A GIRLS’ GUIDE ON WHAT TO PACK & HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR FIRST SKI TRIP

This Christmas I’m heading skiing in France with my boyfriend and his family. This will be my first time going skiing (my parents have always been warm-weather travellers), so I’ve had to prepare from scratch.. cue hours of research and much advice from everyone I’ve ever met that’ve been before.

I thought I’d compile my findings in this post & hopefully it’s useful to you.

HOW I PREPARED:

Having never set foot on a ski slope before, I decided to do a bit of prep work before the main event.

I booked myself in a beginner’s ski lesson to learn the basics of steering & stopping as well as how to actually put on the boots & skis per the advice of friends & family. I went to snozone in Milton Keynes (they have other locations, check out their website), an indoor snow resort. There are a number of dry slopes nearer to me, but I felt they would make for more painful falls & it was a good idea to practice on as-close-to the terrain of the real mountain slopes as possible.

I’m a fairly fit person, but I have started doing some ski-focused exercises to prepare my body. I’ve also been watching some informational videos (like this) to give myself at least a rough idea of the basics.

As a Christmas gift P has booked me in for ski lessons at our resort. There were various class options, but P assured me one-to-one would be the best option for a complete novice. These were, of course, more expensive than other group options but they had set lengths/dates so we would’ve been paying for lessons I wasn’t there for & then I would have missed out on the beginning. In honesty, had P booked the lessons when we first booked the holiday there would’ve been more flexibility for the group options but leaving it later meant he was between a rock & a hard place. Still, at least I’ll enjoy the benefits!

what I packed:

A MINIMAL PACKING LIST FOR 4 DAYS -

1 x padded, waterproof coat
2 x thermal leggings
4 x thermal tops
2 x jumpers
1 x salopettes
1 x snood
1 x gloves
1 x winter hat
4 x thermal socks

RENT FROM RESORT -

helmet
skis
ski boots

My first ‘port of call’ was to see if I could borrow pieces or source second-hand. Considering I anticipate I’ll be falling over a fair bit I wanted pieces that were durable, comfortable and cushioning for crash landings. However, I’ve had to take into account the fact that I’m only going for less than a week, have already paid an arm & a leg for the holiday itself & buying a whole new wardrobe can get VERY expensive VERY quickly (shocker, I know!).

I am particularly petite so unfortunately I struggled to find second-hand pieces that fit me, but I did manage to get my salopettes from a local ski-wear sale and was really impressed with the amount of options on depop & vinted.

If I had an infinite budget my base & mid layers would have compromised of entirely natural fibres (i.e. merino wool for the base & cashmere/merino for the mid) for peak softness, moisture-wicking & breathability. I’m lucky enough to already own a few nice jumpers like this, but I did have compromise on the base this time. I hope to replace pieces as they wear with these natural options for future trips.

If you’re wondering why I’m harping on about ‘natural’ fibres, even a quick google will tell you the dangers of their synthetic counterparts for our health and the planet. This is an area I feel very passionately about so let me know if you’d like an entire post about it - I wish more people spoke about it.

rentals

For this first trip I’ve chosen to only purchase the essentials and items that can be used outside of skiing - thermal leggings and insulated socks have already come in useful for what has been a very cold start to winter here in England - & plan on renting a helmet & ski boots. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not particularly looking forward to essentially wearing other people’s old sweaty shoes, but needs must. A basic pair of ski boots are usually provided with the ski hire; there’ll be various tiers offered but for general reference they set me back £70 for 4 days and I booked these in advance. A helmet can also be rented for just a few euros a day directly at the resort.

I doubt I will ever purchase my own skis/ski boots since they a) seem such a pain to transport/store & b) I can’t imagine I’ll ascend to such a professional level that my own pair are required.

the little bits

I already owned a few pairs of thermal socks from various places so didn’t need to buy any new pairs, and this isn’t something I would worry about spending a lot of budget on. I do think these merino wool socks from Dilling would make an excellent Christmas gift though. I picked up a basic snood from a second-hand ski-wear sale for £5. I did plan on getting one with a drawstring so I could adjust the fit easily but I found they were really stiff & uncomfortable. They had lighter-weight gaiters as well, but they didn’t seem like they’d be particularly protective. If I were to get another one I’d go with this natural-fibre option.

When it came to thermal base layers every single person I asked raved about the UNIQLO heat tech line. They were really inexpensive (roughly £20 per item) & having tested them in my daily life I can confirm they are super comfortable & discreet. I purchased two pairs of thermal leggings and two thermal tops with a scoop neck so I don’t overheat. I know you won’t be able to see them underneath my jumper but I did chose a burgundy and a light pink top to match the rest of my outfit - it’s the little things in life after all. If you have a higher budget these merino wool base layers from ‘Superlove Merino’ look lovely, as does the entire ski-wear range at Dilling.

Surprisingly to me, finding nice gloves was a bit of a pain. A lot of brands only offer one-sized gloves and I found a lot of the multiple-sized ones that I was able to try on in shops fairly unpadded. Friends & family’s opinions have been split on whether to go for gloves or mittens; my FIL thinks that mittens are better since by keeping your fingers together they share heat, but others have suggested gloves allow you better grip on the ski poles. I ended up going with gloves purely based on personal preference (I associate mittens with being a 4 year old) and chose a pair from RAB I was able to try on in-store at GO Outdoors. Having small hands I didn’t want anything too bulky but knew I’d need them to be super warm and comfortable, so after trying on a few pairs I chose one of the more expensive ones in the shop (£46.80 with membership). If you have any recommendations for a natural-fibre ski glove that would fit someone petite do let me know.

A warm beanie-style hat that you probably already own will be needed for when you aren’t wearing your helmet. I had hoped that you could wear the hat & helmet together so I didn’t have to have my hair pressed against what I’m sure will be very ‘well-used’ shell, but sadly you’re expected to put your hat in a pocket when wearing a helmet for safety reasons. I ended up getting one that matched the colour of my coat as a Christmas gift which I love, although it’s synthetic. This merino wool one looks lovely.

I had a few friends tell me they just wore their sunglasses in lieu of goggles, but as very experienced skiers they don’t particularly have to worry about them flying off as they crash to the ground. I’ve chosen the Dragon DX3 OTG that I bought in the Decathlon Black Friday sale for £40 (rrp £54), which having looked at a few other good-quality brands was an absolute steal. They have 100% UV protection and seem comfortable, if a bit massive. The one thing I regret with these is their VLT rating - I’d never heard of this before a few days ago, long after I ordered the goggles, but as it transpires ski goggles have a percentage rating called a VLT (‘visible light transmission’, aka the amount of light that’s able to travel through the lens to your eye), where the higher the percentage the more light is let through and therefore the more suited they are for cloudy conditions. MY goggles have a 66% VLT and typically it’s predicted to be lovely & sunny. My boyfriend has reassured me that as long as they have full UV protection they’ll still be useful for overcast moments, but it’s still frustrating.

jumpers/fleeces

I know most lists suggest fleeces for skiing, but the people in my real life told me they used their normal winter jumpers from home as fleeces often get hot & sweaty. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but as with many industries I’d venture many ski retailers are perhaps exaggerating the need for a lot of the specialist gear they sell. As a side note, as with a lot of skiwear, I thought most of the affordable fleeces were hideous & will be much happier wearing my own pretty jumpers. Over the years I’ve acquired a small but lovely collection of natural-fibre jumpers that will keep me warm whilst remaining breathable & slimline. Mine are mostly hand-me-down Jigsaw pieces that my mum & Auntie have managed to shrink in the wash, but you can get some lovely plain ones from M&S as well as John Lewis, & Sezane do some gorgeous cardigan styles.

salopettes

I had never heard of salopettes before booking this holiday but they essentially seem to be waterproof, insulated & padded trousers often with shoulder straps. I tried on a number of pairs from various brands and found sizing was really unreliable for most of them so definitely leave time to exchange if ordering online. I’ve also found padding really varies in quality between both models & brands, so this is something to look out for. I ended up going with a pair from a second-hand skiwear sale (originally from DARE2BE) that were really reasonably priced (£50) and super comfortable.

THE COAT

I had initially considered using a coat I already owned but the more I asked around the more I realised that whilst this technically be fine it would be better to have a specialised one. Desired features that were mentioned the most included:

slimline
lightweight
well-insulated
breathable
waterproof

My coats were all either slimline or well-insulated, so I would’ve had to choose between being cold or uncomfortable , & I wasn’t able to borrow one so a new coat it was. I initially found most of the ski coats in normal outdoor shops beyond hideous (who decided green tiger print was a good idea??) & better looking ones online extortionately priced. Luckily the algorithm soon realised I was going skiing and has been bombarding me near-constant ads for skiwear, one of which was from a Swedish brand called ‘DOPE’. I chose their Adept W Jacket in pink for £180. I understand this is a lot of money (I tried to find one second hand first), but many of the other options I had found that satisfied both the style & features I was looking for were double the price. With Christmas coming up it made a perfect gift from my parents who had been chasing me for requests for weeks (thank you, mum!).

Well done for making it to the end & happy skiing!

thank you for reading

P.S. This is my first ever blog post, so apologies for any mistakes! I’ve been pondering starting a blog for months and with a bit of encouragement & some free-time this Christmas break I’ve taken the plunge. I’m not sure if anyone will actually read it, but I’ve enjoyed making it so I’ll keep going whatever the result. Do let me know what you thought if you have read this though - any tips/constructive criticism would be fab!

Thanks to P and VV for being the best friends & supportive confidantes xx

A SKI GUIDE FOR THE GIRLS