WHAT’S THE ONLY THING BETTER THAN A SUNNY WARM VACATION? SNOW

I grew up with beach vacations every summer. I’m not saying that I don’t love them and I don’t look forward to them from time to time. But one of the biggest realizations in my adult life has been that snow and skiing can be just as awesome as sun and swimming, if not more so. For several reasons, we’ve been able to make short winter vacations once a year, and it has become the part of the year I look forward to most. I no longer spend the whole time falling down ski runs – I can hold my own on the black diamonds. And with charming accommodations and awesome food, there’s really no down side. Summit Vacations Accommodations put me exactly where I want to be: by a warm wood fire within eyesight of the slope. Here’s why snowy vacations are better.

• They’re Healthier. I love the beach, but I live like a slob there. Let’s be honest. I eat a lot more and I lay in the sun all day. No amount of sun screen is going to forever fend off the sun related skin diseases that I fear. And with that heat, I become way too sluggish to swim very much at all. When all is said and done, I usually pack on 7 or 8 pounds after a week at the beach. Now let’s compare this to a week of skiing. Bundled and excited, I rip down slope after slope, gobbling food just like I do at the beach, but I actually lose a little weight. This kind of vacation isn’t a break from my normal workout routine. If anything, it enhances it. I’m in better shape when I get back home than when I left. I think it’s also got to do with the cold. There’s something about exerting yourself, sweating, while you’re freezing your glands off. I don’t know how it works, but it makes me feel alive and well.
• They’re Cheaper. Even compared hotel rates by a popular beach compared to a ski resort? There are exceptions, but generally people pay a lot more for the sun and surf than they do for the mountaintop experience. I don’t see why, but I’m OK with it. After all, who wants to run shoulders with the masses at a tourist trap when you can enjoy comparative solitude around people intelligent enough to at least have learned how to ski? When I’m around beach bums, I question their ability to even tie a ski boot, and I long for the thrill of the slope.
• It Gets Better the More You Do it. There’s only so much lying around I can do on a beach. The experience peaks. But I get better and better at skiing. It engages my competitive side, the part of me that wants to improve and explore and become. I want every year to be my best yet, and so far, it always is.

There are plenty of other reasons why ski trips rule. Beaches are fine, don’t get me wrong. I enjoy my time there. But having done both, I live for the slope not the surf.