First time snowboarding, heading to Austria January 3rd

A snowHead

Hi everyone,

I am new here but have been looking around the site for a few weeks now. Me and two friends, possibly three are looking to go on our first Snowboarding trip with no previous experience apart from one lesson at Milton Keynes indoor slope.

We chose Austria as we have heard great things about the quality of the lessons, resorts and aprés ski, but are struggling choosing a destination.
The resorts we are looking at are; St Anton, Soll, Ischgl and Mayrhofen but are open to suggestions.

Like I said we have each had only one lesson at Milton Keynes and are looking for somewhere we can get some great tuition and maybe by the end of the week have a go on the slopes by ourselves (High expectations I know)

What we need to know is where would be best for us as complete novices? Or will most schools give us the same sort of experience.

Are there any travel providers you would recommend or avoid, i know everyone can have a bad trip occasionally and peopel have their own opinions, but nay help would be great.

A snowHead

Welcome to SH!

Given the current difficult start to the winter I would rule out Soll. As an absolute beginner you will spend first days on lower slopes. Soll is relatively low, so might not have the best snow cover by then. It is still few weeks to go and everything can change, but why test it if don't have to.

Ischgl has the beginner's area on 2000m. You have to offload from there in a cable car, but I don't see it as an issue. I'm not into apres myself, but from what I saw it was very lively there (opening week 2013/14). I can't comment on St Anton and Mayrhofen (going there before xmas). Although the latter seems to be a popular destination for Brits (compared to Ischgl) so may be easier to find good English speaking instructors.

Btw, nothing unusual going on the slopes on your own after a week. I ventured red runs on my 6th ever day of skiing and blacks on 9th. And I only had 2 private lessons in that time (+ I also read some books and watched videos to get some theory).

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@lafferty360, welcome to snowheads.

You don't say when you're going but at this stage I wouldn't worry about snow cover - everything can change with one good snowfall and as beginners you won't be bothered about the rocky off piste areas which need more snow to cover them. There are loads of places which would suit you though St Anton is maybe not ideal for beginners (I know one beginner snowboarder, not a wimp by any means, who had a pretty tough time there on his first holiday, especially as snow cover was a bit thin, not nice for boarders).

A couple of your chosen resorts are pretty expensive, too - there are plenty of places with lower costs and more than enough easy pistes for you to have a go at. Some of the Austria experts will be along soon with specific recommendations.

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@wyspa, what a load of twaddle! January 3rd is a month away and it is already snowing here so forget the "too low" statements for goodness sakes rolling eyes

@lafferty360, take a look at less high end resorts, you are only beginners so why pay for a massive ski pass you won't be using? January 3rd is still high season out here because we have a holiday weekend due to the 6th January being a bank holiday in Austria, Bavaria and lots of other Catholic areas. Are you tied to a package option with a tour operator providing everything? Maybe take a look at Saalbach-Hinterglemm as they have lots of TO offers and it has an excellent party scene as well. The beginner areas are excellent and will help you progress really quickly. Schladming is another good area with several beginner areas at different levels and an excellent progression. Good party town as well.

As for English speaking instructors - no problem, all the Austrians have to be able to teach in English and there are many native-speaker instructors as well. English is the Lingua Franca in Austria for all the other nationalities that arrive there, hence the emphasis on being able to teach in English as well as German. Many of the instructors often speak several languages.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Another vote for Saalbach! Very good point about paying for a huge pass you won't use (although saying that, Saalbach-Hinterglemm is pretty big!). I reckon at this stage there's no point going to bigger, more expensive resorts like Ischgl and St Anton. They're great but you won't get the most out of them. I also don't think there's that much progressive beginner terrain at Mayrhofen, there are a lot of reds (iirc). We did take a 2nd-weeker there though and he did OK. Apres is good everywhere TBH.

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I'd go to Ischgl myself

Assuming your 1 lesson at MK is just an hour, I'd sign up for the learn to board in a day course before you go. This will save you 2-3 days of your holiday and mean you get more out of the trip.

For tuition you may want to check out the snowgurus website who have independent instructors advertising

Have fun

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@lafferty360, I don't have enough Austria experience . . . boogerall to be honest that I can remember sober / avoid 'Snowbombing'! . . . but what you do need to base your choice on is somewhere with plenty of greens and blues to build on your lesson time. One of the most pointless things you can do is get a lesson under your belt and then head up the hill to slopes that you have no chance of sliding in control of, down. These first weeks you need to hold yourself back and hardwire the basic skills into your head and your body. You'll still have fun but physically and mentally you will not be ready for a resort that's pushing their big terrain.

After all it is free

I want to thank everyone for their warm welcome and input!

We have dropped down to a group of three, but are fully booked through Crystal Ski for Saalbach on the 3rd.
Staying at Hotel Konig with a rental, ski pass and lessons package that looks to give us 6 days of tutorage.

The website seems to have a good deal of info on where to pickup everything and times for the ski school so hopefully we are all sorted

Enjoy your holiday, you will love Saalbach! Toofy Grin

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Meanwhile in Saalbach, the Konig is ideally located for the OP. Assuming Crystal are still using Snowacademy for lessons, then the beginners area is directly outside the back door of the hotel.

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@lafferty360, The back door of Hotel Konig is what we see every morning at the bottom of the nursery slope, when we draw our curtains, so in a sense they're neighbours. We've not heard a bad thing said about it. Cacciatore and Honeybunny have stayed there and rated it highly.

Hey I just wanted to thank everyone for their great advice, we had an amazing time.

Crystal Ski were great, everything was sorted with no problems. We had a nice welcome from all of the Crystal team, did not manage to see them again as we were spending so much time on the slope, and recovering!

Board.at is where we got our rentals and lessons from, a great bunch of people very helpful and really helped us improve. I would recommend them to everyone, different instructors have their own speed and method of teaching but I had 3 different guys and transition between them was flawless. (if you go with Board.at look out for the crazy warm up exercises and interesting learning techniques!)

The Hotel Konig had everything we needed and was in a excellent location. While we didn't actually learn on the beginners area, it did give us a quick way of getting back to the hotel after being up by Turm 6er.

want to thank everyone again, and cannot wait to go again

You know it makes sense.

@lafferty360, Glad you had a good time! Smile

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@lafferty360, glad it all went so well - thanks for reporting back, it's always interesting to hear how people get on. snowHead

A snowHead

Hey guys, I'm also heading to Saalbach as a first time snowboarder. In in two minds as to whether to go for 3 or 6 days lessons, what would people recommend?

A snowHead

@lafferty360, glad you had a great time. I love Saalbach, and the Konig is an excellent hotel.

@sharkdawg, I'm not a boarder but for a first-timer I'd say the more lessons, the better.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We had a really great time, but the first day was knackering as i was working night shifts leading upto the holiday and didn't manage to get any sleep.

We did six lessons Saturday to Friday, we didn't need a lift pass till the Tuesday I think. By the end of the week everyone was turning and could comfortably go to the top of Turm 6er and make their way down on their own with no problem.

I would say that 3 lessons would not be enough unless you pick it up really quick and so does your whole group, otherwise your instructor wont move on quick enough to get you on to turning.

We practiced almost every day after lunch for a couple of hours and really got the benefit of those 6 lessons, without them i think i would have just been sliding down the slope for the rest of the week getting in peoples way and not really enjoying it, or would be speeding down unsafely as i wouldn't be able to control my board properly.

@sharkdawg, Hope you have an amazing time

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@lafferty360, best thing now is to keep the momentum up. Now you know what you're doing and what you'd like to get out of your snowboarding a bit better, use the UK slopes like MK, Hemel or whatevers close to keep practicing - or sniff out a cheeky long weekend away before the end of the season.

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I'm a skier and have never boarded, nor have I ever been tempted to. However I have boarders amongst my family and friends, and I often ski with boarders. Last week we had two experienced boarders staying with us, and they both decided to try skiing, for one reason because they perceive (rightly or wrongly) that it makes for an easier life when travelling around an extensive area, which inevitably includes a few flattish connecting pistes, which boarders apparently find an absolute pain.

Yesterday I encountered a mixed group of skiers and boarders, poring over a piste map and agonising about whether the run they were interested in doing (piste 52 from the top of Kohlmais) included any flat sections, because (they said) the boarders wouldn't be able or willing to do it if it did.

I have an open mind about this, but I'm beginning to wonder, as I'm happily scooting around on skis and frequently passing 'becalmed' boarders, whether there might be quite a few boarders out there who wish that they'd taken ski lessons instead. I honestly have no axe to grind but am becoming curious about why anyone would decide to learn to board if they haven't first tried skiing, particularly in view of the technological advances in ski design, which make it possible to do anything on skis that you can do on a board. As I pointed out initially, I've never boarded and have no strong feelings what other people do (provided that they're not dangerous) - I'm just curious.

After all it is free

good boarders can keep up their momentum even on very flat pistes - the sort of flat pistes on which mediocre skiers, who can't skate, struggle with too. Similarly with the "drag lift" issue - they're not comfortable for boarders but skilled boarders can cope with them without drama.

I was only a less than mediocre boarder, would do only easy drag lifts and couldn't do flat bits because I was too scared of catching an edge. But taking the board off and walking at a smart pace, in those comfy boots, was never a problem.

I do give boarders a tow, sometimes, on a flat bit between the chairlift up from the village and our home run which is difficult on a board. It's not long (or I wouldn't offer to tow them); towing a boarder for any length of time is knackering.

When skiing with my son on a snowboard it's only the flat bits which give me the slightest chance of ever catching up. On skis there is simply no question.

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@Pyremaniac: For all mountain exploration there are always splitboards such as the ones by Jones. Makes the way up easier and the way down more enjoyable.

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We hooked up with a boarder in Saalbach who decided to try skiing for the week. He was hooked! Even talked about selling his board!

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I'd always quite fancied trying skiing, even though I never have (though probably will this year). But having hung around with skiers, and ending up married to one, I know that i'll always be first and foremost a snowboarder. You can argue the practicality angle as much as you like: I agree, skis probably are more practical, but since when has anything about what we do been about practicality? We go up mountains and slide down them again. An activity which is inherently pointless other than to simply entertain myself in the act of doing it. Its supposed to be about fun, not point to point efficiency.

You know it makes sense.

A note for any would be boarders, cheaper boards tend not to glide that well on the flats, more expensive boards with good quality sintered bases do. I have an ancient but good quality board and always glide faster than skiers on the flats.

Of course when you on the complete flat your are b......

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Meh, I don't get the statement that snowboarders have to work harder to have fun. Why would that be? Flats? Don't flatbase then, get on your edge and you'll be fine.
Unless it's a total flat for 1km skilled boarders won't have any problems on them, especially with a properly waxed sintered base.
Even if I won't have enough speed, what's the problem with skating a few metres?
Going off piste and playing around on the other hand is a lot more fun for a snowboarder compared to a skiier.
Overall I prefer snowboards to traditional skiis, but the new tech in skiis looks fun too.

But that's just my 2 Pfennig, I've been skiing for 10 years and am now a boarder for 8 years being in my late 20's. Ride whatever you want as long as it makes you happy but refrain from bashing the other group.

A snowHead

Flats are no problem for competent snowboarders. wink

If you are generally unathletic, spend most of the year as a couch potato, then get dragged away to the mountains for a week every winter then, yes, skiing should be the default choice. After all, it's much easier and a lot less technique and balance are required. Dull though.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I wasn't being entirely serious above.

Regarding flats, it really is a question of competence and many "apparently competent and experienced snowboarders" are, in fact, not so. I routinely do the La Rosiere / La Thuile traverse on my board, which is infamous for its long flats, and never get stuck (OK, I remember really struggling one day when there was a hurricane force head-wind blowing through the pass!). Many snowboarders, especially self-taught ones, struggle to hold a straight line and to run on a flat base, and hence can't hold the speed. There's a lot of experience in there too - judging if you need to carry speed or not, knowing when to put a quick speed-pump in or being able to use your momentum to help you do a quick shuffle or duck-walk to make it no drama to get over a few flat metres if you do get stuck.

Flats in the off-piste can be an issue, but again it's a question of competence and experience. I'm often baffled by the lines skiers take in the off-piste. Yes, you can pole/step/shuffle out, but with a tiny amount of fore-thought and planning, you wouldn't have to.

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^ this. although I'm not above running out of juice on some long flat or uphill trails. Knowing you need to keep your speed makes you read the terrain ahead more carefully and plan your route a bit more.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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@Pyremaniac, the width of splitboards is a non-issue, and really isn't much different to fat skis. Edge hold on firm snow IS an issue, but it's down to the stiffness of the boot/binding/board interface, not the width of the skis. Can be overcome for the most part with good technique and then by using crampons a little earlier than the skiers might.

Snow in the bindings is no big deal. Changeover is a bit faffier than with skis, but can still be done very quickly.

I've heard that line about splitboarders switching to skis a couple of times in the past and it bugs the hell out of me. Those people weren't snowboarders, they were already skiers or they wouldn't have had the option to switch!

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After all it is free

@Pyremaniac, Interesting post. My initial question was borne out of many years of observing our guests, and also various family members, coming to Saalbach for their first 'sliding experience' and seeing most learn to ski and a few learn to snowboard. Clearly the ideal is to be a master of both. I wonder, with your experience of learning both disciplines, what advice you'd give to someone starting out, i.e. which to learn first - assuming they had an open mind and no particular preference.

I well remember my step-daughter's first time - she'd been advised to board and spent most of her week sitting on her backside, struggling to master the rudiments, and at times crying in frustration. On her second week the following year, she decided to learn to ski and was soon flying around, covering many miles each day on blue and red runs. I have seen other novices take to skiing very quickly, to the extent that they were able to master black runs within their first week. Conversely, I have seen people, like my step-daughter struggle with learning to board, finding it gruelling hard work and involving a lot of sitting around and hauling yourself up from a sitting position (not that learning to ski is necessarily a walk in the park for some people).

Consequently, whilst I have always admired boarders for their dedication, and especially when they achieve a level of skill that makes it look easy, I have gained the impression (rightly or wrongly) that a complete novice is more likely to get to a point where they are travelling around and enjoying their first winter sports holiday if they learn to ski, rather than board, particularly in these days of short, easy-turning skis . Also they don't have the problem of 'flats', as previously discussed. Hence my initial query (prompted by @lafferty360, saying that by the end of their first week of boarding, they were able to navigate the Turmwiese nursery slope) - why would anyone on their first winter sports holiday invest all that time and money in learning something that seems to be more difficult and physically demanding to learn, is less likely to get them up in the mountains doing proper ski runs by say their fourth day, and in the long run arguably offers no more enjoyment?

In the final analysis, I suppose it's akin to putting someone on a pitch and asking whether they'd like to play football or rugby - it's what appeals the most, based on influences and what has been observed. However I'd still be interested in the views (with the benefit of experience and hindsight) of those who have mastered both disciplines.

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I and all my family skied before trying boarding, four girls and two boys.

All could ski to an intermediate level before trying boarding, all picked up skiing easily and without much pain.

Only myself and the two boys stuck out with boarding, the first three/four days of boarding is much more difficult and frightening than learning to ski and much, much more painful. Three of the girls and my wife gave up during this stage, as they felt it was too much hassle and were missing out on their holiday.

Compare this to skiing, where you can snowplough turn after 10 minutes of tuition and practice and get some immediate gratification.

One of the girls got to linking turns but then went back to skiing.

Interestingly the two boys and I learned on a dry ski slope first so did not have the feeling of missing out on the holiday.

Once you get to the stage of linking turns the rewards start to flow in and within a week you are happy to tackle anything on the hill. Neither the two boys or I have skied since.

Help!!

First time snowboarding, heading to Austria January 3rd

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