Why your next Christmas should be on the slopes

Sure, your local town might put up a massive tree and get a slightly famous name to turn on the Christmas lights, but that’s nothing compared to the traditions of some ski towns.

Visiting a ski resort at Christmas means you can experience a whole different culture to what you’re used to. For example, On Christmas Eve in the town of Val d’Isère, France, a street parade takes place full of costumed characters, before Santa (Père Noël) arrives on his sleigh to offer children gifts. And in the fairy-tale town of Ischgl, Austria, the big Christmas tradition is the Krampus Run, where around 50 terrifying Krampusses trek through the town to a car park for a mystical show.

Let’s face it, even the biggest Christmas scrooge would find it hard not to get a bit excited if they woke up on Christmas morning, pulled apart the curtains and saw that it was snowing outside. It’s a cliché that often appears in Christmas films, but rarely in real life.

The one place where this is pretty much guaranteed to happen, however, is during Christmas ski holidays. Waking up in a winter wonderland is a truly magical feeling, especially if you’re with children or on a romantic break. Being able to make snow angels and snowmen on Christmas day is just as much fun as it sounds.

When you’re eating a huge Christmas dinner at home, it’s usually followed by lying on the sofa, watching TV specials for a few days. But when you’re on a ski holiday, you’re likely to be going skiing every day, meaning you’ll be burning off the calories.

Fitness isn’t something you’d usually associate with the Christmas period, but that’s the great thing about a Christmas ski holiday; you’re getting high level of exercise without even noticing. It’s been proven you can burn up to 400 calories an hour during a big ski session, so you don’t have to feel guilty when the cheese board comes out.

As nice as traditional Christmas food is, there’s only so much turkey and so many mince pies one can really stomach. A Christmas ski holiday is a great time to try new delicious cuisine from around the world.

There’s the Swiss cheesy delicacy, Raclette, which is basically half a wheel of cheese slowly melted and scraped onto potatoes, and then there’s Polenta from Italy, a slow-cooked, buttery dish, which serves as the ideal base for delicious meats. The combination of cheese, bacon and potatoes makes tartiflette (native to Savoy in the Alps) another slope-side comfort food classic, and then there’s the beautifully decorated Buche de Noel (yule log) for those with a sweet tooth.

As fun as Christmas at home is, there’s no denying that it can be a stressful time. There’s the huge amount of food to cook, getting all your family or friends in one place, sorting out the shopping, not to mention the washing up afterward.

If you pick the right Christmas ski packages, you won’t have to worry about any of that. Either your chalet hosts or all-inclusive resort will deal with everything, leaving you time to appreciate what really matters – spending time with your family or friends, and hopefully not arguing over a game of Monopoly.

So just to re-cap: skiing at Christmas is easier, more magical, and you can eat as much as you want. Now what’s stopping you?

Looking for more inspiration for your next winter adventure? Discover everything from beginner tips to expert resort guides below:

• 10 Best Ski Resorts in Japan
• Beginner's Guide to Snowshoeing
• Best Ski Resorts in the Alps
• Snowboarding at Club Med