Beginners' ski holidays

You want to know exactly what's involved, so here it is.

We talk about what you'll need, where's good to go for beginners and how our ski pack bundles make getting on the slopes really straight forward.

First-time ski/board from £99

For complete beginners who have never put on a ski/board before, these are the packs for you. They offer the best price on all the items you need to get you on the mountain and are only available to pre-book. First-time ski/board inlcudes†:

• 6 day standard ski or board hire and boots
• Lift pass*
• Ski/board tuition**

Find out more about how you can get one of these for free, but you'll need to be quick.

* In some resorts, where beginner lifts are free, lift passes are of differing durations to match when ski schools reckon you will be ready to progress further around the mountain. In other resorts the lift pass type varies from beginner through to area passes.

** Lesson durations vary by resort.

Improver ski/board from £159 per adult, £104 per child

Even if it is not your first time on the slopes having a lesson will guarantee you get more out of your holiday. Only available when you pre-book. Improver ski/board includes†:

• 6 day intermediate skis/standard board hire and boots
• 6 day lift pass
• Ski/board tuition

* Lesson duration and lift pass type varies by resort.

† USA/Canada Learn to Ski and Improver packages have varying durations, please see the resort pages for details and exact inclusions.

Apart from flights, transfers to your resort (it can take a few hours to drive up to the high mountain resorts) and accommodation - all of which are included in our prices - as a beginner you'll need the following:

Lessons

The fastest way to pick up all the basics of skiing or boarding. After just a few lessons you'll probably be able to tackle some of the easier slopes. It's tricky at first but it's remarkable how quickly you build up your confidence under professional tuition - just get through the first day and you'll be laughing.

Equipment hire

Skis or board, boots, poles, helmets. You're not going anywhere without them and the easiest thing to do is just hire them with us, ready to pick up in-resort. The reps and local staff will help you get the right sizes and fits.

Lift pass

There are lifts of various shapes and sizes that take you up the mountain. They are maintained by the resort along with the slopes themselves - it takes a bit of work to make the pistes lovely and smooth to ski on. The lift pass is effectively a ticket to the slopes and allows you on the lifts.

Ski clothes

You'll need to pick up these things before you go or maybe borrow them from a mate. There are loads of things you could get, but the essentials are as follows: waterproof jacket, salopettes or snowboard pants (waterproof trousers), gloves, socks, goggles/sunglasses and some thermals or thin warm layers that are easy to take off. For more information read our What to pack for skiing in 2012/13 blog post.

Virtually all of our resorts offer good beginners' facilities, check the "essentials" section of the individual resort pages to see how suitable they are for beginners.

First time on a snowboard? Learn to snowboard as part of your holiday package.