 Poster: A snowHead
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we are based in newcastle, so are looking for a good learn to ski package nearest to us. its for my girlfriend to learn this year, in time for next season. any snowdome reccomendations/packages??
thanks in advance
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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II, yeah i know silksworth. done work there years ago. would prefer snowdomes instead of dry though. thanks
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graeme, Be very careful. I've had a number of students this year who've done the 'learn to ski in a day' things at various snowdomes, and they've all had to go back to square one. they've been rushed through, in one case frightened quite badly, left unbalanced with poor snowploughs and very rotational turns if they've got that far. Also check on the qualifications of the instructor. Next winter we'll be doing weekend learn to ski trips here ... might be an idea although more expensive. I would recommend dry slopes over snowdomes any time on the evidence I've seen.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I know several people who have done the Tamworth Learn to Ski in a Day Course - they have some excellent instructors, it is a good introduction and they do get you competently ploughing and turning by the end of the day - the key then really is to try to get some more hours in and practice before you go away. If anyone is thinking now about learning there for a trip next year one tip is to wait until June/July and then book one of their midweek courses. The prices drop dramatically during the summer (I think from memory down to about £70 for the day rather than £120ish mid Winter) and if you go midweek you'll probably find yourself in a group of 4-6 with an instructor on a quiet slope as opposed to a group of about 18 with 2 instructors on a crowded slope which is what you'll get in December.
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easiski, i'm with you on that one, the learn in a day thing is not a good idea at all and is counter productive... I wont teach em... seen too many stressed out tired first timers struggling through a day.
graeme, try a 4 or 6 session package in 2 hour (or so) blocks, you will get so much more out of that.
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Dr George, One of my disasters was from Tamworth.
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My kids did a 4-day course (3 hrs a day) on a dryslope in Scotland, then did a weeks lessons on snow - they were able to start as intermediates and took to it no bother. The following Xmas they did the 4-day course again (this time as 2nd level intermediates). The dry slope lessons were much cheaper and we got the impression that if you learn on a dry slope you have to have better technique.
Hubby learned at Tamworth and whilst he could ski when he got on his first holiday his technique wasn't as good as the kids. Of course, they might just be naturals.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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what a shame your not near hemel hempstead ,its opening as a snow dome . and will concentrate on being a centre of excellence for teaching,. as to newcastle , i would think if you went for an instructor with experience rather than qualifications, whether its on snow or dry slope , you will do well. good luck , sometimes if you have a good time and laugh a lot youll learn a lot .
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skimom, That's exactly it. Anyway if you live near a dry slope there's no point in driving miles and paying extra to go to a snowdome! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'd defo say go to silksworth. No-where near as expensive as a snow-dome, outdoors so you get used to wind beiing outside etc, nice view from the top. I learnt there about 3 years ago and they had some top instructors. Plus the added bonus that as soon as I hit real snow I found it 10 times easier than dry matting! Whatever you decide don't try and rush it, softly softly catchy monkey.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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easiski, Would you advise the same for an intermediate looking for a bit of progression too?
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Schuss in Boots, I would, from personal experience particularly if you can find a club evening to join (not necessarily a race club).
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You know it makes sense.
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| easiski wrote: |
| skimom, That's exactly it. Anyway if you live near a dry slope there's no point in driving miles and paying extra to go to a snowdome! |
Its unfortunate for us that we live within 15 minutes of XScape and 6hrs of the dry slope we used LOL! (but it is only 30mins from my mums so we use it when we are visiting her for Xmas and its a kids Xmas course that they run at a special price - I think last year it was only £60 for 4 days!)
The kids haven't been in Xscape yet as when I first looked into taking them after their lessons in Scotland they said that although they could snowplough turn if they fell off the drag lift more than once they would be kicked out with no refund. In Scotland they hadn't used a poma and I couldn't be sure they would be ok on it so I didn't want to risk the money. We phoned Hemel (it was a dry slope at the time) and they said if they couldn't get on with the poma we would get the money back from the session as a credit against a lesson - far more amenable. So we went and son couldn't get to grips with the poma at all, and was starting to freak and refuse to even try. I spoke to the manager and he came out and gave him a 20 minute one-to-one on their beginner tow until he got the hang of it. Fantastic service - I for one am really really sorry that they are turning it into a snowdome.
We won't take the kids to Xscape now because they'd be down the slope in seconds and spend ages queuing for the lift.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| skimom wrote: |
| Fantastic service - I for one am really really sorry that they are turning it into a snowdome. |
I think that many of the people who were involved with the running of the dryslope will also be involved with the running of the new snowdome. I wonder if the commitment to customer service will change?
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Poster: A snowHead
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For me it won't matter - the prices are bound to go through the roof... so we probably won't use it.
It would have to be either a lot bigger, or a lot cheaper than MK Xscape to make it worth driving to Hemel - we only live 2.5miles away from Xscape!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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skimom, I'm sure prices will be more expensive. But these things cost a lot to build, so I suppose that's only to be expected. From what I can gather it's about the same length as MK, but is wider (and doesn't have central support columns). Hope to see it for myself soon.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I initially learned the basics at Xscape MK. Following a free (work jolly) 2 hour lesson I had 3 more 1 hour lessons and a couple of sessions. Through an offer at the time I got BOGOF on lessons for my daughter at Tamworth and she did 2 x 2 hour lessons there followed I think by 1 session. We found that this allowed us both to move onto level 2 when we went skiing in Norway that Winter and it also meant we could also ski simple slopes the first couple of days after lessons. It is expensive to learn in Snowdomes though, I'm not sure I'd have paid the full price at the time, but I thought it was worthwhile for the price I paid and the benefits described above. How good was the teaching? Not really sure but it taught us the basics (either rightly or wrongly) OK.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| skimom, I'm sure prices will be more expensive. But these things cost a lot to build, so I suppose that's only to be expected. From what I can gather it's about the same length as MK, but is wider (and doesn't have central support columns). Hope to see it for myself soon. |
Agreed, but from a purely selfish point of view we already have a Snowdome - it was nice to have the option of a dry slope too! Not sure where the nearest dry slope will be now.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| skimom wrote: |
| Agreed, but from a purely selfish point of view we already have a Snowdome - it was nice to have the option of a dry slope too! Not sure where the nearest dry slope will be now. |
Wycombe when it re-opens?
From a purely selfish point of view I'm delighted that Hemel will soon be a snowdome  I'm going to be spending a lot of time there.
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Schuss in Boots, Yes
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Schuss in Boots, absolutely yes. Where do you live? One of us may be able to suggest a good place/club to try.
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| Schuss in Boots wrote: |
| easiski, Would you advise the same for an intermediate looking for a bit of progression too? |
I'd suggest Hemel, as long as you don't wear white ski pants.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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skimom, hemel will be run by exactly the same people who ran the dry slope. For the most part the same instructors too. You might even get rob@rar, skimottaret, or me. 
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| skimom wrote: |
| Agreed, but from a purely selfish point of view we already have a Snowdome - it was nice to have the option of a dry slope too! Not sure where the nearest dry slope will be now. |
Wycombe when it re-opens?
From a purely selfish point of view I'm delighted that Hemel will soon be a snowdome I'm going to be spending a lot of time there. |
I thought Wycome was going to be indoor snow as well?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Spyderman wrote: |
| skimom, hemel will be run by exactly the same people who ran the dry slope. For the most part the same instructors too. You might even get rob@rar, skimottaret, or me. |
Will there be a Snowheads mates rate?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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graeme, I'd've no hesitation in recommending the fast track type sessions in a snowdome. They do what they say on the tin - get an averagely fit and averagely coordinated person up and sliding in short order. They don't offer the perfect beginner teaching you might expect from private lessons with a top instructor, but few people learn to ski that way.
skimom, the MK slope is often a very pleasant place to ski but there are obviously times and periods to avoid. It's popularity testifies to this. The Hemel slope should be an excellent facility. It's well conceived and equally importantly run by people who not only know about skiing but care about it. I think it's really going to show the way.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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slikedges, the problem is that the students a) can't seem to do a proper snowplough and b) from my experience are not well balanced on their skis. this is easy to do just by not leaving out the straight running part of the progression .. I don't understand why they leave it out, and just because so many people are badly taught and end up badly balanced and dodgy skiers is no reason to recommend it to others!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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easiski, surely the problems that you see depend on the quality of the instruction your clients receive in the UK rather than the type of surface they learn on? Just like ski schools in resort, the quality of the instructor is everything.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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easiski, straight running is taught in snowdomes. The pathway recommended is Central Theme purely and simply. Sure there'll be instructors doing their own thing, but that's no different from dry slope or even snowy mountain. There is certainly no difference in respect of teaching or time constraints between learning in a snowdome and learning on a dry slope. There is obviously a difference in time available between a session on one of these artificial surfaces and a holiday away in the mountains. However my experience (albeit some years ago) and the experience of others I know does not support consistently better teaching in the mountain environment, as opposed to having more practise time. It would be ideal if everyone could be taught to ski by someone of your calibre (I know I'd be a much better skier than I am, with so much less unlearning to do, had I had this opportunity), but I think most people's reality, even if they learn in the mountains, is different. All I really need to do is spend a bit of time watching people ski/snowplough in an average resort - they didn't all learn in a snowdome!
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I think the problem with 'Learn to Ski in a day' courses, is that the pupils invariably cannot absorb and learn all of the information given within such a short space of time, whether it's through lack of fitness, lack of practice time , or just information overload.
Hemel used to run a 6 hour LTSD, split into 2 x 3 hours, this was cut to 2 x 1.5 hour sessions in a day, because of the reasons given.
I'm really not a big fan at all, for the Instructor, you can get very different rates of progression within the group, which can be exasperated by the fact that most people are there for a quick fix and have the mentality to want to progress as fast as possible. If they're not skiing proficiently by the end of the day, they think that something is wrong.
easiski, I think that as rob@rar, says, it's an irrelevance as to where or on what surface the client has been taught, it's all down to the quality of instruction.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Schuss in Boots, it's 8:00 am (actually nominally 7:45 but we never seem to quite manage that). I'm there this Sat, but then away for the next 2. Drop me a line if you do decide to come. Bring your own boots, but don't bother with skis (for now) - they have skis at the centre (crap - but good enough to get going with), and if your own are any good the surface won't "enhance their life".
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FAQ
Any why am I wondering if you'd make me do all sorts of weird exercises just for the hell of it? 
