcement which Mr. Darling did not mention in his speech was the indefinite postponement of the so-called ‘income splitting’ rules that would have affected many entrepreneurial family businesses.

Large and medium-sized companies will also welcome the announcement that dividends from foreign subsidiaries are to be exempted from tax. This will hopefully stimulate growth within UK companies and buck the recent trend of companies relocating outside of the UK to countries with a favorable tax treatment of foreign dividends.

The main changes announced in the pre budget report can be summarized as follows

Income tax rates and allowances

• For 2009-10, the main rates of income tax will be the 20% basic rate and the 40% higher rate.
• A new 45% rate of income tax will be introduced and will apply to taxable non-savings and savings income above £150,000 from 6 April 2011.

Personal allowances

• The personal allowance for those aged under 65 will increase from £6,035 to £6,475 for the 2009/10 tax year.
• For those aged between 65 and 74, the allowance is increased to £9,490 and for those aged 75 and over the allowance rises to £9,640
• From 2010-11 the basic personal allowance will be reduced in two stages for those with gross incomes above £100,000 and £140,000.

National Insurance Contributions (NICs)

• The starting point for employers’, employees’ and self-employed NICs in 2009-10 will increase in line with inflation to £110 per week. The upper earnings and profits limits for Class 1 and 4 NICs respectively will increase from £770 to £844 per week.
• As previously announced, for 2009-10 the upper earnings limit for primary Class 1 NIC will be aligned with the level at which people start to pay higher rate income tax.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

• The Pre-Budget Report saw the standard rate of VAT reduced temporarily by 2.5% to 15%. The reduced rate of 15% applied with effect from 1 December 2008 until 31 December 2009. On 1 January 2010 the rate will revert to 17.5%.
• The zero rate and 5% rate of VAT are unaffected by the changes.

Corporation tax – small companies’ rate

• The planned increase on 1 April 2009 of the small companies’ rate of corporation tax from 21% to 22% has been deferred until 1 April 2010.

Trading losses

• The Government today announced a measure which will apply to both companies and unincorporated businesses making losses from carrying on trades, professions or vocations.

Pensions

• The Annual Allowance (the amount an individual taxpayer can contribute to a UK registered pension with tax relief) and the Lifetime Allowance (the amount up to which taxpayers can take benefits from their pension funds without incurring a tax charge) will be frozen from 6 April 2011 at £255,000 and £1.8m respectively until 5 April 2016.

This is the first pre-budget report that has effectively set tax rates and allowances for up to 7 years in advance and if you should need any further guidance or advice then please contact Gareth Short at Wingrave Yeats on 0207 495 2244 or email Gareth at gshort@wingrave.co.uk

No, I am not going to go on about losing those un-wanted pounds you have put on over the festive season by over indulging!! That is your own fault…You can sort it out, whichever way you feel fit to.

No, instead I am going to give you some ideas of how to pile on the pounds even more!!
BREAKFAST

The word breakfast means to “break the fast” the first meal, be it of the day or a life- time. When you get married the lunch is often know as the “Wedding Breakfast”.

As everyone knows it is the most important meal of the day, and its true. If you do want to loose weight the worst thing you can do is miss out on breakfast. So to celebrate National Farmhouse breakfast week from the 25th-31st January 2009 you can make it your New Years resolution to have breakfast every morning. It does not need be such a drag and you may find that you really enjoy it. All be it a bowl of cereal like cornflakes (I always forget how good they taste) or a slice of toast and marmite (love it, hate it), but there is a more interesting side, a more fun side and a more sexy side to having breakfast. Those demanding teenagers of yours deserve a little more of an interesting breakfast. I call it “TO GO”, always getting out of bed at the very last minute and then off, quick as a flash. I am thinking freshly squeezed carrot and apple juice, healthy bran muffins and granola bars.

For the kids I am thinking more fun, and trick them in to having something more healthy, carrot and walnut muffins, porridge with apple compote, Weetabix with banana split……

As for Sexy……..YES, I’m talking breakfast in bed, When was the last time you surprised your partner with breakfast in bed? Do not wait until you have messed up after the next office party. Be spontaneous. Bucks Fizz, boiled egg and soldiers, pancakes with maple syrup, oh yes, we can see where this is going….Then off down the club for a round of golf!

One tip for breakfast in bed is not to have croissants, you get crumbs all over the bed and they find themselves everywhere…

Here are some more ideas to tickle your taste buds

• American style pancakes with maple syrup and crispy bacon
• Belgium waffles with fruit compote and clotted cream
• Kedgeree
• Smoked Haddock with poached egg and chive butter sauce
• Smoked salmon scrambled eggs on toasted English muffins with lashings of melted butter
• Brioche eggy bread flavoured with cinnamon and orange maple syrup
• Porridge with white chocolate and apple compote
• Boiled egg with crispy breaded asparagus spear soldiers
• Kippers with creamy scrambled eggs and parsley
• Smoked salmon on toasted English muffins with poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce
• Apple compote with vanilla crumble
• Yoghurt and Honey oat stack
• Hash potatoes with fried ham and eggs

Here are some recipes to get you started, enjoy your breakfast and have a nice day. Jamie

PANCAKES AMERICAN STYLE

Ingredients
600g  Self-raising All-Purpose flour
1 tsp  Salt
1 tsp  Bicarbonate of soda
50g   Sugar
750ml  Buttermilk
250 ml  Milk
115g  Butter
4ea  Eggs
1 tbsp  Vanilla extract

Method

• Sift the dry ingredients together
• Combine the wet ingredients and add to the dry
• Mixture should be slightly lumpy
• Pour into hot frying pan, slightly oiled, 4” in diameter and cook until golden brown on both sides.

WAFFLE BATTER

Ingredients
500g  Soft flour
50g  Sugar
6ea  Whole eggs
750g  Milk
180g  Melted butter
180g  Egg whites
Pinch of salt

Method

• Combine flour, sugar, whole eggs, milk and butter
• Whip together the whites and the salt, and fold into the mixture
• Pour into hot waffle machine.

KEDGEREE

Ingredients
50g  Butter
3ea  Spring onions, chopped
2tsp  Curry powder
150g  Rice
125g  Smoked Trout, cut into cubes
100ml  Cream
150ml  Chicken stock
2ea  Eggs, hard boiled
Handful fresh parsley, chopped
Handful fresh chives, chopped

Method

• Melt butter in large saucepan and add spring onions, frying until soft
• Add curry powder and rice and stir well
• Add chicken stock and bring rice to boil. Cook for 5 minutes
• Before taking rice off the boil, add the haddock, cream and parsley
• Serve in a bowl, topped with sliced boiled egg and chopped chives.

PANNETONE WITH ORANGE SYRUP

This is a great way to use up the left over panettone from Christmas.
Serves 4 people.

4 large pieces Pannetone
200ml   Milk
3 Eggs
40g   Sugar
Pinch of cinnamon powder
Zest of 2 oranges

1. In a bowl whisk together eggs, sugar, cinnamon and orange zest. Step by step add the milk. Place in the fridge
2. Cut 3 large pieces of Pannetone and plunge them into the mixture. Toast them from both sides in a hot non-stick frying pan with a little vegetable oil until golden brown.

Orange Syrup

• 50ml   Maple syrup
• Segments and juice of 2 oranges

Bring to boil the maple syrup until reduced by half. Add the segments and the juice, return to boil and pour over the Pannetone and serve warm dusted with icing sugar.

By Jamie Jones
enquiries@yalburycottage.com
www.yalburycottage.com

The economic outlook for 2009 versus our unquenchable desire for an incredible winter break. Diametrically opposed, some might say? Well, not quite. It appears that holidays –particularly snowy ones – are one of the last pleasures we are willing to forego. This year it’s all about being a little more discerning in our choices – no longer are we content to simply hit the slopes by day; generic après ski by night. People are seeking out a new level of authenticity, packed with money can’t buy “extras” to guarantee a totally out of this world experience – whether that means spying on polar bears and fishing for salmon on the Alaska-Russia border, enjoying a hot spring bath with snow monkeys on a remote snowy mountain in Japan, or kite-surfing across the White Continent.

After much deliberation we have chosen the top 5 trips to experience ‘winter with a twist’:

Alaska snowmobile safari

Escape to the deep powder of Valdez for the ultimate in icy hibernation. Venturing out of your snugly old hunters’ lodge, you can spend your days carving virgin tracks through hundreds of miles of majestic scenery. Surrounded by a world of white broken only by the bluest skies and emerald green pines, the Final Frontier state is about as isolated as it gets. ‘What will I do?’ you ask somewhat nervously. With snow this deep, just imagine the exhilaration you’ll feel gunning across it on a revving snow-mobile. Just keep one eye out for the odd roaming moose, wolverine or caribou. You can also sled across the crushing ice with a team of mushing dogs, meet with the endangered Polar Bears of the Chukchi Population, fish for Winter King Salmon at breathtaking fjords, or for a truly wild Alaskan experience, we can even arrange a stay in an igloo for a night or two. And with any luck, come evening you’ll be treated to spectacular kaleidoscope of Northern Lights. Phenomenal.

Float down a Finnish river

A quirky alternative to drinking vodka and hunting Elk, river floating is an unusual way to spend a wintery Finnish afternoon. Fully equipped with water-tight floating suits, you’ll bob down a tree-lined river watching stunning scenery from a totally unique point of view. Don’t worry about the cold, you will be bundled up within your drysuit and the adventure will be finished off with a hot toddy and buffet lunch. Vuokatti, in Finland’s stunning area of Wild Taiga on the Finnish/Russian border is the perfect spot for a week’s winter activities. Try some husky sledding and a spot of ice fishing too before snuggling up in front a crackling fire in a cosy wooden lodge.

Snow Monkeys in Japan

Alpine views, deep powder and fabulous mountain scenery - welcome to Japan.  Slice through crisp, white snow, fortify yourself with sushi and wind down with a relaxing soak in hot springs in an area still relatively undiscovered by the western market. The village of Happo One in the Hakuba Valley not only puts you ahead of the crowd, but provides the perfect base from which to try snow rafting and trekking, or even hot air ballooning. One of our favourite ‘must sees’ is the native snow monkey population. There are some lovely hot springs in Jigokudani, just a couple of hours away, but be warned: you’ll wrestle for the best viewing spot with these cheeky monkeys who also enjoy a hotspring soak.

Moonlit mountains in Chamonix

Black Tomato will help you decamp to a secret Art Deco bolt-hold in the Alpine refuge of Chamonix where the ambience is sexy but snugly, and the “scene” comes to you. But it’s not all about lux lounges and sophisticated après ski – there are some wonderfully rustic delights too. In the evenings do après-ski the Black Tomato way: nip over to Italy to skidoo up a remote snowy slope and enjoy a hearty meal at a rustic mountain restaurant. Then, to top it off, we’ll send you off on a moonlit descent, complete with return lift back at to the lodge for a cocktail by the fire. During the day, adventure comes in the form of snow shoeing across forgotten forests and glaciers, ice-climbing up frozen waterfalls, or dog-sledging with the help of an eager team of huskies.

Channel the explorers of old in Antarctica

For an ice extravaganza that is well and truly out of this world, we have one word: Antarctica. Explore the desolate beauty of this white continent by rock-climbing up unchartered mountains, abseiling down huge ice cliffs and kite-surfing across windy climes. Channel the great polar explorers of times gone by at the “Scott Camp” which is an exact replica of the pyramid tents used by the man himself.

By Black Tomato
www.blacktomato.co.uk

It was November, a summer’s night in Antarctica. At our camp some 2000 metres up in the polar mountains it was minus 28°c, but in the snug warmth of my tent it was only minus 23°c. The sun would be up soon, only 3 hours after it had set, and its heat would raise the temperature to a more friendly minus 15°c, warm enough to lure me out of my sleeping bag for a steaming hot breakfast of powdered porridge with hot water. Yum yum.

We had flown from Cape Town on an ex-military now-cargo Russian Ilyushin - no windows, and seats clipped in only to match the number of passengers. The burly steward had offered us ear plugs, which proved wholly necessary, and a spam bun, less so. Six hours later we had landed on the Antarctic continent at Novo, an air-strip 500 metres above sea level, and 100 kms from the sea. A modified tank drove us an hour away to Whichaway Camp which was to be our home for most of the next two weeks.

“We” were a disparate group of eight antarcticophiles on an adventure holiday, looked after by five mad professionals. We lived and slept under canvas. Our days were spent walking and climbing, kiting and skiing, abseiling and cramponing, and various combinations of all of them. We felt like real adventurers, but the next guests at Whichaway, Bear Grylls and his team of hard-core explorers, would have made us look like the rank amateurs we were.

We were there to experience what Captain Robert Scott had described as “this awful place”, or what his fellow-explorer Cherry Apsley-Garrard had called “the most beautiful continent in the world”, a description I am more inclined to agree with. It is a continent of stark beauty, of endless blue and white vistas, of silence and isolation, with a cold so cruel that nothing can live there except for seals, penguins and a couple of visiting types of bird. No plants, just some lichens. Only ice, some rock, and lots more ice.

I was keen to see what evidence there was, if any, of the great polar melt. I had read Nigel Lawson’s careful and balanced commentary on climate change (An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming), and had judged that the natural sun-induced cycle of changes to our climate was all there was to it. Well, I now know this to be only partly true.

On walks down to a nearby glacier I had noticed lines and numbers painted onto some rocks. I later discovered these were the work of the nearby Indian research mission, who had tracked the retreat of the glacier each year since 1982. At that time the glacier was melting at half a metre a year; today the rate of retreat is 2 ½ metres a year, and accelerating.

The mission scientists have cut out cylinders of ice in some local lakes which allows them to examine in detail the perfectly preserved carbon (and other) deposits that have landed on these lakes each year for the last 200 years. I asked Dr Arun Chaturvedi, head of the Indian mission, what this meant. “Well”, he said in a disarmingly straightforward way, “The rate of the glacial melt and the evidence of the ice cores show that the rate of natural cyclical climate change is being increasingly exacerbated by man-made warming. If we don’t stop contributing to this process, the polar icecaps will melt and the sea-level will rise more than 5 meters by the end of this century. It could be sooner.” (Take a look at http://flood.firetree.net/ to see how this would affect coastlines around the world.)

“What can I do, as a private citizen, to slow down this process?” I asked. “Easy”, he replied. “Don’t drive a big-engined car, and don’t drive when you can walk or cycle.” He was so succinct, so certain and so convincing that I have had my old bike repaired. I’ve even started using it locally when before I would have used my car - a side-effect of my Antarctic adventure I was not expecting.

Nigel Johnson-Hill, January 2009