 Poster: A snowHead
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@mooney058 au contraire if the costs can be afforded I would recommend to anyone to make Zermatt their first skiing experience. It is the definition of a ski resort and going nowhere else can better explain what it is that gets us so excited about snowsports and the mountains in general. The train journey up there, the quality of the infrastructure and pistes (including the beginner area at Sunnegga), the food, the après, the Matterhorn. Just wow wow wow.
I went with a group of beginners way back in the day and we all had a great time.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| inthecold wrote: |
Thirdly, are we in fairyland thinking we can hop straight on the slopes without any lessons on real snow? |
Sounds like you're doing well and from what you've said I'm sure you'd cope if you went that route, but I think you're much more likely to enjoy yourselves, progress more quickly and remain safe if you take your first steps on real snow in the company of an instructor. Group lessons for the week may not be the best idea for you though, as it sounds like you'd like some independence, so perhaps book a three-hour private lesson for the first morning and take it from there.
I'm thinking of this from the perspective of an instructor; having taught people similar to yourselves it's quite amazing how much we can achieve together in just a short time including many aspects of being on the mountain that you just can't learn on an artificial/indoor slope, like how to interpret a piste map, how not all blue runs (or reds or blacks) are created equal, how to gauge what is and is not an appropriate piste for you to choose. You should, in that time, be able to get yourselves confident to start moving around the mountain a bit, and hopefully continue a rapid progression.
Perhaps after the first few days you'd also benefit from a further lesson, once you're confident with using the skills already acquired you may be able to move up to the next level.
Oh, and seeing some of the other comments about suitability, I'm with @hd on this - Zermatt is a great choice. I did several of my BASI courses there and have lead on Ski Freshtracks trips as well. In many ways it's the epitome of what a Ski Resort is all about.
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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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| hd wrote: |
@mooney058 au contraire if the costs can be afforded I would recommend to anyone to make Zermatt their first skiing experience. It is the definition of a ski resort and going nowhere else can better explain what it is that gets us so excited about snowsports and the mountains in general. The train journey up there, the quality of the infrastructure and pistes (including the beginner area at Sunnegga), the food, the après, the Matterhorn. Just wow wow wow.
I went with a group of beginners way back in the day and we all had a great time. |
I was only twice to Zermatt and it is an iconic placeto ski. It has its drawbacks too - it is large village area, taking busses (crowded in the morning) is pita, takes circa 35-40min just to get to the top.
For a newbie I would focus on something easier - end of Jan think Les Gets etc that would (i) not cost arm&leg because you are unlikely to use all the infra covered by a skipass (ii) easy ski-in/out; (iii) quieter slopes - both in terms of number of people and difficulty of skiing. There are so many options for this.
The first time I went was to Ischgl (having skied a bit on indoor slopes) and it was a waste of money.
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| Langerzug wrote: |
1. Stay in Zermatt (or rather: stay at one place)
2. You’re way too optimistic about the level of skiing you’ll reach in such a short time. Also, skiing on an artificial slope at home is a great idea, but it is not comparable to the real mountains. You’ll need a week instruction in Zermatt too. And also after that you will not be skiing parallel, forget it).
3. in general it sounds you’re overthinking and overplanning things. And yet, as mentioned, Zermatt actually is not the best for beginners. A nice village with a couple of easy slopes at/near village-level would be a much better place.
As the beginners that you are, you will use max 5% of Zermatt’ pistes.
Sorry for sounding harsh, but I think you really need to lower your expectations.. |
They may well be skiing parallel by then! They've got 2 months of practice on snow in Manchester before their holiday so could expect some form of parallel turns if they pick things up well and are committed to skiing as much as they can before the holiday.
I had a mate who was a beginner in Zermatt and he loved it, so there is no need for the OP to worry about it being an unsuitable area. Anyway.... they won't be beginners by then. They will be up and about and making turns even before they arrive in Zermatt  .
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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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| mooney058 wrote: |
I was only twice to Zermatt and it is an iconic placeto ski. It has its drawbacks too - it is large village area, taking busses (crowded in the morning) is pita, takes circa 35-40min just to get to the top.
For a newbie I would focus on something easier - end of Jan think Les Gets etc that would (i) not cost arm&leg because you are unlikely to use all the infra covered by a skipass (ii) easy ski-in/out; (iii) quieter slopes - both in terms of number of people and difficulty of skiing. There are so many options for this.
The first time I went was to Ischgl (having skied a bit on indoor slopes) and it was a waste of money. |
Anywhere can work or can be bad. Les Gets is low lying it could be peeing with rain or be icy.
Zermatt is certainly very pricey and if money is tight I certainly would not recommend it for a beginner (or anyone else really)
My wife had only been once to a low lying place in Austria where she didn't get off the nursery slopes before coming with me on a holiday to Zermatt which worked very well.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@hd, @Chaletbeauroc, thanks both – that's precisely why I picked Zermatt. I went back and forth on whether we should travel around Switzerland with sightseeing as the primary objective and skiing as the secondary, or focus on skiing and go all-in on a single resort. As soon as we picked the latter, we started looking for a quintessential Swiss ski resort, and ultimately landed on Zermatt after lots of reading. I should say this trip is mostly for myself; I've wanted to take up skiing for years, but haven't had the time or spare cash. My wife is very much coming along for the ride, though I'm sure she'd much rather be on a beach or hiking. After much negotiation, I've managed to secure 10 annual leave days a year for skiing from this April, so I'm already looking to 2023/2024 (and open to suggestions! I'd like to do 3 trips next year, with another Swiss resort as the main/longest).
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@inthecold, please do report back in Feb of how it went for you.
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| inthecold wrote: |
| @hd, @Chaletbeauroc, thanks both – that's precisely why I picked Zermatt. I went back and forth on whether we should travel around Switzerland with sightseeing as the primary objective and skiing as the secondary, or focus on skiing and go all-in on a single resort. As soon as we picked the latter, we started looking for a quintessential Swiss ski resort, and ultimately landed on Zermatt after lots of reading. I should say this trip is mostly for myself; I've wanted to take up skiing for years, but haven't had the time or spare cash. My wife is very much coming along for the ride, though I'm sure she'd much rather be on a beach or hiking. After much negotiation, I've managed to secure 10 annual leave days a year for skiing from this April, so I'm already looking to 2023/2024 (and open to suggestions! I'd like to do 3 trips next year, with another Swiss resort as the main/longest). |
Since you will already be familiar witn Zermatt, I would suggest the following plan for 3 trips for the next year:
- Zermatt Ski Test weekend, 2-4 days late November (excellent programme/package);
- a week in January somewhere in FR with missus - St Foy is small, cheerful and good for a relaxed week. All/most ski-in/out, considerably cheaper than Zermatt,
- a week early March in Italy (Courmayer or Dolomites) for an IT adventure.
This was usually my plan for most yers pre-covid.
Then in a few years time - Japow 
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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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@mooney058, absolutely – will do. And excellent, thank you! Noted. I was thinking Austria or France; the wife really wants to do a Nordic country.
Honestly, when I opened this thread, I expected replies like "blimey, it isn't that cold – layers, layers, layers mate!" and "definitely Wengen; the Lauterbrunnen Valley is unmissable". Instead, I got a heavy dose of realism, which, in hindsight, I probably needed more than holiday planning advice. I'm currently emailing Summit about lessons – they've suggested starting with a couple of morning lessons, so we can practice in the afternoon, and book more lessons if we need it during the week, as it shouldn't be too busy.
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Do not worry or focus on visiting too many places. You will have a chance to hop between resorts and countries if you will enjoy your first week in an Alpine setting. You seem to focus on a big name resorts. I did the same 15y ago. In the meantime I moved to smaller/lower key resorts that I enjoy more tbh. Same in CH, FR, IT, AT or even Japan. For Japan in particular I benefited immensely from a knowledge and advice of one member here - big resorts were brilliant, but best skiing experience was always in small/local resorts. Be it for leisurely cruising or enjoying japow without any competition
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| inthecold wrote: |
| I'm currently emailing Summit about lessons – they've suggested starting with a couple of morning lessons, so we can practice in the afternoon, and book more lessons if we need it during the week, as it shouldn't be too busy. |
This sounds like a good strategy. Are these private lessons or part of a group? I'd go for privates if you can afford it as you will get a much better tailored experience. I would also be tempted to opt for maybe the first 3 days rather than just two in order to secure continuity with a given instructor.
Summit is a good school with young enthusiastic instructors
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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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@mooney058, I appreciate the advice, thank you. I'm open to smaller resorts, especially if they're less busy.
@DCG, they will be private lessons. They've suggested starting on Sunnegga, then moving over to Riffelberg/Gornergrat. I am actually considering three, just waiting for more info.
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| inthecold wrote: |
| They've suggested starting on Sunnegga, then moving over to Riffelberg/Gornergrat. |
That makes sense and plenty of easy skiing there. Whichever mountain you are on in the afternoon, I'd suggest downloading by funi/train/gondola rather than trying to ski back to the resort as that will be much easier and pleasanter at your stage.
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You know it makes sense.
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| DCG wrote: |
| I'd suggest downloading by funi/train/gondola rather than trying to ski back to the resort as that will be much easier and pleasanter at your stage. |
+1
...although you'd miss the Hennu-Stall if that's your bag!
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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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| inthecold wrote: |
Firstly, thanks very much for all the replies, the resounding consensus is “stay in Zermatt”, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I’ve already extended the stay at the hotel. So, again, thanks!
Secondly, I think people have got the wrong end of the stick. We’ve done about 7 hours, under instruction, at the artificial (snow) ski slope in Manchester, and we’re booked in for another 2 hour one-to-one this weekend. I’d say we’re progressing well, though not quite as far as I’d hoped, as my wife has only recently recovered from an injury. We’re currently at a stage where we can control our speed, snow plough corners, and go parallel on the straights, cutting across to the next corner. The current plan (more on this below) is to do a one hour lesson every week or two until Zermatt, where hopefully we can do the blue runs, alone. This feels pretty reasonable to me, so I’m not really sure if people think we’re hoping to fly down reds or something?! For info, we’re in our early thirties, fit, and do a fair amount walking, cycling, and running.
Thirdly, are we in fairyland thinking we can hop straight on the slopes without any lessons on real snow? I really don’t know based on the replies above. Honestly, we’ve got friends and colleagues who’ve said “what you taking lessons for? You just need to start and stop! At worst, fall down!” (seriously, not joking). We dismissed this outright, obviously, hence the lessons on the artificial slope, so we really rather thought we were overdoing it!! If the consensus is that we really need lessons on snow, what do you think about continuing the artificial slope plan, and do a whole day with an instructor on the first day we’re there? Or do you think we’re throwing good money after bad on this artificial slope?
Anyway, hopefully that’s a little clearer. I really appreciate the replies. |
I'll throw in a positive anecdote just for fun - my nephews had never been on a skiing holiday, and had only ever had dry slope lessons (admittedly they had quite a few!). I went with them the first time they ever hit snow, and they were fantastic. They were doing blues and reds, and even handled the black Glacier run in Val Thorens without any problems. They were only 11, and picked it up incredibly quickly but just wanted to demonstrate that anything is possible. They've had tons of dry slope lessons but never actually had a single lesson in resort - they are 21 now and are superb skiiers.
All that said - I do think it would be beneficial to have least one (2 hour) private lesson on day 1. Even if it's only because the mountain slopes can be extremely varied (all blues are not made equal) - and the instructor can guide you around the easier blues to help you get your ski legs. He'll also be able to give you some tips to help improve your skiing and enhance the enjoyment of your holiday.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Handy Turnip, excellent, I'm glad. If we can both comfortably ski the blues on Sunnegga and Gornergrat, I'll consider it a successful trip. Anything more is a bonus. Also, we did a two-hour lesson over the weekend where we started working on our parallel turns. It went quite well, but I had to think about every turn – the instructor suggested I try and touch the floor each time, which worked pretty well. I also managed to go to the top of the main slope for the first time, at the instructor's suggestion, but it didn't go brilliantly: end of day, compacted snow, poor conditions (instructor's words), spent too much time looking up the slope. Parallel on the way down, but fell twice. Confidence took a hit – took 10 mins for my legs to not feel like jelly.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@inthecold, I'm glad that you've decided to take some lessons. If you're planning on skiing again in the future then you'll likely improve so much more with proper instruction, it really is an investment in your future skiing trips. Lessons are also a great way to discover the mountain with someone who knows the area well and will show you runs that match your ability. I'd say don't try to overthink it, just go and enjoy it.
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FAQ
