Unless we head off glacier skiing in the Alps or Scandinavia, or even book that dream southern hemisphere ski trip, a lot of the life of a skier or snowboarder is essentially a waiting game.
For seven months of the year, we put on a brave face, initially faking enthusiasm for the arrival of warmer weather. After that, once the year starts to turn in midsummer, it’s a case of trying to suppress our excitement as the next season draws closer.
But it’s surprising how many things we can do to get through those dreary late spring and summer months until we can ski again. Indeed, there’s so much material online now we could absorb ski-themed material in a darkened room 24-7 from Easter to Christmas and still only see a fraction of it. But that might be taking it a little far.
Here are 11 ideas to kill the time, with the bonus that you’ll probably have a better ski holiday next winter for partaking in them.
1. Get Ski Fit and Flexible
Being able to (excuse the cliche) ‘bend zee knees’ and most other parts of your body without feeling any tweaks when you’re on the slopes is a huge part of enjoying your holiday, and there’s no reason why ski fitness shouldn’t be a year-round regime. You can follow a recorded ski fitness class online from home any time, and of course, lots of summer activities like rowing, swimming and cycling are all good for your ski bod anyway, as is a yoga session.
2. Sort Your Boots
Arguably, nothing influences our enjoyment levels on the slopes more than how comfortable and how responsive our ski boots are. The trouble is we always leave it too late to fine-tune any niggles when summer or autumn are the perfect times to visit a ski shop and see what can be done to achieve that perfect fit, perhaps a bit of heat moulding to your feet or even achieving perfect balance with your foot bed inserts.
3. Listen To A Ski Podcast
There’s nothing better than listening to like-minded souls talking all things snow and skiing, making you feel like you’re not alone. There are plenty of ski podcasts from around the world to listen in to with leading UK-based options including The Whiteout Podcast and The Ski Podcast.
4. Go Skiing Indoors or on a Dry Slope
You can, of course, still ski in summer close to home at one of England’s five indoor snow centres or one of the 100 or so dry slopes across the UK. Booking recreational sessions is a great way to keep ski fit, and you can of course book instruction so you can enhance your skills ready for your winter ski holiday.
5. Advocate for Climate Action
We should all do what we can to cut our CO2 emissions year-round in our home life; it’s not just something we should think about when choosing our ski resort. We can also support groups advocating to fight back against climate change. The biggest of these is Protect Our Winters, who have an excellent UK branch (protectourwinters.uk).
6. Read A Ski Book or Magazine
Another way to drift away into a snowy winter world is to read a ski-themed book or magazine. There are thousands of ski books and not just travel guides, there are novels, biographies of famous ski stars and even ski books for kids. Although ski magazines are usually only published in autumn and winter, you can subscribe to print publications like Fall Line and InTheSnow and read digital versions online year-round.
7. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rent
As with our boots, summer is a good time to check through all our gear and perhaps bag an off-season bargain if we need anything new, as retailers sell off last year’s stock, often at a fraction of the price last autumn/winter. These days, we’re encouraged to make our kit last as long as we can and to repair it or recycle responsibly if it’s reached its end. There’s also a growing list of companies offering rental skiwear deliveries, led by EcoSki (ecoski.co.uk), so again, now is a good time to take a detailed look at what looks best for you next winter, so it’s one less thing you need to worry about closer to your trip.
8. Go To a Ski Show
Ski shows are a great place to chat to resorts, see the new gear and feel part of a big community of snow lovers, all meeting face to face before we head off to our individual resorts in the winter. This year, the main London show is under new ownership and returns to its spiritual home of Olympia, which has had a £1 billion-plus refit, after more than a decade at other venues. There’s also a Northern Snow show (northernsnowshow.com) staged at The Snow Centre Manchester (formerly Chill Factore), where you can try new gear before you buy on real snow. It’s first on 4/5 October with Snow Show London, a fortnight later on 18/19 October.
9. Study Your Options
Without waiting to blow our own trumpet too hard, summertime is a great time to peruse the vast choice of destinations Ski Solutions has on offer. It’s a great time to dip into the site to look in more detail at resorts that take your fancy, or read through posts in our blog for inspiration.
10. Pray For Snow
Autumn can be a tense time for snowfall watchers, hoping for abundant pre-season accumulations so that everywhere is open early. We can tilt things in our favour, possibly, by paying homage to one of the various snow deities. Scandi snow god Ullr is a popular choice, but on the German-speaking side of Europe, they go for Frau Holle, who featured in pre-Christian Germanic legends in which she is said to live in the clouds, and when she shakes her feather bed, the feathers fall to earth, becoming snow.
11. Get Excited
There are loads of fabulous ski films of all kinds online, along with skier groups on social media for every snowy niche interest imaginable. If you dip into YouTube and perhaps search @RedBullSnow, @tetongravityresearch or @MatchstickProductions, you’ll immediately find the wow factor to get you excited for the next season. Stars like Markus Eder, Cody Townsend and Candide Thovex have made incredible films. You can also find plenty of advice videos and destinations. Of course, we have our own presence @skisolutions too! You can also watch a ski-themed movie like Eddie the Eagle or Chalet Girl to get in the mood, too.
To book next season’s ski holiday, call our experts on 020 7471 7700.
