The snow catches the sun as it falls away in a crisp arc to the bottom of the run. You can see the point where it narrows and steepens, the other skiers zoom past and disappear like cars on a busy motorway. I tip my skis slowly over the ridge and brace my knees against the fall. My heart is in my mouth and all I want is to be back in the cafe - preferably with a bottle of brandy …

It's what my brother calls "skiing like a girl". At which point I'd usually hit him. So if I can level the gender playing field in other areas of life, why is it I'm a lily-livered goose on the slopes? Skiing - I tried it once, couldn't get the hang of it, hated it, was terrified and never returned. So I have decided to try a girl's solution to my "girl’s problem": an all-female ski school.

Sorry boys - this is not about chalet pyjama parties and tight-fitting black salopettes. The emphasis here is very firmly on the skiing. And it's not that I have anything against men, I just hate playing catch-up behind a bloke hurtling on down at break-neck speed. It goes against my competitive nature. And so it was that I boarded a plane to Geneva, looking forward to some (relatively) non-competitive fun with the girls.

It's all in the head

I arrive in Morzine, a laid-back chocolate box resort in the French Alps, early on a Sunday evening to begin my training. To my surprise, lesson one doesn't even need snow, which is fitting given the dubious snow conditions this year. It takes place in our on-site bar at Chalet Flo with coach Anthony and plenty of brandy close at hand in case of emergencies.

The first task is simple. Anthony asks us all to state what we want to achieve by the end of our stay. For me it's to go on some rose-tinted future ski trip, able to say "I can ski" with confidence and know that I can make it down the slope without falling over - taunting brother or not.

More easily said than done. How is this wonderful transformation going to occur in just four days? Apparently it's all in the head.

"What the thinker thinks, the prover proves," Anthony explains. So if you start your day on the slopes thinking "I will try not to fall", you are more than likely to do just that and fall. Instead, he suggests, start your day by saying "I will stay upright" and see what a difference it makes.

Hmmm. What else? "Visualisation," coach continues. He instructs us to visualise in our left hand the moment we felt terrible skiing: scared and out of control. Then we have to visualise in our right hand the moment we felt terrific and happy with our skiing - or elsewhere in life. The trick is to replace the bad memories with the good. It's a matter of positive mental attitude.

Now I'm feeling pretty sceptical: I don't visualise. Like Nike, I just do it. Still, I concede that my problem is probably mental - my fear of falling has no reason to be there, cramping my style like a dad on the dance floor. I resolve to keep an open mind and give it a go.

Coach’s other tips are more practical. Like the trick of lowering your centre of thought. When people panic, thoughts can crowd their heads throwing them off balance, he explains. The trick is to lower your thoughts to your stomach, your centre of gravity - and breathe.

Another tip I like is to try things out - and if they don't work, modify them until they do. Your instructor may be good, but what works for them may not ring true for you. Create your own tailor-made method.

By the end of the night I have enough tips to keep me lying awake in bed long enough to hear the après-ski crowd returning from a night on the town. The question is will Anthony’s advice cut the mustard on a real mountain top?

Practice makes perfect

It’s 9am on Monday morning and we're up on the piste in a fog of cloud and thickly falling snow. "Bad visibility, bad visibility!" go the gremlins in my head. I resolutely push them aside and dutifully focus on my aim - to stay upright. By the time I meet my ski instructor Becs Malthouse from the British Alpine Ski and Snowboard School Morzine (BASS) I am simply oozing positive vibes.

However, my first step is to go right back to basics on the baby runs. Despite this I do feel strangely clear-headed, almost as if I am approaching skiing for the first time. Yes, there are tiny tots spilling down the mountain around me like smarties from a tube, but I can ski with almost as much panache as they can. And I don't fall over.

By the afternoon I've found my stride. I'm back on the blues with the big boys - or girls should I say? I'm keeping up, I'm stress-free and I'm having a whale of a time. Look at me, I'm skiing! I deserve an appearance on Oprah. It’s back to Chalet Flo for our afternoon coaching session with Anthony and I'm getting less sceptical about "la psychologie".

Over the course of the next three days, with expert tuition from the BASS instructors, I progress from strength to strength. I even find I have taken on board some of the "head stuff" I was so sceptical about. Not all of it - but the bits that work for me - really do work.

I wasn't the only one who came off the slopes each day with a big smile on her face. Classmate Sheila, who had lost confidence after a lifetime of skiing and had reached the point of quitting for good, was now enjoying it more than she had done in years. She'd gone from being the perpetual "tale-end Charlie" to knowing people enjoyed following her down the slopes because she skied so well.

Likewise, Michelle, a 23-year-old novice, came off the course a completely different skier. A bad first experience had made her very nervous of even the gentlest slope. But by Wednesday, as we ate a well-deserved lunch, she told me: "On Monday I just wanted to not fear the learner slope, now I've got on the chair lift twice."

Maybe it was the "head stuff" or having an instructor I could work well with. Or maybe it was being with a great group of girls who wanted to ski the way I liked to ski. Whatever it was, all-girls ski school has got me well and truly hooked. I'll save hacking down the slopes with the guys for next time - but by then I'll be right out there in front.

Getting there

Georgia Brown travelled to Morzine courtesy of Ski-Morzine. Their "Girls only!" package includes four nights' accommodation at four-star Chalet Flo (with cooked breakfast, afternoon tea, pre-dinner drinks and canapés followed by four-course evening meal with wine on three nights) workshops and coaching sessions and transfers to and from Geneva airport. The next Girls only! holiday runs from March 4-8 2007 and costs £575pp based on two people sharing. For more information at skimorzine.com; 0845 370 1104

Her coach, Anthony Davis, is a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Master Practitioner, accredited by the Society of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (SNLP) and a skiing and snowboarding coach. headstuff.wordpress.com; +33 450 757349.

The British Alpine Ski and Snowboard School (BASS) Morzine runs a range of courses, from beginners to advanced. Private adult lessons start from £50pp per hour. britishskischool.com/morzine

EasyJet flies from Gatwick to Geneva. Flights depart several times a day and cost from £16.99 one way.