 Poster: A snowHead
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@swskier, ah so you don't compete then, just go to coaching sessions? If you only go up Mondays we probably haven't crossed paths because it's the one day I never go up due to my daughters having dance classes.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks all! A weekend trip to Gloucester in the summer sounds like it could be on the cards - and an extra 100m over Hemel would feel massive given you lose about 30% at Hemel just getting up to "speed" and slowing down.
I'm one of those weird people who reached a reasonable standard entirely at Hemel, as we lived a mile or so away from the Snow Centre, before visiting the mountains for real. Had a private lesson late morning on my first day out in the mountains proper. Within a run or two, the instructor was baffled by how I could ski, but why so slowly? He said he'd never heard of snow domes with real snow and was fascinated, and appalled at the length! First thing he taught me was that it was okay to go more than about 15mph! It ruined Hemel for me though, when I went back the lift time:ski time ratio was just no good after that - much worse value for money 
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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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Wax your skis before you come and don't scrape
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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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I think I'll go for rentals to be on the safe side (I do similar at Hemel, as well, for reasons of less faff as well as people standing on them in the queues there) - unless there's a really good reason I should bring my proper skis?
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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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The centre skis don't tend to get waxed, I personally find they don't glide very well and pick up on dry or dirty patches, fine for beginners as they don't want them picking up much speed anyway but if you are intermediate or above it makes it a much better experience if they are waxed. They will put down paraffin wax on mats for you to walk over sometimes but I wax my skis every 5-6 hours of skiing I do up there, probably 8-10 hours for daughter. They are good until the bases start to go like a matt dull grey instead of black. I have some cheap 166 sports direct volkls I used to use up there, composite core like the centre skis I don't mind lending you then if you don't want to risk damaging yours.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Glosterwolf, yes took part in the summer race league this year, so we may have crossed paths. I'm up there teaching on Saturdays too, but not every week, and only once in the last 4 or 5 months.
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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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| Quote: |
Which one would be considered the longest in the UK at the moment, and are there any of decent length (preferably noticeably longer than Hemel for a bit of excitement!) in the south I could try on a daytrip?
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Nearest to you with a decent length (200m) would be Chatham. As it's on a hill it has a nice variety of terrain.
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That looks epic!! Best of both worlds when that happens. We have some great rolling hills round our way (just moved to the Chilterns, so now a 25 minute drive not a walk to Hemel any more!) which have public footpaths on so probably okay to ski on. But the thought of trekking back up with skis and boots is a bit of a downer. Having a built in lift and a guaranteed non-stoney surface underneath would be amazing!
Back to your original point - useful to know about the rental skis. I guess it depends how much room we have in the car to bring ours - got a roof rack but it's a faff as mentioned. Not enough room inside the car for all the family and skis unfortunately! Very kind of you to offer the use of yours 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It is my dream to let British friends ski on my Enoki mushrooms. It is the safest and closest to a natural snow-dry ski mat. The ski resort I operate has a meager injury rate. I can’t imagine breaking fingers. 
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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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@JFdryski, contact details / website? We're in Vancouver in June!
Done a variety of the dry slopes - sadly many disappeared now: Beckton 'Alps'; Wycombe Heights - even did a "learn to snowboard in a day" there (spoiler: you can't); Hemel - before it went indoors; Bracknell (although they are considering the option of re-opening that- latest planning permission for replacement of the old John Nike ice rink is leaving carpark space 'just in case'. But nature is winning right now, and its a right old mess).
There was even one in Uxbridge we used prior to going on school trips, created on the spoil-heaps left over from building the "new" M40 IIRC.
Did one short sniff of Gloucester as part of a company awayday - the only one still existing.
Perhaps I'm the jinx?
As above tho, all with the 'old stylee' skis, and yes, I do believe that if you can ski dendex you can ski anything.
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@Arctic Roll, Yes. I have been paying attention to the dry ski slopes in the UK. It seems that it has been telling its own story. I researched dry ski materials and invented the Enoki dry ski mat to see if there is a suitable opportunity to open an Enoki dry ski slope in the UK. Join this old story and brighten it up. Thanks for your reply! Contact me (website):
chinadryski@gmail.com
dryskimat.com/en
dryskimat.com/mr-jf
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You know it makes sense.
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've never met a competent UK snowboarder or skier who didn't spend a lot of time on plastic at one time or another.
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I totally think learning to snowboard on dendex and snoflex at SSV stood me in good stead for real-snow snowboarding. It was so much easier and slide-ey-er the first real-snow snowboarding trip I went on!
Also meant you had to be totally solid on drag lifts. The 'off piste' UCPA group last year was a total embarrassment with multiple people taking multiple goes to get up a drag. Having to take the T Bar at SSV really did focus the mind!
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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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@Glosterwolf, lovethose real-snow-dry-ski pics! Fab memories of being at SSV as a teenager in the real-snow
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Poster: A snowHead
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| chocksaway wrote: |
| @pam w, @Glosterwolf, Hillend Thumb was a well known condition at The Royal Edinburgh. |
Were they driven bonkers?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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How often do they have snow?! I'm tempted to go there with my son but skiing itself is difficult for him so don't want to add another layer of difficulty by using dry slope. But if they have snow sometimes I would definitely try.
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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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Skiing on an upturned toothbrush absolutely sucks.
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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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The dry ski resort cannot be positioned as an alpine ski resort. It is more like a teaching tool and training venue. Its significance lies in non-seasonal ski expansion and community-side teaching sports venues. No expert will indulge in dry snow all year round. This should never be compared to real snow, especially the experience or even a snow dome.
According to our experience, dry skiing resorts are very attractive to the three major groups, with large and endless teams.
1. New generation beginners
This is an endless stream of groups. Children are born every year with no knowledge of skiing. When they reach a certain age, their parents look for opportunities for coaches or parents to teach them skiing themselves. This demand has always existed.
Second, professional skiers or clubs need a platform to train and teach members. Whether in winter or all seasons, dry ski resorts are the best tool to meet this need. Nowadays, many government-led dry ski resorts in the UK are collectively rented by these groups and run with difficulty.
Third, professional ski teams conduct off-season training. Now, more dry ski resorts, especially in the East, have begun to transform in functionality, specialization, and miniaturization. They are not just a single mass skiing or even just focused on skiing. This area includes, for example, Bag jump, snowboard park, indoor gym style, and many more.
We cannot sleep in history. Today's dry ski materials have made significant progress. They are very close to real snow in technology and practical use. As a tool platform for dry ski resorts, there has been no noticeable change in past historical changes and evolution. It is not that there are no excellent materials now, but the concept needs to be changed.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Continued
The dry ski resort is a tool platform. If there is no meaning, there will be something to do next. This will break the traditional design ideas and the result will be a completely different scene.
First of all, we cannot simply outline a piece of flat land into an administrative area, where is the primary area and where is the intermediate area, or it can be marked with different colors like a real snow resort, instead of paying any targeted attention to the crowd.
Secondly, different areas and different ski trails have special requirements for the people who use them. Basically, skiers who cannot brake and cannot control their speed are prohibited from freely using all slopes with inclines. What kind of slope and width are suitable for snowboarding practice? Designers need to consider ski resort planning from these perspectives.
Third, with the above two points, we have purposefully configured relevant equipment and methods to target these particular groups, making them the special needs functions a teaching platform should have. For example, a sliding device specializes in producing beginners who can brake (to prevent torpedoes). An anti-collision hanging wall at the end of a snow slope buffer zone (no severe consequences for a mistake). A slope for snowboarding, a push slope(a dedicated track for snowboard teaching), is used explicitly for snowboarding. A wheat straw-like landing air cushion, a series of multi-level dry snow air bag jumping facilities (land-to-air takeoff runways), and so on.
The above ideas can effectively reflect the characteristics of dry ski resorts as a platform. Meet the needs of novices, instructors, and athletes one by one. However, the current traditional dry ski resorts do not reflect their professionalism. All efforts rely on skiers and coaches, and no mistakes are allowed. That is difficult to do, so too many incredible and unacceptable encounters will occur. If dry ski resorts were built this way, their popularity would be even higher than today's. There is no comparison with Snow Dome.
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@JFdryski, is there no tradition of slalom racing in Canada? Almost all successful dry slopes in the uk have racing clubs that train a couple evenings a week. Our club for example trains 4 nights a week. The only time there is less use is the winter when many members are away in the alpes. Most weekends during the summer there is a race somewhere with many racers appearing to enter every one.
Your material must, like dendix have the ability to take slalom poles.
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@johnE, You are right. In the dry ski resort I open, the club will be stationed there for a long time. The dry ski resort is the stage, and the club is the protagonist. The competition is a way for the dry ski resort to gather popularity. It is for the experts, but the dry ski resort The basic function of the market is to train novices.
If you haven't skied my material, I can't express it in words to convince you. This is why I do it. A detailed introduction is available online (https://dryskimat.com/en). Shake hands!
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FAQ
