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Stay safe on the ski slopes!
There is an internationally recognised code of practise for behaviour on the slopes but basically it’s pretty straightforward to any driver.
Don’t park in a blind spot
Don’t enter a piste without looking up to see if anyone is coming
Take details of witnesses in an accident and cross skis above them to stop anyone else crashing into them
Call for help and stay with the casualty
Wear a helmet
Don’t ski under the influence of alcohol or drugs
Be fully insured both on and off the piste
Obey the signposts
Control your speed
Avoid any skier in front of you
RESPECT for other skiers & boarders
Should I buy ski boots in UK or in the ski resort?
A difficult question! There are several factors to take into consideration
If you buy in the UK you can find a time that suits you. Shop around on the Internet before you make your appointment . Many top boot fitters will spend a very long time with you and they have real expertise. Some of them will offer you a guarantee that allows you to come back if they are uncomfortable. The downside is that they are not in resort with you when the problem strikes
If you buy in resort you will only be offered the makes that the local shops have and all the time you spend fitting your boots is coming out of your precious skiing time. If you are booking your own flight try to arrive early so you can make time on day one for your appointment. The advantage of this is that if the boot is uncomfortable you can call into the shop after skiing everyday and show the fitter exactly where it is sore.
At the beginning of the season some shops will hire brand new boots. If they are comfortable ask if you can buy them instead of paying the hire fee. That way the shop is guaranteed either a sale or a hire and you try before you buy. Win win if you are lucky enough to get a shop with the right boot in stock to offer you this opportunity. Even boots that have been worn a few times may be worth buying if they can spare them from their stock
No single supplement on your ski holiday!
Many of the big ski companies will only book rooms for two or more people and it becomes impossible for single travellers to travel with them. At Singlesport we will always offer to pair up our single travellers so that they do not have to pay a supplement. If a hotel or chalet has genuine single rooms we can offer them without a supplement but they are few and far between. Where a room is designed to take two people and you wish to use it for single occupancy they always charge a supplement and we try to get this as low as possible, it helps if we are travelling outside peak times.
Book early to spread the cost of your ski or snowboard holiday
Nowadays the cheapest airfares are almost always those booked early and so Singlesport opens booking in May for the following season . Guests typically pay £150 deposit and their air fare asap. They can then enjoy the summer until the balance is due about 10 weeks before the holiday. Hopefully there will be another couple of pay cheques before its time to travel and then its necessary to stump up the spending money and lift pass cost.
Hopefully by spreading the cost it makes it all much more affordable
Lift passes are expensive for skiers & snowboarders but are they worth it?
The major cost that separates a ski holiday from a summer one is that you must buy a lift pass. They can easily cost £200 or more. At first it seems a huge amount until you stop to think what it covers.
Throughout the year the lift companies are maintaining and improving a huge network of machines to drag us up the hill in chairs or gondolas or cable cars. When the season starts they must issue tickets that trigger their sophisticated gates without even coming out of your pocket. They must employ an army of staff to be available at the top and bottom of every lift to keep us safe and press STOP when we are not paying attention and manage to fall just where everyone is trying to get on or off.
If that wasn’t all expensive enough they also have to provide an army of machines and personnel to work all night to bash the pistes back into good shape for tomorrow’s onslaught and when there’s not enough natural snow yet more machines are required to make some more snow along with lorries to move it around so the busy junctions magically get a fresh supply!
Most of us never want to experience an accident on the slopes but if we do it’s the lift company staff who come to our rescue sometimes having to deal with serious injury.
So maybe we don’t mind paying so much for our lift pass after all?
There are a few ways we can get better value. Study the website of the lift company carefully. If you are a beginner they may offer a limited pass which entitles you to use just a few beginner slopes without having to pay for the whole mountain. If you only want to go outside your zone on one day of the week you might be able to top up the pass for that day rather than pay for a whole week in the extended area. If you have a friend who is not skiing but wants to enjoy the view and restaurants at the top they may be able to get a pedestrian pass. Some companies will allow a group of friends or a family a discount if they buy together and most will allow a discount for seniors on production of a passport.
Singlesport will always try to get our guests the best value pass.
One lump or two? Design your ski or snowboarding holiday the way you like it!
Make sure you choose the ski holiday that is right for you, one size definitely does not fit all!
There are many ways of enjoying a ski holiday and it’s important to establish before you go that your ideas coincide with those of your ski buddies.
Some think of skiing as a big party. They will be drinking hard, up most of the night and miss most of the morning. nursing a hang over
Others are quite the opposite. They see skiing as a sport that you need to train for and study the technical aspects until they understand every angle, every pressure point and exactly what makes a ski turn. They get better and better and want to tackle even greater challenges.
Many others love the mountains and want to share the beauty of being in such a wonderful place. They can ski along quite happily at a steady pace and look forward to a coffee with a splendid view. They enjoy good restaurants and good chalets and a nice glass of wine but never want to spoil tomorrow with a hangover.
Of course that’s a crazy generalisation but at Singlesport we recognise that there are many ways of enjoying your skiing and therefore offer different types of holidays,some with tuition some with guiding and some free n easy to do as you please. Singlesport also aims to have large groups on every holiday specifically so that our single travellers can always find ski buddies who want to ski their way and other friends who suit them well in the evening too.
Holiday companies can no longer provide guiding in France
Many British chalet companies used to offer guiding to their guests in France. This was ideal for single travellers and others who wanted a social group organised for them. The best companies trained their staff and offered as many as 3 guided groups every day allowing guests to choose whether they joined a fast group or a more leisurely one. Unfortunately many did not and some inexperienced chalet staff would simply herd their guests out onto the mountain and guide them without any idea what ability they might be.
It would be good if they would create a guiding license which would enable the French ski school to offer a course to chalet company guides and examine them before issuing them with a guiding license. That way the French ski schools would have some income and the holiday makers could still enjoy being guided. unfortunately there is no sign of this happening.
Singlesport’s answer to this is to offer 2 guided holidays in Italy with fully qualified instructors from Alpine Italy as our guides. This really is the best of both worlds because we get the very best out of every days skiing, find the best restaurants and those who wish can learn something as they go along if they wish to ask the instructors for tips without having to do formal drills, all safe in the knowledge that they know the way home and the time of the last lifts! Win win!
January https://www.singlesport.com/
March https://www.singlesport.com/
Get the best ski instruction
As with all sports starting with the best instruction to lay strong building blocks is essential. It’s tempting if you are trying to save cash to think you can just follow your mates and try to copy them.
>> In the UK we have many good indoor slopes and starting there will give you your first taste of having planks on your feet and wearing ski boots which might save precious holiday time enabling you to start in class 2 instead of 1.
>> Get as much instruction as you can afford in resort because good habits created early will serve you well. If your body is correctly aligned on skis you will be in better control and put far less strain on your muscles when they struggle to save you from your mistakes
Make sure your class will be taught in English both so that you can understand the detail but also so that you can enjoy a laugh with the other members of the class. It’s no fun if your friends ski off for the day and leave you in a 2 hour class with no company to enjoy afterwards
Singlesport goes to Courchevel twice a year where all our guests have 10 hours ski tuition on 5 days included in the holiday price. We completely take over the excellent British ski school skivo2. Their instructors are all BASI qualified (British association of ski instructors) and the best I have experienced. They offer classes for complete beginners right through to experts and as everyone in the class is a Singlesport guest you will have good company to ski with afterwards
January https://www.singlesport.com/
March https://www.singlesport.com/
In November Singlesport goes to Kaprun where we have lessons all day to start the season. These courses are suitable for intermediate and advanced skiers but not beginners
https://www.singlesport.com/
Ski transfers
It’s easy nowadays to fly into most of the ski airports fairly cheaply but the onward journey to resort can easily cost more than the flight! Singlesport will always try to provide a transfer coach to make this much easier and cost effective. For our Courchevel holidays we have a fleet of minibuses transferring guests all day in January & march
January https://www.singlesport.com/
March https://www.singlesport.com/
Airport parking can cost as much as the flight!
We all like the convenience of driving to the door of the airport and maybe treating ourselves to meet and greet but for single travellers it’s not nearly such good value as when you fill the car. That’s why on every Singlesport trip we encourage as many guests as possible to use the same flight and share the guest list before we travel so that they can try to travel to the airport together to share the cost of airport parking
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