It may seem hard to believe, but

[Giddy Goat]

My husband was a keen skier before he met and was foolish enough to marry me. A ski virgin, I was destined to stay that way by virtue of my almost total inability to master any physical skill - except treading water.

Husband quickly realised that his hints about our taking a ski holiday were falling on deaf ears. So the poor deprived lad hasn't worn a beanie for 25 years. Twenty five years!!!

But in five short weeks, all is about to change: we've just been invited by some kind and generous friends to join them at their chalet for a long weekend! GG is going to strap on a pair of skis for the very first time. Awesome. Now a senior cit, is this the right age and stage to accept such a challenge, she wonders? So to minimise the potential risks, and maximise my potential on the slippery slopes, the countdown has started: yesterday I returned red-faced and contrite to the local gym, after an absence of nearly a year; and, reasoning that if I have less weight to drag up the hills, (and more important, to raise from supine) might be a good plan, I have begun to watch what I eat and drink.

So now, folks, are there any good tips that you can pass on? For example, someone muttered that taking Ibuprofen some days in advance can serve to minimise the amount of protest from your muscles after all this strenuous effort. Expand on this please?

And what do I need to pack? I may be able to borrow a ski suit; skis and boots one can hire... are there any snowheads on this forum willing to offer a checklist to this raw, and quaking-at-the-thought beginner? Advice please! Any! It's a big subject I know. We'll have three full days in total, and a day on either side getting there. A taster, but miracles have been known to happen, so if it's a success, you might see me in this section more often!

BTW, in an effort to research beanies, I found this intriguing website, which is only distantly related to the topic in hand, if at all, but here it is:

http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

[Sue Dyer]

GG, if the skiing doesn't work out hire some snowshoes, get the lift up and walk down the side of the piste. You see so much more than whizzing past on ski's.

I prefer the separate ski sallopettes and jacket than the all in ones (too hard to pee with). I've just bid for a couple of cheapie new sallopettes on ebay. I got a nice Trespass jacket at TX Max for £50 too that is idea for waiting at UK bus stops in the winter.

Thermals, long johns and a vest might not look sexy but you'll be glad of them. A silly hat is a must too.

Vin Chaude in the bars after luge! Perfect. Have fun and report back in one piece! I'm off to Bulgaria 13th Jan.

Oh, I did an organized snow shoe walk in Couchevel. I seemed to take to it straight away and the instructor called me "his little Alpine goat!

[Hells Bells]

GG, you're never too old, my ski teacher friend has taught people in their 70;s to ski, and is organising a beginners week for the over 50's this year.
Don't take the ibuprofen before you go(professional pharmacist head on here, not skiing beanie), it will play havoc with your gut, even if you are a goat, and eat anything. . Get that loving hubby to take some nice massage oil (Clarins one is nice) to rub into the aching muscles, cos they will ache.
Get a good pair of ski gloves, (Goretex maybe) as when you fall in the snow, cheap ones will get wet, and your hands will get cold.
A jacket and trousers are better than a ski suit (get in your way when you need a pee).
Get a good pair of sunglasses or goggles(for bad weather).
If it makes you feel more secure, hire a helmet along with the skis and boots. Also, take care choosing your boots that they aren't too big (it will feel strange), and that your skis aren;t too long (chin height to start, hubby will be used to skiing 2m long skinny skis, things are different now).
And lastly. Come over and join MG , Firebug, and myself on Snowheads (there's someone else too, but I can't remember who).
Anything else, feel free to PM me.
Goats feel at home in the mountains anyway.

[Bellywobble]

When we go skiing I pack a case full of books and a hotwater bottle and I don't venture out until all the slopes have closed at the end of the day. I have a great time and don't ache at all.
Have fun.

[Hells Bells]

Kayley, you don't know what you're missing!!!

[Partridge]

Good luck to you GG

I do like skiing but wish someone could just put me at the top of the slope, all those lifts etc give me the colly wobbles but it's the pull along ones that I avoid like the plague !!

I hated my first trip at the age of 32 because I was the only non skier and on my own in a huge group with an instructor in the morning for OH to drag me up ridiculously hard runs in the afternoon, I had to be rescued by a skidoo in the end

Second trip was mildly better, still hated the ski school but at least the kids were with me. Third trip I loved, we went to Killington USA and I thought I would hate the having to drive to the slopes but it was fine and what a revelation.........The ski school was fantaboloso, max of 6 people and the guy was a genius, my daughter went from blue to double diamond black in one week. Ok Ok by the end of the week I was still skiing on my own due my refusal to try the DD black after getting a bit stuck on the ordinary black but my confidence was so much better and how come they always seem to have a 'get out of jail card' on the hard runs there, silly signs like 'I've changed my mind' or some such things, so cool.

Anyway, only been once since but still the one lagging at the rear, hey I'm a happy bunny when I can go at my own pace. I have now said I'm not going unless we can do a chalet thing with lots of peeps so that if I want to duck out a day or two it doesn't matter but we don't know lots of peeps so that won't happen. Last year OH and son went on a lads long weekend and OH has just booked for Feb so I'll be on my jacksy.

If you're a size 12 and can get to London GG I'll happily lend you my gear

[A-two]

GG,
Great post. Wear anything with the label "North Face" on it here in New York and you'll hold your own with the under 30 crowd in the apres ski events, leaving the rest of your group gasping with admiration .... Nothing else matters and $150 for a black zip-up fleece jacket would cut it....

[Sue Dyer]

Joanne, in Nepal we got some huge "North Face" bags. We'd bought too much and had to expand our luggage. They were around £4 each - do you think they were fakes?

I'm very much with the book/hot water bottle but do venture out for a morning and afternoon snow shoe walk. Sledging is a must as it is so much fun.

[Nightowl]

Good for you GG!

We decided (under pressure from the kids) to have a ski holiday a few years back. Hubby had never been, I had been on a ski holiday once, abou 22 years ago. So we decided to 'try it out' by going to Centreparcs in Holland (de Kempervennen) which in addition to all the other stuff, has a indoor ski slope (with artificially made snow). We had lessons every day and by the end of the week we could manage OK and had decided we liked it enough to book a proper ski holiday. (kids would never have allowed us not to do it, they just LOVED it).

We went to Morzine/Avoriaz for the Christmas period. I did get my snow legs back reasonably easily but hubby did find it difficult and was a bit like bambi from time to time. When we did the actual holiday he was a first time skier at 50 and although he found it quite frustrating that he fell over more than the rest of us, he did improve a lot during the week and we stuck to quite easy runs that mainly involved just being able to stay upright, not steep slopes or difficult turns and we had an absolutely brilliant time.

So go for it, it is such good fun and you don't have to knock yourself out attempting difficult stuff. I am sure your OH will curb his enthusiasm for the more difficult runs in order to make sure you are happy and not doing runs that are beyond you. My OH took a few more lessons during our holiday and although he wasn't keen on being away from the rest of us for a few hours, it did mean that he quickly improved enough for us all to be able to stick together on the easy runs rather than leaving him behind on the nursery slopes.

So I don't think you are ever to old to try it, but you just have to stick to your limitations and enjoy what you can do, not be frustrated by what you can't.

And yes, we did ache afterwards... you use muscles you never knew you had...

We haven't done a 'proper' ski holiday since but we are really glad we did it. As a compromise to the kids, who wanted to ski every holiday since that one, we did return to Centreparcs for the last two Christmases so that the kids could get an open pass and ski all day and we could just relax in the pools and doss around, and we just spent a few hours ski-ing if we felt like it. - perfect compromise.

[Giddy Goat]

This is such helpful stuff - you are all so sweet, and thank you. I need as much encouragement as possible. I'm not going to bottle out, but am looking forward to the event with a certain amount of anxiety. Currently checking out holiday insurers.....

Watching my food and wine intake only lasted 24 hrs - but I'm having another go today, and am off to the gym again - twice in one week's a first!

Shopping list being drawn up - so any more thoughts, do please add. There is a whole other world up that mountain; I'll feel like 'the new girl' all over again!

Great ice carving Joanna; Mountie? Perhaps not - can't imagine him being able to stay still for long enough!

[Martha]

Good luck GG!
I am sure you will have a wonderful time. Another thing to consider is that you might like to try cross-country skiing which is much easier than downhill, and lots of fun...

Where are you going to be off to?

Also, snowheads is definitely a good place for advice, and I also recommend
http://www.theskidiva.com/forums/
who are a very friendly bunch.

[Giddy Goat]

Where are you going to be off to?

Switzerland - not a million miles from MG's in fact, so may even bump into him!

Have checked out 'theskidiva', Firebug - looks like a lovely forum, so thanks for the link. Perhaps I'll do a spot of lurking there, and in Snowheads....

[Rocket Rab]

GG,

You are so going to love it! Blue skies, powder snow, Glühwein, Swiss chocolate - my kind of living indeed!

My personal ski must-haves:

Bond-girl ski suit (or jacket and trousers) so you'll look good on the lifts...and possibly the pistes, tee hee...

Toy boy to carry your skis (or OH, of course... )

Really good gloves - having tried both the ones with fingers and the stuff-in-your-whole hand mitt type ones, I prefer the mitts; I fnd they keep your hands warmer.

Underneath Bond-girl suit: thermal cotton leggings, 2 pairs of socks, thin + thick, helps stop chafing... and, for me at least, those pull-on elasticated knee bandages which really reduce the stress on your knees. Available from your pharmacist, as Helen will no doubt confirm.

Pair of sunglasses plus mask-type googles (if you see what I mean) in case you get mist/fog. With ordinary sunglasses you will probably not be able to see any bumps on the piste...definitely my best buy in recent years.

You may want to delay buying some of the smaller items until you get out there - you will probably find they have an excellent selection, not all of it expensive (check out the MIGROS supermarket). Advice will be good, too.

And remember, enjoying a coffee and mountain sunshine splurged out in a deck chair is just as acceptable as actually skiing.

I'll have you riding thoroughbreds in Jordan with me next year!

[Hells Bells]

GG, I am on SkiDiva too, as MissDemeanour. And that cross-country skiing lark is damn hard work.


Have you got yourself a handsome ski instructor sorted out?

[Mountain Goat]

GG
Great advice there - can't really come up with much else, except as you're going for a short trip, sort out a good ski-teacher in advance. Don't get pushed into going out if the weather's not brilliant - nothing will put you off more - and good light is important. And, as Jenny's pointed out, Migros is a good place for last-minute stuff, including some non-slip snow boots for getting around safely. And, if you're really keen, a few hours on a dry ski-slope before you go can be a great help (though won't exactly convince you what all the fuss is about).

We'll look out for you!

MG