The most important thing on our first day of skiing: to have a good time and to want to do it again.
Starting to ski is always a challenge for someone who has never been on skis before. The same goes for a surfboard. No matter the age, because you can start skiing or surfing from the age of 5 years (recommended age) and because it is never too late to start. Very simple: if we walk we can also ski. These are 10 tips that can be very useful if it is the first time you are going to put on skis. If you want the experience to be a success, don’t miss this article.
1 – Choose a good day
Choosing a good day to start skiing is essential. If it is the first time and we want to have a good memory, either for you personally, or because we take our child, our partner or whoever, we must choose a sunny day without wind. Pay attention to the weather information throughout the week.
Avoid starting on a day of heavy snowfall, very cold or too windy, unless you feel like it. Having a bad time on our first day in the snow can negatively mark an experience that we will remember for a long time. It would be a shame and very unfair to everyone.
2 – A good breakfast
Before going up to the slopes we hydrate well and eat better. We avoid that in the first hours of having put on skis we “catch” an “attack” of hunger or thirst. We must be focused on the new experience and it would be a mistake if when we have not yet been on the snow for an hour or two we have to go to a bar or cafeteria to satisfy our stomach or dry throat. There will be time for these things, as we will see later.
3 – How do we equip ourselves with clothes?
Ski clothing is not as expensive as it is made out to be. You just have to be attentive to the offers and promotions of department stores and specialized stores that can sell equipment designed for beginners and that are not at all expensive.
Even so, as it is the first day and we do not know if we will repeat, we can always ask some friends or relatives that we all have and that we know they used in their day to lend us their clothes.
Surely they still have their clothes (pants, jacket, gloves, sunglasses and a buff) and they will be happy to leave them with us. Important: do not forget to wear sunscreen, because in the high mountains the sun and UV rays have more impact on the skin by the white reflection of the snow.
4 – How do we equip ourselves with material?
For the first day it is not necessary to buy equipment. We will need skis, boots, poles and, very important, a helmet. We have two options:
A – A friend can lend it to us: economic option, but it could happen that we do not get the most suitable material right. There is a risk that we start the day badly.
B – Recommended option: we rent it at our trusted store or workshop or at the rental service at the foot of the slopes (we always go there in good time, because there is often a queue). Let the person behind the counter advise us that we are “beginners”, without any complex.
5 – Ski resort and ski pass
Choosing the ski resort and the ski pass where we are going to make our debut is a fairly easy task and is at our discretion depending on our preferences, either for reasons of proximity or ease or price. All the ski resorts have enabled areas for beginners and they tend to be precisely the most careful.
If we go to a very large resort it is not necessary to buy a ski pass for the whole domain, often they have a ski pass for exclusive use for beginners, which gives access to the slopes and lifts only in the area designed for beginners. Besides, we can always look for offers and promotions, depending on the time of the season in which we are or the opening state of the resort.
6 – Hire a ski instructor
Let’s not make the mistake of wanting to start skiing on our own. Surely we will have explained our intentions to someone, and that friend or relative, in good faith, will have told us that “you have to start going up the stairs and go down in a wedge shape, which is very easy” and then “we can start going down a green slope and take the chairlift”.
We are going to avoid it. If we really want to learn to take the first steps, with security, confidence, with guarantees of progressing correctly, and without badly acquired vices, we will hire a qualified ski instructor. The most convenient is two hours, at least.
If we can do individual classes better, but if we do it collectively it is much more economical and also more fun. Everything has buts and cons. So it’s up to us!
7 – The first day in company
Skiing must be one of the few sports and leisure activities that we can enjoy whether we go alone, as a couple, with friends or family. It is a social activity of the first order. Our advice for the first day is to go accompanied. If we enjoy good company we can always share the experience and find more accomplices to our experience.
8 – Do not force the first day
After the first two or three hours of skiing, it is highly recommended that we make a stop to rest, take strength and review what the ski instructor has taught us. We will look for a bar with a sunny terrace to do so, a place where there will be other beginners who will be doing the same as us and where we can always listen involuntarily -without bad intentions- to nice conversations that will confirm that we are enjoying a healthy, fun, social and physical experience highly recommended.
We will have a snack, a drink, a coffee or maybe a sweet roll, while enjoying the beautiful scenery.
It will be enough to go back to the track with more enthusiasm. And to eat at lunchtime, we will do the same, look for a good terrace or return to the car in search of that delicious sandwich that we will have prepared at home when it was still dark.
9 – Immortalize the day with photos and videos
The first day in the snow, do not forget that it should be an experience that we will remember for a long time and that it would be nice to immortalize. So let’s not forget to take our camera or cell phone to immortalize the images of our first skiing trip.
The ski instructor can take some great pictures if we ask him, maybe even bring a device to adapt a go-pro or similar, or maybe it will be our friends or family who from the foot of the slopes will make us a photo album with a good zoom, like a real paparazzi! Ah, we will carry full batteries and even some extra batteries.
10 – Chains or car covers
Even if we have chosen a good day to go skiing and with clean access, we must never forget to carry snow equipment in our vehicle. Covers, chains or winter tires are always devices that, from now on, if we become skiers, will always accompany us on our adventures in the snow.
Not only by obligation, but they are elements that give us the guarantee of traveling safely and with peace of mind. And now, let’s enjoy the snow: What day shall w