 Poster: A snowHead
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Glad it went well, @Amunah 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Amunah, glad you enjoyed it and many happy returns to the mountains to you.
Brought back a few memories of my very first skiing holiday to Arinsal...errm...over 30 years ago.
Hope you stick with the tuition longer than I eventually did. 
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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 thought I'd revive this thread... inspired by the long and wonderful "Sir, Sir....Am I an Intermidiot yet???" by @franzClammer which I'm avidly re-reading from the start!
From total non-skiers in March 2015, we'd progressed through "Lower Beginners" and "Upper Beginners" by the time of the holiday in March 2016. Once I've figured out how to do it, I'll upload the videos from the holiday: our improvement between the start of the week and end of the week was very clear (to me, anyway - but you can judge for yourselves!), even without formal lessons.
We've booked Andorra again this season because we're taking a new victim, my son-in-law (only just finished his beginner lessons and hoping to get "signed off" and a bit of 'snow' experience at HH before we go), and having prior knowledge of the slopes with a beginner in tow will be a big plus. We're planning to put him into some morning lessons so we can zip off and have some fun, heh heh! My only worry at the moment is that there'll be enough snow in January - but it's the only time we're currently all available, so we're prepared for the gamble because it's cheap... and then we can aim to get away again at the end of the season somewhere else if it all goes horribly wrong.
Since the holiday, we've been diligently attending Ladies' Club for a weekly lesson - um, aside from a 9 week break in May/June recovering from an avulsion fracture to my right thumb (yeah, due to a slip on the plastic!). We've progressed through "Lower Intermediate", and we're now in "Intermediate" with our sights firmly set on "Upper Intermediate" (and maybe - eventually - the top group, "Advanced"). I have some video taken by the instructors which will show our progress this year. Your comments on these would be a welcome addition to the fantastic tuition at Trowse, if those given to @franzClammer are anything to go by!
Right, I'm off to learn how to put these videos on...
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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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Having been skiing for 30ish years i still take lessons more days than not. The better you get the more fun it is.
Enjoy and welcome to skiing and snowheads, it's going to be great 😜
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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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@Amunah, nice to see you back, and good to see you haven't lost your enthusiasm.
Have you considered a bash for the 17/18 season? Make yourself a SH bash might be the one if your son in law is still finding his feet, otherwise the Pre BIrthday Bash.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I confess I've been looking at the various Bashes... They look like great fun! It's something I may well consider when my present ski buddy swaps out her salopettes for maternity wear...
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@Amunah, Three of our first four trips were to Arinsal. I couldn't ever fault the group instructors. You also get a cameraman to record your best (and worst) moments. Sometimes it will cost you a couple of pints to get a bit of footage deleted 
Son in law might get split off into a different group. They give you a Monday morning turn test and then group people accordingly.
Edit....Just re-read...You should seriously do the group lessons. There is far more to it than group lessons. I haven't experienced it in any other resort in Europe or America. They just have a formula which gets you a bit more hooked.
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@essex,
one day you might listen to what the instructor says instead of just checking out her bum
I have spent many weeks in Andorran ski school as much for the social aspect as for learning.
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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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| tangowaggon wrote: |
@essex,
one day you might listen to what the instructor says instead of just checking out her bum |
In essex's case, I think that somewhat unlikely.
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Been reading this thread and reminiscing about those early days. I must say, it's been fun.
Just one thing though- there seems to be a slightly negative view of ski school here, so I'd like to offer my perspective in case it puts people off.
Although I learned to ski as a kid, for various reasons I didn't ski between the ages of 18 to 31 until about 5 years ago when my OH (finally!!)learned on a dry slope. With our differing ability levels, we both booked into ski school for our first holiday (Arinsal funnily enough) and the rest is history.
Now, we all agree that any instruction is better than none, but for me ski school is not merely the poor relation to private lessons as some would have you believe. Personally I find that it's the social side that's most important and this often seems to be completely overlooked. I don't know what it is about skiing that makes me so sociable- I'm usually pretty miserable when it comes to group activities. The thought of 'joining in' in any other context fills me with abject horror. But for some reason, I love ski school. Maybe it's the altitude!
Also, I appreciate that everyone's had their own experiences but I've never seen any issues with people being able to move up or down ski school groups (within reason in terms of ability of course). Depends on the size of the ski school I suppose.
Anyway, back to snow forecasts and webcams.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@SlidingAbout, I totally agree - ski school is the best way to get up and running for all the reasons you describe (and one or 2 others too ).
It's relatively easy to find ski school groups for kids at most levels although I found that, as my son passed 3star/Bronze level, it wasn't such a safe assumption that there would be a suitable group in any particular week.
It's also pretty easy to find ski school for adult beginners. But less easy to find group lessons for adults as they progress through intermediateland, which is a shame as, I agree, they are not just beneficial to technique but socially fun too.
I've met many adult skiers though who 'just want to pootle' or shy away from what they perceive as the 'work' of improving technique and hence wouldn't consider lessons of any kind. You need a certain critical mass to put together enough groups of matching standard to cover a range of ability and the last thing anyone wants is to find yourself slotted into a group that is too fast or slow for your comfort.
There is demand for adult lessons though, as we see by the popularity of groups and clinics at the PSB and the EoSB but then, perhaps snowHeads are, on average, just that little but more enthusiastic
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FAQ
