 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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One lunchtime beer good.
Two lunchtime beers bad.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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You don't need 3 layers of thermals under your jacket for a beginner lesson at resort level when it's only -1^C and sunny.
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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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Why didn't I do this year's ago?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Book lessons with a good ski school.
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No matter what you've picked up or learned in your first day on the slopes, don't try to teach anything to whomsoever is a @GorillySticks partner.
Anything.
Any time between now and your last breath.
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wear sunscreen
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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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I found myself in a lesson, on my first day ever, with people who had skied a bit. When I told the instructor she was moving through techniques too fast, and I wasn't keeping up, she said" But I've skied for Canada " I kid you not. I took the basics from that lesson and practiced myself, and never had another until I was reasonably competent. Bad teachers can ruin a subject. She would have been bad even if I had been in the right group, because she had no patience.
I actually watched Darren Turner's videos, and learnt from them, then had a lesson from the man himself; he is excellent.
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Hi ya @GorillySticks, we were lucky enough to have a brilliant group still in touch with some of them now ! Take your sense of humour there I'll be a lot of laughs! Don't worry about being the newbie you I'll all be in the same boat !!have a blast
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Don't give up if you hate it. I see so many people never go skiing again because they "can't do it/don't like it" (because they can't do it)". It will 'click' at some point.
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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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Indoor snow dome experience is better than dry slope was the one for me. We did lessons on a dry slope and snow had such a different feeling. I can see you've done that so as an edit I would say that if you've had lessons on snow dome then go in at improver level on the lessons on the hill, you don't want to be side stepping again.
Other things.
The mountains are big and have edges but that doesn't mean you're going to fall off every one.
If you're starting on beginner lessons in resort don't expect to be tearing down slopes by the end (mind you this is from someone who is middle aged and overweight  )
Not all instructors are equal
Have fun
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Wed 18-01-17 10:22; edited 2 times in total
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- I wasn't the best skier on the mountain
- A spot of nap-rès before dinner works wonders
- Going back to a city job after a week in the mountains is the most depressing thing ever
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You know it makes sense.
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Avoid the ESF
Don't dress for the Arctic
Don't buy too much kit
Dry ski slopes are an excellent way to learn the basics of drag lifts, but may well put you off skiing entirely.
As a beginner, don't go skiing before March
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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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Keep your boots somewhere warm overnight. If they're cold in the morning they can be so stiff you can't get them on.
Similarly - if you take your gloves off when you stop for lunch/beer, pop them inside your jacket to keep them warm.
When you go for a wee after lunch/beer, don't forget your gloves are in your jacket when you unzip to use the facilities.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@GorillySticks, where are you going on your first holiday? We may be able to offer some more tailored advice. (For e.g. if you said you were going to Val d'Isere, I'd warn you to avoid the green run down into La Daille as it can take on the characteristics of a nasty red run.)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If you're not ski to door and renting skis, store them in the rental shop if possible (assuming it's close to piste). Saves lugging gear around.
Take spare 2 pairs of gloves and goggles. Everything is dear in resort. And there's a fair chance you'll lose one of these.
Don't over dress. You'll be too hot not too cold.
Get as fit as you can before you go. You cannot be fit enough and will enjoy it more if you are fitter.
Don't skimp on rewarding yourself with beer, Coffee, hot chocolate etc. They're expensive on the hill but you'll have spent enough getting there, and no better place to enjoy it.
Remember where you put your skis in the rack!
Enjoy it. There's nothing like the first trip, but be prepared to have started a rather obsessive, expensive hobby.
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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 find a long soak in a hot bath after a days skiing Works wonders for how I feel the next day.
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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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Never under estimate just how difficult it will be to walk down stairs to the toilet. In fact pick a restaurant with ground floor toilets for your lunch /drink stops.
Also don't under estimate how long it will take you to find the thing you wee with. Gloves off. Lift up jacket. Unzip ski trousers. Thermal top up. Thermal bottoms down. Rummage around in underpants.....(Ladies - this may not apply to you).
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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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Take 2 one-metre long, 4-plug extension leads. Loads of French properties have minimal sockets, so without them charging all the phones, toothbrushes, shavers etc, is a pain.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Don't listen to my wife (or certain other skiers) when they describe pistes from the perspective of 'colourblind' experienced skiers. After a day on the nursery slopes in Madonna, my wife took the family to the top of an 'easy' blue. The bluest thing was the language being uttered on the way down. So find ski chums you trust.
Alternatively, don't listen to the negative voices in your head. Late to skiing, I would describe much of the learning process as overcoming weird in-built fears. Of course the moral of the story is that the blue mentioned above was an utter doddle the next year.
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@Matt1959, What does apply to the female of the species in that situation (at least from those I have skied with), don't wear a one piece anything when skiing, as depending on which layer it is, it you basically have to strip nearly everything off.
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@GorillySticks, I heard, several years after I had spent a miserable first three days of learning, about the 3 Day Rule. It apparently takes most people, 3 days for all the little things to click into place (as others say above, don't give up if you don't immediately get it) - I'm sure it doesn't apply to everyone, but it did me, and I've seen it with others too. Once it DID click and I could ski (not well, and with little style) and stop, with some control, that was it! Loved it, still do 
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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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@GorillySticks, Remember you are on holiday.
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If you have never skied before:
1. every single time you stop (pause, rest, crash...) - where is the fall line, put your skis ACROSS it.
so many people point their skis where they want to go. Painful lesson - even if you want to walk 3m uphill to the rest of your group, if you point your skis that way, they will slide DOWN. And they won't stop. Similarly, if you fall over and want to get up again - you can be 2in off the snow starting to stand, and your skis will take you away.
2. To slow down (eg if it looks too steep) - go across the hill and slightly (see point one) up. Let the hill slow you down, not leg muscles.
Otherwise - everyone falls and aches in the first days, but there's a reason so many people love the sport.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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You can't eat too much - on my first trip I used up so much energy picking myself up off the floor all the time that I came back having lost weight, despite all the eating and drinking!
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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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However you can drink too much
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Make sure you stick it out and book for a second week...it WILL all start to come together.
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You know it makes sense.
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Do not be tempted to sniff your socks at the end of the day, ever, under any circumstances.
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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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When going to pick up your rental equipment, wear the socks you are going to ski in. These shouldn't be 'thick' ski socks/tubes, but thin ski socks. One or two pairs for a week is enough if you wash and dry them every day.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Travel light. Don't take loads and loads of clothes, it's a ski trip not a fashion show you don't need a different outfit for every night.
As has been mentioned above you will be warmer than you think so don't over do the ski clothes either. Travel wash is a good idea.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Don't get so hammered that you're too hungover to ski the next day. You're spending hundreds on going skiing, you can get binge drunk in the UK on one of the other 350 odd days in the year.
Read the piste map, understand it. Don't keep going because you can't see the nursery slope. Learnt the hard way that getting on the first chairlift to a blue run with a steep start was not the best idea.
Some steeper sections of piste have small diversions that give you a longer, shallower run that meets up with the main piste after the steep bit.
If your boots hurt don't be afraid to go back to the hire shop to change.
Whiteout conditions are difficult to ski in, if you experience them try to stick to a piste that you know a bit better.
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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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Get a lift pass immediately. Do not listen to those who say you will not need on the first day since you will only be side stepping up the piste or taking the free beginners lift. Your instructor will leave you for their 2 hour lunch break at the end of the first morning and you and a few others of your class will think "lets go somewhere. we cannot just stand around for 2 hours".
That was the mistake I made, fortunately, and I suspect illegaly, some one else in our class loaned me theirs and off I went with another skier
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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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@Raceplate, +1. Hated my first trip. Rubbish lessons. Glad I went again. May learn how to ski proper some day.
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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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Hard to remember much about my first trip as it was 1976 and I was 8 years old. I had a borrowed anorak and waterproof trousers with a polo neck sweater underneath, 2 pairs of socks, a wooly hat and wooly mittens. The hire equipment consisted of ankle high boots with 3 small clips, skinny skis longer than me with no brakes (we used leg leashes) and poles with massive strung baskets. My first lift experience was a solo wooden chairlift, followed by a T-bar. I fell a lot and spent most of the week shivering and wet through. But I loved every minute of it and have been hooked ever since.
Whatever you do I imagine will be a fair bit easier and every bit as enjoyable as this.
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Regardless of your enthusiasm, stop when you're tired, as your technique and muscles will suffer and you're more susceptible to injury. I find it difficult to follow my own advice on this one!
Try and give yourself and other skiers and boarders plenty of room - just like traffic queues, people on pistes tend to 'bunch up', and a minute after you've fighting elbow-to-elbow there's no-one for miles...
I know how excited you are! Our first ski holiday was last March, even though we'd been dry-slope skiers for a year we weren't exactly beginners - but it was everything we'd hoped it would be and are firmly hooked. You'll have a great time, I am certain!
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There is nothing more boring than learning to ski. I hated it for about 4 days; most pointless way to burn money. Then it clicked properly.
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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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1 beer good
2 beers not so good
3+ beers best
With apologies to Mae West.
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1. Ski straight as you get off the lift. Don't cut up others or stop in the exit path.
2. When you crash, clean ice/snow from the bottom of your boots and make sure your rear binding is in the down position (often it will still be facing up and you'll be hammering way with you foot wondering why it won't clip in).
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FAQ
