Snow and Ski

BEGINNERS CLOTHES- Where to start?

One of the most intimidating things about skiing is the initial plunge into the sport both in terms of having to learn so many new things and financially. So I think I need to write a beginners guide to where to start, what to look for and what to buy and how to make the experience as enjoyable as possible with a few hints and tips:

Clothing:
Jacket: This is the major component of your ski clothing as it covers a large surface area of your body and is responsible for insulating a large proportion of lost body heat. The market for ski jackets may seem like a minefield but there are some simple points to look out for when buying a ski jacket.
1) Make sure the jacket is waterproof may seem obvious but you would be surprised.
2) Make sure the jacket is windproof, people forget that the main reason for such severe degrees of cold in ski resorts is due to wind chill and making sure that this doesn’t penetrate your jacket and chill you is vital to staying warm.
3) Needs to be breathable, skiing involves allot of physical activity as you can imagine so making sure that the sweat and extra heat your body will produce is allowed to escape from the jacket especially because the sweat can cause you to become colder quicker when you’ve stopped skiing.
4) Must have a snow skirt, if the jacket doesn’t have a snow skirt and it is claiming to be a skiing jacket then there lying, the skirt prevents snow from getting up under the protective layer of the jacket and causing you to get very cold as the snow and ice comes into direct contact with your skin.
5) Make sure that there room for unrestricted movement, if the jacket is to snug fitting then movement will be restricted which will just make the learning process even harder but also areas of skin may be exposed much easier when you take a spill.

Salopets: Again a very major component to skiing outfit your salopets cover your legs bum and over the tops of your ski boots.
1) There needs to be strengthening required for the knee and bum areas, this is because these are the areas that take the most knocks from falling.
2) They need to be very warm with a thick layer of insulation, you will be able to feel the quality for saolpets and you don’t need to spend large amounts of money, aslong as the outer material seems like it wont rip any time soon and they are thickly insulated but not to excessively then you should have a safe bet.
3) If you are a beginner then salopet straps would be advised, these attach to the salopets and pass over the shoulders this means that when you fall down (and this happens to everyone if you’re pushing yourself) then they will prevent you from getting a leg full of snow.

Thermals: This section is much simpler they can be as expensive or as cheap as you like and the whole idea behind keeping warm when skiing is layering so if you buy cheaper thermals you’ll need more layers but invest in more expensive thermals’ you wont need as many layers, but as beginners it may make more sense to go for cheaper options.

Gloves: These are an extremely important piece of equipment and an area where it won’t pay to buy cheap gear. Cold fingers can be extremely discomforting especially when you need to have control over your ski poles.
Fingered gloves:
1) Reinforced fingers, this means that the threading will not unravel when they become wet continuously and put under repeated stress.
2) A softer backing material, as odd as it sounds having a softer panel of material means that you can wipe your runny nose which will be very cold and can get very sore when being repeatedly rub by coarse material.
3) Gore Tex, this means that the gloves will be warm, breathable and windproof but makes the glove more expensive but worth it.
Mittens:
1) The same basic principals as normal gloves but they tend to be warmer and have reduced grip capabilities due to the lack of separate movement for each finger.

This is only a small guide but i hope it gives beginers a good idea on where to start in terms of clothing for skiing.