Slope Starters is a beginner-only ski week with everything bundled into one price: flights, transfers, your hotel, breakfast and dinner, lessons, all your kit and a lift pass. You don't need to have skied before, you don't need your own gear, and you don't need to plan a thing. Just tell me who's coming and I'll take it from there.
No separate flight search, no chasing ski hire shops, no working out lesson times yourself. Flights, hotel, food, lessons, kit and your lift pass all come as one simple package, so the only decision left is which week suits you.
Everyone on your ski school register is starting from zero too, so there's none of the awkwardness of holding up a group of regulars. Your instructor's whole job that week is turning nervous first-timers into skiers.
Welcome drinks with the group, evenings in the hotel bar, a dip in the pool or a spa session most hotels throw in. It's a full week away, skiing just happens to be what you do in the daytime.
Here's everything that's bundled into your price, no surprises once you're out there.
The only thing you'll need to sort yourself is ski clothing: jacket, salopettes, gloves and goggles. Message me if you want pointers on what to pack, I've got a few favourites I always recommend.
First time booking a ski holiday? The bit that catches most people out is clothing, everything else genuinely is included. Ask me and I'll talk you through exactly what you need.
Day one starts with a flight out and a transfer straight to your hotel, where you'll meet the rest of your group over welcome drinks before you've even unpacked. Everyone in that room is in exactly the same boat as you, first time on skis or a board, so there's no pressure and no one comparing you to anyone who's done it before.
From day two you're straight into lessons with a proper instructor, in a small group, on the easiest slopes the resort has. By the middle of the week something clicks, you go from wobbling on flat snow to actually linking turns, and that feeling is the whole reason people come back and do this every year.
Afternoons and evenings are yours. Most of these hotels have a pool, a spa session included, or a lively bar for the evening, so you're not just eating dinner and going straight to bed. By the last day you'll be skiing runs you'd never have believed you could handle on day one, and you'll already be asking me about next year.
Sound like your kind of week? Message me on WhatsApp and I'll talk you through the three resorts below.
There are three Slope Starters weeks running in January 2027, each in a different country with its own hotel. Dates are fixed for the whole group, so pick the one that works for you and I'll take care of the rest.
16 to 23 January 2027 · from £1,065pp · Hotel Miramonti
Passo Tonale is about as beginner-friendly as the Alps get. The nursery slopes sit right by the village, so there's no messing about getting to your lesson, and once you're ready for more there's plenty of gentle terrain to explore, including an easy blue run up on the Presena glacier if you fancy bragging rights for skiing on a glacier in your first week. It's a proper high alpine pass too, so the scenery does a lot of the work for you.
Your hotel: Hotel Miramonti. Boots on, and you can be at the ski school meeting point in two minutes. Back at the hotel there's a pool and two included sessions in the wellness area (sauna, steam room and hot tub), plus a nightclub with karaoke a couple of nights a week if you fancy celebrating your first day on skis properly.
Flights from: Birmingham, Bristol, London Gatwick, Glasgow, Manchester and London Stansted.
24 to 31 January 2027 · from £1,172pp · Sport Hotel
Soldeu is brilliant for first-timers because the beginner area sits high on the mountain, reached by gondola, so you get proper mountain views from your very first lesson rather than being stuck on a car park slope at the bottom. Later in the week there are plenty of easy blue runs to test your new skills on, and the town itself has a handful of relaxed bars with live music for the evenings.
Your hotel: Sport Hotel. One of the best located hotels in Soldeu, right opposite the gondola, so mornings are easy. It mixes mountain style with proper home comforts, and there's a five floor spa with pools and saunas. One session is included and you can add more if you want to make a real habit of it.
Flights from: Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow, London Gatwick and Manchester.
9 to 16 January 2027 · from £1,279pp · Hotel Park
St Johann has a huge 43km ski area with a genuinely big nursery slope and wide, gentle runs, so there's loads of room to find your feet without feeling in anyone's way. It's also one of the prettiest towns you'll ski in: wooden chalets, frescoed buildings and an onion-domed church in the middle, so it's worth having your camera charged.
Your hotel: Hotel Park. Modern, comfortable rooms and proper Austrian cooking in the wood-panelled dining room. There's live music in the hotel bar most weeks, and your stay includes entry to the public Panoramabad swimming pool in the village if you fancy a dip that isn't in the hotel pool.
Flights from: Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, London Gatwick, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle.
A couple of optional extras worth asking about when you book.
Learn how to build your own snow shelter, a properly different way to spend an afternoon off the slopes.
Head out in pairs and get your speed fix away from the piste. Minimum ages apply.
Ask me about adding either of these when you book.
Yes, that's exactly who it's built for. Every single person on the ski school register is a first-timer too, so there's no group of confident skiers to feel behind.
They can travel with you and stay in the same hotel, but Slope Starters lessons are for first-timers only, so they'd need their own ski pass and time on the mountain arranged separately. Message me and I'll talk you through the options.
You pick when you book, but let me know if you're not sure and I can talk you through which tends to suit first-timers better.
You can only share a room with someone else if you're both on the same booking, so if you know another first-timer who fancies it, get them booked on with you. Travelling solo is no problem either, just message me and I'll talk you through what a single room adds to the price.
You can all book on together with no issue, but the per person price is the same whether it's just you or a group of six, there's no group discount built into Slope Starters.
You'll be split into a small ski school group on your first morning, and the instructors do their best to keep anyone who booked together in the same group. So if you're coming with someone, you should be learning side by side.
Breakfast and your evening meal are included every day, but lunch on the mountain isn't. There's normally plenty of cafes and mountain restaurants to grab something between runs, just worth carrying a bit of cash as not everywhere takes card.
Yes, children can join, though ski and snowboard school have minimum ages that vary by resort: 4+ for skiing or 8+ for snowboarding in Passo Tonale, 6+ for either in Soldeu, and 5+ for skiing or 10+ for snowboarding in St Johann in Tyrol. Message me with ages and I'll confirm what works for your family.
Yes. These are Crystal Ski Holidays packages, ATOL protected under TUI UK Limited (ATOL 2524, ABTA V5126), and I book them on your behalf as your travel agent. You'll get an ATOL Certificate once you've paid, always check everything you've booked is listed on it. Full terms are in Crystal Ski Holidays' own booking conditions.
Numbers on each Slope Starters week are limited and dates are fixed, so the earlier you get in touch the better your choice of week. Message me on WhatsApp and I'll take you through availability, exact pricing for your group and get you booked in.
Prices shown are per person based on two adults sharing and correct as of 20 September 2026, subject to change and availability. These are Crystal Ski Holidays packages, a trading name of TUI UK Limited (ATOL 2524, ABTA V5126), booked through Travel Agent Jake acting as your agent. See Crystal Ski Holidays' booking conditions for full terms.
