Why late season boarding can play havoc with your snow style

It’s half term for many schools next week. And that means a mass exodus for a spot of late season snow. But, as the European ski season comes to a close and the numbers start to drop, the number of skiers coming home in plaster rises significantly. According to World First Travel Insurance, the end of the ski season is the time when injury claims go up. The reason for this is quite simple: the pistes have had months of regular use and will have deteriorated since the beginning of the season, there is less snowfall and the temperatures begin to rise. This often leads to more ice, which, in case you hadn’t noticed, is very, very slippery.

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Pinch and a punch for the first of the month. And that means it’s a legitimate time to start thinking about Christmas. But before we all head off to get merry, here’s a final word on skiing travel insurance. It’s short and to the point. After reading a report in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph about drunken skiing invalidating claims, we thought we should clarify where we stand with drinking and skiing holidays and travel insurance.

For many, après ski is an important part of the whole experience. And alcohol is very much a part of ski culture. Why wouldn’t it be? But the days of drinking and skiing may be coming to an end. The Telegraph article cites American resorts imposing fines on drunken and dangerous skiers, whilst insurers can refuse to pay out if a skiing accident (or even falling over and injuring yourself on the way back from the pub) is deemed to have been the result of excessive alcohol consumption. This policy exclusion is to protect them against the increased risk of injuries following alcohol consumption.

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Going wild? Read the small print first.

It seems that you won’t have to go too far to get snow this week. Winter has well and truly arrived. It’s enough to turn our thoughts to winter sports isn’t it? Funny that, especially when we’ve been talking about it all this month in the World First blog. Perhaps we should have saved it until December and had a little punt on it being a white Christmas this year?

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New Club Med Ski resort opens in China

This week sees French all-inclusive giants Club Med open a purpose built ski resort in Yabuli, China. Yabuli is considered the best resort in China and is the place where the Chinese national ski teams do their training. It was also the location for the 3^rd Asian Winter Games in 1996. Yabuli has 31km of pistes, 18 lifts and plenty of additional activities, including snow park, a toboggan run, a skating rink and snowmobile trails.

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So it’s Friday afternoon. It’s raining outside. There’s nothing in the diary to keep you excited. Every other shop window is spraying fake snow all over the place. You’re dreaming of far away lands. You’re dreaming of pistes glowing white under a fresh dump of snow. You’re dreaming of schnapps and good times. Why not? But where to first?

If you’re thinking of dropping everything and jumping on a plane for a quick snow plough in the alps it’s going to be a bit of a risk at this time of year. But don’t worry. With your trusty computer at hand you can check out the snow conditions practically anywhere. So. How about a quick overnight dash to Scotland? What’s happening right now? Thankfully you can check out the conditions right here at Ski-Scotland’s website. There’s not much on offer but you might be lucky if you head for the Cairngorms. They plan to open this weekend for snow sports. Yippeeee. (more…)

In the last blog we looked at airport parking with ski gear on our journey to the slopes for this winter’s ski season and great deals on airport parking as part of a World First Travel Insurance package.  For this one we’re going to look at a completely different way of getting there – the ski train from St Pancras ( you might not need the parking but you’ll still need great value winter sports cover). Going by train can be really relaxing and it could well prove to be the answer for people who want all the fun of the snow without the hassle or higher environmental impact of flying.

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