To ski or not to ski…

[Needtocleanmycar]

I have never been on a ski holiday, my husband has been on two or three. I am adamant that I would like it but my husband thinks I won’t like it?? Anyone been on a ski holiday and not enjoy it and why?

I already made suggestions up thread, but your comment DH would be a novice skier really has been on group ski holidays many years ago reminded me of an ex-boyfriend.

I've skiied since I was little and consider myself fairly advanced skiier, but equally happy cruise easier slopes. Boyfriend said he'd been about 6-7 times. Great I thought until we actually got to the slopes and what he meant was that he'd skiied 6 days in his entire life.

If he has only a skiied once years ago, as someone else said, a private lesson for you both might be better than group lessons. Also trying it out on a dry slope in the UK will give you a feel of the basics.

As a side note, my dad taught my grandfather when he was about 65. Grandfather loved it and by the time he was 70, his passes were free back then!

I don’t like heights or roller coasters at all but love skiing. It’s the one thing we do with our now teens that we all really enjoy. We don’t go on summer holidays but spend our money on winter ones. If you want a package crystal ski have been around for years and do cheaper self catering packages. Skiworld, ski vertigo do good chalet packages. If your going late or early season go higher altitude, but if your both beginner go for a small resort as lift tickets cheaper. DH learnt in Les gets with the kids whilst I went off enjoying myself now they all out ski me in my 50s but still love it.

I'm a former ski travel rep and a qualified instructor.

Honestly, in all the years (more than 10) that I've done this, I can probably count the number of people who didn't "get" skiing on the fingers of one hand.

If you like outdoor stuff (hiking, biking) and/or are reasonably fit there should be no issues with the physical side of learning to ski, particularly if you do plenty of exercise before you go. For some, the mental side requires a bit of positive mental attitude (you know you can do this - just look at all of the 5-year-olds whizzing around!) and a bit of perseverance as the first 2-3 days can be hard work. For most people, on days 3 or 4 the whole thing suddenly clicks into place. One-to-one private lessons are great if you can afford them - while many people also like the social aspect of learning in a group where everyone is falling about and making the same mistakes and you all help each other and have a laugh about it. I would strongly recommend that you and DH do NOT have a lesson together, either private or in a group - when instructing at the ski school we used to deliberately split couples up for the first few days as they tended to distract each other and emotions could get in the way.

You need to be careful about "Ski in / ski out" accommodation as often this type of accommodation is located a little way up the mountain, and to ski in or out you actually need to be able to ski - which as beginners you obviously cannot do at first. Look instead for accommodation close to the lifts, but be aware that the closer to the lifts, the higher the price tends to be.

There is always a debate about "is France better than Austria, or Italy or ..." which I won't get into. For beginners, my advice is to let someone else take care of everything practical, so for your first trip, look at Crystal, Nielsen, Inghams, Heidi, Ski Solutions etc. All have reasonable programmes at reasonable prices - you don't need luxury and you don't need a mega sized, super steep expensive resort for a first ski holiday. On the other hand, you might want to stay away from the really cheap places in Bulgaria - there's a reason they're cheap.

Things have moved on (a little) since the famous BBC documentary from 1987, with better lifts and more modern equipment - but look at how much fun the ladies are having....

I first went skiing at 30 and loved it. I went twice more before deciding to do a ski season, where I learned to snowboard. Six months of working hard, partying, and learning, now I board and ski.
The key to skiing is to pace yourself. It’s easy to learn but hard to master. Snowboarding is the opposite hard to learn but easy to master.
Book one-to-one private lessons; you’ll progress much faster than in a group, where the slowest learner holds everyone back. And always choose beginner-friendly slopes to start.

Personally I didn’t like it, it was the lack of control for me however I am still happy I tried it. I did find that I loved cross country skiing however

Maybe check out Lapland, it isn’t all about the big man in red, especially in February when the prices are much cheaper and the days longer. Lots of other winter activities can fill the time if you find it’s not for you. Levi is a great ski resort

I learned quite late, early 40s. Enjoyed part of it, have done it 5 times I think, mainly for the family.

I don’t love it, I am a bit nervous, glad I tried it; had a couple of falls where the ski in one leg didn’t come off so torn calf muscle; first one more serious than second one. Last ski trip DD2 fell and broke her collarbone, I had already fell on first day and hurt my leg.

I think this is the end of skiing for me.

I only wanted to do it in the morning and rest the afternoon; it is very tiring.

And counterintuitively I found it much MORE exhausting as a beginner on nursery slopes than skiing all over the mountain - I think when you're starting out you're putting so much effort into controlling your speed and your muscles are tensed because you've not relaxed into it. I could barely walk after my first couple of lessons (despite being pretty fit at the time), whereas now I can ski all day and feel pretty fine.

My other tip for a beginners trip would be to join a chalet. Now we tend to self-cater to keep costs down but I just LOVE a chalet! After a tough day learning you can come back, find a freshly made cake and coffee waiting for you. Have a bath/sauna/hot-tub/nap before you all sit down for dinner and wine, share skiing stories together and then collapse on the sofa. No stress about having to go out to a restaurant or cook for yourself, it's just so relaxed and lovely and I enjoy the camaraderie of the group dinners (despite being a massive introvert). Particularly as beginner it helps being around other people who know the ropes and people generally like sharing their knowledge with you.

Sounds like you have decided to go - great you will have a fantastic time. Personally I found French ski schools some times aren't too good. Their English can be very limited and the classes rather large. Better if you have private lessons and you are more likely to be able to get a good English speaker. Andorra ski schools have very good English speakers although you have to go up in the lift at Soldeu and El tarter as the flatter beginner slopes are in a basin at the top of the first lift. Had good instruction in Austria. I've never tried classes in Italy.

If you are not an especially sporty person then you may find it hard. The movements you have to learn are counterintuitive (e.g., lean forward not back if you are starting to slip, and keeping your weight on the downhill ski at all times), and you will fall over a lot on the first 2 or 3 days. I was in tears by the end of day 2, but I persevered (mostly because DP was doing much better) and got through the week. Now I'm the better skier of the two of us, although neither of us has been for a while due to age and other winter holiday plans. We'll probably try to take DGS on his first nursery slopes in a couple of years though.

As an instructor I'd like to challange the perception that beginners can expect to fall over a lot. An occasional loss of balance might well happen, but if someone is falling over a lot then there is something wrong in the way that they are being taught, and if the entire class is falling over, then the instructor has taken them to the wrong part of the piste, he or she might also be poor at explaining what they need to do or the instructor has tried to increase the difficulty of the lesson too quickly.

When I originally took my instructor exams, the first morning was spent learning how to stand up after a fall - you can also see this in the amusing "On The Piste" clip above. We no longer do this, as it implanted the idea into the guests heads that they were invariably going to fall - and it often became a self-fulfilling prophesy.

The emphasis has also changed from "teaching the lesson" to "teaching the individual" - so groups tend now to be smaller and private lessons are more popular. Even within a group lesson, a good instructor will be teaching several versions of the same lesson - what works for Janet might not work for John, or they might need to have the same exercise explained in different ways.

I did my first ski holiday this year. By the end of the week I couldn’t work out if I actually liked it or not. it’s hard work as an adult beginner and I had the fear and a few nasty falls. I think we would have liked it more if we’d had more luxurious accommodation. One of my children loved it and got the bug- the other one enjoyed it but not that desperate to do it again- mainly down to the french instructors being a bit brusque.

I love skiing and have done since a school trip in the 80s. I’d echo the PP who said go for a package with crystal or similar. We don’t do that but for your first time it’s really the only way to do it. Check prices and your budget… I’d advise a smaller resort (as a beginner you don’t need a massive place like Val d’Isère). Enjoy!

It’s tricky @Bunnycat101 as a good instructor can really make it. Our eldest DD took to skiing really easily age 4 but our youngest didn’t and we had a break and retried when younger one was nearly 7 and oldest 11 and they loved it. As family holiday it’s been great with teens they actually want to do stuff with us. Even though both are better than me now we have a great holiday as we can all have fun either together or meet up at different mountain cafes. My 19yr still wants to come away with us which is lovely.

We had an otherwise lovely French instructor lose her patience with my 8yo who wasn’t very good at getting himself back up again after a fall. Expectation was that four year olds can do it, why can’t you? He was getting upset/frustrated with himself and needed a bit more of a pep-talk approach rather than no nonsense “sort yourself out”.