L ife needn't be a slippery slope into old age. Activities such as skiing that were once seen as the province of the youthful are now opening up to older adventurers - and even the insurance companies are waking up to the market.
You can enjoy a mid-winter skiing holiday even if you have never been anywhere near a piste. All it takes is a little planning and some effort to raise your physical fitness. Age is no barrier, as most indoor ski slopes in the UK offer special early afternoon training sessions aimed at over-50s.
You do not have to shell out on expensive ski gear either, as the price of the lessons will typically include equipment hire. And if you are concerned about broken bones: over the years, advances in technology and ergonomics in the design of boots and skis has made the sport a lot safer.
You do not even have to go to an Alpine slope for the thrill of downhill skiing on the real stuff. There are two venues in the UK with indoor slopes and real snow to learn to ski, and another, Braehead, Glasgow under construction.
Xscape in Milton Keynes (tel: 0871-222-5670), boasts two 170m slopes and a 135m nursery slope bearing 1,500 tons of perfect snow. And the Castleford Xscape (tel: 0871-222-5671) near Leeds has a single 150m main slope and a separate 40m training slope.
Prices for one-hour lessons start at £26, three hour fast track training will cost £68 and Xscape offers Ski-in a-day, an eight-hour package for £150. All prices include hire of boots, skis and helmets, but you will need your own gloves.
High Wycombe-based Wycombe Summit (tel: 01494-474-711) operates the longest dry ski slope in the UK, offering lessons in a relaxed, sociable atmosphere under the watchful eye of qualified instructors. Afternoon sessions last two hours, with a break for tea, and are £11.50 for over-50s.
Telford Snowboard & Ski Centre (tel: 01952-586-862), which has an outdoor all-weather 85m dry ski slope, runs an adult ski school for the over-50s with two-hour lessons costing £9.20.
If you would rather learn to ski on the piste, The Ski School, of CairnGorm Mountain (tel: 01479-861-319), offers a four-hour lesson. Prices start at £55 for the over-60s and include all equipment hire and lift passes, but you will need to bring your own gloves and goggles. CairnGorm Mountain is Scotland's most popular ski area, near the village of Aviemore.
Amanda Shepherd, owner of the school, says that most people need just the one four-hour session to get slope ready and performing basic turns. The rest is practise. The school uses video cameras to help you correct mistakes through direct observation of your performance on the slope.
Ms Shepherd advises that before you start ski lessons, it is sensible to raise your stamina. Although you do not need to be super fit, the fitter you are, the higher your learning capability and the lower the chances of aches and pains spoiling the experience.
Ms Shepherd recommends cardio-vascular work such as walking, swimming and cycling. The more stamina you build up, the longer you can stay on the snow without being involved in an accident because you are fatigued.
However, while it is true that skiing is typically associated with injuries, statistics show that for every 1,000 people skiing or snowboarding on any particular day in European resorts, only two to four will sustain serious injuries.
This brings us neatly to insurance. There is no shortage of special deals and over-50s should expect to pay around £27 for a single trip of up to 10 days to any European ski resort and around £50 if you are skiing in the US or Canada.
Check that the fine print covers medical and air ambulance costs, legal expenses, personal baggage, money and ski equipment, irrespective of whether it is hired or your own. The policy should also protect against piste closure and foul weather delays, plus full cover when you are off-piste.
M ost policies either limit cover to recognised trails or extend it off-piste only if the insured is accompanied by a qualified instructor.
There are several insurers such as Direct Travel Insurance, Columbus, Insure and Go, and Preferential who offer all-round no-quibble cover. Tesco and Ski Club of GB also give all-terrain cover but are a little more expensive.
Travel premiums tend to rise sharply when the policyholder is 65 or older. Insurers argue that the risk of falling ill overseas and incurring large medical bills is that much greater.
Careful scrutinising of exclusion clauses pays off, and it is always prudent to get several quotes. Before buying, be sure to give a detailed medical history. As a rough guide, premiums nearly double for those aged over 65. Saga has no upper age limit on its winter sports policy.
If, after a few weeks of fitness training and a course of lessons you are now ready to head to a ski resort, avoid the higher prices and queues of February half-term.
And it may be wise next year to avoid Lech and Zürs in the Austrian Alps, which are the settings for the second Bridget Jones movie The Edge of Reason, which opens in December. The hills may be abuzz with the sound of thirtysomething unattached women.
· Margaret Hughes is away
