Help me make a proper list of stuff I need for first time skiing?

[TiredOfEverythingNow]

I am going for 4 days skiing trip at the start of Feb. I have never been and none of my friends have been either.

I know I need skiing gear which is fine. But what do I wear when I'm not skiing? Do I need normal winter coat? Boots ? Trousers ? I am mighty confused what to take especially as I haven't been in the snow in many many years.

Budget is also limited...

Help 🙏

You will go up to go down. If a lift there may be a cafe and toilet at top. Begore you comedown.Check piste map.
Bottom of a run there will be cafes and toilets. Checkpiste map you can download one before you go

Some lifts you can go up as pedestrian check piste map so if you want to go up see views have a hot chocolate you can go in your snow boots

And you can take time off skiing to do snoeshoeing or sledging check resort info

Lessons will dictate your day. Breakfast, get kitted up (hotel normally has a boot room where you store equipment ie.ski-boots, skis, poles). Then off to the ski-school meeting point. Most beginners do not need a lift pass or a very limited one to access nursery slopes. Lessons are normally 2/3 hours (10-1) then lunch , possibly more in afternoon(2-4) or spend afternoon practicing, sledding, ice skating, sitting around in sun etc. There may be coffee/loo breaks to break up the lesson time. Lifts stop around 4:30 then back to boot room (possibly via a bar or cafe) and off to change for dinner and evening apres ski.

Have they booked you ski lessons?
If not then book some in. Generally you have breakfast then get kitted up in the boot room and head to your lesson meeting point. Be warned they will leave without you if late!

Usually they will stop if someone needs the loo tends to be top or bottom of lifts.
Take some bars in your pocket (not too chewy they freeze rock solid) incase you need a bit of energy.
Beginner lessons are generally about 3 hours long. Then in the afternoon you can either go alone with others or chill out in the afternoon after lunch.
Snack shacks on the mountain are generally the cheapest way for lunch.

Depending on the resort depends on afternoon availability of alternative activities sometimes its just nice to chill out in your accommodation and read. Don't try to push it too much the first day!

A pair of Birkenstocks or Crocs for the boot room.
A swimsuit.

When you put your boots on in the morning, don't fully do them up until you're actually about to ski. If you have to walk any distance at all (more than 100m or so), it's MUCH easier with looser boots. When you're about to put your skis on, then do them up properly. Your hire shop should talk you through fitting, but they will feel tight/uncomfortable initially. They do need to be snug so you can control the skis (which essentially become an extension of your legs - if your boots are too loose then it's harder to make the skis do what you want).

I don't loosen my boots at lunchtime, because once I've done them up and got them on the right setting, I don't want to mess with it (but I also have my own boots, so they're more comfy than hire boots).

When you go to collect your boots, remember to take ski socks with you for fitting. And only wear ski socks in your boots - no second pair of socks or leggings tucked into them.

You'll get the hang of how it all works on the mountain very quickly! Remember to take a photo of your skis, especially any ID/labelling on them... when you leave them somewhere at lunchtime, you need to make sure you're taking the right pair with you when you leave, so it's handy to have a reminder.

Here’s toilets at a lot of the lifts.

Its usually a restaurant for lunch and they’re expensive so plenty of people stash snacks in pockets and just buy a drink.

The lift maps usually show toilets.

Toilets up the mountain are always downstairs, and the floor wet and slippery. Be prepared to take time to get there and queue!

Thank you all. That is really helpful!

I have been given the details and our hotel is by the advanced slope. Looks like learner's will have to shuttle down to the beginners so I assume rent skis near the slope not hotel?

Also does anyone have any tips / recommendations for booking ski trips with DC. Which country to go ? When to book ? It seems to be very expensive! Kind of a shock as I traveled lots before the DC and due to ex not at all since having DC so the half terms costs are really shocking me ( I am not British so not had that experience with my parents either).

There may be a skiroom available at the hire shop or nearer the skischool tosave you carrying to and fro each day.

Another one coming on to say Vinted or Decathlon.
Re boots: the basic Decathlon snow boots are great (about £20), and they have more stylish ones as well. Size up.

Take a bottle of New Skin and use it on any parts of your feet that are a bit red after day 1. It will stop you developing blisters but it won't interfere with the fit of your boots. As PP have already said you need them snug and as a beginner it can be hard to get the performance/comfort balance sweet spot. https://newskinproducts.com/

You would rent from the nearest shop get your boots on in the hotel and shuttle down with skis.
Alternatively some resorts have ski lockers to hire at bigger lift stations generally but this really is dependent on the resort.

In terms of skiing with DCs yes Feb half term is extremely expensive but sometimes Easter is cheaper. This year easter is late so will depend on your school to when they have the holiday. But you would need to go very high and likely slushy.
Christmas week can be good busy but fun. Beginners a lot of the time you don't need the big areas, Bulgaria, Sweden, Finland and Norway all offer beginner friendly skiing.

As someone as already suggested, take a photo of your skis. We always split our skis at lunchtime and lock one pair with a ski lock.

Hotel ski room store should be free while you will pay to hire locker at the store
What is the shuttle is it hotel organised or the free in resort bus?

Rent as close to the hotel as possible. The hotel will store your equipment overnight then after breakfast you’ll put your boots on in the hotel boot room and carry your skis onto the shuttle bus if that’s how you’re getting to the slopes. Restaurants will be on the ski map, they will all have loos and often they’re also at the main gondola stations too. With DC you’ll probably find Easter cheaper than Feb half term but would need to go to a high altitude resort to guarantee last season snow. Any country is fine just make sure there’s a suitable ski school for them and you can get to it easily from wherever you’re staying.

The thin hat is a thermal layer. Depending on where you go it’s probably not going to be lovely in February!

def get a thin hat. I was skiing yesterday and it was freezing. Thin hat and buff definitely needed.

I haven’t ever had anything stolen in a ski resort and we live in one so go often. Haven’t ever seen anyone lock skis up.

I like sorrel boots for in thick snow, and fellhof lined boots for out and about. I can drive in the fellhof as a non thick sole

Another vote for Sorel snowboots.

Have fun OP!

My skis were taken from outside a restaurant last year! Someone picked up the wrong pair, and they must have had the same size boots as me (otherwise they've have realised when they tried to put them on).

It was quite a palava getting them back - I was stuck up the mountain with no skis, so had to walk to the nearest gondola to get down and then get a bus back to town to get to the hire shop. At some point later in the afternoon the person with my skis realised they had them, so they went back to the restaurant to find their skis still there. The restaurant kindly stored mine overnight for me (and I had to get a taxi and bus to the gondola, and walk back from the gondola to the restaurant (up a ski slope, in ski boots...)

Since then, I carry a simple ski lock in my bag - it won't win any security prizes, but if someone picks them up by mistake, they would very quickly realise they weren't theirs.

If you have to walk to beginners ski school departure area. Id use a ski hire shop near to there, I would see if they have lockers (even if you have to pay, so you walk down in your apres ski boots & kit up at the shop.
The Rep may try to orient you to a specific shop, but it's because they get commission ! But generally prices are similar everywhere.
If there's a shuttle maybe use the hotel free ski room.
Remember where you leave your skis, because it's a bun fight unless you have your own numbered slot.
I dont leave my ski boots in a communal ski room as a general rule, as they may not be heated, (I take them to my room.) & putting cold wet (with condensation) boots on the next morning is no fun.
When you take off your boots, clip them back up lightly to keep the from drying all twisted

You need strong SPF lip salve, not cheap supermarket stuff
Put sun block on before you leave the hotel
Little packets of Kleenex, to clean/dry glasses/goggles & for the loo.

Decathlon kit is perfectly adequate for a beginner

@BuzzieLittleBee - that’s pretty unlucky. But it was an accident not people stealing.
I mean I’m sure people do get things stolen like anywhere, but in general I think it’s on a small scale, and it’s safe to just leave skis outside mountain huts.

Plus people who actually steal would go for high end skis, not ski hire shop pairs!

If you’re hiring a ski helmet, definitely get a thin hat. As otherwise it’s had everyone’s sweaty head in also.

ski coat is fine to wear in town. It’s normal, as it’s probably the warmest coat you own and it can be cold even at base just walking around. It’s totally fine to wear hiking boots in even fancy hotels in ski resorts.

If you are in a hotel, it’s also normal for many to wear slippers to breakfast. So base layers on or casual jogger type things, slippers. Then you can go straight to adding ticket jumper and outside layers before you go

Hotels and restaurants are often kept at furnace temperatures. So take layers, so you can remove if you end up having lunch in a hut next to a wood burner stove

take kindle or book. If your knackered on day three, it’s fine to finish at lunchtime and just chill

I wear doc marten or my hiking boots with thick socks. It's not normally too wet and the resorts are cleared of snow or it's stomped down well.

My favourite thing is a small spikey massage ball from decathlon for tired calves and feet.

@Caspianberg - I didn't say my skis were stolen - I said they were taken... It might have been an accident, but a bloody annoying one, and the consequence was the same - I had no skis and was stuck on the mountain in ski boots! (and lost half a day's skiing).
I totally get that it's rare, and very unlikely to happen to OP. But she has been wisely advised to take a photo of her skis so that she can easily recognise them (so she doesn't go for someone else's by mistake), and it was also very useful to have the reference number when I phoned the hire shop.

And whilst it might have been an accident, the person who took them was unapologetic about it. If I'd gone off with someone's skis for an afternoon, at the very least I'd have left a note saying sorry. Or a €10 note for a drink. I'd have been mortified. Which they were clearly not.

I mitigate it happening again by putting a lock around them. It takes a few seconds, and gives me peace of mind.

@Mix56 Every hotel we've stayed in has had a strict 'no ski boots in rooms' rule. You certainly can't walk through hotels in ski boots, and they ask that you store them in their boot rooms. I've also never seen a hotel boot room that didn't have heated boot racks - even if the room itself doesn't have heaters, the boot racks are heated. Boots will always dry out better in a boot room, on a rack, than they will in your hotel room. And you'd have to change out of your boots in the boot room anyway, so you may as well leave them in there!