If you’ve never set foot on snow before, odds are you’re going to need a lesson. If you leave this in the hands of your friends or family, unless they’re inhumanely patient, you’ll either come to serious blows or they’ll soon lose interest in lapping that green run and whisk you up to the top of an unsuitable steep run. Trying to scale a near vertical drop in a wobbly snowplough will in all likelihood forever knock your confidence and it will probably be the last time that you speak to your carefree loved one.

Instructors on the other hand are trained in helping people to progress and therefore very unlikely to take this same gung-ho tack. If money’s an issue, even a half-day group lesson will help you master the basics.