Ski Travel for Beginners
If you want to learn to ski, then the best way could be to plan a ski travel vacation. This might sound odd, but you can learn while you are on vacation, which means you set off a non-skier, knowing nothing at all about skiing, and return home a skier! Not only that, but the learning is fun. Within an hour of your arrival at the ski resort, you could be on the slopes.
Almost every ski resort has their own ski school, usually right there on the premises and with well priced lessons available, and most ski schools offer these for groups or for individuals. It is a good idea to book some lessons before you get there, or at least make yourself an appointment, so that you don't waste any time when you arrive, organizing lessons, when you could be out there having fun. The first thing you will probably learn will be how to be comfortable with the ski equipment - ski boots are hard to walk in, because they tilt you forwards in the position you need to be in for skiing, and this means you have to walk with your knees slightly bent, which makes walking much easier. You'll soon get the hang of it!
The first move you are likely to learn on your beginner ski travel is one called the snow plow or just plow, in which you use your skis rather like a snow plow, pushing the backs of them outwards slowly and with some pressure applied. This is the way you will learn to stop. Then you learn how to move downhill, bending your knees and leaning your body to one side when you want to turn. These are easy techniques to learn and you can master them all within an hour. Once you can turn and stop then you are ready for the slopes, so head for the ski lift! You can also use the snow plow to help control your speed, because you don't want to go too fast at first. If you bring the backs of your skis in, you will go faster, push them out into a snow plow and you will slow down again.
Once you are on the slopes you should stay on the beginner trails, which are usually marked with a green sign. Intermediate trails are marked in blue and expert ones in black. You need to stick to the ones which suit your level of skill. Bite off more than you can chew and you could be in danger, so stick to green until you have improved your skills enough, (which takes lots of practice), to move on to trails which are marked in another color.
Ski travel is an exciting option for families who that comprise both expert skiers as well as beginners.
