Why you should go skiing right now

I’m sitting by my grandmother’s fireplace in Crozet, a French village at the foot of the Mont Jura, basking in the success of the first ski day of the season. My nose is dripping, the back of my hair has a messy bump left by my bonnet, and my socks are damp. And yet, I feel wonderful.

To me, the thought of inhaling the raw mountain air that hovers above the Alpes’ soul-purifying white canvas is enough incentive to ski.

But perhaps for you, it’ll take more convincing.

It’s alright, I get it. You’re finally done with your deadlines and all you want to do is curl up and hibernate until spring term. But what if… just what if…you grabbed a couple of mates, or relatives, or just your own, able bodied-self, and went on a skiing holiday? Why bother, you ask? Here are a few reasons why:

It’s fun!
As someone who has had the chance to ski every winter since I could walk, I can vouch that it never gets old. Each year that I visit my dad in Crozet, I drop whatever I’m doing at the first sight of a snowflake and head for the slopes.

It’s around the corner
Ski Paradises are conveniently close-by. From London, you can get to France or Switzerland in 1 ½ to 2 hours by plane. Okay, cards on the table, ski resorts are not exactly cheap, and a week pass could cost about a hundred pounds. But I’m sure you could match that if you combine the Christmas money you get from all those relatives that don’t bother to get to know you enough to buy you a real present. Plus, if you book early enough, you can find cheap flights directly to Geneva for as little as £25.

Natural inspiration
There’s nothing more therapeutic than floating above the noise and the smoke into the clean air. Reconnect with the earth. Let the icy wind awaken your spirit. Absorb the mountain’s energy as you caress its luscious curves. Just look at the awe in my brother’s face below at the sight of the Alpine chain above the sea of clouds.

Winter work-out
So you’ve been stuffing your face with those heavenly reindeer-shaped Maltesers since November. Don’t shake your head, it makes your chins jiggle. Despite what you might think, skiing is more than just standing on a couple of sticks and sliding down the mountain in a style akin to a moving walkway. Skidding and breaking works your quads, calves, and glutes, and you’ll probably have to heave your body uphill with your sticks, which can be quite the cardio work-out (trust me, I had to mount an off-piste hill after falling off a “tire-fesse” today and emerged looking like a glistening tomato).

Also, my butt is already sore. Buns of steel, my friends, buns of steel.

Insta-worthy sights
If you’re a social media monster like me who would do anything to snap a pic of a “picture goals” scenery for my Instagram story then trust me, the sights up there will spice-up your page like nothing else. Take a look at the breath-taking sight my crappy iPhone camera managed to capture this afternoon, ready to share.

Après-ski hot chocolate (or wine)
Not directly related to the activity but I can’t stress enough the bliss of post-ski recovery. Once you’ve sweated out the toxins on the slopes, there’s nothing chiller than spending the rest of day chilling by the fire with a book and a hot cup of tea (or room-temperature booze).

It all comes down to this: are you going to sit on your butt and watch Netflix for a month, or take advantage of your youth and freedom to restore your physical, mental, and – might I say – spiritual health?