We just spent out first New Years away and we chose the beautiful little ski town of Morzine in France, an hour away from Geneva Airport. This was a peculiar choice as we weren’t babies born on skis.; our parents would probably avidly avoid a skiing holiday at all cost if they could. Needless to say, this has transcended the generation and we would rather a cheeky city break or a backpacking two week-er around Asia. However, if you’re not skiers like ourselves you will constantly have snow bunnies explaining how ‘amazing‘ it is and how they ‘just can’t understand‘ how you don’t love it. So, armed with all this worldly advice and a huge nudge from our friends already booked on; Morzine here we come!

Now, to put it in context we had been skiing a handful of times before but not for many years and when our bodies were a little more limber and minds not so cautious. We weren’t starting from scratch, however when we arrived on the first day at the top of the Pleney run we felt as wobbly as Bambi on ice – and it was only a blue!

Listening to some more worldly advice ‘its juts like riding a bike, you never forget‘ and trying to bury the burning fear in the deepest areas of our belly we pushed our skis into snow plough and off we went. The first few seconds of the skis sliding on the fluffy snow sent us into sheer panic but after a while we did come to build up some long-lost courage.

We made it down the Pleney run an hour later, after three spectacular falls and two panicked tantrums, in one piece and feeling surprisingly accomplished. However, triumph turned to despair when we realised it was time to go back up. Being a non-skier, surrounded by skiers is a daunting prospect; you’re much slower, much more likely to fall, much less likely to be able to get up from that fall and probably enjoying yourself much less due to all the above. You feel as if you’re slightly ruining their holiday by holding them back – but due to the fact we have fantastic friends, off we went again. This time it got that little bit easier, we got that little bit more confident and like that, the second run was done. Over and out, time for Apres-ski.

If you have been to Morzine you’ll be aware of Le Tremplin and if you haven’t it’s where you need to head. Slap bang at the bottom of the Pleney lift is Le Tremplin and it will get you Apres-ski juices flowing. Table service and a DJ, what more do you need? Shockingly, we know, this had to be one of our favourite parts of the trip.

Whoever though Apres-ski was a good idea when you actually have to ski the next day is deluded. We woke up for day two and we’re not going to lie, our heads were hurting… more than a little bit. And now we had to go out and ski? Na! Time for us to hit the spa against all the worldly advice; ‘the mountain air will make you feel better!’. What made us feel better was swimming in an outdoor heated pool, soaking in a Jacuzzi and sweating it all out in the sauna, before heading back to Le Tremplin to do it all again. We weren’t missing out on the Apres-ski!

After a lot of grief for missing a ‘day on the slopes’ we were up early door for the next day. This time we headed up past the top of the Pleney and up and up and up, taking chairlift after chairlift until we have to admit we saw the most breath-taking view. If there is a cherry on top of it all, it is the spanning view of mountains, covered in glistening white snow against deep blue sky. That had us sold.

We spent a whole day skiing through the resort, around beautiful mountain tops and through magical forest runs, all made a little bit easier with a regular pit stop for mulled wine. Skiing is so unnatural to the human body but today we were enjoying life and a fall every now and again was completely overshadowed by the immense view.

It was time for our last night out in Morzine and what a bigger bang to go out on than parting on New Year Eve. The town was alive with people laughing on the street, an array of multi-coloured lights danced in the white snow from the fireworks and old and new tunes leaking from the bars into the open. After dinner the Cavern was our location of choice; an under ground ski bar where you can dance on the tables and chairs until the early hours of the morning. Dream New Year!

The next day we had another dip in the heated pool and one last soak in the Jacuzzi before it was time to head back to London. Overall, we wouldn’t say regular ski bunnies would now be preaching to the converted, however, the views from the top of the mountain make it all worth it and we would have to say we ‘just can’t understand how you can’t like it a little bit.’ 

Our top tips for you fellow no skiers out there would be;

• Give it a go, its hard we’re not going to lie but once you’ve taken a few falls you’ll get into the swing of things.
• Don’t feel like you have to ski everyday. The towns are so beautiful and the food so fab you’ll have plenty of other things to keep you occupied while the hard-cores head out.
• Try and get a hotel with an outdoor pool its really magical and your still getting a bit of a work out… kind of.
• Go with people you can laugh with but also scream at a little too when you need to vent after your umpteenth – better out than in.
• Drink the mulled wine, always drink the mulled wine.