 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi there, I'm new here - thanks for letting me in 
I'm going to leap right in with my first question. I'm off to France next week and will get about three and a half days in the mountains. Thing is I can ski a bit but would prefer to learn to snowboard. I've been told though that I wouldn't get much out of the limited time I have there.
So I'm thinking of trying a learn to Snowboard in a day class at SnoZone MK but I'm unsure as I can't find any positive feedback on the net about SnoZone
I wonder if any of you Snowheads have any experience or have heard anything?
Thanks in advance
D x
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Not done the MK one but did do the Tamworth ski version before my first trip to the Mountains just over 2 years ago. First question is are you pretty fit? Learn in a day is hard work! The guys at Tamworth certainly get people able to board the main slope falling leaf, under control and without injury by the end of the day course and my daughter (who did the fast track snowboard, same content as learn in a day but spread over 2 mornings) assures me once you've cracked that getting better is way easier than on skis,
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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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, MrDenis, welcome to SHs. 
I did the MK one some years ago. Utterly knackering, but I was in my late 50s..... I was so stiff, the next couple of days, I could scarcely move. Good fun though, and the tuition was excellent. Equipment, however, was rubbish. The ratchet straps on my board were boogered - thought it was just me being stupid, but then the instructor told me to get back and get a different board, which wasn't much better. The boots were grim, too.
Still, I survived, learnt to ride a drag lift, etc. It's a good way of finding out whether you want to learn boarding or not.
Well worth getting this book/DVD http://www.amazon.co.uk/Go-Snowboard-Neil-McNab/dp/1405315741/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326571602&sr=8-1&tag=amz07b-21
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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rookierich, Well Emily has learnt both skiing and snowboarding to a level where she is comfortable on the reds in the mountains (faster on skis but perfectly happy on her board) her take is it was harder to get the basics of boarding than skiing but once she could stand up and link turns progress was way easier.
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Even if you do "learn to snow board in a day" still take more lessons when you get there, one day will never be enough. I've been boarding for 3 years now, 2 trips a year still do a couple of days lessons and learn something new or improve my technique every time. If you're happy to plateau at one particular level then OK, don't have more lessons, otherwise the more you put in the more you get out
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The MK course is pretty good - by the end of it I'd gone from being an utter noob to linking turns. OK, maybe not super fluidly, but I was managing OK. You'll need further lessons afterwards to get to a very good standard, but it should get you down the hill.
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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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Thanks for all your replies - really want to give it a go now but unfortunately there's no availability before I go next week
Something to try next season
Cheers
D
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I'd still suggest trying to book some lessons for the time you are in France and picking it up there if you are interested - you should be able to arrange board hire for a day or two.
I did some three hour lessons at MK before first heading to the alps to board (I'd done some ski-ing in the past) and I think they were good to get the very basics and get used to the board a bit but I wouldn't say that the lessons were great for much past that. I was passed as ready to go on the main slope and told that I just needed to practice lots rather than have any more lessons, but when I got lessons in the alps a few weeks later, I discovered that the techniques I'd been taught were pretty appalling, they didn't give me anywhere near enough control and I had to re-learn how to link turns. If I had gone with the MK lessons and just used the holiday to practice, I probably would have caused someone an injury and not managed to tackle anything interesting!
To be fair, I think there is a limit to how much you can learn in a fridge, but I also think that the most experienced teachers tend to be out in the resorts so you learn a lot more there. I found it was much easier to learn where there was more space and I wasn't worried about racing out of control into the people being towed up the side of the slope 
KT
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I can't talk from direct personal experience as I'm a skier, but many of the people I regularly go with are boarders and at least 4 of them learned from scratch (no prior ski or board experience) at MK. They did the intensive course then a few hours practice for several weekends in a row and felt pretty confident. One friend in particular I accompanied to the alps on his first time out of the fridge. He spent 2.5 days on the nursery slopes, much of it on his bum or face! Said he felt like much of what he learned at MK wasn't working for him. After several hours of calls to his brother back home (a competent boarder, but not instructor) and lots of determination he finally progressed. The conclusion he came to was that in MK you only ever experience one type of groomed snow, one one slope, and as soon as he was put on real fresh (all bit it a bit wet) snow, and the other variations a mountain has to offer, the feel was completely different and as a beginner put him completely off balance.
After another couple of weeks in the alps with others from MK they are all average boarders and have had no additional lessons, but most would agree that they would have progressed much quicker, and still could progress, with lessons in the alps.
I'm also interested in other peoples experiences through, as for the last few seasons I've told myself I will learn to board, but when it comes to it, I can't face wasting precious mountain time on the nursery slopes! I keep thinking I'll learn in a fridge over the summer for the next season, but I'm yet to actually get around to it. I'd still do lessons in the Alps, but am hoping this would get me off the nursery slope and enjoying it more. Is it worth it, if so is MK or Hemel a better option? How about a dry slope to learn the basics (Bracknell is much nearer me than MK or Hemel, but I didn't enjoy it as a teenager and haven't been back since)?
Regards,
Graham
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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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shame you cant get booked in, i learnt in mk before my first boarding in austria, was excellent for the basics. After only a half a day on nursery slope with what i had learnt at mk i was all over the mountain! might be worth having a days lesson when you get out there? if not look at some basic technique advice on youtube etc, alot harder in reality i know, but will give a basic overview. Hopefully you will try boarding as it really is great fun!
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My boyfriend did 6 hours at xscape castleford before he went out for the first time a few years ago, but split over two sessiosn on different days with an hours practice in between. There were quite a lot of adult boarders learning for the first time and they all did 3 or 6 hours. After 6 hours most of them were doing linked turns in xscape (not particually well) but at least they coudl stand up and move about which made for a much more enjoyable holiday as they could have tuition and attempt blues rather than be stuck on the nursery slopes.
I think the more you can do before you go out, the better time you'll have on holiday.
I learnt on Sheffield dry ski slope back in the day when that was the dogs-b's and snowflex was the greates invetion (over the thumb ripping dendex) and was only on 'snowboarder' side of the nursary slope.
I could do linked turns wikth about a 50:50 sucsess rate before I went out on snow, and even though I wasn't a total beginner the next day I could barely move and felt like I'd been hit by a train!
rookierich, I found that learning the basics of sking was pretty easy and after a short amount of time you are comfortable cruising around the mountain but the jump to parralell and decent techniquie is tricky. With snowboarding the initial stages were slow in coming and very painful, but as soon as I was competently turning then my progress accelerated rapidly and it took little time to become pretty decent.
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You know it makes sense.
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My family and I all learned at MK, although we spread the lessons over 1 hour sessions (for the kids) and some 1 hours and a half day for the adults.
We also had quite a few practice sessions at MK before we went abroad last Feb and had 3 private family lessons while we were away spread across the week, by the end of which we were relatively competant. Have had a few more fridge sessions over the summer then back in the Alps this new year we all made massive improvements.
I did think that they sign you off as suitable for the main slope before you really are and leave you as a bit of a danger to both yourself and others, but if you can fit in some practice time in the UK before you go abroad you will enjoy your hols a lot more, I wouldn't have wanted to spend my hard earned holiday falling on my face as much as I did in those first few lessons.
Oh and the half day was absolutely exhausting, on the lesson slope you have to completely unstrap the board after virtually every turn and quite often the magic carpet lift wasn't working and you had to walk back up the hill. I can only imagine what the full day would be like.
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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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A friend of mine did it in a day. Was expensive but he got the benefit of learning in a controlled environment so it worked for him....
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thank you everybody for your replies. My trip to Mont Dore was a great success but I elected to ski rather than board as it gave me more time with my friends. We only got two & a half days of skiing in anyway due to low cloud causing severe vis issues, sometimes less than 10m which isn't what you want having not been on a real slope for 15 years!
Hopefully next season I'll be away for a full week and will definitely try a day or so at one of the indoor slopes to see if it's for me.
Thanks again
D
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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sometimes less than 10m
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Sounds liek amazing vis! At Christmas we had vis at about 1m for most of the time. Well, it felt like most of the time anyway.
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FAQ
as falls are much more likely (if not guaranteed)
