With snow covering the mountain resorts all over the world, it's no surprise that millions are rushing to the airport with skis or board in hand to head off on a trip to the pistes. If you are one of those heading on a family ski holiday for the first time soon, there are many things to consider while on the mountain to ensure your vacation is both safe but also as fun as possible. With these in mind, these are the unwritten rules of skiing etiquette.
Carrying your equipment
The first thing is to recognise how best to carry your skis to and from the slopes, especially if you are in a sizable crowd of people and want to stay safe. Skis are usually carried over the shoulder, with the tips up and tails down to reduce the risk of clotheslining anyone when you suddenly turn around. Your poles could also be secured around the skis to form a pack, because there's nothing worse than being hit by someone's flailing poles.
Don't be tempted to jump in line
While the whole family will certainly want to make the most of their skiing experience, pushing in will do you no favours and will more than likely cause other mountain users to become very irritated. With this in mind, you should always get to the back of the queue and wait your turn. If you are snowboarding, it's a good idea to remove your rear foot from the board so that you can propel your way along the queue; not doing this means that you have to rely on other people and could even throw you off balance in the queue or - even worse - while waiting for the lift to pick you up.
Being safe and polite on the slopes
Unless you have the privilege of hiring out the whole mountain for your holiday, you will always be sharing the runs with other skiers and boarders throughout the day. With this in mind, it is important that your actions don't aggravate the people behind and in front of you. This can be achieved firstly by making sure you ski a run which matches your ability, decreasing the chances of you falling over or speeding off out of control. If you feel confident enough and fancy picking up a bit of speed, you must make sure that you don't dart in front of anyone with quick turns, as this could cause others to alter their course.
