Wiski

I think it's fair to say that although I was excited about going on my first ever ski trip at the grand old age of 27, I was also a little nervous as we rode the gondola up towards Sunshine Village. Luckily, the gondola trip itself is enough to take your mind off any worries you may have. It takes you up about 500m from the car park to the main 'village' area over the tops of pine trees laden with snow, giving you great views of the runs and surrounding peaks. Although some of the runs might look a bit scary for a first timer, it's good to watch people coming down so you can see how it's done.

Sunshine Village is about 10miles from Banff in the Canadian Rockies. Canada might seem like a long way to go to try something for the first time, but it was definitely a good choice. We managed to time our trip perfectly - almost 50cm of snow in the 48hours before we arrived, so the inevitable falls would have some cushioning, and beautiful blue skies, so when I needed to rest halfway down a run it wasn't too cold to stand still for a while. Believe me; if it's your first time skiing, you'll need lots of rest stops. Your legs will be knackered!

Since speaking to friends after we got back (whoo hoo - I'm now part of the ski gang!) it seems that there are two main differences between Canadian and European resorts. The first is that you will usually have to travel to the slopes by car or bus, although there is now the option of on-piste accommodation at Sunshine. Great if you want to be skiing as much as possible, but possibly a little lonely on an evening when the gondola has stopped and everyone else has left the hill. The second difference is that the runs are not as busy. This is great for beginners - you can fall over without worrying about being sliced in half by the person coming down behind you and do your massive snow plough turns with room to spare.

I was very lucky to know someone out in Canada who was an instructor and took me for private lessons. This is an expensive way to learn, but hopefully means you'll pick things up more quickly and not get into any bad habits, which might get overlooked in a group. We started off on the ski school slope, which is a tiny little hill that feels like a mountain the first time you go down it. There are lots of small children here that will put you to shame - you just have to tell yourself they don't have so far to fall and no fear. But it is quite embarrassing when they come hurtling down past you, spraying snow in your face. But don't worry, you'll get the hang of turning and stopping eventually and then be able to try out the real slopes. This does involve mastering the art of getting on and off the ski lift, but it's not as bad as it looks. Just don't do what I did and not fasten your ski on properly. Loosing a ski at the bottom of the lift, and then having to get off on one leg at the top is hard even if you're an expert!

There are nine chair lifts giving you access to the three peaks that Sunshine is based around, and seven of these have green runs leading from them, so there's a lot of variety even for a beginner. Once you've graduated from the ski school slope and taken a lift up a bit higher, you really get to appreciate the amazing scenery of the Rockies. Sunshine is on the border of Alberta and British Colombia, and when the visibility is good, the views over to Mount Assiniboine in BC are breathtaking. Once you've made it back to base again, the village has everything you need - a restaurant, café, bar, shop, lockers etc. If you really want to prove how much you've learned, you can ski all the way down from the village to the car park. Although the gondola does go back too!

Banff itself is a big tourist resort in winter and summer, so has everything you'd expect to find. Although you'll be in the minority in the winter if you're not hitting the slopes, there's loads of shops, bars and restaurants to spend a rest day in. The souvenirs on offer are amazingly tacky - I dare you to go and not come back with some Maple Syrup or 'Bear Droppings'. Or if you fancy splashing out most shops do a good range of animal print sweaters. Nice. There are also a few museums in the town and other outdoor activities nearby such as ice-skating, dog-sledding and horse-drawn carriage rides. Wherever you are though, you can't escape the view of the mountains that tower over the town in every direction. It's like standing in a snow globe. Although luckily, the world doesn't have to turn upside down for it to snow.

So, although I started off with some nerves, I'm now definitely a skiing convert. I always thought I'd come back from a skiing holiday feeling shattered, but although I can't deny the achy legs, it's not as tiring as I thought it would be. The feeling of having made it to the bottom of a slope without falling over, and then making it down without stopping, is exhilarating, and slowly becomes quite addictive! I'll definitely be going back, and probably back to Canada and Sunshine. Next year I might even try some blues!