Novice AMY PACKER masters the nursery slopes and learns to make the national dish in the Tatra Mountains

OF  ALL the things I thought I'd have problems with when attempting to ski for the first time, standing still was not one of them. So as I slid sideways towards a group of toddlers on the nursery slope, I started to panic.

After all, I hadn't yet been shown how to stop and taking out a whole primary school class wouldn't be the most auspicious start to my w inter sports career.

I had tried snowboarding once in Canada but was completely useless, so it was with a slight sense of foreboding that I was kitted out for my Slovakian ski adventure.

Unlike Canada and much of the Alps, the slopes in Slovakia's High Tatras, on the border between Slovakia and Poland, are amazingly empty. My base was the resort of -trbské Pleso, where there are four miles of downhill runs, including five blue and four red, making it ideal for beginners.

Luckily for the area's toddlers, the skiing learning curve is fast.

After four hours I had mastered the snow plough and was able to turn with relative ease thanks to local-born instructor Erik, who took great pleasure in teaching me while skiing backwards.

Having worked hard all morning, we headed to Café Solisko on the 6,000ft peak for some w ell-deserved lunch. This school canteen-style restaurant serves up steaming bowls of pungent garlic soup and meaty goulash with a side serving of fantastic views.

I could make out the city of Poprad nearly 20 miles away, the airport we had flown into the night before (Poprad-Tatry, the highest in Europe) and our base in -trbské Pleso: the imposing, 98-room Grand Hotel Kempinski resort.

I'd arrived after dark and been welcomed into the wood-panelled lobby with a mug of glühwein before being ushered to my deluxe bedroom.

Now, having completed my morning on the slopes, I took a 20-minute short-cut across the frozen lake that gives the resort its name back to the hotel. The air was icy but the sun glinted off the snow-laden fir trees. I'd been assured the ice was inches thick and wouldn't thaw for months.

HAVING cast off my weighty ski boots, I felt I was floating even before I discovered the Kempinski spa. With its floor-toceiling windows giving panoramic views of the mountains from its swimming pool, hot tub and the enormous, marshmallow-soft daybeds, I knew where I'd be watching daylight fade after a muscle-relieving massage.

As a predominantly family resort, après-ski options in -trbské Pleso are limited so that evening I made the 30-minute drive to Poprad in search of nightlife.

In the central St Egidius Square, which is bordered with burgher houses in a rainbow of pastel colours, as well as a 13th-century church, I discovered Razy. While the locals watched the football, I tucked in to a pizza for less than E4 and generously poured Czech beers for 95 cents.

After dinner I crossed the street to the Underground, a cellar bar that serves up cocktails and Slovak brews. I was persuaded to try a glass of Hru?kovica, a noxious but warming brandy made from pear and served in a shot glass with a slice of the fruit.

After a final day on the slopes, I spent the last night of my trip in the hotel kitchens taking a Slovak cooking class. It became something of a Keith Floyd experience as the chef handed me a generous measure of Slivovica, a plum brandy, as soon as I had my apron on and followed this with regular glasses of Slovakian white.

It seemed an appropriate tipple to enjoy while learning to whip up a bowl of bryndzové halu?ky, the Slovak national dish. This was like a hybrid of macaroni cheese and gnocchi: tiny potato dumplings coated in bryndza, unpasteurised, fermented sheep cheese, all topped with a sprinkling of crispy bacon. It's not exactly low-calorie but after three days exerting myself in sub-zero temperatures I felt I'd earned every mouthful.

GETTING THERE:

Mountain Paradise (0161 4 088 988/www.mountainparadise.co.uk) offers three-night B&B ski weekends (Thursday to Sunday) at the five-star Grand Hotel Kempinski from £499pp (two sharing), including return flights with Danube Wings from Luton to Poprad-Tatry and a two-day ski pass. Seven nights (Sunday to Sunday) from £999pp.

Slovak Tourist Board: www.slovakia.travel
Tatry Mountains: www.tatrymountains.com