 Poster: A snowHead
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Next Year we have booked up a big family holiday with a total of 7 people. My Mum (48 ) is coming and has decided that she would like to try skiing again. Although she has been skiing three times (Saalbach * 2, and St Johann) these were all over 30 years ago.
I was wondering what the best thing for her to do is? To be honest, her fitness is not all that great. While she eats healthily and leads a fairly healthy lifestyle (no drinking or smoking etc) she doesnt really do much exercise. I have suggested to her that as the time comes nearer she might want to start some simple fitness regimes and she's happy with the idea.
However, because she hasn't skied for so long i was wondering what the normal approach is? For us i consider a few options:
1. Get lessons at resort
2. Have a go at the local dry slope and see how much is remembered and then possibly get a couple of private lessons there.
3. Have a trip to Castleford and have a go at the snowdome and possibly have lessons there. However, this is much further away than the dry slope and also much more expensive.
I was wondering if anyone here has had similar experiences and would post some advice? I'm slightly worried about her confidence because I am fairly certain that at that age, when one hasn't done much sport for a long time one worries about falling and injuring.
Basically i want to her enjoy the skiing as much as possible when out there - how much do you think she will remember? I presume the technique has changed since then as well?
Thanks!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Markus, She will find it much easier than she remembers because the skis are now so short and the boots so (relatively) comfy. I think you should wait, but go to the ski school (or check out all of them) when you arrive and book her some private lessons. that way she won't feel like she may be holding people back in a class, and her confidence will improve more quickly. Be sure to explain the circumstances to the ski school when booking the lessons, ask for someone who speaks good english and who is patient, and preferably had experience in the "bad old days". It's hard for someone who learnt on carvers to understand what it was like to ski 30 years ago, just as it's hard for a fit young instructor to understand why a person of 48 might be frightened of falling over.
I find that a number of my older clients are anticipating a problem, and find there is none! Also I recommend that she gets skis no more than point of shoulder height. The shop might try to give you longer ones, but stick to your guns. If it's in Italy the instructor might want her to have longer skis, that's a different matter (they seem to like rather longer skis in Italy).
She'll love it, she won't fall much, she'll find it's 20 times easier than 30 years ago (really). Have fun. 
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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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Markus, OK then no probs with the lingo. I wouldn't recommend dry slope cos it hurts if you fall down, and I wouldn't risk it if I were you. Usually I do endorse dry slopes, but not in this particular case. Yes, you would need to book in advance if it's half term. it should be easy enough to either phone them or find their email address from the local website.
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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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Would you advise against going to the snow slope (castleford) and just skiing without instruction to see how much can be remembered?
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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 would definitely go along with the advice to do some exercise and gain some fitness before going. Concentrating on leg strength, but also some general cardiovascular fitness, if she doesn't do much at the moment. There are plenty of exercise classes around. I'm the same age as your Mum and exercise all the time at quite a high level - cycling, aerobics, weights - so she doesn't necessarily need to go for beginner classes or classes aimed at older people. It should include some weight-bearing exercise, not just swimming or aquarobics. You could even introduce her to the fitness workouts offered by stocky on this forum 
I learned to ski at the Tamworth Snowdome, but still found transferring it to the mountains tough. However doing a bit of dry slope or indoor snow slope work before going might get her muscles used to the movements, if nothing else. It is getting those movements hard-wired that is important and will give her a bit of a head start. If they are all foreign and she isn't used to using those muscles, then she will get very tired, and be more prone to injury.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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You know it makes sense.
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Markus, Give them a ring. I am sure its not that bad. She can go in a group lesson for much less
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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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Frosty the Snowman, i am not sure a group lesson would be that ideal. The whole point in a lesson(s) would just be to hopefully give her the feeling of skiing back - then she could join an intermediates group lesson in the resort without having to worry about spending one day remembering everything. Apparently she could do parallel turns and was quite good so im not sure there is much point in her starting beginners lessons from scratch again, however she would not be good enough to go straight into an intermediates class.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Markus, I think your mother could be in for a suprise. I went back to skiing at the age of 55 after a 28 year gap and found the new short carving skis so much easier to use. If she could manage parallel turns before i would let here spend the first day pottering around on a nice easy blue and then have a one to one carving lesson on the second day. Getting fit would also be a big help.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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easiski, I was looking at the Xscape website in work the other day (shh!) and £150 for a hours one to one tuition was what it said. I couldn't believe it either; I had to look twice and then again for a third time.
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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.
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Markus, I think it probably isn't an option but Tamworth seems to be about half that of XScape - we looked at M Keynes prices which are equally ludicrous- in the summer - and Tamworth also 30% off as it was low season so got private for £40 or so. I think they just really don't want to do private lessons so make it ridiculously expensive - as Easiski says. I think they reckon then if people still want to pay they can free up instructors - it was the same for our kids music lessons - group lessons were so much cheaper even in a group of 2-3 just becuase they didn't have enough teachers/rooms so wanted to put people right off the whole idea! 
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Markus, I think it probably isn't an option but Tamworth seems to be about half that of XScape - we looked at M Keynes prices which are equally ludicrous- in the summer - and also 30% off as it was low season so got private for £40 or so. I think they just really don't want to do private lessons so make it ridiculously expensive - as Easiski says. I think they reckon then if people still want to pay they can free up instructors - it was the same for our kids music lessons - group lessons were so much cheaper even in a group of 2-3 just becuase they didn't have enough teachers/rooms so wanted to put people right off the whole idea!
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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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Late starter,Ask your nearest dryslope what material they use on their nusery slope. If it's Dendix - I'd agree with easiski, - too higher risk (in this case) of a painful fall. If it's one of the carpets (Perma-Snow, Snoflex).... then it's (almost) as painless as snow to fall on (I have personal knowledge  ) ... therefore worth a go. I don't think (regardless of the cost) that the indoor snow slopes are a great place for this kind of lesson. Too cold, too noisy and too busy !
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I restarted skiing last season after a 25 year gap - 1 week on a school trip when I was 15. I went for the FastTrack 1+2 session at Castleford along with my older sister. It took me about 15 minutes to get used to being on skis again.
Markus, I would suggest that your mum do the FT1+2 @ Castleford, just to get her ski legs back and boost her confidence.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
Would you advise against going to the snow slope (castleford) and just skiing without instruction to see how much can be remembered?
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Yes. I am way older than your Mum (even older than easiski!) and we had a fun week last year re-introducing some skiers in their late 'fifties. It sounded, from what they said, that they had been quite competent, but cautious, and they had not skied for about 20 years. We gave them very short skis (shoulder height max, like easiski says) and took them on a few easy greens, in the sunshine, then had a vin chaud, during which they said they felt ready for more, and by late afternoon we did a red. I had politely suggested they had a private lesson, and after initial worries (not because they felt "too good", but because they wondered whether they were "good enough" to profit from it) they agreed. They had a super lesson (2 hours) next morning, were reminded of the basics, and then spent the week enjoyable skiing easy-ish stuff at non scary speeds. It is worth noting that the male of the species, at 6'6" but only 9.7 stone - was polite, but clearly extremely sceptical about the very short skis we had insisted he had! We had a much longer pair of easy Atomic piste skis, at 170cms, which he decided to borrow on the second day, only to cross them, fall over them, and generally get in a mess. Much to the delight of his wife, getting on very well on her 140s! Especially as your Mum speaks fluent German she will really enjoy being in the mountains with a local instructor. I fully understand your wish to get her going quicker, but endorse much of what is said above. Concentrate on fitness, and leave the skiing till she's on snow, and remembering why she used to enjoy skiing. 48, as you know, is prime of life..... with a good start back she will have at least 20 years of ski holidays ahead of her. Please let us know how she gets on, by the way.
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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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Thanks all.
From the comments above she will be waiting until we go to the snow, and she still hasn't decided whether to go for private or group lessons. I have advised private (coming from you guys  ), but its up to her.
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You know it makes sense.
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Hey everyone, just thought id update this thread
We took all of your advice on board, and it helped to make a fantastic skiing holiday! 
My mother decided she'd like to buy a one day lift pass, see what its like and then go from there. Fair enough i thought. Anyway, she also decided to ski the first morning and then to take a private lesson in teh afternoon, so she had some time to have a go herself. I could tell she was worried - she felt like she was an absolute beginner and that she wouldnt remember anything. So i showed her how to put the skiis on and then we poled over to teh nursery slope.
10 minutes later we had successfully (without falling ) gone down the nursery slope, very slowly and carefully, and along the way i reintroduced on the finer parts of a snowplough turn technique. When we got down she had a smile on her face that she didnt lose all week. Throughout the morning she got more confident and then it was time for her private lesson. At this point i left her and went to ski some black runs to get me excited again. 2 hours later i went over to the nursery slopes to find her parallel turning down this slope. I was amazed.
Anyway, by the end of the week she was skiing reds confidently and the biggest problem was keeping her on the piste (she didnt seem to understand the concept of skiing in between the piste markers, and then quite often wondered why this "piste" here wasnt groomed and the snow wasnt as good  )!
Thanks for all your advice, we had a great week and she wants to go with her friends next year
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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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Markus, Great stuff, and thanks for the update
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Poster: A snowHead
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It's great when a plan comes together. It's even better when you put a smile on a face too
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Markus, one of those stories that gives you a warm feeling inside - thanks for sharing it
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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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Markus, well done, she's lucky to have had such a thoughtful re-introduction. 48 might seem old to you, but to some of us it's positively spring lamb....
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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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Excellent
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Markus,
I started skiing at just on 40 and surfing at over 40 ....
I've never been sporty ... due to my disability it just did not happen... having said that when i started skiing I did have some fitness...
If you really want her to enjoy skiing next year I'd work on the following program
1) Try to get her to do some basic exercise - it is good for her general health - and as the ad says you only need to do it regularly not rigorously - so a walk of about 30mins at least 3 days a week and aiming for more will help - as will some simple things like wall push ups and squats and leg raises(see the GI diet book by Jenny Brand Miller et al nice ideas they have for that stuff)
2) Send her to L2A in summer
3) Book her some lessons with Easiski during 2)
by the family trip she will not be the person lagging behind or less able ... or at least less so...
the advantage of 2) is that she can swim massage dine etc as she feels she needs to make it a nice holiday for her not just a trial of sporting proportions
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FAQ
so I hesitate to be too dogmatic 
