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#11
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Advice - First time ski holiday?
Dan wrote: Hey, My friends and I want to go on our first skiing holiday but the choice is overwhelming so I'm asking on here for some advice. We are beginners, party animals (good nightlife a must!) and being students, on a limited budget. We're from the UK so english speaking resorts would be a bonus though some of us have a basic grasp of french. Can anyone recommend a resort that suits us? Ideally we're looking at travelling either in the months of January or February from a London based airport. Duration between 4 days and a week. Also, we have no skii equipment or ski clothes. Where is the best place to hire these? At the resprt or at a shop in England? Are there any good websites which can tell us the basics on what we need for our first ski holiday? Are there any other places where I can get good adivce? Any help much appreciated. Thankyou Dan Hi Dan, I'd agree with most of what's been said already: - Hire jacket and salopettes in the UK. Depending on how near London you are, 47 degrees (http://www.47degrees.com) will rent you clothes. I used them for my first ski trip and they were fine. Alternatively, as already suggested, ALDI will do dirt cheap ski clothes to buy. I imagine they're not the only ones now either. A friend of mine also hired some clothes that he then picked up and returned in Gatwick airport. Seemed like a good service, and the clothes were quality goretex. I can't remember the name of the company, but google around and you might find something. - You'll need sunglasses and/or goggles. You can get these cheapish as well if you hunt around. You can get away with wearing goggles the whole time (boarders do) but if the weather sets in you wouldn't get away with sunglasses all the time, if that makes sense. - Gloves or mits - don't underestimate just how cold your hands will get! You might be able to hire some, otherwise spend as much as you can afford, or borrow! - Thermal underwear - I bought some from M&S 8 years ago and it's still great. Thermal vest and long johns - if you don't feel the cold so much you will get away with these, plus a fleece and a goretex jacket. If you feel the cold like my wife, pack an extra fleece and two t-shirts! - Hire boots, skis, boards, poles in resort - cheaper, less hassle and they can change or fix things if and when they go wrong. Go in January, not February - Feb is half term holidays for everyone so prices go through the roof and the pistes are way too busy. January, especially the week after new years, is bargain basement time. Okay, so it can be colder, and the day's can be shorter, but you can dress for the cold and it's your first trip, so a shorter day might suit - sounds like you'll want to hit the bar early too! Go for a week - it usually works out about the same price as going for 4 days one way or another. If you go in Jan and take advantage of the prices, you might want to consider a catered chalet seeing as it's your first time. You'll get your breakfast, tea and dinner 6 nights out of 7, the transport and transfers are sorted, they'll sort out your passes and lessons for you and it's more personable than a hotel. Unlike in self-catered you'll be able to grill the chalet staff for hints and tips. Check out the websites for Skiworld, Crystal, Ski Total, Neilson...see what prices in Jan are looking like - also they usually group resorts according to 'beginners/intermediate/advanced', 'Great apres ski' that sort of thing. You could consider using a booking agent like ifyouski.com to search around for you - you won't pay any more usually. Skiclub.org.uk has a fair amount of info on resorts and the companies that go there as well. Not been to Andora or Austria so I can't comment, but I hear from others that both are good, cheap, party-oriented options, although as already mentioned Andora's not as cheap as it used to be. My first ski holiday was in Les Deux Alpes in France with Skiworld. It got me hooked, it was fairly cheap and we partied every night. Benidorm of the Alps, somebody once called it, but it probably shouldn't put you off. Other expenses? Ski pass, lessons and equipment hire have already been mentioned. Insurance - make sure you've got some with winter sports cover! I've lost count of the number of people I know who've really needed it - getting rescued off a mountain and taken to a hospital ain't cheap. Also, eating in mountain restaurants for lunch ain't cheap either - have a large breakfast and ski through, or budget 10 Euros a day for a plate of spaghetti. Take a huge bag of mini mars bars on holiday with you as well. Good luck with it and, as they said in Point Break "It'll change your life, swear to God." - okay, so they were talking about surfing, but they could've been talking about skiing. Matt |
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#12
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Advice - First time ski holiday?
Florian Anwander wrote:
Hi Dan Also, we have no [...] ski clothes. I don't think that you can rent skiing clothes anywhere in the world. (Exception: skiing boots). Sorry Florian, most UK ski shops I've been to rent Clothes. For example SnowSun at the Ipswich ski slope or SnowFit in Norwich. I'm not sure about Bartletts but phone and ask. Chris |
#13
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Advice - First time ski holiday?
Felly sgrifennodd Florian Anwander :
I think Austria is the place with the leat expensive hotels. Andorra is the spot with the cheapest parties. Really? We're Ferienwohnung people, but for us, Switzerland always seems cheaper. We are going for one week in Austria this year though - splashing out! Adrian -- Adrian Shaw ais@ Adran Cyfrifiadureg, Prifysgol Cymru, aber. Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Cymru ac. http://users.aber.ac.uk/ais/weather/ uk |
#14
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Advice - First time ski holiday?
"Dan" wrote in message ... Hey, My friends and I want to go on our first skiing holiday but the choice is overwhelming so I'm asking on here for some advice. We are beginners, party animals (good nightlife a must!) and being students, on a limited budget. We're from the UK so english speaking resorts would be a bonus though some of us have a basic grasp of french. Can anyone recommend a resort that suits us? Ideally we're looking at travelling either in the months of January or February from a London based airport. Duration between 4 days and a week. Also, we have no skii equipment or ski clothes. Where is the best place to hire these? At the resprt or at a shop in England? Are there any good websites which can tell us the basics on what we need for our first ski holiday? Are there any other places where I can get good adivce? Any help much appreciated. Thankyou Dan For Clothes have a look at TKMax as they have some very good stuff for not a lot of money. |
#15
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Advice - First time ski holiday?
On Thu, 23 Nov 2006 15:23:20 +0000, Alex Heney
wrote: snip Depending on just when you are going, ALDI usually have ski clothing on sale for a week some time in January, and a set of jacket and salopettes only costs around £40 to buy - and they are perfectly adequate, I will be wearing mine again this year, and first wore them on a trip to Canada with temperatures of -29C. Further to this, I have just seen that ALDI have them in next week - 30th November. Things usually only stay in stock there for a few days. http://uk.aldi.com/special_buys/special_buys_pid_45236.html -- Alex Heney, Global Villager .... "I'll be Bach." - Johann Sebastian Schwarzenegger To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom |
#16
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Advice - First time ski holiday?
Thanks for all the advice. Really appreciate it. I'm saving the whole thread
for future reference. Dan |
#17
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Advice - First time ski holiday?
"Dan" wrote in message ... Thanks for all the advice. Really appreciate it. I'm saving the whole thread for future reference. Dan When its over let us know how you get on Cheers -- Paul Schofield |
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