20 something beginners

Hiya!
So I'm planning on going skiing next year (Jan-Feb) with a group of my girlfriends between 20-25 years old. What is the best place to go for beginners as none of us have been before, but also where they maybe be some nightlife or things to do at night? We don't specifically have a preference on location.
Your help would be great because we're clueless :D

And Kirsty - the correct answer is ...
Anywhere you fancy !! :P

But of course this is completely unhelpful :roll:

So .....
Let's try to narrow things down a bit please.

1 - How many off you?
2 - Any idea of budget?
3 - Any preference on country - any languages spoken by any of you or any absolute hates?
4 - Do you want to be just the group of you together somewhere or do you want to be in a big hotel with lots of other people?

Then we may be in a position to start helping you.
The options you have are vast and it is very easy as a novice to make mistakes that can spoil the holiday for you all.

You will get a bucket of suggestions and offers of advice on here but the more feedback we get from you the more likely it is that you will all get a brilliant holiday.

:thumbup:

Hey Andy!

Well at the moment there is 5 of us but this could change by the time we go.
Tbh we arent sure of how much a particular skiing trip would be, I suppose the typical/average price sounds about right.
Again, as we are new at this we are not sure of what the best places to stay would be. None of us would particularly hate going anywhere, but bearing in mind we from Essex there may be a 'certain' area ha

I think we'd deffo want to stay in a resort with a lot of other people near the main area rather then on the outskirts

Sorry this isn't very specific but we are pretty open with places tbh

Thanks :wink:

All helpful info.

Let's start with price. I do think this needs some thought and deciding upon. A typical trip goes something like this .....

1 - Tour operators price; flights, transfers, accomodation, food as booked etc. (don't forget insurance - absolutely vital)
2 - Skiing add-ons
a; at home - clothes, jackets, saloppettes, gloves, hats, thermals etc. Bought before you go. As beginners unless you are uber rich the budget ranges will be your friends here. Really cheep rubbish can be a false economy as you do need to be kept warm, comfy and dry while falling about on the snow. Say - £300 each?
b; in resort - ski school for the week, ski and boot hire, a lift pass for some or all of the week depending on where you go. There are learner packages available which when pre-booked drastically reduce these costs (Crystal do some) but this lot will probably be about the £250 mark.
c; food, drink, partying, cocktails, shopping - anything else you want. Food in ski resorts and drinks both up on the hill and in resort are expensive anywhere, even the budget resorts, think London prices and it may help you. Realistically and being pretty frugal this is going to be £150 each minimum.

The above has already become £700 each on top of the holiday price. I've gone through all this because many newcomers to skiing don't factor in all these extras and think the £500 holiday is it. Generally there is a lot more extra expense on a skiing holiday than a summer holiday.

My view is that the most important thing at this stage is to get commitment from your friends for a specific weekend to travel next year. Make sure this is before the half term holidays start (prices shoot up, slopes get really busy, much harder as a beginner all round). Give them a realistic total cost goal with extras, get agreement and then start to narrow down where to etc.

If pushed at the moment I would say that somewhere in Andorra could suit you well. You then need to think about how close to things such as ski school the accomodation is - you don't want to be walking half a mile dragging your skis and clumping along in ski boots.

Enough for now !!

for value for beginners you cant beat Andorra..arinsal..last year crystal did a beginners pack for lifts classes and hire..

Skiing-wise as a complete beginner you can go anywhere because pretty much all resorts will have nursery slopes and couple easy runs where you can practice what you've learned. It's mostly for intermediates that the choice can become tricky as at that stage variety becomes more important than simple repetition. So define the budget first and go from there. As for nightlife maybe avoiding smaller resorts that cater mainly for famiies with kids will be a good idea. Buy all your ski clothes in advance - they are more expensive in resorts and sales there don't start until March (after half-term break is over) whereas elsewhere stuff goes on sale after Christmas. I wouldn't count this expense as an add-on to your holiday price unless you only plan to ski once. I look at this as an investment so better buy something that you will like and that will last. For jackets/pants/gloves look at waterproof rating, you will falling and you want to stay dry. I would do what OldAndy says - get committment from your friends first, research resorts (snow-forecast.com is a good resource for that, read both reviews and descriptions), look at available offers - or look at offers first and then do a bit of investigation. It won't be the cheapest holidays you can have, but if you choose resort wisely it will be tons of fun. Just beware that some ski schools run group lessons in the morning, 9-12, so late night partying can get on the way of your learning:) So you might want to research ski schools too. Also, as a beginner don't get a ski pass as part of you package as you will be charged for regular lift tickets and tickets for beginner areas where you are likely to spend first couple of days are much cheaper.

I would recommend Alpe D'Huez. This has an excellent low level around the resort for beginners and will help build confidence, plus they have a decent ski school from what I have been told. I actually came back from a week there a few weeks ago and the holiday itself was cheap enough, accommodation was good and there were some quality bars and a nightclub (We were a group of 8 lads 23-28).

and....can Icy come? :oops: