Skiing can be one of the best activity holidays to take part in. The amazing slopes, the gorgeous scenery and, of course, the various activities available once the slopes close for the evening. But for the beginner it can all be a little bit daunting to plan and prepare for the trip from scratch.
Locale
The first thing you need to do is sit down with your friends or family and write down a list of requirements for the intended holiday. If you are all coming from the same starting point, this helps with booking flights. It can become a little more tricky if various people from your team are coming from different parts of the country. What do you want to do? Believe it, or not many people go on skiing holidays and never actually touch a slope. Spending their time instead utilising the other features and just enjoying sitting near a roaring fire. Looking at the scenery with the occasional dip in the jacuzzi. This will pinpoint to a greater extent the sort of places you are interested in going to, and exclude places for example that lack fashionable nightlife.
Base
Where do you want to stay? There are a lot of options from apartments, hotels, chalets and B&B’s each with their plus and minus points. Again your choices here may dictate a specific place to go.
Skiing
What type of skiing are you looking for? If you are all seasoned skiers and can just slap on some boots and you’re away. However, if you or any of your party require some guidance and training, you may be better placed with a slope that offers a skiing school or training slopes.
Specialists
Skiing breaks can be a fantastic thing but are also very difficult to get right. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and do your research. There are many people around who will be able to give you advice on serious things. Such as predicted snowfall and the severity of some of the peaks and climbs you may need to ascend to reach your summit.
Kit
Now you would be forgiven for thinking that you need to go out and spend thousands on various bits of ski apparel. This is far from the case and as a beginner to the slopes I would highly recommend renting your skiing gear at first. Unless you choose a service, that is included in your holiday. Try out one of the outfitters who provide the clothing, before your trip even begins. You would be surprised at the amount of money this can save you.
Skiing is hard
Well, it would be a lie if I said it didn’t have a sharp learning curve. Let’s be honest you ARE going to fall down quite a bit when you first get on the training slopes. That said you can now get beginner skis that do help and make the learning experience that more fun.
