Skiing Holiday - Need Advice

tomstickland

I picked up some really cheap ski gear in the Debenhams discount section last year.

I also use Buffalo Mountaineering Salopettes and Belay jacket (mountaineering gear).

Previously I have used ron hill track suit bottoms and a warm jacket.

You need sunglasses or goggles and decent gloves and a hat.
I use a helmet nowadays.

I've never had any problem using thick socks, though ski socks are more comfortable.

I hire skis, boots and sticks and usually get a good deal online somwhere and pre-book.
It's best to buy ski passes online too.

alabama_2

For the person who was told you can't ski for less than 2 grand - that is insane. Also lift passes in Europe can certainly cost much less than £250!!

My boyfriend and I are going to Austria for the second time this year, and it's costing us £450 each for HB accom, flights, transfers and lift pass.

Look out for resorts which do an all inclusive package - Rauris does this and its about £250 for lessons, equipment and lift pass which is really good value.

Neilson have super cheap deals at the moment and Inghams have some great ones to Canada.

tomstickland

I've never managed to get the total cost of a week skiing down below £700. But, even if I was at home I'd spend some money.

cfw1994

alabama wrote: »

For the person who was told you can't ski for less than 2 grand - that is insane. Also lift passes in Europe can certainly cost much less than £250!!

My boyfriend and I are going to Austria for the second time this year, and it's costing us £450 each for HB accom, flights, transfers and lift pass.

Of course for a family of 4 that *is* practially 2 grand, & I don't think the original question said it how many it was for !!

We are heading for our third trip next Easter & looking forward immensely to it !
Our first one was with SnowBizz.co.uk to a small resort, Puy St Vincent. Great fun. Hotel & self-catered (which we did) right on the slopes, a few restaurents and a small supermarket. Kids *will* love being in ski-school and meeting new friends, and where we were they had some evening entertainment for them as well which they loved and gave the grown-ups some relaxing adult time !
We did have a full days "intro to skiing" at a dry ski slope before going, obviously an extra cost but highly recommended just so you are able to get the gear on okay and at least do a gentle snowplough.
Of course one deal in the Tesco Clubcard deals is to have lessons at Sno!Zone - various locations - that would be a great way to get maybe a couple of hundred quids worth of beginners lessons for free ! Sno!Zone are a bit disorganised, and again I recommend getting there 30+ minutes before your lesson (it takes time to get the gear, discover it is wrong size, get right gear, then boots, etc, etc!)....but the slopes are great for beginners (well, we have used Milton Keynes to refresh ourselves !)

One thing already mentioned but we noticed was you *will* get hot: learners expend more energy than experienced folks. Once there, ensure you get up in plenty of time to get ready, then take your time (kids will bleat about how uncomfortable boots are etc, takes a bit of time!) - try to avoid rushing & racing to get out in time. As already mentioend, if boots *really* are uncomfortable head back to swap them !

We deliberately chose somewhere where we didn't have to bus to a lift ("ski-in, ski-out") - I recommend that - you can easily get back for lunch or just to relax for an hour & get back out easily.

This year we are returning to Les Arcs 2000 in a fully catered chalet with Alpine Elements - we used them the second time we went: it *is* more expensive, *but* when we booked (July !) we got free lift passes, and for the four of us that is worth around £600, which kind of made it worthwhile (we were happy to self-cater again) - look out for any deals.

Merry Christmas everyone !

stacy_clerke

Thanks a lot for sharing the tips! That's why I like forums, we get to learn and share so much.

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Luxury Ski Chalets
Scott Dunn

jago25_98

Right sort of resort, i.e. StAnton;Party, LaTania;Family, Andolo;Cheap

Clothes Minimum: Proper ski socks or walking socks. Salopettes. Waterproof jacket with enough space to get 2 jumpers underneeth.
Googles. Or possibly, very good wrap around sunglasses (got to be good).

Suggest all inclusive challay with other people with someone like Crystal or Skiworld. Other people in around will help no end. As with the challay staff to hold your hand.

Also lessons beforehand on a dryslope will help the fun. Also look into other stuff like sledging; it's cheap. Or hiking for no kids people.

& insurance, with the info at hand for help. Done separately, independantly you get better cover

-j

moneysavingmatthew

If you are an absolute newbie to skiing and you have the time come up to Scotland and take a couple of lessons.

We have snow this year!!

A couple of days learning the ropes from someone who speaks good English (well Scottish!) to teach you the basics (how to carry skis, stop, start, turn, get on lift etc) is invaluable. When you get to your foreign resort it means you can join a class that isn't spending the first couple of days teaching these skills.

Staying in a B&B with a couple of drams after a day on the slopes is brilliant.

I would second the suggestion to ski in March - it really is the best month. Nice long days and plenty of sun!

bagby

have you booked yet? if so where did you decide. Im not going this year but have been going with the family for the past ten years, its a great holiday. Jus make sure that your coat and trousers are breathable - saves you getting wet on the inside. Sport and soccer sell skiing coats for quite a reasonable price. My husband who is not a very confident skiier followed us up to the top of one mountain in a cable car, got out, looked down (it was high tho) felt dizzy and got straight back into the cable car - we were wetting ourselves laughing as his coat was "NO FEAR". YEAH RIGHT.

tomstickland

Two operators who I've had less than satisfactory stays with are Crystal (Thomson) and Alpine Elements.
It's usually pot luck with this type of operator; you might get a good chalet or you might get a bad one. If you pay around £350-£400 for the package then it's not so bad, but if you pay full price (£600+) then you might end up disappointed.