Right after I came back from my semester abroad, I went skiing with my family for a week, and I forgot how amazing it feels to be on the slope. I’m convinced everyone needs to try being on skis at least once in their lives, and this post exists to convince you of that.
Of course, if you have your mind set on staying at home and not going to the mountains, it’s unlikely that this post will change anything. However, I’m also convinced that you wouldn’t be reading a travel blog post about skiing if you weren’t at least a little interested. Right?
Anyway, here are seven reasons why I think you should go skiing, or even snowboarding, some day – and preferably sooner rather than later.
1. The views
It might sound cliche, but when you’re going down a ski slope, you can’t help but be amazed by the breathtaking scenery all around you. Every day, you’ll discover something new, or something you haven’t seen before. And every day, you’ll be more than grateful that you decided to go skiing after all.
Chances are, you’ll be seeing something like this
Or this
Or this.
Tip: if you want a more lively view of what it’s like to go skiing and what you’ll be seeing, your best bet is to check out the travel video I made of our week in La Plagne.
2. Health benefits
It must be said that a week of skiing is going to be a lot colder than, say, a week in Morocco. However, spending time in the mountains is good for your health, for several reasons.
First of all, the fresh mountain air may help you fight obesity, asthma and heart disease.
Secondly, on a winter holiday like this, you’re probably going to be spending a lot of time on the slopes. Say you’re skiing between 9 am and 3 pm, with two hours of breaks. That still leaves four hours of intense physical activity. Yes, the food you’re going to be eating will probably make up for that, but a little bit of sport can only be good for you, right?
Lastly, skiing has been proven to be beneficial to both your physical and your mental health.
3. Company
Most likely, you won’t go skiing by yourself – unless you’re already a very experienced skier, in which case you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog post.
A ski holiday is usually a perfect way to bond over shared experiences of the mountains with your friends, your family or your loved ones. You’ll laugh together, you’ll be in pain together, and you’ll enjoy your time together.
4. Happiness
Skiing leads to happiness. It’s as simple as that.
You might not feel this way when you’re just learning the ropes, but I promise that you’ll love skiing once you understand how to do it.
There’s nothing quite like hearing snow crunch under your skis, making the first tracks in a slope of fresh snow or going down a mountain at 70 km/h.
5. Skiing skills
It’s always a good thing to learn a new skill, right?
I know, I know. It might seem terrifying to realise that you’re going to cross down a mountain with two small, slippery sticks attached to your feet. You might even think you’re too old to learn something new. But are you ever really?
Skiing will teach you that it’s okay to make mistakes and fall down, as long as you get up again. As a matter of fact, you don’t even have any other options than to get up and try again. You’ll learn to stop looking back and have faith in the people behind you.
And, most important of all, you’ll learn what it feels like to conquer your fear.
6. Fun
I guarantee that, once you really get the hang of it and you’re able to go down any slope you desire, you will have fun. And I’m not talking about the happy feeling you get when that one class you didn’t want to go to is cancelled. I’m talking about a kind of fun that you have to experience in order to know what I’m talking about.
It’s a lot more difficult to describe this than I had anticipated. Honestly, I don’t feel like I’m doing it justice. I can’t really explain it as well as I would like to, but this is as close as I’m going to get.
7. Speed
I’ve already talked about speed a few times in this blog post, but it definitely deserves to be one of the reasons you should go skiing some day.
Logically, you probably won’t be going very fast the first time you go skiing. Or the second. Or maybe even the third. But I can promise you that once you do get there, it’ll be more than worth it.
In La Plagne, where we spent a week recently, my top speed was 90 km/h. On skis. While you’re going that fast, it’s easy to realise that making one wrong move could end up being the worst decision you’ve taken in a long time. But that’s what makes it so exciting. You’ll quickly feel the adrenaline rushing through your veins.
Does skiing even have any disadvantages?
Well, yes. Of course it does. Sometimes, you’ll have to queue at a lift for a long time. You’ll probably spend more time on lifts than on the slope. It’s expensive. And when the weather is bad, there is nothing fun about skiing.
However, I strongly feel that none of these disadvantages compare to the liberating feeling of skiing. I stand by the belief that everyone should ski at least once in their lives.
As always, thanks for reading!
-S
