Ski holidays are great winter getaways, but you don’t need to be a skier to go on one. There are other enjoyable activities available for people who don’t like or who don’t want to ski. Before deciding that one of these holidays isn’t right for you, consider everything that ski resorts have to offer.

Just because someone is a non-skier, it doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy being out in the fresh air. Hiking, snowshoeing and ice-skating are all enjoyable winter activities readily available at most ski resorts. If you haven’t been tobogganing since you were a child, why don’t you consider having a go during a visit to a ski resort? Some of them offer snowmobiling as an activity, and this can be a wonderful way to spend some time out of doors.

Ski holidays can also mean spa time. While your partner or the rest of your party are enjoying some time on the slopes, why don’t you spend some time being pampered? Get a facial or a massage and take a break from your everyday concerns.

Ski resorts also offer other activities, like shopping or day trips to local attractions. Whether you go on your own or with your partner, this is an enjoyable way to spend some time on your holiday. Rather than feeling left out because you are not skiing, find other ways to spend your time and enjoy yourself. That’s what ski holidays are for, whether you spend your time on the slopes or not.

France has over 300 ski resorts, many of which are located at high altitudes. The area with the greatest range of skiing opportunities is the French Alps, although it is worth checking other areas such as the Jura, the Massif Central and the Vosges. The French Alps has around 5,000 miles of pistes, most of which are in the efficient lift-connected ski areas such as Les Trois Vallees, Paradiski, Portes du Soleil and Espace Killy, giving skiers plenty of choice. For skiers who want to go off piste France has world class destinations such as Chamonix, Alpe D’Huez and La Grave. Skiing in France offers choices for everyone from the novice to the expert.

The key areas for ski resorts in France are the Northern Alps, the Southern Alps and the Pyrenees. Most of the resorts are well served by international airports and public transport. The major resorts can tend to be unappealing and purpose built towns, but more traditional villages can also be found such as St-Martin-de-Belleville and Chatel Mageve.

France is very popular with British skiers and the food on the mountains and villages is usually excellent with plenty of lively après-ski and a good choice of chalets. On the negative side skiing in France can be expensive and at the more popular resorts there can be long queues for lifts and restaurants, and the pistes can be crowded. Some ski instructors also speak minimal English. The smaller resorts will tend to be less crowded.

If you want to avoid the crowds then it is best to avoid the French school holiday periods. Avoiding peak times will not only mean shorter queues, but also cheaper prices. Skiing in France can be expensive, but many websites offer great deals on ski holidays and packages.

Ski holidays make a great getaway in the cold and dreary months, and you can take this opportunity to learn how to snowboard while you are away. Many resorts offer lessons in this growing sport, which is so popular with young people. Don’t let concerns about being too old hold you back, though. If you are interested in taking some lessons, go ahead!

If you want to learn how to snowboard while you are away on your ski holidays, finding a resort offering lessons for beginners isn’t difficult. The Internet is a wonderful source of information, and many businesses, including ski resorts, have an online presence. You can check out numerous options at any time of the day or night, at your convenience.

The resort you are considering is likely to have a list of all the services it offers, including snowboarding lessons. If it isn’t listed on the web site when you are looking for a place to spend your ski holidays, then contact the resort by e-mail or through the contact page to ask whether you can sign up for lessons.

Once you learn how to snowboard, your ski deals will be even more enjoyable, with multiple options for enjoying your time outside. If you are going to be planning a getaway anyway, why don’t you add some adventure to the mix by learning how to snowboard? It can become an activity that all members of the family can enjoy together, as well as a way to keep fit.

People of all ages can enjoy ski holidays, and that includes young children. There are a number of family-friendly resorts that cater to groups including youngsters. An Internet search can help you find the best ski deals and one that will offer the kinds of services that will work best for your family.

Depending on the age of the children and their experience on the slopes, you may want to find a resort with a ski school offering lessons geared for kids. They will want to take lessons from an instructor who can relate to them at their level and help them stay enthused about learning how to ski.

If this is the kind of activity you want your family to enjoy together, get children interested in going on ski holidays from a young age. Make the time you spend together fun, and keep in mind that resorts offer activities other than skiing. It is unlikely that young children will be able to spend an entire day on the ski slopes without getting very tired. Find a resort with special activities for children or childcare services so that the adults can have some time together.

By taking the time to consider the kinds of winter activities that all members of the family will enjoy, you can ensure that your ski holidays will run more smoothly. Families can set a goal to have fun together at a winter resort and make it become a reality. You may even decide to make it an annual event.

The resort of Bonneval sur Arc sits right on the France-Italy border, this was originally an ancient village situated on a mountain; it allows easy access to the slopes. Being primarily a place for ski holidays for beginners – just over half of the slopes are green – one-quarter are intermediate blue runs and the remainder are advanced (single black diamond). The slopes have no gondolas or trams and eleven lifts.  There is cross country skiing available on eighty kilometres of pistes.

You can access the resort via the TGV train that gives connections to Paris and other regions. The Chambery and Geneva airports are within a few hours of the area. There are two lodges and three hotels on the slopes, and a number of bars and restaurants. A bakery provides local cuisine and there is also a cheese dairy.

The ski resort of Brides-les-Bains is an old spa town; it has one of the largest spas in the French Alps.  There is a high-speed gondola for access to the slopes.  There are 336 runs; the vast majority are for beginners and intermediate skiers.  There are two nightclubs, a casino, and several bars for holidaymakers to enjoy.  You can also try ice diving, ice climbing, dog sledding, and a number of other enjoyable activities on your ski holidays.

There are also children’s clubs and ski schools for children; you will have to take the gondola to reach the latter. You can obtain ski lessons for children older than the age of three.  There is also childcare for small children aged from 18 months to eight years. 

Access to the area is most convenient by plane; the Lyon and Geneva airports are both within two hours of the community.

The French Alps are amongst the best skiing areas in the world and we are fortunate that we have so many skiing specialists who can offer amazing ski deals to some of the best snow playgrounds, but which one will you choose for your ski holidays?

La Plagne is now linked with the “Vanoise Express” to Les Arcs by double decker cable car to form the famous “Paradiski” with 144 lifts, and is 112 miles from Geneva airport.

Courcheval and Meribel in the famous three valleys is the biggest ski area in the world boasting 600Km of pistes and 180 lifts and is suitable for all standard of skier; the villages are 118 miles from Geneva airport.

Serre-Chevalier has interesting and varied slopes suitable for everyone both above and below the tree line comprising four villages both ancient and modern; your nearest airport is Turin just 75 miles away.

Chamonix is a traditional mountain town below Mont Blanc with fabulous peaks and glaciers, with a huge amount of terrain and great off piste skiing, a mountain guides is recommended for this activity and is one of the nearest to Geneva at 53 miles away.

Val d’Isere and Tignes are contrasting resorts which share the same fabulous ski area with great night life and a multitude of apartment cheap ski deal holidays available, Geneva is 143 miles away.

Avoriaz is the snow boarders paradise and is a purpose apartment based built resort, completely car free with excellent child care facilities, this is a very snow sure resort, just 55 miles from Geneva.

Flaine has a car free centre which is right next to the slopes making it ideal for families and is very good for beginners and whilst the concrete sixties architecture is not to everyone’s taste, this resort is only 50 miles from Geneva airport.

Val Thorens is Europe’s highest ski resort and part of the three valleys skiing area, undoubtedly one of the liveliest après ski and night life resorts very popular with the Brits and the Scandinavians, 129 miles from Geneva airport.

Les Deux Alpes is close to Grenoble, 68 miles, has very good terrain ski parks including summer skiing on the glacier, with a very lively night life, popular with snow boarders and is one of the cheapest resorts in the French skiing region.

It is said that taking a skiiing holiday in beautiful Italy is a more sensuous experience than any of the other popular skiing destinations. Because of its location the sun is that little bit warmer on your face and not to forget that longed for Italian food, so different from the imitation pizzas so often found here, those dreamy light and creamy pasta dishes like nowhere else on earth. There is no wonder that even the most dedicated skiers enjoying their skiing holiday finds that it is difficult to prize themselves away from the sun-drenched terrace soaking up the sun, more so if you have indulged in the delightful “bombardio” a concotion of fresh coffee mixed with whisky, eggnog and cream. As with many things in life the Italians have a laid back approach to their skiing, which is great as it leaves the well groomed and usually uncrowded pistes, leaving them for those who wish to take on the more serious business of skiing!

The majority of Italy’s ski resorts are to be found in the Dolomites and also the north west area with resorts such as Cervinia bordering the Swiss border giving them a truly international feel. There is no shortage of skiing in Italy, many of the resorts are connected by lifts to give vast areas of skiing that can rival some of the Alpine ski regions, an example is the massive 750 miles of Superski in the Dolomites. Sauze d’Oulx has long been a favourite for the British taking a skiing holiday with fantastic facilities for the young and families alike, even if it was once described many years ago as the “Blackpool” of the ski resorts, very unfair because it is not like that at all. This resort connects with the French ski resort of Montgenevre, with the option of skiing the massive 400 Kms of the “milky way” at your disposal.

Of course if you are looking for glamour as well as exercise on your skiing holiday you should look no further than Cortina. This is a luxurious resort and most Italians don’t stray onto the slpoes but confine themselves to the rather old fashioned glamour of the town itself. Littered with designer boutiques and anitique shops with delightdful coffee shops with waist extending fabulous cakes and pastries. Cortina does have an abundance of inexpensive restaurants, but you could treat yourself to the Michelin starred Tivoli or the El Toula. A skiikng holiday in Italy offers the best of all worlds.

Reports are coming in from the Ski Club of Great Britain that tells of some fantastic snowfalls across Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland, most unusual for this time of year. Over the weekend of the 7th & 8th of November, skiers and snowboarders enjoyed outstanding conditions for this time of year as a handful of European resorts opened earlier than expected following snowfalls of up to 20ins. Crucially the temperatures have been staying low so the snow is settling; even leaving some resorts blanketed like it’s the middle of winter.

Resorts like Saas Fee in Switzerland, have reported snow depths that have already reached more than 3ft on upper slopes, while the Austrian resort of Kitzbühel set an 80 year record by opening on October 24, unheard of say specialist ski holidays operator. The first week in November saw some places having up to 50cm of fresh snow, which is just short of two feet! For people looking for a ski holiday in December, when the best ski deals are to be found, can expect snow conditions that are more like January and February and they can be confident that there will be a good base layer of snow on the pistes.

Kitzbühel, which is one of the lower Austrian resorts can often struggle in the early part of the ski season but this year was one of the earliest to open its lifts in October, after heavy falls over the last three weeks. A spokesman for the resort’s lift operators said: “We are so pleased that this year it was possible to provide this skiing facility at an earlier date than ever before in the 80 years of the resort’s history.”

With the early snows, it is possible to take advantage of a plethora of cheap ski deals which is good news for skiers and boarders and all this comes on top of a wonderful year last year when many Alpine resorts experienced the best snow conditions in a generation, long may it continue!

During this current recession we all have to look for ways to save expenditure, but there is one area which hard working people should not compromise upon and that is taking a well deserved skiing holiday. Because the Pound/Euro is now at or near parity and weak against the Dollar all holidays have become more expensive, but there are ways that you can enjoy your skiing holiday without breaking the bank. Tour operators have generally held their prices and by using a specialist company, a ski holiday is still affordable, the main players are falling over backwards to get you on to the ski slopes with some amazing prices.

When considering your ski holiday, serious consideration should be given to where this is to be taken and it is here that your ski holiday specialist is the first place to call, they have the inside knowledge of the ski destinations that are offering the best value for money this ski holiday season. Eastern Europe is still offering low cost ski holiday packages and although the level of and quality of skiing does not compare with the Alps, it is still an excellent choice for new skiers and families, Bulgaria is amongst the best.

A firm favourite and still offering remarkable value for money is Austria where your Euros go further than almost anywhere else in Europe. Austria is the place for great après ski and the Tyrol remains the heartland with the glaciers open already.  Another value option is Italy which has always been a firm favourite with the British taking their annual ski holiday, Mont Blanc area has great skiing all at Italian prices and great food.

Many ski specialists can arrange a ski holiday with all in packages which can include half board accommodation, lunch and the all important ski pass.  Contact your ski holiday specialist and get the benefit of some great packages for your well deserved ski holiday.