Rest day?

A snowHead

I'm going on my first ever ski holiday this Sunday and the group I'm going with intend to have a rest day. I can't get my head round having a rest day when I've only got 6 days to ski, it just seems such a waste.

I'm reasonably fit from cycling and running and have spent a lot of time practicing at Chill Factore, so I'm thinking of ditching the rest day. Is having a rest day normal practice on a week long trip or are they being a bit precious? I suppose it depends on how the individual feels at the time, but they were insisting that a rest day is absolutely standard practice and that I'd be made not to have one.

A snowHead

Im with you I think its stupid to have a rest day.

What I normally do have though is a lighter day sometime midweek. Normally get up a little later, have a longer lunch etc. But to take the whole day off seems a waste to me!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Standard practice for them, perhaps... I've had them and they can be a nice change if you're staying in a interesting enough resort. If you're fit, you certainly don't need one. If tired, you always have the options of getting out of bed and hitting the slopes a bit later or heading back to the village a bit earlier. Perhaps a lazy, long lunch...

In short: do what you feel like doing and not what someone says you should be feeling like doing.

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I've never heard of anyone doing it on a holiday trip. Shocked

If it's your first trip you could just go and have a lesson on your own if you wanted.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

justatheory, Never had a rest day.
As above maybe take one day a bit lighter but still on the mountain.

Did 9 day trip last year and 8 day trip this year and it never crossed my mind to have a rest day. I could probably continue for another 10 days Wink

I guess it depends how really you are into skiing but for me every day is precious as we only get a one trip per year recently.

Fitness wise not a problem, I would consider us on lower end of term "reasonably fit" and could ski all day from 9 till 4
(have to admit rather slowish speed etc but still manage 25-35km per day).

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See how you feel, your legs might be killing you. I would not waste a day myself but have been know to have a late lunch then call it a day.

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If your fit, I can't see the point in a day off during a 6-day holiday. On longer holidays, it can be nice to let the legs recharge. Not 'essential' though.

After all it is free

Sounds like a waste. I maybe have one day where I have a bit of a lie in, don't ski too hard, have a nice lunch etc. (normally coincides with the day I have a massive hangover...)

Definitely wouldn't have a day where I didn't get up the mountain though.

Fairly pointless on a 6 dya holiday if you're a keen skier although bear in mind the fact that it's a holiday and I can see why people might take them. I did 14 days back to back recently and admit to sacking off early one day to go to a hot springs as the conditions and cumulative fatigue certainly weren't improving the ski experience so at 10 days plus a rest day can definitely enhance the overall experience. In the context of longer stays or seasonnaires it's almost madness not to take rest days to prevent niggling injuries becoming more serious and potentially season stoppers although in practice I've seen many seasonnaires take this to extremes and regularly call it a day after a couple of runs or fail to get out at all if conditions are in any way sub optimal.

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I'm with Fatbob. I had a rest day on my two week holiday this year, felt completely refreshed the next day. It also meant i got to spend some 'quality time' with the O/H Laughing

On a six day jaunt it's first to last lift every day, with only a short lunch if at all.

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If I have a 6 day pass (or 7 or 8 ), there's no way I'd be wasting a day of it. And I wouldn't be getting a "non-consecutive days" pass either (although I might do if it were 10+ days in the same area).

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Same for me - never have a 'rest day' but sometimes have a late start or a long late lunch and then an early finish if I'm not feeling it. Just see how it goes - one day you might be desperate for an early finish and on the scheduled 'rest day' you might be raring to go so it doesn't make sense to plan ahead.

justatheory, If you are going on your first ever ski holiday, I'd expect you to be having ski lessons. They don't have a rest day in their plans.
The 'light weights' that are suggesting a rest day are the mad ones. Barring injury or infirmity at the very worst you need to do is pace yourself! Long lazy lunches work for me but then I do have arthritus and I am officially decrepit!

You know it makes sense.

I've taken a day out to do other things on longer trips, but never burned a lift-pass day.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

I had a sightseeing day on a 10-day holiday in Canada, but would never do that on a 6-day one! Imagine wandering round the resort or going swimming or something when you could be skiing. WTF?

A snowHead

Go with the flow, see what the weather and snow is like...do your mates ski so hard that they need a rest day or do they have an interesting trip in mind? If you feel tired just take it a bit easier on day 3... but it's not really normal practice in my book. My parents took a rest day last year though. They are 78 and 79.....!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I too wouldn't want a complete rest day in a 6-day holiday, but would definitely consider it over two weeks.

I'm also quite a big fan of doing a day of cross-country to break it up and use some different muscles. This last holiday I even tried boarding for a day Shock

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By a rest day, maybe they mean a day when you don't get up at 11, have a 2 hour lunch, and come back at 3pm, and try and get some skiing in. I've considered such things on ski trips before, but honestly you just end up knackered and all sweaty. It's not nice. Stick to the Monium plan, it is also significantly safer, unless you have allergies.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I'm going with the intention of not having a rest day. We're going to La Ros, which doesn't seem to have much going on apart from the skiing really. I'm very excited now, in fact I've not been this excited for a holiday since I was a kid. Just hope it lives up to expectations.

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justatheory, in=magine saying to the rest of your party they are paying 17% extra for their holiday. They can always rest when they get home. Afterall 6 days is fairly short ski holiday.

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I agree with the consensus above - no need for a rest day for a 6 day trip. For a two weeker i think it could yield benefits. After you come home, sit down with your friends and add up the entire cost of the trip, flights, accomm, transfers, ski passes, ski hire, food, drink etc. Divide the total by the number of days you had on the slopes to calculate the cost per day.

After that you can be all smug with the ones who took a rest day and realise it cost them somewhere between £100 and £300 for the luxury of sitting in an uncomfortable smelly ski apartment all day watching spanish soap operas on a 12 inch TV off of the 1990s.

After all it is free

Depends a bit on your accommodation...

Plush chalet or hotel with gym, wi-fi, spa etc in a village that's nice to walk around - then I would certainly consider a half or even full rest day if the weather was bad.

But if it's 11 of you in 2 bed shoe-box in La Plagne then I would be out on the mountain 9-5 every day come hell or high water

Ibuprofen, much cheaper and more effective than a rest day.

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i'd never dare call myself fit but i have skied a lot so make up for it with half-decent technique. i would never consider wasting a day's skiing. saying that, the guys i was with in val d'isere recently were a mixed bunch. 2 or 3 of us skied flat out, dawn until dusk every day. 3 or 4 would join us for the odd day and then do a bit of their own (more relaxed skiing and coffee-stops) thing and 2 or 3 did take a day or 2 off to recover from the effects of some very late nights. each to their own and we all agreed at the end that we'd had a really great holiday.

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meh,

There's plenty more days in the year to rest.

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I'd never choose to do one, but one trip a rest day was enforced as one member was injured and I spent the day walking round Interlaken.

I have to admit that I was totally amazed at how well I skied after the rest day, feeling fresh and totally recovered from any leg stiffness and tiredness. In some ways I can see the sense of it, but although I valued the experience, I wouldn't choose to do it again.

You know it makes sense.

Rest day is your first day back in the UK, when you pull a sicky. Best to say upset stomach from "the dodgy French food" as can be easily got over in 24 hours. Blush

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Why on earth would you need a rest day on a 1 week holiday, that to me is just crazy. Apart from the waste of a day there is also the wast of one days lift pass(that you have paid good money for). If it applies, the wast of one days equipment hire(that you have paid good money for). The time for a rest is when you get back to work.
A rest day, never even crossed my mind.

A snowHead

Yeah I would sack off the rest day a well, sounds crazy when you only have 6 days of skiing. That said though me and my pal did have to give it some thought when we got a terrible dose of the shits following lunch on the mountain. But the thought of loosing a days skiing was much worse than the stomach cramps so we opted to ski from toilet to toilet (there are some grotty bogs in Les Arcs!!!).

A snowHead

You should plan to ski every day. You never know what weather will bring and there may be day (or two) you take an early lunch and don't go back. Skiing not so much fun in white-out. Your rests thus likely to be unscheduled. You' d be kicking yourself if you took a deliberate rest day on a sunny day, and next day skiing was no good due to bad weather. And don't rely on weather forecast, they can be way off the mark in the mountains.

I personally think a week (ie 6 days) is too short. What I love about 8 days is you can take some early jacuzzis early on during the trip, knowing loads of days left to do loads of skiing. However I am most knackered after short trips due I am sure to skiing harder and until the last lift. If you ski every day hard your skiing will suffer after a few days, just as even elite athletes and olympians slow down in 2nd half of 400m sprint. So nothing wrong with pacing ypurself either

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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I've occasionally had a rest day where I've had something else I wanted or had to do. Things I can remember are a visit to relatives, a trip to Yellowstone park, looking after an injured child, and dodging horrendous weather conditions. It's actually not as stupid as it seems: although I think I'm probably somewhat fitter than average and always ski from first to last lift and typically manage more than 10km of mostly off-piste vertical a day, I'm not too proud to admit that muscle fatigue can sometimes compromise my ability. You're likely to see the benefit for 2-3 days after a mid-trip break, especially if you're planning to ski for 8 days or more.

The cost needn't be as bad as it seems. Most resorts I've skied at are enlightened enough to allow a cost-free break in the ski pass (eg 8 days out of 10 is the same price as 10 straight days) and you can usually return any hire gear without penalty. You've already paid for your flight, so the only cost of extending your trip to take a rest day is your extra food and accommodation. If you're self catering, the cost is negligible, but you do use an extra day's annual leave.

If I weren't tied to school holidays, my ideal ski break would be two blocks of 5 days skiing separated by a single rest day. If I only had six days in total, though, it would take something special to prise me away from the slopes.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Never felt the need to take a rest day; 6 days is to precious to waste 1

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It's your holiday - do what you like!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Tarquin, Nail on head

After all it is free

TheGeneralist, I think you're more than 'acceptably' fit: 3.5km height gain is a serious day's cycling. I guess that means you tackle your skiing with as much vigour as your biking and climbing.

Unless they're seriously out of shape, a rest day is hardly necessary for someone who just potters about on a few groomed runs. On the other hand, someone who skis agressively through powder and bumps from dawn to dusk will be struggling to maintain their pace after a few days unless they have the fitness of a professional athlete.

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