A revamped Ski Sunday celebrates its 30th season as it returns to BBC Two, (Sunday 20th January 7-8pm), in a longer, high profile, early evening slot, with presenters Graham Bell and Ed Leigh bringing their unique blend of fun, daring and exploration, to ski and snowboarding slopes in some of the most exotic locations across the world.

• Weekly celebrity giant slalom ski run
  
• Interactive coverage of Alpine World Cup series
  
• Extended programme time and new early evening slot
  
• New format to include travel and entertainment features

The popular winter series, back for an eight week run, has been extended to an hour and will now include travel and entertainment features as well as bringing viewers all the latest skiing action.

This year viewers will be treated to more competitive skiing that ever before – because in addition to the skiing featured in the programme there will also be comprehensive red button (interactive) highlights coverage from the resorts of the Alpine World Cup series.

But it’s not only Ed and Graham who will be taking to the slopes and mountainsides. Each week a celebrity will tackle a giant slalom course under the tutelage of former Olympic skier Bell, to see just how much they can improve on their skills following a day of intense training. Joining Graham in the Italian resort of Courmayeur in Italy, are Heston Blumenthal, Fiona Bruce, Ben Fogle, Tara Palmer Tompkinson, Marcus Brigstocke, Frank Gardener, Clare Balding and Colin Jackson.

In ‘Graham’s Great Adventure’, we travel with Graham as he takes in the historical, geographical and sporting insights of a summer trek across the Alps and Dolomites. Swapping his skis for hiking boots Graham explores places inaccessible to cars or trains, as he goes in search of wildlife in its natural habitat and buildings that are perched on the top of the world.

Life is never dull as Graham endures a nerve-wracking cable car journey over the top of Mont Blanc and gets up close to the newly introduced population of bears at the Adamello National Park in Italy. He learns of the history of the mountains – from the pioneering climbers of the Matterhorn to how the First World War raged amongst the jagged peaks of the Dolomites. And, of course, he will meet the people who live and work in the mountains and who understand them better than anyone else.

While Ed brings us the colour and culture of the countries he visits as he embarks on a range of exotic snowboarding trips. He begins the series with a search for the best snow in Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express, while forthcoming programmes see him snowboarding in the Atlas mountains, savouring the best of Himalayan snowboarding, Indian style, and taking in the Japanese resort of Niseko, said to have one of the most reliable snow records on earth. He also negotiates his way through the Australian skiing territories in a caravan, as he makes his way to Mount Kosciusko, the highest point on the Australian mainland.

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