In British English cross-country-skiing is the use of thin skis with simple shoes in french ski-de-fond and the norweigen langlauf

Ski touring is the term for normal skis with added skins for the up hill bits.

Downhill skiing (which is the major sport and IMHO dull as it gets) is called skiing.

But you can also do ski-boarding
Snow walking (with those tennis rackets on your feet)
Be towed by horses or motorbikes on sledges or skiis
Sledging (various on ice and snow)
Ice skating
Skidooing, a motorised sledge (think motorbike with a rubber caterpiller track instead of tyres) and the chance to shatter the pristine silence of a pure snowy hillside with a "vespa".
and on and on, of which getting towed by dogs is by far the most fun.

Here is the calendar for La Liga football matches in Spain. Seeing a home game of either FC Barcelona, Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid would 100% sure be a huge experience, and Valencia plays Barcelona on Dec 5 or 6.

Get tickets in good time, and be prepared to pay, average price in La Liga is some 70€.

And I suggest to stay 2+3 nights in Madrid and Barcelona, two fabulous and very different cities. Majestic Madrid is known for some of the best nightlife in Europe, the madrileños are called los Gatos (the cats) for a reason, and medieval and avant garde Barcelona is pure adventure.
Madrid: http://www.esmadrid.com/en
Barcelona: http://www.esmadrid.com/en

Could give you many tips in these cities based on what you're looking for.

Hi again,

"Are there Ski for amateurs?"
Yes, there are beginners' ski slopes at every ski area. It's super-highly recommended that you take a ski lesson, or a week of ski lessons. Skiing isn't something you can just do by strapping on the sticks and heading down a hill (unless you are about 8 years old . . .).

"Also, since I'm planning 4 days for Switzerland, do I spend all 4 days in the snow region or I save a few days for cities like Basel/Zurich (or for that matter any other recommended cities)?"
Well, that is entirely your decision, and no one can make that choice for you. If you like cities, then you may want to spend a few days in one or two cities; I personally hate cities and spend all my Swiss vacations in towns and villages. However, if you really want to learn to ski, you can't do that in one or two days; it really takes a full week to learn to ski responsibly.

"If the accommodation isn't available up the mountains, what options do I have? Is staying somewhere down hill feasible which means I have to travel up to ski daily or do I change my snow plans to Austria/France/Italy areas?"
Again, that's a decision that's entirely up to you. If you want to be in a ski region, you should be making your hotel reservations NOW. If you spend some hours looking for hotels in the ski regions and can't find any, that's when you have to make the decision whether to change your plans. Personally, I wouldn't stay somewhere down the mountain -- defeats all the pleasure and the point of being in the mountains.

Hope you get it all worked out!

s

If you've only got 4 days in Switzerland and you decide that you want to try skiing, the best idea would be to book accommodation in the middle of a ski village or town where there is easy access to the beginners' slopes. then you don't waste time trapsing backwards and forwards to the ski-area.

most people do a week [Sunday/monday to Friday] but with beginners that probably won't matter.

you can hire everything you need from one of the ski shops that you'll find in every ski centre.


if you decide to go for it, you'll need to book asap.

since most folks book a week - few-day stays may be hard to get right in the ski areas themselves. Hotels want to rent for the week before just a few days.