It's finally time for your ski holiday with family or friends! You've been looking forward to it all year and you can't wait to be on your skis again. But what's this? You're still in the plane and people are already agreeing that of course, there's no need to catch the first chairlift up, it's nicer to have a relaxed breakfast and hit the slopes later in the day before stopping for a drink or two. As the best skier in the group, this holiday might take a bit of patience! Here are 10 signs you ski better than your friends.
As the best skier in the group, naturally you ski faster than the rest. With no need to make a gazillion tight turns on your way down, you arrive at the bottom in no time and spend most of your time waiting for your friends to catch up. Instead of whinging, you're going to have to learn to deal with it. Here are some ways to amuse yourself >
You've been training for months to get fit for ski season, and all your hard work has paid off. You're capable of skiing for hours without stopping - that's what lifts are for! Unfortunately, you're restricted to waiting for the rest of your group.
It's obvious you ski better than everybody, so your friends have decided to make the best of it and use you as a free ski teacher. They might have been better off checking out our article with tips on how to ski better before coming!
No rusty edges for you - your skis are always perfectly sharpened and waxed before each ski trip. In fact, it's no wonder your friends are having trouble with their technique, given the sorry state of their ski gear! Good skiing starts with the proper materials >
Your friends are happy enough on the blues and reds, but you're hankering after that steep slope you saw from the chairlift. Even on the black slopes, your technique is beautiful and you maintain full control of your skis. If you're just dying to try out that run, you might consider meeting your friends in the lift queue. Here are 10 black pistes not to miss >
It's fun to ski with your friends and even though they're not up to your level, you're having a good time together. But if you're chafing at the bit, it's sometimes nice to indulge in a little jump here or there or some backwards skiing, to give yourself a challenge as well.
Your friends might be content to take a two-hour lunch break in a heated mountain restaurant, but you're itching to get back on the slopes again. No three-course meal for you - you can gobble down a quick sandwich and head outside again and meet them later if they insist on dithering over lunch choices. This is your chance to tackle that black slope!
Al in de rij voor de skilift slaat de stress toe bij je vrienden. De één wil alleen aan de buitenkant van het stoeltje zitten, de ander durft niet met z’n tweeën op een anker en de derde moét als eerste in de gondel stappen. Relax!
It's all stress during the lift queue - who gets to sit on the outside of the chair, and who has to struggle to get off the lift from the middle and risk knocking over their neighbour? Relax, you have the solution: you'll sit wherever they want you to sit, because you're not scared of falling off the lift.
The ski and snowboard world has few secrets from you. From jib to kicker to cornice to ridge, you know your ski lingo and aren't afraid to use it. While you might get blank stares back from your friends, it's useful to understand the different types of snow and terrain you might encounter.
Your friends are full of excuses - "I didn't dress warmly enough, I'll sit this one out in the restaurant!" "It's so overcast, looks like a storm brewing - I think I'll stay home today." Not you! No matter whether it's a beautiful sunny day or a raging blizzard, you're on the slopes (as long as the authorities haven't closed them for avalanche safety reasons). For the rest of us, here are 10 excuses to use on your ski holiday... erm, we mean...
Born and raised in the ski paradise of Vancouver, Canada, I learned to ski before I can remember, balancing precariously on my parents’ skis as they sailed down the hill. I started snowboarding in my teens and am now delighted to be exploring everything Europe’s ski scene has to offer!
