Desperate to go skiing this season but none of your usual crowd wants to go, has got the money to go, can get time off work to go, etc? This isn’t just a dilemma for you, it’s a disaster! You can’t possibly consider the idea of missing your annual ski holiday just because none of your ski buddies are free! And you couldn’t possibly go alone! Or could you?
Don’t resign yourself to the fact that you’ll have to wait until next year – we’ve found the solution… actually quite a few!
You could of course just take a chance and book a last minute flight, hotel room etc and simply keep your fingers crossed that you’ll manage to meet a few friendly people on the slopes who don’t mind you tagging along - and you might even get invited to eat with them in the evening if they feel sorry for you! All sounds a bit sad really – and unfortunately a bit expensive too! Hotels and/or apartments rarely have single rooms available and this means you end up paying a supplement for the empty bed in your room or you simply pay the double room price – not a great start for the holiday budget. The perfect situation is a single room or a shared twin, with someone of the same sex, in a chalet or chalet hotel. But how can you find out about opportunities like these? Well it’s simple! You just need to get in touch with a company that organizes ski trips for solo skiers and snowboarders…
I have literally ploughed the web and have found a lot of companies that either, offer this service as part of their range, or who are dedicated to organizing this kind of ski holiday. I prefer to tell you about the ones who are dedicated to offering solo ski holidays, as there are often personal experiences which motivated the launch, meaning a better understanding of requirements, I believe… There were four websites which particularly stood out from the crowd…
The concept is simple.
SkiSolo
books a whole chalet and guarantees it will be filled with “solo” skiers, or small groups of friends who like to mix. Same-sex skiers are paired up in rooms to avoid the single room supplement (but you can of course pay this if you like). Couples, children and students are not welcome – in the nicest possible way of course – this service is simply not designed for them!
To break the ice and let everyone get to know each other a little before leaving, hosted social evenings are organised in central London.
Once in the ski resort, these holidays are informally hosted, making sure no one gets left out, but making it clear that there are no obligations to join in either. Beverley Springham, who created the website SkiSolo, (a solo skier for 15 years now), took time to explain more and quotes “My website promotes trips that are non-profit making. I book holidays with major package holiday operators (mainly Skiword) and solo skiers pay Skiworld. This means their contract remains with the ATOL protected company”.
SkiSolo is about like-minded skiers getting together for a relaxed and sociable ski holiday – “solo skiers wanting the whole full-on party experience, drinking games, fancy dress, organised activities” will need to look elsewhere…
It appears that most people book year after year to make sure they stay with the same crowd of people, creating long term ski friendships and guaranteeing an excellent ski trip each season without all the hassle of organizing friends or family.
Pistepals run 3 cozy, well-positioned chalets in the French ski resort of Morzine and have a simple booking system on their website where you choose your chalet and dates and you’re done! They offer all the classic chalet services; good, home-cooked meals, discounts at local ski equipment suppliers, etc… A Pistepals rep is present at meal times, during the day to guide you around the resort and show you some good places to eat up on the slopes, and is generally there to animate the group and deal with any requirements.
Single Ski Holidays
is part of Friendship Travel which has been organizing group holidays for single travelers for over 13 years. After increasing demand, the company recently decided to launch a website dedicated to ski holidays. The holidays offered are in chalet hotels which are mainly in France with the exception of one in Italy and one in Austria. The holidays are pretty unstructured and the advantage of being in a chalet hotel means there is even less obligation to join in, than in a traditional chalet.
All of their ski holidays are backed up with full ATOL bonding and “the excellent service and attention to detail provided by Friendship Travel”.
Singlesport
is a club for solo travelers who enjoy sporting holidays – any kind of sporting holiday, from sailing and beach club holidays right through to ski trips. For winter sports fans, they offer accommodation in a selection of chalets in
Courchevel
in France (where there are 50 to 80 guests in total at one time) and in one hotel in the Austrian ski resort of
Kaprun
(where you can ski from as early as November).
“This is not an introduction agency, although members are primarily single, many people join us because their partner doesn’t share their love of sport…”
One particular advantage of this service is that the organizer, Ruth Paul, being a single mother passionate about skiing and other sports herself, welcomes single parents who wish to bring children along.
The club exists since 2001 and is planning on expanding its offer to ski holidays in the French ski resort of La Plagne.
If you’re a first time skier (often called a late starter) then this kind of holiday is a wonderful way of getting together with other like-minded beginners – you can spend the day in the same ski lessons and not feel completely ridiculous if there are 5 year-olds in your class! Falling over on the slopes and in an exhausted heap at the end of the first few days, is a great way of making long-term ski buddies… Many people come back year after year…
Leave a comment and tell us if you’ve ever been on this type of holiday or join us on
Facebook
and share your thoughts.
Desperate to go skiing this season but none of your usual crowd wants to go, has got the money to go, can get time off work to go, etc? This isn’t just a dilemma for you, it’s a disaster! You can’t possibly consider the idea of missing your annual ski holiday just because none of your ski buddies are free! And you couldn’t possibly go alone! Or could you?
Don’t resign yourself to the fact that you’ll have to wait until next year – we’ve found the solution… actually quite a few!
You could of course just take a chance and book a last minute flight, hotel room etc and simply keep your fingers crossed that you’ll manage to meet a few friendly people on the slopes who don’t mind you tagging along - and you might even get invited to eat with them in the evening if they feel sorry for you! All sounds a bit sad really – and unfortunately a bit expensive too! Hotels and/or apartments rarely have single rooms available and this means you end up paying a supplement for the empty bed in your room or you simply pay the double room price – not a great start for the holiday budget. The perfect situation is a single room or a shared twin, with someone of the same sex, in a chalet or chalet hotel. But how can you find out about opportunities like these? Well it’s simple! You just need to get in touch with a company that organizes ski trips for solo skiers and snowboarders…
I have literally ploughed the web and have found a lot of companies that either, offer this service as part of their range, or who are dedicated to organizing this kind of ski holiday. I prefer to tell you about the ones who are dedicated to offering solo ski holidays, as there are often personal experiences which motivated the launch, meaning a better understanding of requirements, I believe… There were four websites which particularly stood out from the crowd…
The concept is simple.
SkiSolo
books a whole chalet and guarantees it will be filled with “solo” skiers, or small groups of friends who like to mix. Same-sex skiers are paired up in rooms to avoid the single room supplement (but you can of course pay this if you like). Couples, children and students are not welcome – in the nicest possible way of course – this service is simply not designed for them!
To break the ice and let everyone get to know each other a little before leaving, hosted social evenings are organised in central London.
Once in the ski resort, these holidays are informally hosted, making sure no one gets left out, but making it clear that there are no obligations to join in either. Beverley Springham, who created the website SkiSolo, (a solo skier for 15 years now), took time to explain more and quotes “My website promotes trips that are non-profit making. I book holidays with major package holiday operators (mainly Skiword) and solo skiers pay Skiworld. This means their contract remains with the ATOL protected company”.
SkiSolo is about like-minded skiers getting together for a relaxed and sociable ski holiday – “solo skiers wanting the whole full-on party experience, drinking games, fancy dress, organised activities” will need to look elsewhere…
It appears that most people book year after year to make sure they stay with the same crowd of people, creating long term ski friendships and guaranteeing an excellent ski trip each season without all the hassle of organizing friends or family.
Pistepals run 3 cozy, well-positioned chalets in the French ski resort of Morzine and have a simple booking system on their website where you choose your chalet and dates and you’re done! They offer all the classic chalet services; good, home-cooked meals, discounts at local ski equipment suppliers, etc… A Pistepals rep is present at meal times, during the day to guide you around the resort and show you some good places to eat up on the slopes, and is generally there to animate the group and deal with any requirements.
Single Ski Holidays
is part of Friendship Travel which has been organizing group holidays for single travelers for over 13 years. After increasing demand, the company recently decided to launch a website dedicated to ski holidays. The holidays offered are in chalet hotels which are mainly in France with the exception of one in Italy and one in Austria. The holidays are pretty unstructured and the advantage of being in a chalet hotel means there is even less obligation to join in, than in a traditional chalet.
All of their ski holidays are backed up with full ATOL bonding and “the excellent service and attention to detail provided by Friendship Travel”.
Singlesport
is a club for solo travelers who enjoy sporting holidays – any kind of sporting holiday, from sailing and beach club holidays right through to ski trips. For winter sports fans, they offer accommodation in a selection of chalets in
Courchevel
in France (where there are 50 to 80 guests in total at one time) and in one hotel in the Austrian ski resort of
Kaprun
(where you can ski from as early as November).
“This is not an introduction agency, although members are primarily single, many people join us because their partner doesn’t share their love of sport…”
One particular advantage of this service is that the organizer, Ruth Paul, being a single mother passionate about skiing and other sports herself, welcomes single parents who wish to bring children along.
The club exists since 2001 and is planning on expanding its offer to ski holidays in the French ski resort of La Plagne.
If you’re a first time skier (often called a late starter) then this kind of holiday is a wonderful way of getting together with other like-minded beginners – you can spend the day in the same ski lessons and not feel completely ridiculous if there are 5 year-olds in your class! Falling over on the slopes and in an exhausted heap at the end of the first few days, is a great way of making long-term ski buddies… Many people come back year after year…
Leave a comment and tell us if you’ve ever been on this type of holiday or join us on
Facebook
and share your thoughts.
Being lucky enough to have parents who were crazy about skiing, my love for the mountains started when I was 4 years old on our first family ski holiday to Austrian ski resort of Obergurl. One ski holiday a year was never enough and tears rolled down my face as I looked out the back window of the car on the drive down the valley on the way home!
