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March 12, 2025Endless Google searches and conversations with acquaintances who were familiar with skiing and ski resorts led me to discover ski vacations at ClubMed.
In March 2017, I decided to take my first solo ski trip and revisit the sport I had tried my hand , or more accurately legs at over a decade earlier on a school trip to Switzerland.
I have no close friends who ski, and it’s not something my family was even slightly interested in doing, but I was determined to go.
Being fairly Type A, I first started with finding all the information I could. Endless Google searches and conversations with acquaintances who were familiar with skiing and ski resorts led me to discover ski vacations at ClubMed. I was initially surprised because I had always believed ClubMed was a resort for families with young kids as opposed to ski resorts for adults and solo travellers.
Looking further into my options, I learned that ClubMed actually offers all-inclusive ski vacations (you can read more about the benefits of an all-inclusive trip here), which as a first-time skier and more importantly girl travelling alone seemed like a good option.
Once I narrowed my choice to a ClubMed ski holiday, I began looking at the available options on their easy to manoeuver website. A large number of the ClubMed ski resorts are located in France, and since I was planning to travel towards the end of the ski season in March, I looked at resorts open until later in the year.
My travel dates and budget led me to choose the resort at Les Deux Alpes, ranked as a 3-trident (ClubMed’s version of a star rating) ski in/ski out resort suitable for solo travellers. The nearest airport was Grenoble, a small regional airport with no available flights from Bombay, where I live. I finally resorted to flying into London Heathrow, spending a few days in my favourite city and then opting for the ClubMed transport option to fly from Gatwick to Grenoble early on a Sunday morning. Barring the incredibly early hour for the flight (thanks British Airways!), it was all smooth sailing.
I was met at Grenoble airport by members of the ClubMed team, called G.Os, and whisked off in a van with several other guests to the resort. The drive took about 3 hours on winding, but stunning mountain roads with the temperature dropping and snow surrounding as as we climbed higher into the Alps.
Being my first trip, I had no idea what to expect and had taken advantage of all the available options to include not just skis, but also ski boots and a helmet in my equipment rental.
We eventually pulled up to a wooden chalet style building and I was led through the check in formalities which were quick and easy. My bags were whisked up to my room and after I’d grabbed a quick cup of coffee from the 24/7 free machine I was shown to the ski room on the lower ground level.
Being my first trip, I had no idea what to expect and had taken advantage of all the available options to include not just skis, but also ski boots and a helmet in my equipment rental. In the ski room I found a locker corresponding to my room number where my skis, boots and helmet were waiting for me. I was shown how to put everything on and small adjustments were made for size and comfort after which I was all set to hit the slopes bright and early the next morning.
I then settled into my room which was spacious and had a beautiful view of the snow-covered mountains outside. Complete with an en suite bathroom and enough wardrobe space to hold my puffy ski jacket and pants, the room was the perfect home for the next 7 days.
Before dinner that evening, all the new arrivals gathered in the lounge for a briefing on our ski groups and how things would work over the week. As a novice, I found myself in a group with two instructors and some lovely people who truly made the experience a fantastic one. After a quick round of introductions and basic information about meeting times and meeting points for the group, we were free to get some drinks and get to know each other before going into dinner and then to the ‘theatre’ for the nightly entertainment, a variety show put on by the resort staff.
I went to dinner with a lovely English lady from my ski group, her husband and two little daughters after which we sat down to enjoy the show with other members of our little ski group.
I was pretty exhausted by my very early start to the day and the long journey so I went to bed excited to tackle my new adventure refreshed and well rested the next morning.
As a 3-trident resort, and one due for an infrastructure upgrade in the near future, ClubMed Deux Alps didn’t have a gym for me to do my usual morning workout, but I guess learning how to get down a mountain balanced on 2 strips of some kind of material would be plenty of exercise!
Each day, we would set out around 9am after a delicious buffet breakfast - a spread of breads, pastries, cheeses, spreads, cold cuts, fruits and a selection of hot dishes and eggs made to order - coupled with juice, smoothies and bottomless tea and coffee. As a ski-in/ski-out resort, we just had a short walk to reach the first of the ski lifts we would be using. Our first morning was spent largely getting used to our skis, how to put them on and take them off easily, walking in our ski boots and getting on and off the pommel and chair lifts. Our lesson started with learning how to ‘pizza’ and ‘French fry’ the triangular and parallel positions of our skis meant for slowing down and speeding up. And of course, learning how to stop!
After a few runs down the easiest slopes and understand how to manoeuvre our body weight to change directions and move around obstacles, it was time for lunch. Back at the chalet, we were greeted with music and dancing out in the courtyard and an outdoor selection of snacks and drinks. After dropping our skis and boots back to the ski room and sipping some wine with my new ski friends, it was lunch time. Another sumptuous buffet.
Then, after a short rest, it was time to work off those calories again and the afternoon saw more technique lessons and a few longer and slightly steeper slopes to traverse. We even tried the chair lift for the first time.
That evening, after still more snacks and coffee, my group and I decided to check out the small hill behind the chalet and build a snowman. Mayhem and fun ensued with rides on makeshift sleds, snowangels galore and laughter filled snowball fight! By dinner time I was exhausted and fell into bed after the nightly show.
While each day was a variation of day one, with us slowly conquering more difficult and steeper slopes as we gained confidence in our skills, and thanks to our fabulous instructors the whole week was a combination of learning and immense fun. Our wonderful instructor even took a few of us up to an altitude of 3600ft on the Saturday to ski down from a glacier after the end of our official lessons for the week on Friday. What a rush!
The evenings were spent hanging out with my new friends and walking around the quintessentially French ski village. With little streets lined with store fronts selling homemade cheese (yum!), local produce and other goods as well as some sports stores selling ski gear and other souvenirs. I even snagged a great deal on a pair of fleece lined snow boots marked down by almost 80% since it was the end of the ski season. Those boots are still going strong all these years later!
Every night our wonderful team of G.Os put on a great show and sometimes we wrapped up the night with dancing and even glow in the dark face paint! It truly was a week of memories that I will hold dear for many years to come.
At the end of the week, early Sunday morning the bus left to transport me back to Grenoble airport for my flight back to London. Flight timings demanded we leave at about 3:30am and winding our way down the mountain with snow and ice was a harrowing experience. Thanks to our heroic driver and the team, we made it and I boarded my flight tired but very very happy.
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Disha
Disha is a former corporate lawyer with a flair for writing. As an avid traveller, she is always seeking new adventures and loves telling stories about her globe trotting.
