Your first ski trip

Get prepared

Skiing is all about enjoying yourself. You will have more fun if you prepare yourself before you head to the mountains. Here is what you need to do.

Get fit

As a beginner skier, you will be using muscles that may not get much action in your day-to-day life. It is an excellent idea to prepare your body to make your time on the slopes easier. The less fit you are, the more difficult skiing is. This is because, as a beginner skier, you will be moving your legs and your body in new ways.

Focusing on building up your legs, glutes and core for a few weeks before your skiing trip. This will help with your endurance. Taking up yoga is an excellent way to improve your core strength while improving your flexibility too. This will help you control your skis and allow you to enjoy your skiing trip much more.

Get some practice

Taking some lessons before you go on your first skiing trip will make the first few days of class much more enjoyable. You will be able to get a feel for what it is like to wear skis and ski boots. You will also be able to develop essential skills, such as turning and stopping. This will be very useful when you first get out on the real mountain.

The stuff you need

Unfortunately, skiing isn't exactly a cheap pastime. Therefore, you probably won't want to buy everything straight away as a beginner skier. But, there are a few things you will want to buy for your first skiing trip.

Ski clothing

You will need a decent jacket, pants, socks, thermal underwear and gloves. It is best to choose outerwear that allows you to add or take off layers. The weather in the mountains is very changeable, and as a beginner skier, you will be getting hot and sweaty. Having different layers, means you can take them off and add them to suit the conditions you are skiing in. A good pair of ski gloves are essential for your comfort while skiing. Make sure they are waterproof and warm. There is nothing worse than skiing with soaking wet gloves in cold temperatures.

Protection

The most important thing you need as a skier of any skill level is a good helmet. You can rent helmets from hire shops in ski resorts and when you are practicing in indoor snow centres. But you will soon want to buy your own helmet. It will fit properly, and it won't have had lots of sweaty heads in it before yours. There are quite a lot of different types of helmets out there with a range of features. You can buy helmets with adjustable vents, GoPro mounts and ones that allow you to fit headphones and communication devices into the ear pads (which we think is pretty cool).

Protecting your eyes is extremely important when you are skiing in the mountains. The glare from the sun shining on the snow can seriously damage your eyes. Therefore, you need to wear a good pair of goggles or sunglasses. Goggles give you more coverage, and many of them allow you to swap the lenses to suit low light conditions or for sunny days. You don't have to spend lots of money on goggles, but you do get what you pay for.

Skiing is a sport where you buy the equipment over time. So don't panic buy everything for your first ski trip. You can rent skis, boots and poles when you get to the resort. Hire shops usually have a great selection of quality ski equipment that is well looked after and up-to-date.

Your first ski trip

Choose the right resort

As a beginner skier, you won't need access to thousands of kilometers of slopes or a resort with lots of challenging black runs. Choose a ski resort with a good mix of beginner and intermediate slopes. By the end of your first week, you will be getting on chairlifts and linking turns on blue runs.

Take some lessons on your ski trip

As a beginner skier, you should take at least a couple of lessons on your first ski trip. This way, you will get expert tuition right from the very beginning, and your instructor will take you to the best areas to learn. An instructor will make your first ski trip safer while reducing the chance of you falling into bad habits. Don't be tempted to let a more experienced friend give you lessons. This rarely works out and can cause friction, which is something you don't want happening during your first ski trip.

Get out there!

This is just a short overview of what to do and what to expect for your first ski trip. But, this information will help you enjoy your time on the mountain and make it more rewarding.

Your first couple of days of skiing can be frustrating. But everyone has to start somewhere. Once you begin to make progress, the feeling of freedom you get is epic. There is a quote from legendary ski filmmaker Warren Miller "Once you take your first ride up a lift, your life will be changed forever". This is very true as it opens up a whole new lifestyle.

When you are more experienced, you will be skiing backcountry powder, hitting jumps and carving up the groomers; skiing opens up lots of opportunities for having fun. And that doesn't take in to account all the other stories that are made in the mountains.