What do you do on your first day?

Hello everyone :)

So, interesting to get everyone's view on this one. You arrive in resort for your first day skiing. Even if you have been to the resort before, what type of runs do you ski? One difficulty below your standard to get your legs back after a number of months off (eg red to blue, black to red, off piste expert to black, etc etc), or do you jump straight in where you were before?

I tend to drop one level for a day/half day and take from there. But I always wonder whether that is a wasted day.

What do you think? :roll:

Normally, if not having lessons, day one is careful (although I have been known to get too cocky and fall badly on day one, putting myself in jeopary for the rest of the week!)

On the first run, usually an easy blue, I feel like I have forgotten everything and it is a relief to get down it. It takes a while to get my skiing head on too.

I like to get some miles in on my first day whether I know the resort or not.
Like to get a feel for the conditions.
Won't push it technically though.

The big unknown for me comes with whether I can walk to breakfast on the next morning .....
:mrgreen:

Totally with you on that one OldAndy, I guess by the name you are not a young man - I am a young man and still have that problem. In fact, I have that problem every day - I tend to start getting fit on the Wednesday

As I generally ski alone, I am always a bit wary of getting the miles in on the first day as I will no doubt 'lose my bearings' (aka get lost)- despite piste maps with coloured lines on them, I have been known to think I can ski down a run and get there to find out it is actually uphill :oops:

donald-duck wrote:Totally with you on that one OldAndy, I guess by the name you are not a young man - I am a young man and still have that problem. In fact, I have that problem every day - I tend to start getting fit on the Wednesday

As I generally ski alone, I am always a bit wary of getting the miles in on the first day as I will no doubt 'lose my bearings' (aka get lost)- despite piste maps with coloured lines on them, I have been known to think I can ski down a run and get there to find out it is actually uphill :oops:

You really don't sound too young Donald, you sound about 40 …... :mrgreen:

Definately take it easy on the first day. I just tend to use it to get my bearings, find me ski legs and enjoy being in the mountains.
Gutted to hear that once you reach 40 there is a requirement to try and ski the pistes backwards. I'd better make the most of this year as I'm 39!

Ian Wickham wrote:

donald-duck wrote:Totally with you on that one OldAndy, I guess by the name you are not a young man - I am a young man and still have that problem. In fact, I have that problem every day - I tend to start getting fit on the Wednesday

As I generally ski alone, I am always a bit wary of getting the miles in on the first day as I will no doubt 'lose my bearings' (aka get lost)- despite piste maps with coloured lines on them, I have been known to think I can ski down a run and get there to find out it is actually uphill :oops:

You really don't sound too young Donald, you sound about 40 …... :mrgreen:

Sounds young to me. Age is relative.

Glad to see you are the same as me Jack!

It's not a bad idea to go easy on the first run or two of you holiday, though I am not sure it's worth doing for the whole day. You are likely to find out that you still remember how to ski and your skills haven't disappeared, so you will find yourself where you were before very soon. If you are a solid red run skier and in a decent physical shape why would you want to stick to blues for the whole day? Pointless IMHO.