Snow Business Like Being in the Know

Ah, skiing: what better pastime than hurtling down sun-flecked powdery slopes, taking in swooping Alpine vistas and savouring €8 pints by the piste?

Sporting your Dad’s garish salopettes however may be the least of your worries if you underestimate the dangerous mix of altitude, adrenaline and alcohol in the mountains.

According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) website, research from ABTA shows that two out of five winter sports enthusiasts have injured themselves at least once when on a skiing holiday.

As this worrying statistic shows, it’s not uncommon to fall into difficulty abroad.

Après-ski culture and the magnified effects of boozing at high altitude are largely behind easily preventable fatalities. Despite numerous advertising campaigns, the local authorities and the FCO are inundated every winter with cases of trips going awry.

University ski trips in particular have never been more popular – Warwick Snow is taking 450 to the French resort of Val d’Isère this December. They do bring extra cautions nonetheless.

We have all heard in the press of individuals, after nights out, attempting to jump from chalet to chalet and missing the ledge, or others falling asleep in the elements – perishing overnight to hypothermia.

Dampening the exhilaration of a skiing holiday and lecturing you is not my aim; but take heed of these cautionary tales – so many are regrettable and utterly avoidable.

Less extreme but equally serious, the next slip-up is as routine as a red run. It’s that old chestnut about insurance. Will you be fully, comprehensively, 100 per cent insured when you set off?

It is true that if you remain in the EU some costs are covered by a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). Do be careful however as not all are. Extra insurance is essential. While you may bristle at the additional expense (it can honestly be as low as £20-£30), imagine the next time you see that infamous skidoo, with body bag in tow, or helicopter whirring overhead to the nearest hospital. This could be you.

As Daniel, a member of a university ski society discovered last year following a nasty collision snowboarding in Germany, the last thing he wanted was wrangling over his treatment. A lack of physical documents and a far-than-reputable, cheap insurance firm on his arrival at hospital seriously complicated matters. Forced to make the lurching phone call to his parents, his only way out of hospital was to pay the eye-watering €8,000 medical bill for his broken leg and airlifting from the slopes. He is still fighting the insurer for a full refund. Reading the small print and consulting travel advice beforehand could have saved great hassle.

It’s important to note here that you should make sure the insurance policy you take out includes specific winter sports cover. Without this you may find that you are not fully covered for the activities you wish to do up the mountain. Similarly, bear in mind that most policies will not cover you if you ski off piste, or have an accident whilst under the influence of alcohol, so it’s always best to check the wording of your policy to see what it does, and does not cover.

And then there was Jacob, a friend of mine on Erasmus in Spain’s Basque Country who spent a spontaneous weekend skiing in the tiny Pyrenean principality of Andorra. Twisting his ankle in a bad landing, he was told his EHIC was invalid on arrival at hospital. “Andorra isn’t in the European Union. We have no reciprocal medical arrangements with other countries in it” was the reason. By doing a small amount of research before travel he would have saved himself a €200 bill for crutches to get back to Spain – and a spoilt weekend.

Things have a habit of going a bit Pete Tong once in a while. So be prepared and get yourself in the know. For more info about how to prepare for trips abroad, grab a copy of the FCO’s Plan.Pack.Explore travel guide, which is available as a free smartphone app, or the FCO website at www.fco.gov.uk/publications.

More detailed country-specific advice is available on the FCO website at fco.gov.uk/travel and follow them on Facebook (facebook.com/fcotravel) or Twitter (twitter.com/fcotravel).

Know before you go.