Switching from sea to snow

When sailors gather and discuss skiing, it’s much the same as when they gather to talk sailing, the conversation is often of the near misses and diverted disasters.  It’s very clear that quite often people who sail also ski.  

Even the clothing is the same, the waterproof jackets, gloves and sunglasses are essential pieces of kit in either sport.  Quick release harnesses or quick release bindings, the terminology is easy to recognise.   Both require water, one is better when it’s frozen!  Of course, both skiing and sailing have a high degree of dependency on the weather and both require physical endurance, stamina and agility to be done well.  

There are other similarities too, if two yachts are side by side on the same course, or two skiers are together on the same run, the outcome is always the same, a race!  We can’t help ourselves, we are competitive people. 

It’s obvious isn’t it, why skiers love sailing and sailors love skiing? Active people like active things away from our comfort zones be it full sail into a big headwind at 14 knots or hurtling down a slope at 50MPH in fresh powder.

When your life vest is stowed away and you reach for skis, what kind of ski holiday will you be booking in 2019? 

We asked Skiline.co.uk, one of the UK’s leading travel agents specialising in skiing holidays for their choice of the best ski holidays for sea dogs and powder hounds alike.  Skiline is an award-winning ABTA travel agency offering exclusively skiing and snowboarding holidays.  Winners of the 2016 Daily Telegraph Snow Awards and the only British agent to reach the final three top travel agents in the annual World Ski Awards, you can be assured of a first-class service when you are ready to swap your deck shoes for ski boots.

Mal Sargeant, one of the senior sales advisors at Skiline.co.uk with over 20 years in the ski holiday business gives the heads up on what will be hot for skiers and snowboarders in 2019.

“One of the most popular types of skiing holiday offered by skiline are catered ski chalets, these mountain homes are ideal for families or groups of friends to share. The host, cooks for you and cleans your chalet home so you can get on with enjoying the skiing” Says Mal.  “A ski chalet is a really social way to spend a week in the mountains, enjoying your home with others who share your passion. Ski chalets can be booked for exclusive use by groups, often with a very good discount, or can be booked by the room to share with others”

Such as when chartering a luxury superyacht, Skiline’s super luxury ski chalets are just as expensive! Prices can exceed £70,000 for a full catered weeks rental. 

A chalet holiday needn’t blow the budget though, more affordable chalets start at around £700pp for a week’s stay over an off-peak week.  That’s just £100 per night for a bed, breakfast and a 3-course evening meal with wine.  Packages with flights from regional airports include the transfers to the ski resorts, which is a good idea as some ski resorts are up to 3 hours from the arrival airports.

Chalets come in various sizes and budgets, the smallest ski chalet offered by Skiline sleeps just 2 (a bit like the smallest yachts on offer at PlainSailing.com) although these tiny chalets are very rare, the most popular sizes are chalets sleeping 8 to 12 people.  For larger groups, chalet hotels are ideal, some will sleep over 100 people.  Chalets located next to the piste with a hot tub are high on the wish list of most skiers and to secure one for the 2019 ski season requires early booking especially if your holiday is over one of the four peak weeks, Christmas, New Year, February half term or Easter.

Ski chalet holidays are mainly available in France and Switzerland, but increasingly more are opening in Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, Finland, USA and Canada and a ski chalet holiday can represent exceptional value for money.  Typically, a group might expect to pay around £700 per person for a package of flights, transfers and a catered ski chalet to stay in.  This will be more over the peak school holiday dates.  

The host will typically serve daily breakfast, when you return after skiing to your chalet, always hungry, a freshly baked cake will be waiting, which is normally enough to stave off hunger until the 3 or 4 course evening meal with wine is served.  The chalets aim to provide dinner party quality food s cooked by (often) a gap year student in all but the Luxury ski chalets are where properly trained chefs work their magic.

The alternative to a ski chalet is Club Med

In the past few years Club Med has become a very good alternative to a ski chalet holiday. Club Med skiing holidays are all inclusive.  The price of your skiing holiday includes everything apart from ski rental (if you don’t own your own) and travel insurance. So with this type of holiday there are no nasty credit card surprises when you get home.

A weeks stay with Club Med will cost around £1,600 but if you factor in the lift pass which is included and in some ski resorts now costs €300, a 3 or 4 course lunch and dinner with unlimited wine and a free bar for cocktails and snacks area also included you will see that they represent fantastic value for money.  One of the biggest draws is that Club Med also includes 5 full days ski instruction for beginners up to advanced skiers. If you are an advanced skier, this includes a mountain guide to escort you off-piste. Most skiers see the value for money that an all-inclusive skiing holidays represents.

Club Med’s ski hotels are mostly located on the slopes, they offer a choice of 17 resorts in France in all the big named ski resorts and some you might not have heard of, such as their newly opened hotel, high on the slopes overlooking Samoens in the Grand Massif which is proving very popular with families.  In Italy there are currently 2 resorts, Cervinia which shares its ski area with Zermatt, and in the Milky Way the ex-Olympic village of Pragelato. 

Club Med are opening a new resort in Les Arcs for 2019, this new slopeside hotel and is available for booking now.  This year saw the opening of a second ski resort in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido which has a reputation for legendary depths of the finest powder your skis will ever run on.

For information about skiing in 2019 contact skiline - 020 8313 3999 or email ski @ skiline.co.uk