Learn to Ski Week Holiday

I use the term loosely as so many holiday companies offer holidays called Learn to Ski Week! Seven days, ten days, who's counting - although you may find 7 quite enough for the first time.

But what can you realistically expect to achieve from your first week's skiing? Obviously there will be a great variance in what different individuals can achieve, although it is fair to say that if you stick with it and do morning and afternoon ski sessions every day then as a bare minimum you will be able to stand up with confidence and slide down gentle sloped snow ploughing!

Easier to Learn to Ski

I kid you not, it is now easier to learn to ski than ever before, this is no hollow statement but a direct result of better skiing techniques being discovered and taught and better equipment, modern skis are a lot, yes a lot easier to use than old fashion ones, and I really do mean in the last decade or so this has happened.

If you are trying to learn to ski today, as long as you have done a little groundwork at home in preparation for your ski holiday then there is no reason that you shouldn't make better progress than anyone from 20 years ago - and they learnt ok, so you should be able as well.

Best and Worst Case

I think realistically your best case is that after one week you will be able to ski, if you take proper lessons during your ski holiday then at the end of a week if you are fit and willing and can overcome your fear then you should be able to come down most ski runs, not fast and not elegantly, but in a criss cross manner you will be able to ski down.

At the other end of the scale I will use my mother as an example, although she was in her 50's, was not fit and not what you'd call a sporty type. She took holiday ski classes and at the end of the week could certainly stand up and go down gentle slopes under some degree of control, it took her three weeks of beginners classes to get confident and comfortable, but she did it in the end, she initially took a learn to ski holiday and in subsequent years just went and took ski classes.