If you’ve never taken a skiing holiday before, the whole thing can seem a bit daunting especially the cost and the fitness levels needed. However, many of these fears are unfounded if you do a little homework before you book anything.

If I find out I don’t enjoy skiing, my whole holiday will be ruined:

Not necessarily. If you don’t get the chance to try out some skiing before you go (and one of the UK’s many indoor ski slopes) and you get your first taste of it on holiday you may well not fall in love with it straight away. The good news is that many resorts have alternative activities like horesriding, snow tubing, spa baths and shopping that you can take advantage of.

A skiing holiday is out of my price range:

Ski holidays are no longer the preserve of the rich and famous – these days it is possible to get some fantastic deals on ski holidays particularly if you take the self-catering option and avoid the peak holiday times like school breaks.

Global warming has ruined the chances of really good snow:

Not so, well not yet anyway. Experts think that global warming might possibly start to affect European skiing over the next 50 years, but at the moment there is no real evidence that it has started.

Skiing is a dangerous activity and I’m bound to get injured:

The overwhelming majority of beginners who learn to ski with instructors will have a long lifetime of incident free skiing. Accidents do occur, of course, but more often than not ski related accidents are less to do with the actual skiing and more to do with amounts of alcohol consumed and not taking care on icy surfaces etc. If you learn to ski properly, you will also learn to ski safely.

It will be freezing!:

Well, yes, the weather will probably be pretty cold and it will sometimes snow heavily – that’s half the fun of taking a holiday in the winter. However, there are many special clothes you can buy/hire to keep you warm and all that skiing will keep away the cold too.

I might not like the food:

The food in ski resorts isn’t all cheese and ham – and most places offer a huge variety of restaurants and cuisines. Those on self catering breaks will also find good food in many of the local resort shops and markets.

So, if you want to take a skiing holiday then go for it – don’t let fear of the unknown put you off.