advice needed please

hi all,for my 50th birthday i want to try skiing for the first time ( im quite fit and active)my wife wont go as she only will go on a sun/beach holiday :( ,so my son who has done a lot of skiing for the army has said he will go with my,then about 4 or 5 of his mates say they are wanting to come along,lol.please can anyone advise a european destination to try for the week,i would be looking to go about march april next year,also bearing in mind there is a few lads going it will be preferable if there is a bit of night life,regards leslie.thanks in anticipation for any advice offered, :D also would prefer not too long a journey from the airport to resort,thanks also which is a decent value place for things like food/drink etc,whats slovenia like ? someone suggested to try there

Hello and welcome to J2Ski! It's great to see your interest in getting your first time skiing.

Destinations for first time; personally i'd recommend a French resort. Generally cheaper than other resorts in Austria, Italy and the like from my own experience and tends to be a bigger attraction to British skiers.

Specifically, I'd imagine perhaps the Meribel valley (Middle valley of the well known 3 Valleys) could be well suited to your needs.
Plenty skiable terrain for both basic beginners and plenty out there for more experienced riders.
Again; the pricing in Meribel is actually pretty decent I found from my trip there in January this year.
The transfer time from the airport (can't remember which one!) to the resort itself was around 2 hours, which isn't all that bad! Especially when you've got good company on the bus!

As for lessons etc, i'd recommend trying to book some lessons before you go on your holiday, on perhaps a dry slope or a near-by indoor ski slope if you have easy access to such facilities - just to get a grip of the basics, find your feet and from there you can devlope on your own. I've never had a lesson in a ski resort before so I can't comment on any average prices.

Hopefully the other ski-creatures on here will throw in their own 2 cents worth!

Nice to hear from you and good luck!

thanks very much for your input,its much appreciated :)

baillie353 wrote: personally i'd recommend a French resort. Generally cheaper than other resorts in Austria, Italy and the like from my own experience and tends to be a bigger attraction to British skiers.

:shock: I would never have said France was cheaper than Italy or Austria, I must be going to the wrong resorts.

NellyPS wrote:

baillie353 wrote: personally i'd recommend a French resort. Generally cheaper than other resorts in Austria, Italy and the like from my own experience and tends to be a bigger attraction to British skiers.

:shock: I would never have said France was cheaper than Italy or Austria, I must be going to the wrong resorts.

France is more expensive

Sorry that wasn't particularly helpful.

If you did fancy Italy or Austria I would recommend Livignio (Italy) as its duty/tax free (can never remember which), good for a mixed ability group and some decent nightlife.

In Austria I would go for Mayrhofen, a lot more night life there and again good for mixed abilities.

The only problem with these two resorts is that they are split across the valley so you may end up away from the rest of your group.

Theres so much to choose from though, its hard to narrow it down but do a bit of research on this website or here http://www.wtss.co.uk/

Welcome to the world of skiing :D

France is expensive?.. I was quite impressed with the prices in Meribel and Alpe D'Huez!

Still, variation is always great! :D

what about slovenia as a possibility? read some decent things on that place.not bothered about an instructor/learning school,as i stated my son used to ski for the army team so would learn enough of him i suppose.