Skiing is over rated.

[greenapples]

I am here in France for a week skiing. Now in my mid 40s I have been nearly every year for 20 years, with the husband and laterly the two kids (now teens). I have decided it is stressful and quite frankly an exhausting holiday. Why have I suffered this long?! AIBU?

I came to the same conclusion this year!! Year in, year out I turn up. Actually I find it terrifying, tiring and I find ski boots absolute torture! Having finally come to my senses, I flew home 2 days early this year 😂

20 years? 😮I tried it three times for a week at a stretch on three different occasions before deciding firmly it is not for me, and felt that was giving it a very fair shot. You can enjoy a holiday in the mountains by going to the local swimming pool, maybe doing a snow shoe trek to get some mountain air and a nice view, and eating a lot of crepes, whilst the others ski.

I have observed that if you tell a middle-aged, middle-class man that you don’t like skiing they will tell you that you are wrong, that you have not skied in the right way, in the right place, whatever. They can’t just accept that it’s your opinion. I think this is because a skiing holiday is downright arduous yet a marker of class/status so it is taboo to declare yourself to have the option to ski yet choose not to.

I hope you have a better holiday in future years.

I live at the bottom of a ski area. It's amazing! But I snowboard, I don't like how uncomfortable ski boots are.
Nothing better than out first thing in the morning when it's quiet, then a coffee around the fire at lunch and back out for the afternoon. Snowboarding all week until Tuesday and I'm already getting depressed at the thought of the last run at the end of April.

We’ve been twice this year, each trip for 3/4 days on the snow. The first with young children- exhausting! The second, a big group of adults and it was great fun. I find it helps by skiing until it’s time for a long lazy lunch in the sun, one more run and then hitting the apres. Then it’s back to the chalet for dinner and bed just after 930!

it’s certainly a different holiday now than in my 20s!!

I absolutely love it. Love it. One of my favourite holidays. Trouble is, at the moment we simply can't afford it. It is an intensive holiday, so I've always much preferred a holiday that includes staying in a chalet on the slopes, on a half board basis (so you breakfast and dinner, plus drinks and high tea included). I always make sure to take a day off in the middle and do no skiing to try to prevent coming home too exhausted and achey.

Genius 🤩

I've only been once, had one lesson, loved the scenery, skies, trees, sun, then accidentally went down a blue slope and thought I was going to die. (Yes, a blue but I could barely stay upright).

Had some lovely walks though.

I used to go on ski holidays with dh and friends but I’d ski on my own or have lessons in the morning. Meet up for lunch. Then they’d carry on skiing and I’d go back to the chalet and read books and eat cake. I’ve got bad ankles now so can’t ski, I do miss it. But I always refused to push myself. 😁

Well yeah, some old people ski but look at any lift queue. The number of people in their 70s and 80s are tiny compared to their representation in general population so most skiers don’t continue into that age bracket. if you had a fast fall at 75+ you’d probably never recover from it ( I have my doubts at 50 tbh). I’d say most downhill skiers have “retired” by 70.

Reminded me of this...

Tried it once. Overrated.

Skiing, no thanks. I’d rather throw myself down the stairs whilst ripping up £50 notes.

There are two secrets to a ski holiday.

Firstly, you have to like skiing. Not everyone does and, if you don’t, it’s not for you.

Secondly, treat it as a holiday. There are no obligations, do what you want and when you want.

Personally, I like skiing hard in the mornings, having a nice long lunch in a service restaurant, and a gentle ski down, allowing most of the afternoon to chill in the hotel or wander around the village.

And, if you aren’t in the mood to ski, have a day off!

My problem for me is that I'm a rubbish skier, but happy with that. I would like to pootle up and down the nursery slopes (at best - happy to be overtaken by a stream of toddlers) at a moderate pace. I find going fast just too scary - I don't think that quickly!

So what makes it less fun is if you're with people who are good, and don't appreciate that you're happy with different things, and won't leave you alone with whatever it is you enjoy. (even if that's not skiing at all, and just staying somewhere warm with a good book while they throw themselves down a snowy mountain at a petrifying pace)

It definitely is a class marker. Whichever poster said that is correct

The joy of bieng an older skier, is that you can go mid-week, out of season, and avoid all queues.

Modern skiing on well groomed reds, if you are an experienced skier, are not dangerous at all and keep you fit. We have given up doing icy blacks day in, day out and just enjoy cruising the reds, with style, and only when conditions are good and good weather. Wonderful. DH gets cheap pass too, as over 65.

This sounds like hell to me! OK, I'm utter crap at any activity that involves sliding. I also hate the cold and having to get in & out of bulky outerwear ... The only skiing holiday I've actually enjoyed, I didn't ski. I lounged around our gorgeous catered chalet until the keen ones had buggered off up a mountain somewhere, then took myself on ski lift trips to check out the views and the cafes.

As you seem to enjoy the actual skiing part, I suggest you insist on staying at a hotel next time, with the food package, and choosing your own activity level. You're not there as caterer!

Only other reasonable alternative: team up with another snowbound family, split the cost of a catered chalet.

We are off skiing next week. This will be my 7th trip, DH's umpteenth & the DC's third.
The DC have mornjng lessons. I will also book myself into level one lessons. I may be one of the better skiers in the group at the beginning of the week but it means that we don't do anything too strenuous and therefore I might actually enjoy it. I won't do the entire week's worth of lessons, probably missing day 3 or 4. Or maybe both.
In the afternoons, DH and the DC will pelt down mountains. I will pootle around the village, read, watch some TV, sit somewhere & watch the world go by and, you know, do something which actually resembles being on a holiday.
In the evening we'll go out for meals together and play endless card games and have a great time.

YABU it’s fucking bliss and I’d sooner go skiing than any other type of holiday. Days spent outside in beautiful surroundings, doing a really fun activity, punctuated by hot chocolate and beer, with lots of delicious hearty food for energy, then evenings spent playing card games eating pate and cheese. There’s nothing better ☺️

I thank my lucky stars I didn't marry a golfer or a fisherman, or hunter, or footballer.

Our last ski holiday 2 years ago I hated every minute, thought I was just too old and unfit. Turned out I actually had covid.

I strained my MCL and thought I was unlikely to be able to ski when we went to Norway in the February half term this year.

I bought a knee brace and just took it really easy. Got the gondola down rather than face the carnage of the last run home. I absolutely LOVED every minute of it. Not having to try and keep up with the DC straight lining black runs anymore. Not doing the things I don't want to do. Just cruising at my own pace.

So in some ways I think YABU but if you'd asked me two years ago I'd have said YANBU. 😂😂

I hope to ski until I can get a freepass in 4 Vallées- at 77.

I’ll let you know how overrated it is when I get back from taking over 100 teenagers next week 😅

Skiing is brilliant if ...

You're dictating the pace for yourself
You are skiing slopes that are the right level of difficulty
The conditions are good
You're in a lovely catered chalet / hotel, that's ski in, ski out
You have access to other activities if you want a change

Skiing is no fun if

Someone else is dictating the pace
The slopes are outside of your comfort zone
It's too snowy/windy/cold
You're self catering
There's nothing else to do
You spend too much time lugging skis around to get to lifts

I hear you. This is me. I “take one for the team” every year and go. We have one teen who likes to go on black runs with my husband, and one teen who sticks to the blues with me. We split up, so it works. This year my blue-slope DC and I sometimes didn’t make it out until 11 am! 😂 DH is very much a “get the first lift out in the morning and be one of the last ones down in the afternoon” kind of person. This year was the first time we headed out to the slopes separately in the morning. Next year our blue run DC is going on a school ski trip, so I’ll be on my own. I may just not get a lift pass and put that money toward spa treatments instead. I don’t see myself skiing on my own all day every day x6. And like you, I don’t like the speed—I have a dodgy knee and don’t want to twist it! I’m in really great shape, but skiing just isn’t my jam.