The snow has come this year, lots of it, maybe even too much. February is the best month of the year for skiing especially for those who are occasional rather than regular skiers. February is the best month for skiing because the days are long, the snow is neither too cold nor too wet, ideal conditions for getting about on those strange objects that we attach to our ski boots.

Technology has provided skiers with extremely user-friendly materials, easy-to-use equipment, warm comfortable boots and lightweight clothing that at the same time protects us from the harshness of winter. Skiing however - which requires almost "unnatural" movements - is not a sport that anyone can learn on their own: it’s a sport that needs to be learnt from someone who knows how, then - like riding a bike - you never forget how to do it.

February with a few days’ holiday at carnival time offers the chance for a mini-break, an interesting alternative for those who can’t organise a whole week’s ski holiday because of school or work commitments. February is also the ideal month for teaching children to ski: the weather is not so cold, the days often sunny and the snow good. So grab your skis and poles and off you go! But where to?

All the winter ski resorts whether large or small have a children’s ski school, all offer interesting opportunities for group lessons, an extremely valid way of learning because they allow young skiers to emulate their companions in the group, which speeds up learning. Skiing for little ones is a joy, an even greater joy when skiing becomes a game; the winter ski resorts are all prepared for this. No more traditional coloured cones to show the pupils the curves, they have been replaced with colourful characters, plastic shapes, road signs, and coloured tunnels. The most advanced resorts have even abolished drag-lifts and ski-lifts for children which have been substituted with ski-sleds designed as small trains with carriages to take the young pupils to the start of the nursery slopes.