Go Skiing They Said ....

[SnowSnowAndMoreSnow]

It will be fun they said

I look like a Generation Game sausage that has been overstuffed

My face is beacon red from wind burn

‘ You’ll be fine on a black run’ - I was scared shitless

Every woman looks super stylish as they swish their hair as they take their helmet off - mine is stuck in helmet shape - definitely no swishing

My toes feel like they have frostbite

The only upside is the cheese fondue & the excuse of needing to warm up so hot wine is perfectly acceptable at 10am

Love, love, love to ski. Have skied since I was 5. I love the scenery, the fresh air, the speed, the exhilaration, the laughter, the stories, the wine, beer, food, the chair lifts, the serenity of finding a beautiful piste when no one else is on it. Finding your rhythm and swooshing down the piste with style. The food, oh god the food.

Had to give up this year. My knees are shot to pieces, no cartilage left and can't do the pain any more. Skied last year with a knee brace with a torn ligament. Just too bloody painful now. How I shall miss it 😢⛷🎿

Skiing is good as long as the slopes aren’t packed. It takes your mind of everything and the fresh air & scenery is amazing. You get to drink hot wine sitting outside and say it’s for your nerves! Its something the whole family can do together even teens.

My family are way better than me and I still have a tantrum if they want me to do black runs - I retire to a nice bar on the mountains to wait on them - much better for everyone

Which hotel have you stayed in toomuchtoogood? Would you recommend it for a family with preteen boys?

I once heard that when trying to put people into classes if a Brit says they're expert they get put in there they get put in the middle class, I'd a Swiss skier says they're Ok they get put in the top class.

Sounds like the dick head who took you down a black fun is overconfident of their ability to guide

OP, If you are doing black runs, then that's really good! Well done!

You should check your boots/socks/clothing. Depending on the temp, your ski gear might not be suitable. This weeks it's -10C in many resorts in Europe ... so some better performance (more expensive) gear might make it easier?

Enjoy the rest of the trip! Snow must be great!

The view today made up for the thigh burning torture.

However, we are a party of 4 & 1 ended up in hospital this afternoon after head planting & losing consciousness on the slope. Thankfully he was wearing a helmet as are 99% of skiers/snowboarders.

I adore skiing, I'm going in 3 weeks and can't wait. I do agree that whoever took you down a black run is a total twat though.

How did you end up on a black, OP?

I learnt to ski at 13 on a school trip where some other 13y old tossers thought it would be funny to put me on a blacknon my first morning skiing. It was kill or cure though and ive had the bug ever since. It not the ideal way to learn to ski though, I've since discovered 😁 Hope it wasnt too scary and you've punished the person concerned. Bet you will be on one again next year though!

It's awful. My family love it so I go along and only do the cheese / vin chaud / overeating bit of the holiday. Rest of time I enjoy a good book and plenty of afternoon naps

Personally I used to love snowboarding. Black runs are no joke though.

I was persuaded to go on one called 'the tunnel' the first bit wasn't too bad but as you went through the tunnel there are memorials everywhere of the people who died coming out the other end

As I walked through with my snowboard I was having a conversation with him upstairs!

I actually ended up loving it and did it a few times!

I went a few times as a teenager and quite liked it, and was ok at at it. I found that a couple of weeks a year made it really hard though. I'd spend the first week being a beginner again before it made sense to my body.

When I was 19 though I au paired in a Swiss ski resort and worked 4 days with 3 days off. The family were hard work, and if I didn't leave the house on my days off I'd end up working, so I skiied all day for 3 days a week for a whole season. I'd leave the house as early as possible in the morning and stay out as long as possible, so I got really confident and skiied all over the 3 Vallees area. It felt pretty amazing whizzing around long open slopes with my hair behind me like Rapunzel or something (it as 25 years ago, nobody wore helmets). I used to sing too, I remember...

I tried again when I was in Canada about ten years later and OH MY GOD I couldn't do a single thing. My knees had forgotten how to work and it was all miserable. Urgh. Haven't tried since.

Unless you have a passion/talent/desire for skiing I don't understand why people, particularly Brits, go.
Actually I do, it's a class thing. it's people (usually the mums) who have all the gear and no idea , want to look good/ sound good to say they go skiing.
I duno why you'd pay a fortune to go if you're hopeless or terrified of it?!

Maybe some people just like snow...

Which hotel have you stayed in toomuchtoogood?

Hotel Krone in Unterjoch, Oberallgau - they have a kids' ski school attached that has groups for older skiers and snowboarders (our kids are 6 but I've seen in the little awards ceremony that they have kids up to early teens doing classes). They also have a dedicated "teenies" (10 plus) kids' club group. Its got its own pool and sauna too (naked sauna though, bloody Germans). Only issue is that it's mostly German speaking although a lot of the teachers speak English as well.

Up the road in Oberjoch there's also a Kinderhotel which looks fantastic - much posher than the Krone and they have tons of activities and stuff, massive infinity pool, etc etc... eye wateringly expensive though!

Been alpine skiing once. Fun enough but not really my thing. I was barely able to ski blue runs after a week of ski school. And walking in ski boots is horrible. I bought decent skiwear so I was nice and warm though. (Mind you I like cold weather normally anyway.(

I wanna try cross-country skiing, I think that might be more my thing, lighter gear and more chilled out rather than breakneck speeds.

I used to get the doom as the ski lift rose up the mountain side. Proper doomy doom. I only ever really enjoyed green runs and actually the day I gave up was probably about the best day of skiing I ever had.

And the cost. The fucking cost.

One week in Switzerland = average sized family home and private education for two kids. And as many avocados as you can eat in a lifetime. (And that’s self catering).

Stunning scenery op. Enjoy
(Are you allowed to drink and ski ?)

Having been invalided out like Minmooch after many years skiing, I miss it very much; when DH and DSs and adult DGS went in January I stayed at home, I am not keen on sitting on the balcony watching everyone else having fun.

I agree with the posters who mentioned the importance of staying somewhere with direct access to the the slopes, cuts down the walking in boots. I also trained my sons to carry my skis whenever I was not wearing them - making it a condition of their getting a free holiday.

Even when you are experienced, fear can still strike. They all still remind me of the time we went up a chairlift in St Anton; I could see the descent was very steep and the fog was getting worse. At the top visibility was virtually nil so I said I would go back down on the lift. Then through the gloom I saw a sign forbidding descents by lift. Terrified at being forced to go down the foggily invisible black descent I immediately puked up. I needed a stiff drink at the bottom.

Looking on the bright side, the medics there are brilliant at treating ski related injuries, they have so much practice. So my missing ACL didn't stop me skiing for another 25 years, and when DH woke from his anaesthetic after his collarbone was pinned, he perked up immediately to find french hospital lunches include a small bottle of wine.

How much does a typical skiing holiday cost? With hire and passes etc in. Not staying in a desperate hovel but no 5* either. We’d love to go skiing as a family, 3 of us have skied before with school so quite a while ago for two of us, less so for the third and we have an 8 year old who is keen to give it a go. When I look online it’s about 5k for a eeek, is that what you have all paid?!

*week 🙄

inrexkon abiut a grand per person. Maybe more if flying, maybe bit less if driving. Hard tobget it below that ino and more kike £1500

I love skiing- love ski holidays, love the snow. Whoever took you on a black run if you aren't a skier is an idiot. If you are dressed for the weather with well fitting boots then you shouldn't be too cold.

However, if it's for you then that's ok. Just don't do it again, or choose a resort which has other things to do (dog sleighs etc) if everyone else in your family loves skiing.

I was just saying to dh I fancy a ski holiday at some point, not to ski, to just be somewhere snowy and scenic and sit in a cosy bar getting too merry, would I be allowed to take a sledge? That could be fun!