Tommy has over 15 years experience within the insurance industry, and his primary focus is helping travellers find the right cover for their medical conditions.
Snow-covered holidays are more popular now than ever before and are often a winter activity that complements a sunny summer holiday. Snowboarding and skiing are trendy sports that many learn at a younger age and continue to enjoy throughout life. If you’re looking to enjoy a ski holiday for the first time or for the 100th time, hopefully, this guide will offer you some tips and advice on planning the best ski holiday.
Keep reading for recommendations, including booking your ski passes and gear before arriving, booking ski lessons and getting travel insurance for existing conditions.
Planning the ultimate ski holiday
- Pick your dates and location carefully
- Book ski lessons if needs be
- Organise your gear and passes prior to arriving
- Book travel insurance
We spoke to Rebecca Sharp, blogger at Almost Ginger, who told us a little more about why you should try skiing and why you should book a ski holiday:
"You don't need to wait until you have family, friends or a partner interested in joining you before you can go on a ski holiday. Go alone or join a group! There are plenty of ski resorts, hotels, co-living spaces and hostels that arrange group vacations so you can meet new skiing buddies once you’re there."
"Everyone will be in the same boat so you won’t struggle to find people to hop in the sauna with or partake in après ski. Many group trips will arrange ski passes and beginner lessons, too, so you don’t have to work everything out yourself if it’s your first time hitting the slopes."
Pick your dates and location carefully
With a skiing holiday, it is essential that you choose your dates of travel very carefully! First, it is wise to think about which resort you want to go to and how far you want to travel; some of the most popular ski resorts include:
- Whistler, Canada
- Courchevel, France
- Val d'Isère, France
- Chamonix, France
- Moritz, Switzerland
- Verbier, Switzerland
Depending on which location you choose will alter which months are best for you to visit. Canada is great for skiing between November and April, France is great for a ski holiday between December and April, and Switzerland is best between November and March. Think wisely about what dates you want to choose, and do your research about the best dates for the resort you want to visit.
Suzanne from The Travel Bunny recommended that you research the location you want to visit, commenting: “When planning your ski holiday, one of the best things to do is research the area where you're going. Knowing which slopes will be best for your skill level is important because you'll need a range of pistes that'll suit everyone in your group.”
Book ski lessons if needs be
If you’re planning to go skiing for the first time or members of your party are skiing for the first time, then it is essential that you book a few ski lessons before you head out on the slopes. You can arrange this when booking your holiday.
Ski lessons are crucial and help avoid any unnecessary accidents and injuries for those who have never been on the slopes. Ski lessons are often run by professionals with years of experience who can teach you the basics so you can confidently tackle some of the easier runs yourself later in the holiday.
Organise your gear and passes prior to arriving
For that skiing for the first time, you may not know that you have to book things like ski passes and hire your gear and equipment when you get there (unless you have your own gear, of course).
Suzanne spoke a little about things you should plan prior to travelling, like hotel transfers, ski passes and skiing gear: “If you don't want to get on a bus to travel to the slopes, then ensure your chalet includes free transfers. If you're staying in a hotel, then look for ski-in-ski-out, so you spend more time on the slopes and less time travelling. Check which gear you'll need and ensure you have it well in advance. If you're going to hire skis and boots, then get that done as soon as you arrive so that you can get straight onto the slopes the next morning. Sometimes you can get a discount on ski passes if you book in advance, which may also be worth looking into.”
As Suzanne mentioned above, if you’re staying further away from the ski runs you want to try, then try and book hotel transfers prior to visiting, or maybe consider a ski-in-ski-out hotel that allows you to really take advantage of your time away.
Book travel insurance
Skiing is a dangerous sport, so booking travel insurance is essential. Travel insurance covers all incidents, including cancelled flights, accidents whilst away, emergency medical expenses, baggage loss and theft of important documents.
If you have a pre-existing medical condition, it is even more important to have medical travel insurance, and Medical Travel Compared offers insurance for almost every medical condition. Medical Travel Compared offer specialised winter sports travel insurance for those looking for insurance when travelling to the slopes.
For more blog posts like this, then make sure you head to our blog.
Get a quoteA pre-existing condition is a diagnosed medical condition that existed before taking out a policy. We'll ask a series of questions about the medical history for you and any travellers on your quote. If you answer yes to any of these, you will need to tell us about the traveller's conditions. This could be a condition that a traveller has now or has had in the past. If you are not sure what conditions you need to declare, we have online support available to help you 24/7!