`We're about two years behind England's skiing phenomenon," says Hugh Cooling of Michael Stein Travel in Lower Camden Street, Dublin, which specialises in skiing holidays. These days, it's impossible to open a newspaper or magazine without coming across a skiing feature. Fighting Irish, we're familiar with. Football Irish, ditto. But skiing Irish? Celtic Moggy has to have a paw in there somewhere.
Time was when it was wildly exotic and adventurous to head off to Andorra. By this stage, Andorra is well-established and caters primarily for the budget end of the market. Irish folk are now enjoying apres ski in further-flung destinations - and spending a lot more money on their sking holidays.
Hottest destination out of Ireland this winter is Italy. Most popular resorts are Livigno and Sauze d'Oulx. Livigno is only an hour's drive from Switzerland's famous San Moritz, where you can ski for a small additional cost. Sauze d'Oulx is on the Milky Way. This Milky Way is one you won't be eating with a cup of coffee or trying to find in the night sky. It's a long-distance ski-run, of 450 kilometres, on which you can ski to your heart's content, or until your legs go on strike. The Milky Way crosses the border into France at Claviere and Montgenevre, so you could start your day with espresso and finish it with champagne. Celtic Beasties notwithstanding, Klosters and Gstaad remain the domain of the wealthy, only to be considered as potential destinations if you've appeared in Hello! or have a salary that could double as your mobile-phone number.
"They're places where everyone's gear matches. And you know it's the kind of gear that hasn't been rented either," Cooling reports. "Put it this way," he says, "they're very expensive. And if you have to think twice before you hand out a fiver for a cup of coffee, you won't be having a happy family holiday."
There are three main types of people going abroad now to ski. Families; groups of young and energetic people (including school tours); and corporate bods on the lig. It's established practice in Britain for companies to reward employees with some sort of activity "bonding" weekend. The same trend is now becoming popular in Ireland, with more people opting for a skiing break than that other corporate perennial, the golf ball epic.
The mention of Bulgaria might stir memories of The Wombles, but the former communist state has long been offered by Balkan Tours as a skiing destination, catering mainly for the school and budget market. With the demise of communism, Eastern Europe is becoming an ever-more commonplace place to ski, although facilities are still fairly basic. The Tatras in Poland, especially if you're prepared to make your own travel arrangements, is an increasingly popular destination.
Gstaad skiers aside, Switzerland is currently experiencing problems attracting the punters, due to the strength of the Swiss franc. Numbers at resorts there are not expected to rise for some considerable time.
For experienced skiers, Aspen in Colorado is top of the wish-list. Beckenridge, Keystone, Jackson Hole and Lake Jako in Utah are also popular transatlantic resorts. Utah is Mormon country, and has large tracts of alcholol-free zones. Cooling reports that the drink laws are being relaxed in the state, so future apres ski beverages might be more enticing than mineral water and hot milk. In Canada Whistler, near Vancouver, is the big draw. Calgary, where the Winter Olympics were held, is also still very much on the map, as is the resort at Lake Louise.
So what should you bring out with you? These days, there's no need to buy all the gear in advance, running the risk of finding out a week later that skiing and you are not together for the long haul. Suits and jackets can be rented from Great Outdoors on Chatham Street (£39) and from Bramac on Lower Liffey Street (£35) in Dublin. These prices are per week for an adult-sized, two-piece ski suit. Boots and the skis themselves are available for hire at the resorts. The only necessities you have to supply yourself are sunglasses, hats and gloves. And plenty of energy, of course.
Most resorts have creches and children can start learning to ski as young as four or five. Cooling recommends taking a few preholiday lessons on the dry slopes at Ski Club Ireland, which is based at Kilternan in Co Dublin. "It can save two days of your holidays." Kilternan does a special deal on lessons for beginners; £60 for four two-hour lessons. Just the right type of seasonal exercise to work off all that cloistered excess.