There are a huge range of resorts and piste types to choose from whilst you’re thinking ahead and planning your winter sports holiday. Ideally, you need to be able to decide what type of winter sports holiday you need and whether the resorts you’re looking at will suit you.
Where?
European ski resorts are famed for their beautiful chalets and great atmosphere, and with several of them spread across the sprawling and highly-rated Alps mountain range, you have plenty to choose from – over 41 countries with multiple ski resorts in each. Europe obviously also offers the convenience and comfort of being closer to home which can be better if you have a younger family, as travelling with children for longer periods of time, like a trip to America, can be difficult as they become tired and bored quickly.
American ski resorts are admired worldwide for their world-class skiing and snowboarding quality. Top instructors can teach you if you’re inexperienced and there is a huge variety of runs no matter what your ability. With over 427 resorts in the US alone, it can be well worth the extra expense for a visit you’re not likely to forget.
How much?
Knowing how much you’re willing to spend on your holiday, how much you can afford and how much you can get for your money are also really important things to think about whilst browsing for a winter sports holiday.
All ski resorts know they can vary their prices throughout the year dependent on peak, off-peak and quality snow seasons. Almost all of them will hike up their prices during peak seasons, so you can save a lot of money by booking around these times. Pay attention to the weather predictions as if you’re booking at the bottom of off-peak season, you’ll want to make sure the snow is still good, or even still there!
Booking as a group is a great way to get discounted prices, and it’s usually a case of the more the merrier! Accommodation is particularly cheap when you book as a group, as you can usually book a larger chalet and it’ll cost less per head than separate smaller chalets or individual hotel rooms. Self-catering is a good option if you want to keep the cost down too.
Looking at chalets and packages outside of the usual European and American resort clusters is a good idea too. Places such as Eastern Europe; Bulgaria, Poland and Slovakia all offer cheaper and alternative destinations for a good and usually affordable price.
What’s your skill level?
Going on a winter sports holiday and hitting the slopes feeling unsteady and very uneasy can be really overwhelming, and you won’t be able to learn properly on an advanced or even intermediate slope as it’s important you grasp the basics of what you’re doing, but also that you make sure you’re doing it safely. Look for resorts with nursery or beginner slopes, you may even be able to join the schools there and learn within a larger group, or alternatively hire out a private instructor.
If you’ve done this all before, then just make sure the resorts you’re looking at have enough variety of slopes and that there are a few more slopes that are challenging enough for you to conquer. A sense of achievement really adds to the holiday.
The 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics made us all more aware of the growing numbers of sports which are available to those with varying disabilities. The games showed that there truly is no limit to what the human body can achieve, especially when involved in intense sports performed on snow or ice.
The venture of vast snow-covered scenery by people with disabilities is hugely challenging, with safety and stability to be put first and foremost. However, with determination and a little innovation, a handicap or disability can be easily overcome in order to have the same winter sports fun as everyone else on the piste. So what’s available?
Skiing
Depending on your disability and your requirements, there are several variations on the standard ski. For example, the dual-ski pilot involves you being seated on an articulated seat, on top of dual short skis, pushed and directed by a pilot, who doesn’t have to be specially trained, just a confident enough skier to ‘pilot’ you down the run.
The Kartski is another alternative, offering skiers the opportunity to ski independently with the use of their upper arms but do not have enough balance for skiing. The skier sits on a harnessed seat and steers the Kartski with handles on each side for navigation and braking.
The Uniski and Dualski are also both different variations on the sit-ski, and are similar to the pilot and the Kartski. As the names would suggest, the Uniski only have one ski, whereas the Dualski has two, and the skier uses ski poles to gain speed and change direction.
Snowboarding
Adaptive snowboarding refers to a modified version of the original snowboarding sport, with changes in rules, equipment and some technical specifications which allow people with physical disabilities to participate in both recreational and competitive snowboarding. It involves an ‘outrigger’, a board with a handle attached for balance, and sometimes a pilot, but the adaptive snowboarding equipment depends entirely on the ingenuity and creativity of the specialist instructors at the resort, many who customise their own equipment in order to provide for those with disabilities.Appropriate equipment is ability-oriented and based on whether a student has sufficient balance and strength to ride vertically.
A previously paralysed hand has been made to grip objects again in a breakthrough from scientists at the University of Newcastle.
A research team from the university experimented on monkeys whose hands were paralysed, are were able to use ‘the power of thought’ to enable the animals to move their hands again. Read more
Checking out what type of medical resources are available on-board in the event of an emergency is a great idea if you’re worried about falling ill whilst on your cruise. Falling ill is the last thing we want to happen whilst we’re on holiday but being prepared for the worst can’t hurt.
Most cruise ships have a fully equipped medical facility with staff (qualified doctors and nurses) on-board who can handle almost any emergency. However, it’s worth noting that the medical facilities available on-board is not comparable to the amenities your hospital can provide. Within the cruise ship, you’re likely to find a ventilator, a small x-ray machine, and the team will be able to perform simple lab tests on blood samples to check for infection or blood sugar. There are no MRI or CT scanners, intensive care units or blood banks (although some cruise crews have been blood-typed and may be asked to serve as donors should a passenger need an emergency transfusion). We’re all used to receiving the best medical care when and where we need it, but this might not be the case when your ship is in the middle of the ocean.
In the event that your condition quickly deteriorates or you need to seek medical attention onshore, it’s possible that you’ll have to receive a medical evacuation from the cruise ship. This involves a helicopter winching the patient on-board the aircraft and whisking them away to the nearest hospital.
Cruise ship pharmacies are usually full of basic medications such as painkillers, seasickness pills, aspirin and other common medicines. Other stock will include medications for gastro-intestinal and cardiovascular issues, respiratory problems, infectious viruses or diseases, urinary tract issues and vaccines. All medical treatment on-board will come at a price, with staff adding the bill to your cabin’s ‘tab’ once carried out.
Cruise ship policies and procedures state that if you feel like you have signs of a serious illness or condition, such as vomiting and diarrhoea, you must consult the ship’s medical staff as quickly as possible. Passengers can be restricted to their cabins should the ship’s doctor decide their illness poses a risk of outbreak and widespread illness. Cases of influenza and norovirus are particularly common on cruise ships; a side effect of having so many people living on a floating boat in such close quarters with one another is that germs spread quickly. If a contagious disease with the risk of spreading quickly is suspected, the ship’s crew will carry out procedures to isolate you from other passengers. You will be confined to your cabin and your keycard may be deactivates to discourage you from attempting to leave and putting others at risk.
Any sickness or injury that you require treatment for whilst you are on your cruise holiday can come at a steep price. Travel insurance arranged before you leave can help diffuse the emergency medical bills and alleviate any stresses or worries about financial issues should you fall ill. It is important to buy a specific cruise travel insurance policy as they will offer extra cover for things that could go wrong on a cruise such as cabin confinement cover, formal cruise attire cover and cover for ship to shore medical evacuation and repatriation.
In the event of severe weather, a technical malfunction or political unrest in your port of call, it’s possible that your cruise operator will make the decision to change your cruise’s route which can in turn effect the itinerary and the ports visited. Each cruise line has the right to cancel, advance, postpone or substitute any planned sailing or itinerary without much prior notice.
Although itinerary changes rarely happen, and when they do it’s because of a serious reason, it’s best to know what happens should this situation arise.
For example, say you booked a cruise around the Caribbean but were then notified of an itinerary change which meant you would no longer be visiting the majority of ports you originally booked to see, and additionally could be missing out on pre-booked excursions that you’ve already paid for, and which offer no refund in the event of cancellation. In this circumstance, you have the right to request a full or partial refund from the cruise line, as the product you bought is no longer the same product. Alternatively, the cruise line can refuse to give a refund but offer you a transfer onto another cruise of equal value.
If the changes to your itinerary are significant, you have the right to cancel your trip, although this may result in an expensive cancellation charge from the cruise line should it be against their recommendation.
The only way you can avoid the extra costs of an itinerary change or cancellation is by investing in a good quality cruise insurance policy which covers against the costs incurred should your ship have to change its scheduled route. Some cruise insurance policies specifically cover the costs of itinerary change and offer benefits which specifically cover the pre-paid, non-refundable, non-rescheduled shore excursions in a port of call, or a scheduled stop on a tour itinerary that you miss due to a change of cruise or tour itinerary.
