CROSS COUNTRY SKIING HOLIDAYS

Reassuring for beginners

For people considering a winter activity holiday for the first time, the choices can seem quite confusing! Your first decision should be based on holiday type: do you want to concentrate on one activity for the week, or does the idea of trying out several new things hold greater appeal? As a rule of thumb, if you enjoy walking, then think about giving cross country skiing a go. It’s easy to learn, involves no special clothing (your layered walking gear is fine) and, best of all, you don’t need to be an athlete or overly agile to enjoy it!

If you think a winter holiday offering a wider range of activities would be more sutiable, take a look at our selection of winter discovery holidays.

How our cross country skiing holidays work

Headwater offers fully guided, semi-guided (ie some lessons included) and independent cross country skiing/snow shoeing holidays. If you’re new to the sport, or have perhaps not been on skis for a few years, we’d encourage you to choose a holiday with support from our rep or local instructor. They’ll kit you out with all equipment – unlike cumbersome downhill skis, cross country ones are thin, light and comfortable with boots, similar to trainers, fastened flexibly at the toes. Then, with supervision, you’ll quickly get the hang of just standing, walking and turning round with skis on your feet. Next they’ll get you cruising down a gentle gradient, adjusting your weight distribution until you feel confident and in control. You’ll learn how to land comfortably, and get up easily, if you fall. In just a couple of hours, you’ll be coasting along gentle trails practising your 'gliding' stride!

Small and personal

At Headwater, we believe that small groups are key to an enjoyable guided holiday. By keeping group sizes to a minimum (rarely more than 12, usually 6-8), we can guarantee beginners the attention they need to quickly master the basics as well as providing lots of on-going one-to-one advice. We also find compact groups work well for customers travelling alone. In places where we have included lessons with a local instructor, groups may be split to take into account individual abilities and previous experience.

Adapted for improvers

More and more of our customers come back, each year with more cross country ski experience and wanting to do more. So, for winter 2007/8, we have included a certain number of fully guided 'Improvers Weeks' in Lamoura, Leutasch and Venabu. On these dates (see the indvidual holidays pages), the itineraries will be adapted so that you’ll cover more kilometres, using mostly green/blue tracks, plus some red ones (but not needing advanced downhill skills).