By Anita Gait
Thinking of taking your first ever ski holiday and don’t have a clue where to begin with the planning? Here’s a swift guide to the beginner basics of what you need to be thinking about
When’s best to go on holiday…
Obviously it needs to fit in with your schedule but there are some dates to bear in mind when booking. You can often get a great deal if you go very early or late in the season. Personally the best months for the right mixture of good snow, good prices and empty pistes are January and March. So if you can re-jig your calendar accordingly your on to a winner. If not, no problem, just make sure you book early to avoid disappointment as holiday weeks such as February half term can get booked up quickly.
Where to go…
Easy… La Plagne, Belle Plagne or Val d’Isère ;). Here you have everything you need from nightlife, scenery, off slope activities and they are family friendly, easy to get to with 4 airports nearby – Geneva, Lyon, Grenoble and Chambery – all under 3 hours away. The snow train also comes directly from England stopping at the bottom of the valley in either Aime or Bourg Saint Maurice and the transfer is about 30 minutes to the resorts.
How to book…
It is possible to go through all the information, all the websites, compare the prices and book all the elements of your ski holiday individually. However if you don’t fancy doing this you can save yourself a lot of time by booking a package deal with a Tour Operator company such as Mark Warner, Ski Beat, Neilson or VIP Ski to name only a few. With a Tour Op you can generally get your flights, transfer to and from the airport to resort, accommodation, meals and company dependent, your childcare too.
Self-catered accommodation, such as Oxygène Immobilier in La Plagne, is another way to go and can often be cheaper. No matter what though, booking with a good company allows you to access their wealth of information on ski hire, lift passes, local attractions, bars, restaurants and all manner of other helpful resort details.
Your lift pass…
This is a very important piece of kit as you won’t be able to get on any chair lift without one. There can be a variety of options available depending on the resort and you need to decide which suits you best. Are you going to ski every day? Will you be visiting the surrounding area or just sticking to the local lifts? Will you be taking a day trip to any other resort? All the information about the different passes can be found on the resort’s websites (valdisere.com or la-plagne.com) and your chalet host, hotel staff or rep can help you make sense of it all. You can pre-book them before you arrive but it’s not a necessity as often the price is the same.
Sometimes, for example with Oxygène La Plagne, you can get a ski school package deal that includes a lift pass for beginner skiers, so make sure before you book your lift pass that it is not already included!
Ski school…
As a beginner it is really important to get off to a good start and the best way to do this is to book ski lessons. This also goes to those more advanced as you can always learn something new, improve your technique and become a better skier overall. For example, group lessons are available for children, adults, snowboarders. By taking group lessons every morning you can be sure you will be taught correctly and then you can build on what you have learnt in the afternoon.
You can also take private or off-piste guides! Our instructors know the resorts inside-out, give you great advice and take you on runs that are right for you and your level. It’s not a good idea to have friends, girlfriends or boyfriends teaching you as they will inevitably pass their own bad habits and will always try and take you down runs you are not ready for, which can end in arguments. Let the professionals do their job…
Personal insurance…
In addition to your standard travel insurance you may need to take out extra winter sports insurance too. Your insurance should include coverage for damage or loss of your equipment and coverage for any injuries sustained on the mountain. Ideally make sure your policy covers you for injuries occurring in the park or off-piste, if it doesn’t there is additional off-piste insurance you can buy in resort on a day by day basis.
With us at Oxygène when you book your ski or snowboard hire you have an option of taking out an equipment guarantee which covers for loss, stolen or damaged equipment. We can also provide an additional winter sports (Impact Multisports) cover.
And the gear…
When it comes to what to pack for your trip check out our list of essentials here.
Equipment rental…
Ski or snowboard equipment hire is the way to go and with both Oxygène La Plagne and Val d’Isère you can do just that! Be honest with the rental staff about your abilities (it’s for your own good) and don’t be afraid to ask them questions about the equipment, go back if you’re unhappy or if you feel you have progressed.
Get stretching…
You will realise very quickly that skiing and snowboarding use muscles you didn’t previously know existed. A 5 minute ‘google search’ before you go away can offer you some simple stretches and exercises which can help prepare your body before you reach resort.
Take a taster…
Why not get yourself down to a snow-dome or dry ski slope for an idea of what’s to come. It’s not essential to do this and indeed the difference between skiing on a dry slope and a real piste can be big (dry slope being far harder than the real thing), but it can give you a head start on your holiday.
So you’ve done all the planning, all the preparation and now you are in resort? When you arrive try and get everything sorted out such as your equipment hire, lift pass and find out where the ski school meeting point is. The idea is that on the first day of your holiday you can wake up, put your gear on and get out on the mountain straight away.