Ski Holiday for a beginner, worth it or not?
Discussion
f
k lessons.
Just head over to the nearest triple black diamond slope and master it like a boss.
You’ll be a either a hero or dead. One way gets you laid, the other, well, you won’t really care anymore and your girlfriend can sell your gear to pay for the funeral plus every subsequent boyfriend will be compared to you and come up short. Double win!
k lessons.Just head over to the nearest triple black diamond slope and master it like a boss.
You’ll be a either a hero or dead. One way gets you laid, the other, well, you won’t really care anymore and your girlfriend can sell your gear to pay for the funeral plus every subsequent boyfriend will be compared to you and come up short. Double win!
sideways sid said:
Hard-Drive said:
Which resort? They are all expensive, but some more so than others.
Be ready to be paying £20 for sausages and chips on the mountain and similarly inflated beer prices. Be prepared to love it to...some of my most incredible life/feeling alive memories have been in the mountains.
If you want to get the most from your money I'd recommend:
-Go and get lessons at a snowdome in the UK so you're up and running slowly on day in resort
-Buy your ski kit NOW from Sport Pursuit. Salopettes, jacket, gloves, goggles, thermals, and helmet helmet helmet
-If you aren't already fit, get fit, especially in the legs
-Don't get stfaced every night in resort. Pace yourself and make the most of your time
Skiing-you can get reasonable very quickly and then it gets harder and harder to get really good. Boarding, much harder initially, be prepared to spend a lot of time on your ass, but once you've cracked it you can get very good much more quickly.
Enjoy...it's amazing.
^^^^ Everything he said, along with all the other positive comments.Be ready to be paying £20 for sausages and chips on the mountain and similarly inflated beer prices. Be prepared to love it to...some of my most incredible life/feeling alive memories have been in the mountains.
If you want to get the most from your money I'd recommend:
-Go and get lessons at a snowdome in the UK so you're up and running slowly on day in resort
-Buy your ski kit NOW from Sport Pursuit. Salopettes, jacket, gloves, goggles, thermals, and helmet helmet helmet
-If you aren't already fit, get fit, especially in the legs
-Don't get s
tfaced every night in resort. Pace yourself and make the most of your timeSkiing-you can get reasonable very quickly and then it gets harder and harder to get really good. Boarding, much harder initially, be prepared to spend a lot of time on your ass, but once you've cracked it you can get very good much more quickly.
Enjoy...it's amazing.
Also, in my limited experience food can be much better and much cheaper in the Austrian resorts than in the French/Swiss resorts.
Snowdome lessons help, even with simple stuff like getting used to putting everything on and in the right order rather than finding your boots undone and your gloves indoors once on the mountain!
In hindsight this was very very stupid. No lid either, as this was quite a few years ago when they were still quite rare.
Take your time. Any idiot can point skis downhill and go very fast. There's actually very little joy from just ripping straight down a slope. As this is PH, there's very little joy from driving fast in a straight line, and any idiot can do that. Corners and control is what it's all about. Don't get carried away and push things beyond your skill limits as you can very quickly ruin yours and someone else's holiday, or worse. I'm older and wiser now and somehow never had a "big one" (touch wood) but just ski within your abilities and don't be a prat like I was.
gman88667733 said:
She is in fact a qualified ski instructor and semi-regularly teaches as the local dry slope.
I just hope that I can get to a standard that would mean I can at least do the easier routes, somewhat quickly.
There is a world of difference between a ski instructor on the local dry/snow dome slope and a local alpine instructor, what will take you half an hour will take her 5 minutes.I just hope that I can get to a standard that would mean I can at least do the easier routes, somewhat quickly.
You will put yourself and others at risk trying to keep up.
Go to ski school in the morning and ski with her in the afternoon.
Dixy said:
There is a world of difference between a ski instructor on the local dry/snow dome slope and a local alpine instructor, what will take you half an hour will take her 5 minutes.
You will put yourself and others at risk trying to keep up.
Go to ski school in the morning and ski with her in the afternoon.
To be a UK dry slope, or indoor slope instructor the standard required is being able to do a red run, basically, with some linked carves. You will put yourself and others at risk trying to keep up.
Go to ski school in the morning and ski with her in the afternoon.
To be a French qualified instructor you have to complete a giant slalom course within +10% of the time of a professional racer.
A world of difference.
Condi said:
Dixy said:
There is a world of difference between a ski instructor on the local dry/snow dome slope and a local alpine instructor, what will take you half an hour will take her 5 minutes.
You will put yourself and others at risk trying to keep up.
Go to ski school in the morning and ski with her in the afternoon.
To be a UK dry slope, or indoor slope instructor the standard required is being able to do a red run, basically, with some linked carves. You will put yourself and others at risk trying to keep up.
Go to ski school in the morning and ski with her in the afternoon.
To be a French qualified instructor you have to complete a giant slalom course within +10% of the time of a professional racer.
A world of difference.
This is over and above the EU requirement for National qualified Ski Instructors to be able top work throughout the Federation, sorry, member states - but when do the French pay any attention to things like laws and rules.
Go and have fun. Just remember a lot of people get injured because some tit thinks they are better at it than they are and collides with another person. Have a few lessons, stay in control, wear a helmet. Don’t be tempted to push yourself beyond your ability just for the sake of it.
If you pick it up you will love it. Try scuba diving too and once you are also addicted to that cheap holidays will be a distant memory
If you pick it up you will love it. Try scuba diving too and once you are also addicted to that cheap holidays will be a distant memory
As others have said - do it!
I was in a similar position to you at about the same age - my girlfriend at the time kind of forced me to go. The first 3 days, I hated it (and conversely, her!). The last 3 days, I loved it. So much so that I have been at least once every year since, all over the Northern Hemisphere. I've also managed to spend a season in Canada 7 years ago obtaining my CSIA instructor qualifications (to whoever said you can't be an instructor at 21 - utter rubbish - there were 18 year olds on my course who qualified as level 2 ski or board instructors and race or freestyle coaches allowing them to teach in every country in the World apart from France, and, 7 years later, are now CSIA level 4 coaches and instructor assessors and ski all over the world!).
I would say the following though:
Do NOT let your girlfriend give you lessons - it will be frustrating for the pair of you and lead to arguments. Get a local ski instructor - not only is there no emotional attachment, but they will know the mountain like the back of their hand, so be able to show you more of the ski area based on your ability.
Please, get / hire / use a helmet - I know of at least 3 people who can all legitimately claim a helmet saved their life (I am one of those 3 - mogul run + tiredness). Hire ones may not look 'cool', but better to look slightly uncool than be a vegetable / dead.
Get lessons before you go. Do it now so its a bit cheaper.
Look at YouTube videos of 'how to get ski fit, and start getting in to shape'. Skiing uses muscles that you may not normally use / puts your legs in positions you don't normally keep them in and can be really tiring. Tired legs = injury.
Pace the drinking - you will be at altitude, where alcohol can effect you much quicker than normal. I've made the mistake a few times of going too hard on the first night (free wine - got to be done) and then skiing with a raging hangover (hangover = possible injuries!)
If you're hiring boots - take the time to make sure they fit correctly, and if they don't send them back for another pair. Crap fitting boots were probably the biggest thing that nearly put me off skiing all together. Ski hire shops on changeover day can get rammed, with the staff wanting people out the door as quickly as possible - they should be snug with only a little ankle movement and you should not lose feeling in your toes (if you do, it's either really cold, or they're ill fitting / too tight)
Most of all - don't let the first few days put you off (everyone gets the '3 day burn', especially in their first week when they're struggling to pick it up). Persevere and you will love it!
I was in a similar position to you at about the same age - my girlfriend at the time kind of forced me to go. The first 3 days, I hated it (and conversely, her!). The last 3 days, I loved it. So much so that I have been at least once every year since, all over the Northern Hemisphere. I've also managed to spend a season in Canada 7 years ago obtaining my CSIA instructor qualifications (to whoever said you can't be an instructor at 21 - utter rubbish - there were 18 year olds on my course who qualified as level 2 ski or board instructors and race or freestyle coaches allowing them to teach in every country in the World apart from France, and, 7 years later, are now CSIA level 4 coaches and instructor assessors and ski all over the world!).
I would say the following though:
Do NOT let your girlfriend give you lessons - it will be frustrating for the pair of you and lead to arguments. Get a local ski instructor - not only is there no emotional attachment, but they will know the mountain like the back of their hand, so be able to show you more of the ski area based on your ability.
Please, get / hire / use a helmet - I know of at least 3 people who can all legitimately claim a helmet saved their life (I am one of those 3 - mogul run + tiredness). Hire ones may not look 'cool', but better to look slightly uncool than be a vegetable / dead.
Get lessons before you go. Do it now so its a bit cheaper.
Look at YouTube videos of 'how to get ski fit, and start getting in to shape'. Skiing uses muscles that you may not normally use / puts your legs in positions you don't normally keep them in and can be really tiring. Tired legs = injury.
Pace the drinking - you will be at altitude, where alcohol can effect you much quicker than normal. I've made the mistake a few times of going too hard on the first night (free wine - got to be done) and then skiing with a raging hangover (hangover = possible injuries!)
If you're hiring boots - take the time to make sure they fit correctly, and if they don't send them back for another pair. Crap fitting boots were probably the biggest thing that nearly put me off skiing all together. Ski hire shops on changeover day can get rammed, with the staff wanting people out the door as quickly as possible - they should be snug with only a little ankle movement and you should not lose feeling in your toes (if you do, it's either really cold, or they're ill fitting / too tight)
Most of all - don't let the first few days put you off (everyone gets the '3 day burn', especially in their first week when they're struggling to pick it up). Persevere and you will love it!
Your girlfriend is a qualified ski instructor and you’re umming and ahhing over a ski holiday?
If you have hope for the longevity of your relationship I’d politely suggest you don’t even need to ask this question. Skiing is one of those things people love or hate, in her case I’d suggest that it is very much the former.
If you don’t get on board (pun intended) then there’s every possibility that someone else will be willing to demonstrate his pole planting, so to speak. It’s an expensive holiday even if you do it on the cheap, but the scenario where she goes off every winter to either holiday or work in the mountains whilst you stay at home being uninterested wouldn’t bode well for you, in my fairly broad experience.
It’s a great sport IMHO, once you get hooked, which you hopefully will.
If you have hope for the longevity of your relationship I’d politely suggest you don’t even need to ask this question. Skiing is one of those things people love or hate, in her case I’d suggest that it is very much the former.
If you don’t get on board (pun intended) then there’s every possibility that someone else will be willing to demonstrate his pole planting, so to speak. It’s an expensive holiday even if you do it on the cheap, but the scenario where she goes off every winter to either holiday or work in the mountains whilst you stay at home being uninterested wouldn’t bode well for you, in my fairly broad experience.
It’s a great sport IMHO, once you get hooked, which you hopefully will.
GroundEffect said:
If you don't have lessons it'll be wasted. It's not something you can really force (beyond just falling down the hill )
Worth getting lessons before you go at an indoor place or dry slope.
This. Get yourself able to stop, go and turn in a UK indoor centre, you will get so much more out of the week away - not sitting on your backside getting wet and cold if nothing else. )Worth getting lessons before you go at an indoor place or dry slope.
Sign up for it, it probably will be a sport you want to do for many years to come. I first went at 21 years old with some super bike owning friends, bloody nutters and had an amazing time been going pretty much once or twice every year since (few kid years excluding, now go with my teenage son).
BUT,
as others have said learn to do the basics here, it’s harder to get to grips with these on dry slopes so if you do it there you will be pleasantly surprised how easy it is on snow.
get really fit, lots of sit ups and planks strengthen the core plus lunges to strengthen the legs.
Never lean back in your ski boots
Don’t eat yellow snow.
Lastly, you really should wear a helmet nowadays.
IMO, nothing quite like it.
BUT,
as others have said learn to do the basics here, it’s harder to get to grips with these on dry slopes so if you do it there you will be pleasantly surprised how easy it is on snow.
get really fit, lots of sit ups and planks strengthen the core plus lunges to strengthen the legs.
Never lean back in your ski boots
Don’t eat yellow snow.
Lastly, you really should wear a helmet nowadays.
IMO, nothing quite like it.
Yes - just to echo others on here - do it.
My wife bought us a 2 week ski holiday in Bulgaria for my 40th, as I'd often mentioned I wouldn't mind having a go.
We did quite a few lessons beforehand at a local place with what was basically a really wide treadmill made out of the stuff that dry slopes are. It really helped getting to know how to turn/stop etc. Can't remember the name of the place, but it was near Watford. Also quite a bit of fitness practise with back against a wall and legs out at 90 degrees then knees at 90 degrees holding the position for 2 minutes at a time helped to build some muscles.
When we got out there, the 1st day was a nightmare - I really didn't get on with the boots. 2nd day we basically stayed at the rental place and tried loads of boots on and eventually found a pair that were comfortable. After that, I was in heaven. Really great fun.
We'd booked 2 weeks of lessons - being complete beginners, and after the 1st week, I was having a lot of fun. Unfortunately Mrs C&C didn't really take to it, but each to their own.
The 2nd week, there was a mix up at the ski school, which basically resulted in me having 1 to 1 lessons with the (rather attractive) ski instructor.
She was a previous downhill and slalom racer, and although it was hard work (Mrs C&C joked that she completely tired me out by 3pm every day!!), I learnt loads, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
By the end of week 2, I did a couple of runs down one of the black runs, and managed it in control without falling over, so really pretty pleased.
So, in common with pretty much everyone else on here, I'd say, go and do it, and have a great time - it's unlikely to be the last time you go skiing!
My wife bought us a 2 week ski holiday in Bulgaria for my 40th, as I'd often mentioned I wouldn't mind having a go.
We did quite a few lessons beforehand at a local place with what was basically a really wide treadmill made out of the stuff that dry slopes are. It really helped getting to know how to turn/stop etc. Can't remember the name of the place, but it was near Watford. Also quite a bit of fitness practise with back against a wall and legs out at 90 degrees then knees at 90 degrees holding the position for 2 minutes at a time helped to build some muscles.
When we got out there, the 1st day was a nightmare - I really didn't get on with the boots. 2nd day we basically stayed at the rental place and tried loads of boots on and eventually found a pair that were comfortable. After that, I was in heaven. Really great fun.
We'd booked 2 weeks of lessons - being complete beginners, and after the 1st week, I was having a lot of fun. Unfortunately Mrs C&C didn't really take to it, but each to their own.
The 2nd week, there was a mix up at the ski school, which basically resulted in me having 1 to 1 lessons with the (rather attractive) ski instructor.
She was a previous downhill and slalom racer, and although it was hard work (Mrs C&C joked that she completely tired me out by 3pm every day!!), I learnt loads, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
By the end of week 2, I did a couple of runs down one of the black runs, and managed it in control without falling over, so really pretty pleased.
So, in common with pretty much everyone else on here, I'd say, go and do it, and have a great time - it's unlikely to be the last time you go skiing!
Get yourself booked in to ski school. If you really want then do a few lessons here at a snow dome to pick up the basics, but don't expect too much, Sarah did loads of lessons at our local snowdome and they just didn't get her past the stage of basic snowplough and barely able to control speed. To be blunt with a few exceptions the teachers aren't great and the slopes aren't big enough.
She wouldn't have enjoyed going in to ski school on her own so I taught her to ski, it took a couple of holidays but now she is up to full touring and will tackle any run. I'm not known for being patient and shouted a lot. But it was what she needed, it forced her to.go out of her comfort zone. But I wouldn't recommend it for most people.
Get in to ski school, enjoy the social side, enjoy the apres ski, enjoy the tan and the holiday.
She wouldn't have enjoyed going in to ski school on her own so I taught her to ski, it took a couple of holidays but now she is up to full touring and will tackle any run. I'm not known for being patient and shouted a lot. But it was what she needed, it forced her to.go out of her comfort zone. But I wouldn't recommend it for most people.
Get in to ski school, enjoy the social side, enjoy the apres ski, enjoy the tan and the holiday.
From what I've seen (and backed up by the replies here) people take to skiing at very different rates - some might take a week to get off the easiest slopes, some might be carving on the blacks in that time.
Definitely take lessons here first - if you are slow(er) to take to it then you won't be wasting time/money on the nursery slopes there. The reply above mentioning exercise is good too - if you don't do any exercise at all then learning will really tire out your legs, and build up over the days. Doing almost anything will help, but the "wall sit" is good, add dumbbells for extra fun.
Definitely take lessons here first - if you are slow(er) to take to it then you won't be wasting time/money on the nursery slopes there. The reply above mentioning exercise is good too - if you don't do any exercise at all then learning will really tire out your legs, and build up over the days. Doing almost anything will help, but the "wall sit" is good, add dumbbells for extra fun.
Long post incoming.
Just to add here, get it done, get lessons abroad, Private lessons and wear a helmet! Its a fantastic experience, one of the best things i have ever experienced in my life.
Here is how i entered skiing, in my 20s.
A few years ago i got chatting to a girl who was way out of my league, and we were flirting and chatting about our hobbies and life, All that stuff you do the your chatting to a super hot girl...
Anyway, she mentioned she loved skiing, had being doing since she was about 5, she utterly loved it, the freedom, the air, the atmosphere .She showed me pictures from a few years before of her skiing with her family. It looked amazing.
However she also mentioned she that at the moment she had no-one to ski with anymore as she had fallen out with her cousins, she had moved recently and does not like do it alone.
Now obviously, what I should have said was, I have never skied in my life but I have seen stuff on Eurosport once or twice and that I wouldn't mind giving it a shot one day.
However... as I am a tt, i went a slightly different route.
I replied I too was a fantastic skier, black slopes no problem, skiing backwards (yeah switch, I know now) yeah completed it mate... What a tosser.
However who cared, its not like I'm ever gonna see this girl again never mind get the chance to go on holiday with her in the Alps. Its a bit of fun having a flirt ect.
Anyway
Long story short is a few months later we actually end up dating and having a fantastic time... 4 months later we are on a beach in med, and really enjoying our new relationship, snow and mountains haven't even entered another one of our conversations.
Everything was going great...until December.
I still remember clear as day, coming home from work, dropped my bag and as i looked up she grabbed me by the hands, looked straight into my eyes and exclaimed.
" I did it, I got a week in the apartment for us in January !"
Totally exhausted from a long day at work it took me a while to figure out just what was happening, she was still jumping up and down here.
Slowly but surely more entered my head, words like Snow, mountains, Ski,.. bks
She had booked us a week in the alps, January about 4 weeks away.
Ok, now is the time to come clean, you can't ski, you will break an arm, leg or neck, just tell her, I'm sure we will laugh and joke about it and will be fine.
However, remember, I'm a tt.
I was working back in the UK alone for a few days in the next week, and chill factorE had some great discounts on all day Lessons.
about 90 quid later i thought problem solved..
Full day of lessons, ill be fine fine..
How fking wrong i was. The saying, all the gear no idea, that was me.
Arriving in a ski resort, for my first ever time was a great experience, the night life is fantastic. Its all fantastic.
The UK lesson 6 or 8 hours it was, meant i knew my boot size, and that i could get my boots on like a pro in the shop, I knew how clip into the skies, fk yeah, no one here suspects a thing, i look great and to everyone who cares to look, I'm an experienced veteran.
Until about 30 seconds later, we cross the road and i am now about to get onto real snow with skies for the first time in my life. I have clipped in, adrenaline pumping.
But to get onto the piste, there is a sort of slide on section with a left then right turn. It allows you to get on and ski to the list from the road outside the ski shops.
Ready she yelled, and off she went, like a duck in water.
Me, I snow plough, i get 5 meters and try to turn left, nothing i go straight, the inside edge of my left ski digs in, spins me around and I'm now on my arse before Im even on the fking piste. Day 1 is like this every 5 mins. Thankfully I'm so far behind she misses me looking like a tt.
I keep saying we should stop for pictures, making all the excuses so as not to be caught out.
Anyway we find a bar drink eat, fantastic she hasn't busted me.
I could continue with this forever and all the stuff that happened, however to sum up.
I took 2 hours of private lessons from 8 until 10 every morning,(she would join later after a lie in to recover from the night before)
By day 4 I was on the reds, day 5 i got down a black.
I live just over an hour from the nearest mountain now, and about 4 hours from the alps. I spent nearly 4 weeks in the alps this winter.
Skiing is great, i love it, i wear a helmet and use my back protector.
I have skied every season since i met her, and have made some fantastic friends that i can share this experience with.
She, to this date does not know this story, she really does still believe that when i was younger we had family ski trips and it was a yearly thing. No, my parents don't ski either..
Just to add here, get it done, get lessons abroad, Private lessons and wear a helmet! Its a fantastic experience, one of the best things i have ever experienced in my life.
Here is how i entered skiing, in my 20s.
A few years ago i got chatting to a girl who was way out of my league, and we were flirting and chatting about our hobbies and life, All that stuff you do the your chatting to a super hot girl...
Anyway, she mentioned she loved skiing, had being doing since she was about 5, she utterly loved it, the freedom, the air, the atmosphere .She showed me pictures from a few years before of her skiing with her family. It looked amazing.
However she also mentioned she that at the moment she had no-one to ski with anymore as she had fallen out with her cousins, she had moved recently and does not like do it alone.
Now obviously, what I should have said was, I have never skied in my life but I have seen stuff on Eurosport once or twice and that I wouldn't mind giving it a shot one day.
However... as I am a t
t, i went a slightly different route.I replied I too was a fantastic skier, black slopes no problem, skiing backwards (yeah switch, I know now) yeah completed it mate... What a tosser.
However who cared, its not like I'm ever gonna see this girl again never mind get the chance to go on holiday with her in the Alps. Its a bit of fun having a flirt ect.
Anyway
Long story short is a few months later we actually end up dating and having a fantastic time... 4 months later we are on a beach in med, and really enjoying our new relationship, snow and mountains haven't even entered another one of our conversations.
Everything was going great...until December.
I still remember clear as day, coming home from work, dropped my bag and as i looked up she grabbed me by the hands, looked straight into my eyes and exclaimed.
" I did it, I got a week in the apartment for us in January !"
Totally exhausted from a long day at work it took me a while to figure out just what was happening, she was still jumping up and down here.
Slowly but surely more entered my head, words like Snow, mountains, Ski,.. b
ksShe had booked us a week in the alps, January about 4 weeks away.
Ok, now is the time to come clean, you can't ski, you will break an arm, leg or neck, just tell her, I'm sure we will laugh and joke about it and will be fine.
However, remember, I'm a t
t. I was working back in the UK alone for a few days in the next week, and chill factorE had some great discounts on all day Lessons.
about 90 quid later i thought problem solved..
Full day of lessons, ill be fine fine..
How f
king wrong i was. The saying, all the gear no idea, that was me. Arriving in a ski resort, for my first ever time was a great experience, the night life is fantastic. Its all fantastic.
The UK lesson 6 or 8 hours it was, meant i knew my boot size, and that i could get my boots on like a pro in the shop, I knew how clip into the skies, f
k yeah, no one here suspects a thing, i look great and to everyone who cares to look, I'm an experienced veteran.Until about 30 seconds later, we cross the road and i am now about to get onto real snow with skies for the first time in my life. I have clipped in, adrenaline pumping.
But to get onto the piste, there is a sort of slide on section with a left then right turn. It allows you to get on and ski to the list from the road outside the ski shops.
Ready she yelled, and off she went, like a duck in water.
Me, I snow plough, i get 5 meters and try to turn left, nothing i go straight, the inside edge of my left ski digs in, spins me around and I'm now on my arse before Im even on the f
king piste. Day 1 is like this every 5 mins. Thankfully I'm so far behind she misses me looking like a tt.I keep saying we should stop for pictures, making all the excuses so as not to be caught out.
Anyway we find a bar drink eat, fantastic she hasn't busted me.
I could continue with this forever and all the stuff that happened, however to sum up.
I took 2 hours of private lessons from 8 until 10 every morning,(she would join later after a lie in to recover from the night before)
By day 4 I was on the reds, day 5 i got down a black.
I live just over an hour from the nearest mountain now, and about 4 hours from the alps. I spent nearly 4 weeks in the alps this winter.
Skiing is great, i love it, i wear a helmet and use my back protector.
I have skied every season since i met her, and have made some fantastic friends that i can share this experience with.
She, to this date does not know this story, she really does still believe that when i was younger we had family ski trips and it was a yearly thing. No, my parents don't ski either..
montymoo said:
Ready she yelled, and off she went, like a duck in water.
Me, I snow plough, i get 5 meters and try to turn left, nothing i go straight, the inside edge of my left ski digs in, spins me around and I'm now on my arse before Im even on the fking piste. Day 1 is like this every 5 mins. Thankfully I'm so far behind she misses me looking like a tt.
I keep saying we should stop for pictures, making all the excuses so as not to be caught out.
Anyway we find a bar drink eat, fantastic she hasn't busted me.
She, to this date does not know this story, she really does still believe that when i was younger we had family ski trips and it was a yearly thing. No, my parents don't ski either..
Me, I snow plough, i get 5 meters and try to turn left, nothing i go straight, the inside edge of my left ski digs in, spins me around and I'm now on my arse before Im even on the f
king piste. Day 1 is like this every 5 mins. Thankfully I'm so far behind she misses me looking like a tt.I keep saying we should stop for pictures, making all the excuses so as not to be caught out.
Anyway we find a bar drink eat, fantastic she hasn't busted me.
She, to this date does not know this story, she really does still believe that when i was younger we had family ski trips and it was a yearly thing. No, my parents don't ski either..
She might have been too polite to say anything, but its very very obvious (as you now know) when someone is uncomfortable or unsure on skis, compared with someone who has spent years doing it and skis are a mere extension to their feet.
Condi said:
She might have been too polite to say anything, but its very very obvious (as you now know) when someone is uncomfortable or unsure on skis, compared with someone who has spent years doing it and skis are a mere extension to their feet.
However I had mentioned I hadn’t skied in a few years, and that I would be a little rusty.
I can only agree with what others have said above
Have a go on the practice ski slopes here in the UK, there’s no harm in in at all, and you get to learn to ski on sorbet! But remember you aren’t skilled at anything other than skiing on sorbet – if Hemel is anything to go by.
Book yourself into ski school there for at least 3 days, if not all week. you will be placed with a group about the same standard you are. The instructors know who to push and how hard. It’s a good way of making friends.
The scenery is awesome, a much-abused word, but in skiing’s case, it usually is awesome. In Norway stood on top of a mountain (Totten - Hemsedal) and being able to see nearly 60 miles for 360 degrees with a snow bow in the crystal-clear sky was an incredible moment I will take with me to the grave.
Be sensible with the speed, although it is addictive and exhilarating (you know that already – you are on PH!)
If people know how to ski well, they are usually not that good at teaching, as they want to go skiing at their level. They stand at the top of a daunting black and trot out the line “its really not that bad in reality” - as you watch fellow skiers slide and tumble down the slope.
You aren’t cold, you have just bought the wrong gear. Although -26 °C in St. Anton tested that philosophy. My end of day lager was freezing on the inside of the glass!
If your boots don't feel right, get them changed - same for your skis.
As you get older, the après ski gets that bit more tiresome, and difficult to do at the end of a days skiing. It’s a skiing holiday, not a drinking holiday. Although the quality of the après ski varies enormously. Norwegian beer prices keep things sensible. I’ve heard of 15 Euro a glass in some of the better French resorts.
Make sure you have your EHIC and the correct accident/medical cover. I pulled my abductor muscle and was carried off an Andorran mountain, into the accident centre, ambulance, hospital for 3.5 days, MRI scan. The total bill was £3,800. The air ambulance helicopter can be heard nearly all the time in some resorts. Just to carry on from the booze aspect, any sign of drinks or drugs or being off piste and my insurance wouldn’t have paid out. As it was Andorra, the EHIC card was irrelevant.
Enjoy it
Have a go on the practice ski slopes here in the UK, there’s no harm in in at all, and you get to learn to ski on sorbet! But remember you aren’t skilled at anything other than skiing on sorbet – if Hemel is anything to go by.
Book yourself into ski school there for at least 3 days, if not all week. you will be placed with a group about the same standard you are. The instructors know who to push and how hard. It’s a good way of making friends.
The scenery is awesome, a much-abused word, but in skiing’s case, it usually is awesome. In Norway stood on top of a mountain (Totten - Hemsedal) and being able to see nearly 60 miles for 360 degrees with a snow bow in the crystal-clear sky was an incredible moment I will take with me to the grave.
Be sensible with the speed, although it is addictive and exhilarating (you know that already – you are on PH!)
If people know how to ski well, they are usually not that good at teaching, as they want to go skiing at their level. They stand at the top of a daunting black and trot out the line “its really not that bad in reality” - as you watch fellow skiers slide and tumble down the slope.
You aren’t cold, you have just bought the wrong gear. Although -26 °C in St. Anton tested that philosophy. My end of day lager was freezing on the inside of the glass!
If your boots don't feel right, get them changed - same for your skis.
As you get older, the après ski gets that bit more tiresome, and difficult to do at the end of a days skiing. It’s a skiing holiday, not a drinking holiday. Although the quality of the après ski varies enormously. Norwegian beer prices keep things sensible. I’ve heard of 15 Euro a glass in some of the better French resorts.
Make sure you have your EHIC and the correct accident/medical cover. I pulled my abductor muscle and was carried off an Andorran mountain, into the accident centre, ambulance, hospital for 3.5 days, MRI scan. The total bill was £3,800. The air ambulance helicopter can be heard nearly all the time in some resorts. Just to carry on from the booze aspect, any sign of drinks or drugs or being off piste and my insurance wouldn’t have paid out. As it was Andorra, the EHIC card was irrelevant.
Enjoy it
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