First time skiing: what do I need to know?

[custardlover]

We are escaping this Christmas! DH, the DCs and I are going skiing and very excited about it! We are utter novices and trying to borrow and buy our gear but have just realised how clueless we are! For instance, kids' snow boots; do you buy them a size bigger to accommodate thick socks and hand warmers (as a friend advised) Or is that already accounted for? Do I need post under armour long johns or will Primark leggings work?

Please help - I need the real, basic details please! Thank you!

(Oh and DC are 6 and 8)

The problem with these threads is that everyone has their own way of doing things... On what other holiday would you wear a pair of socks you get hot in for 3 days straight, when wearing borrowed shoes? No thanks. I take 3/4 pairs each but then it's not a holiday for me to be hand washing 6 pairs of socks in a hand basin.
I like to take chocolate fun size bars for a quick snack out there and those small packs of tissues. Lip balm too. The jury's out but someone in a family group needs a mini rucksack or similar to stash things in. Beginners need decent goggles. And at Christmas wear decent thermals/merino. It can be cold! And you can get them cheaper than under armour.
Ankle exercises? Have somehow managed without these in 15 years of skiing. What am I missing?!

Skiing is amazing....
But just be aware that it is HARD work when you're not experienced and energy can drain quickly!! Take snacks with you to prevent hanger (both in adults and the kids!!) and don't push yourselves too far too soon... it's an expensive holiday and it can feel like you should be skiing all day, every day. Rest, enjoy the mountains and the fresh air- there's nothing like it! You may also find other activities on offer around the resort; dog sledding, igloo visits etc- they may make a good break from skiing but still allow you to experience the mountain!!

Bear in mind that On the second or third day your legs are going to be hurting.. find a hot tub/pool and relax! Do look into exercises before you go.. it'll help to reduce that ache!
Buy helmets and wear them!

Enjoy... I'm desperate to go soon!!

I agree with the ankle exercises strong ankles help prevent the pigeon toes and the knock knees stance...... The weight goes down through the hips, knees and the ankles.

You can buy (or make elastic cuffs with elastic string on them that loop through your glove). Fantastic and the best 5€ I have spent. Taking your gloves on & off to sort out the children's zips/gloves/helmet/boots is a total faff, so having them attached to you is brilliant. And you won't lose them on the lift when you whip your phone out for a quick photo.

Lidl are great for small bars of sugary snack - take them with you. And those mini fruit drinks as it can get quite dehydrating. I take a hip flask, but there are two schools of thought on that.

The following depends entirely on your budget, but if you don't want to spend a fortune at lunchtime, take some zip seal bags or small Tupperware boxes with you. You can gather up some left over fruit/croissants etc from breakfast. A stolen breakfast banana is only as good as the last person who didn't sit on it. Eating out on the mountain for a family is ruinous (in French Alps) so if you can be bothered to take a pack up do, and use the hidden Salle a manger (Salle hors sac) for lunchtimes - much better than queuing for hours (unless you are in Italy where it is much cheaper and delicious).

We take flasks with soup, ham, cheese & bread but there is a balance between skiing and skiing with a heavy rucksack (unless you or your husband are very fit). We don't notice the weight as we are carrying other stuff too, but it can be off-putting.

French loos can be disgusting and with no loo roll left after lunch (unless it is all over the floor) so take a packet of tissues out with you.

Uniqlo thermals and glove leashes on all gloves...once you’ve used them you will never want to be without! Or sew on elastic loops if you can’t find them to buy!

Enjoy... I'm desperate to go soon!!

Im off the end of next week - until April

glove leashes on all gloves...once you’ve used them you will never want to be without! Or sew on elastic loops if you can’t find them to buy!

They are such a simple thing, but total game changer. I think they actually improve ski safety. I would imagine more people would stop & do up their helmets properly, change goggles, tighten boots up if they didn't have to juggle their gloves! I used to be of the "I'll do it up again when I get to the lift" mentality. Now if something feels wrong, I can sort it out immediately without the 'can you hold this, and this, and these' shuffle.

I’ve been skiing since I was a child and we usually go at least 3-4 times a year and I agree with everything @pepperup says. We actually take a clean pair of thermals and ski socks for each person, for every ski day!

My gloves, Hestra mittens which are excellent but possibly a bit pricey for a first trip, have wrist straps which I thought all ski gloves have but regardless they’re essential.
My other musts would be extra liner gloves (I like icebreaker merino) so you can swap out and be dry if your hands get sweaty, also to wear if you’re eating lunch outside and so you don’t have to have bare hands when doing up helmets, adjusting boots etc. Also a Buff neck warmer and an spf lip balm in everyone’s pocket.

I hope you love it

Definitely extra pairs of gloves for the children and I used to shove a couple of snack-sized Mars bars (or similar) into their pockets for snack stops during the day as well as a small tube of suncream/lip balm and some tissues. Be really strict in the evenings about making sure their outer clothes are not just dumped on the floor but are somewhere warm (so they will be dry in the morning).

Also, your fitness - don't underestimate how fit your leg muscles need to be - try sitting like a chair against the wall and see how long before your muscles start to burn!!!

Good sunscreen
Gloves on loops
3 pairs of socks max
One set of thermals
Slippers
Chocolate bars for the mountain
Pain killers

Nice jumper/top for the one eve you will be faffed with going out!
Joggers or other comfy clothes
Warm snow boots for kids
Wooly hats for apre

Get ski fit before you go!

Squats
Lunges
Weighted squats

Your legs will absolutely kill the next day!

Aldi skiwear and Decathlon are good for kids that grow out of them each season.

Sports direct, primark and M&S all do perfectly good thermal underwear.

Kids had Decathlon cheap snow boots and did not complain of cold feet!

Look on amazon for ski carrier. These are cheap strap set - Velcro to hold the skis together and a strap to put over your shoulder. Some people can do a whizzy thing with their poles handstrap to carry skis but mine always fell apart!

We use a large Ikea blue bag to Chuck all the boots in for lugging up and down.

Take a stash of cereal bars with you to put in the kids pockets. They are always starving when they finish a lesson.

You lot are brilliant! Thank you. Off to start the intensive squat session now...

We've just had a lovely weekend in Aldi thermals!

Two of our party are fine with cheap gloves (I bought about 8 pairs of identical gloves - makes it easy to find pairs after washing and not the end of the world if one gets lost). Two of us needed much better quality gloves. We don't ski as well so maybe we spend more time standing around while the others do an extra lap. Decathlon are good - they have heat ratings on their gloves etc.

I plumped for more expensive socks (about £30?) last year and I do think they help - they stay in place when you are putting your feet into the boot. My feet don't get sweaty and they're my boots so one pair is fine for me!

We have lots of neck gaiters - fleece and stretchy cotton. The ones near the mouth do need changing daily or twice daily if you have a child who sucks fabric!

Do any of your party wear glasses? My helmet with visor is amazing - no goggles needed.

has anyone got any tips for childcare in tignes or meribel?? we haven't booked yet and not sure I will unless childcare can be organised.. any advice would be fab :-)

Great thread. We're going for the first time in February too. I started a thread here that might interest you (my DC are 6 & 8 too)
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/skiing/3684859-Family-new-to-skiing-Tell-me-what-to-expect-pls

I was advised several times on that thread to book a lesson or two on a dry slope before going (we don't have a real snow one near us) so that we can get to grips with the basics, so we've booked a lesson for New Year's Eve.

Good to read the clothing info in more detail.

This is also a brilliant thread

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/skiing/2849373-Packing-for-a-ski-trip

I take 3 pairs of merino leg thermals per person for a week, but new top ones and socks for every day.. bit yuk otherwise no? Take a small
rucksack with suncream, tissues, credit card, hand warmers.

100% yes to the pre-ski squats and lunges.. they kill but make things easier there. Am going soon to Verbier, conditions seem to be great in so many places now with powder snow!

Buy helmet. We hired the first time we went. I put it on my head. It was soaking. With sweat. Stinky sweat. Grossest thing ever.

I've never needed thermals, it gets hot with all the exercise!

Just salopettes, a long cami vest, long sleeved t shirt and ski jacket, ski socks, gloves, helmet, goggles

Hire boots and make sure they fit properly, makes such a massive difference.

I've never needed thermals

i've been when it's -20 and you def need thermals best to take some

Potentially different I was went Snowboarding, but as a complete novice don't be overly optimistic on how much you get out on the slopes!

I had a lift pass for 5 out of 7 days and booked four hour lessons on three separate days (split two hours in the morning, two in the afternoon).

Each lesson had a days break in between and it was very much needed!

By the afternoon of the third day I was going down by myself and managing back and forward turns and probably would have got better with a bit more time. Only issue was that my body was broken by then and neither myself or DH (another novice- although he got banned from boarding in the morning of 3rd day due to a bad fall) could bear to go back to the mountain so the rest of our lift pass went to waste.

Absolutely loved it and would happily go again (Canada- so beautiful it's criminal) but I would definitely work on fitness beforehand. Though I should point out my less than stellar fitness was not to blame for the massive leg bruise I got, that was from someone else falling over, taking me with them and then smashing my leg with their board

So a follow-up for the others who were watching this thread and going in February etc with smalls. We are here now and if I were to do it again I wouldn't book us all into ski school - it's a massive pain getting the kids to go to one place and then the grown-ups elsewhere which means you're stressed and late for your own lesson plus the kids are anxious about being alone with a shouty ski instructor. I would instead get a couple of private family lessons so you can all be together and not have to worry about separation anxiety or different meetings places and times. Also we definitely didn't need the ski pass for every day as we just weren't ready for it on The first couple of days but had bought it so that was just sunk cost. I think balaclavas for the kids are excellent (get good quality breathable ones - I bought them here when the snood wouldn't stay up) and it's a definite yes to glove leashes.

I totally agree- if you all have a private instructor you will be at similar level which will make subsequent holidays easier. Book a morning lesson and get him/her to drop you off for lunch if there’s anywhere handy near the nursery slope.

In my view this issue is what ski operators are so good at. My children learned very differently and at a different pace to me and have thrived in ski school groups run by the holiday company as there is a rep from the company there who looks out for them and nobody gives them a hard time. They also make similar aged friends within the groups for the week (and actually year on year if you like going back to the same spot). I think my kids would have found it restricting and dull to learn in private lessons with their parents the whole time who on the whole progress much more slowly! Travelling with an operator I have never had the issue where they didn’t want to go (unlike independently booked ski school which can be hit and miss and have fierce instructors). Much easier to travel independently once you are all reasonably competent!