Other useful tips

Our recommendation is lessons in the morning, lunch then either ski with your friend in the afternoon if they are willing to stay on the easier nursery slopes, or ski the area that you have been on with your instructor, that way you know your are capable of success.

Don’t do too much, tired legs are ones that make you fall, so quit early get a swim, spa or a few drinks to relax into the evening so you are fresh for the next day.

Having the right skis and boots is essential,  Your boots should be comfortably tight (they wont feel like trainers or slippers) but they shouldn’t be pinching.  If your boots aren’t comfortable go back and change them.

Your skis shouldn’t be too long, so if the rental shop doesn’t have the right skis in stock for you don’t accept a ski that’s too long.  Your ski should come to between your chin and nose and no longer to start with.

Keep warm, and don’t let yourself get too cold, its much harder to warm up from freezing than ust getting a warm burst by the fire in a mountain restaurant.

Take some snacks, you will be amazed how hard your muscles and body will work when learning to ski, so a Mars in the pocket or a ham baguette squashed flat can be pretty welcomed at 11am!

Take some cash so when you stop at the mountain restaurant you can get your self a warm drink and something to eat, recharging is vital when you are skiing especially for the first time.

Make sure you enjoy yourself, you don’t need to be the next Franz Klaammer overnight, this is about having fun and having a great holiday and enjoying the fresh mountain air.  If you are tired, don’t be scared to say to your ski buddies that you are going to take a break or finish early for the day, that’s far wiser than pressing on to try and keep up with a crazy group and then taking a silly tumble.

A jacuzzi at the end of the day is nice for the muscles so take a swim and rest in a hot tub or sauna it will help with some muscle recovery time.

Be careful with your intake of alcohol – at altitude, booze can do some funny things and skiing the next day with a hangover can be pretty tricky!

Look out for other cool activities, it doesn’t have to be all ski-ski-ski…resorts have really invested recently in non-ski activities, things like snow shoeing, skidooing, spas, ice climbing, zip wires and much more is often on offer, so do consider taking the odd day or afternoon to explore the rest of the resort,

Sun Cream – you will be amazed if you hit on a sunny day or 2, how sun burned you can get, so taking a decent quality sun cream is really important.  A small tube is fine as its likely only your face that will catch it, but the altitude and the reflection from the snow can easily end up burning you in just a few hours.