Skiing can be very good for arthritis. Skiing is an extreme fitness sport, which means it exercises a lot of muscles and joints. The most important way to relieve arthritic pain is exercising the joint where you have arthritis. Since arthritis is a joint disease, and skiing gives your joints a lot of movement, it actually helps heal arthritis. However, it can be painful, initially, at least, to ski with arthritic pain. The sudden pressure on your joints can be extremely painful. But as with most types of muscle and joint pain, calibrated further pain always heals them. So, get ready for that initial bout of pain if you want your skiing holidays to heal your arthritis. Not all types of skiing are equally good for arthritis; some can be positively harmful. The trick is to ski in a way that lets you exercise your joints, but not overdo it. So you have to choose the type of skiing that is moderately difficult and strenuous; on either end of the spectrum, skiing is either useless or harmful for arthritic pain relief. Both extreme skiing and high speed skiing are highly strenuous sports. They need very high levels of skills, and can be very fatiguing. Both of these are bad for arthritis. These will be overkill for someone with arthritis, and the result can often be painful. Light skiing, like cross country skiing, back country skiing and grass skiing are useful, however. These are light exercise skiing, and can be done for sustained periods of time, with rests in between. Such moderate exercise can be a good reliever of arthritic pain.