There is more to skiing than après ski!

I got married nearly nine years ago, it was a Winter wedding, in February and we were very undecided as to where to go for our honeymoon. I do not mind flying but I am not a fan of long haul flights, neither am I a sun lover. After much deliberating we decided to go for a ski holiday. We booked after Christmas into a French ski resort and neither my husband nor I had ever been skiing before so this was going to be something new and unknown for us.

We booked our trip through a ski specialist and I must say everything about them was very professional, we received lots of details about the resort, where we would be staying and had a very detailed travel itinerary. As we were complete novices in the ski world we had no idea what we should bring with us, would we need ski equipment, ski wear etc. We checked all this with the tour company and were advised that we would not need to bring any specialist equipment or clothing that everything could be hired on our arrival in the resort. The only specific items we did bring were hats, gloves and ski goggles.

I have a fear of heights and my main concern was how I would get off the ski lift, to be honest this was a worry I need not have had. As we were novices we were able to stay on the school slopes for the complete holiday. When we arrived at our resort we were able to book a five day course of lessons in the ski school, this left us another day and a half where we could have ventured onto the more difficult slopes but I was more than content to stay on the school slopes.

We were able to hire all the equipment we needed through our hotel, boots, skis and ski suits, also our lessons. We arrived at the school to be met by lots of young children, I did not find this off putting as I had completely no idea what to do and so needed to learn the very basics. The ski instructors were very good and we were not treated like children, although some of the children were excellent and really learned very quickly, unlike us older learners.

We had lots of fun but it was quite hard work and at the end of the course although I may not have been a proficient skier I was definitely a much more confident skier. I did feel content to ski on the nursery slopes and would be willing to venture onto more difficult runs when I return. I would definitely recommend skiing to anyone, although it is hard work but still it’s very good fun. We stayed in a very beautiful and picturesque resort and it was busy but not too crowded. The food was very good and the après ski was even better. There was no snobbishness in the resort and nobody looked down on us because we were novices, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and when my children are old enough we will take them skiing.