Why Blog about Spring Skiing?

If you think the ski season is already over, along with opportunities for blogging about it, then think again. Late spring is the best time for a trip to write about the white stuff says Kirstie Pelling…

The snowdrops have been and gone and the daffodils are taking over the world. And your thoughts are turning to summer holidays and blog trips right? Hey hold on a minute! In my opinion the best time to blog about snow activities is March and April. And here’s five reasons why:

1 It’s warmer

In late spring the sun is more likely to be on full beam which means skiing is less likely to be a battle between you, the mountain and the weather. You can take pictures from the chairlift without your fingers freezing. You can lie in the snow to make video without your backside feezing. You can do Facebook Lives without ski goggles, a bobble hat and a helmet obscuring your face. You can show people sitting on terraces drinking champagne and not huddled over a hot chocolate in a bar that smells of ski socks.

2 It’s cheaper and easier to accommodate you

For families in particular late spring is a much cheaper option than mid-season. If you are stuck to school holiday travel, at February half term you’ll find peak prices and crowded bars and lifts. You’ll also find it harder to bag a press trip or campaign; no one is going to want to give away beds and lift passes that they could easily sell to a paying customer. At the end of the season it’s a different story. Accommodation providers may be more amenable as beds free up. Activity providers will be starting to think about the summer months and probably won’t mind you taking some skis out of their stock or strapping yourself to one of their paragliding instructors. (Unless you are trying to do it in a bar during apres ski!)

If you are funding the trip yourself, many resorts have reduced price end of term packages. Resorts in the French Alps are offering some great ski deals this spring with free skiing for kids. When we were skiing in La Clusaz in spring we found ESF was offering free lift passes and instruction for all complete beginners for the whole month of April. List passes are generally cheaper in resorts across Europe as the season goes on, as is accommodation.

3 Ski instructors are more chilled  

At Christmas, particularly in recent years, there can be a shortage of snow in low level resorts, and everyone is anxious. At mid-season instructors may also feel a little grumpy. They are booked up every hour and have to get from lesson to lesson in between. The novelty of teaching novices every day in the mountains may have worn off yet there’s still weeks of it to go.

By late spring you might find they are already getting nostalgic about the season while looking forward to the end of season party. They may be more patient when you can’t do pizza and chips on the slopes because you have eaten too much pizza and chips in the mountain restaurant. And I have found they are happier to hang out and chat which leads to blog gold. They might call their network of local skiers over for a chat too. And before you know it you have started an avalanche of quotes and images that February bloggers can only dream of.

4 There’s lots to do

If you are a beginner or intermediate skier you’re unlikely to be an expert on…well pretty much anything. So there’s only so much in-depth blogging you can do about the ski runs, no matter how state of the art they are. Instead you’ll likely be looking for other things to write about. Hey voila! In spring the festivals ramp up in the sunshine. You can try out the open air pools without shivering in the changing rooms. The end of season parties often have demonstrations of sporting prowess including ski jumping and freestyle skiing. In Le Grand Bornand we headed off into the mountains to see how cheese was made and watched leather craftsmen at work after long mornings on the piste. We joined in a festival about water and we took inspiration from the cows – both real and artistic. The only downside was that winter sports were more limited. Igloo making was off the agenda due to the big melt, as was husky dog racing and ski joering. (That’s horses on snow in case you were wondering!)

5 You’ll be ahead of the rest at the start of the next ski season

If you go at the very end of the season and save the content for publishing in the autumn, instead of scrabbling about after your blogging trip trying to write something before the short season ends, you’ll be more than ready. And all winter you’ll have loads of sunny ski pictures to Tweet out to entice people to your blog. All that’s left to do is start planning the next spring trip.

All images copyright Stuart Wickes from the Family Adventure Project. 

Have you blogged about your spring ski trip?   Pop your links in the comments section below, we would love to check them out!   We will share our favourites via our twitter account.