 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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Just be grateful you have the choice and option to get some practice in before the season! Here we've had it totally between the snow disappearing in April/May and returning in December. Might have to consider LDA next summer 
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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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easiski, They have a special chart for snowboarders.
"1) Skiers stop at the edge of the piste so boarders can stop in the middle."
"1b Black runs being particularly steep should involve regular stops by snowboarders so they may survey the piste below to ensure there aren't any spreadeagled skiers gradually slipping down on their backs with skis having already descended"
"2 Skiers are obliged to stop and give way to any snowboarders below them. To assist them in this please ensure you sit next to any other snowboarders in the centre of the piste so you become more obvious."
"3 If skiers are out of control and unable to stop when they see seated boarders below them they are obliged to scream 'Attention!' and then jump over the snowboarders ensuring they land on their backs on the piste below"
Beginner snowboarders are usually readily able to pick these rules up.
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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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And there was me when all this started thinking this thread had probably been done before - how wrong could I have been? I think you are all just brilliant.
I loved the anagrams - A Jam Guile mum - I could be - we are big jam makers here!
Good thing about learning to snowboard is you can be sitting in the middle of a black by the second day - Yeah....sitting.....I'm surprised you don't see new boarders coming down like a toboggan when they get it wrong. Looks terrifying to me - I'll stick to 2 planks at the moment.
I recognise the 'hippo' - must remember NOT to look like a hippo in Feb.
It's leave that is the problem rather than price (no, alright I admit it price is also an issue), but no amount of cash can get past a lack of leave from work - I gave up being a civil servant and 6 weeks leave, now I'm on 20 days like the rest of the meer mortals on this planet.
I'm really glad this thread has caused so much debate and information exchange.
Hey, guess what - I've discovered a TKMAXX store - got some nice Rossignol Gore-tex gloves for DH to give me for Crimble, and a dare2be soft shell jacket for walking the dog this winter - at least I shouldn't get cold - might take it next Feb - it'll go with the new salopettes if the bargin Killy gets wet.
Is there anything more to add on snow vs dry slopes......?
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| Quote: |
I'm surprised you don't see new boarders coming down like a toboggan when they get it wrong
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Oh, but you do! My son took me into an area of powder between pistes long before I could cope with it, so I unclipped my feet, sat on the board, put my feet up on the top, tobogganed back to the piste and met him at the lift, by which time the snow was trickling down between my shoulder blades. I found it was just the thing to combat the hot flushes... an affliction which is not a problem for many snowboarders.
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Well I tried the dry slope at Brentwood last night, and BOY! was it dry... The friction difference is incredible. Misting helps, but having got my ski-legs back I was able to point the planks straight down the fastest part and not put too much effort into stopping at the bottom.
An enjoyable experience as you still get the shhhhhh sound from the skis, and the mechanical noise of the lift (of course), and the basics of motion are the same. It's like skiing early-morning frozen cordurouy. Digggadiggadiggadiggg on the turns 
Have to say that I preferred the fridge. Much closer to the real thing. Just a shame it's such a distance from Snowless Essex.
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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've just been reading the first page, and then skipped the middle two as it's late and came straight to page 4 (Impatience for ya).
My experience is that before my first ski holiday, (Feb '06) my dad and I both went to Aldershot's dry slope and had a 40min lesson. We found it an immense help! Basically the first morning lesson in Val d was exactly the same and it meant Dad and I were probably the best in the group because we were familiar with the plough and picked it up quickly on snow. We were also taught how to use a drag lift and exit the thing properly when we were in aldershot and We were also taught how to properly walk across the slope and turn around to face the bottom in a controlled manner.
I can't emphasise just how much it helped us!
It meant when the debutant class broke into the better and the lesser ones, we got the privilege of being in the better half and got into the proper mountains a day earlier and progressed. By the end of the week it was all parallel for me and even the end of a bumpy narrow black for a couple of us.
I don;t know if it was just being youngish 20's and being an incredibly keen learner or not, but the dry slope lesson was a REAL HELP!
There's an Edge2Edge slope http://www.ski-knockhatch.com/ in Hailsham in East Sussex on the A22 (well, not ON the A22 you understand ) but this is the carpet stuff rather than the bristles. I don't know how this would feel in comparison to snow, but I could imaging there being less grip than the toothbrush.
And for £55 you can get 3 lessons worth as a beginner pack. Which is better than Aldershot, a little, and loads better than indoors on fake proper snow. (for want of an oxymoron).
I think I'll be going to Hailsham in Jan, so I'll report back on what it was like.
Unless... has anyone been?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Mr.Si wrote: |
There's an Edge2Edge slope http://www.ski-knockhatch.com/ in Hailsham in East Sussex on the A22 (well, not ON the A22 you understand ) but this is the carpet stuff rather than the bristles. I don't know how this would feel in comparison to snow, but I could imaging there being less grip than the toothbrush.
And for £55 you can get 3 lessons worth as a beginner pack. Which is better than Aldershot, a little, and loads better than indoors on fake proper snow. (for want of an oxymoron).
I think I'll be going to Hailsham in Jan, so I'll report back on what it was like.
Unless... has anyone been? |
Mr.Si, I've attempted to ski at Knockhatch (where E-2-E have a shop ) twice over the period of four years....
If that doesn't say enough (  ) how about I add that rather than the 20 - 30 mins it would take me to get there, I now regularly travel 1hr to Bowles, just north of Crowborough....
The 'carpet stuff' is like attempting to ski on, well carpet! It's really difficult to move on.
| Quote: |
| and loads better than indoors on fake proper snow |
aurgh! No way! BTW - fancy joining us at MK on Sunday morning
Try it though, it'd be interesting to know what you think 
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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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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Michelle, Sorry - great minds think alike
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It's ok Michelle, no hard feelings 
Thanks! both of you though, I might just have to do that!
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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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| Quote: |
An enjoyable experience as you still get the shhhhhh sound from the skis, and the mechanical noise of the lift (of course), and the basics of motion are the same. It's like skiing early-morning frozen cordurouy. Digggadiggadiggadiggg on the turns
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Then you should try riding on Permasnow, there's a slope in Chatham, I guarantee you'll get much more shhhhhhhhh for your money since its incredibly hard to stop using your edges on that surface. and if you go to the slope in Bracknell, you also get the chairlift I'd thoroughly recomend it though, just for the experience alone. Also, they both have freestyle nights, which are just great to watch, or even better, to take part in.
Snowflex is also very good, and very soft to fall on, unfortunately, the closest one is in Warmwell (Dorset) fantastic location and facilities though.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Ludo, looks reasonable. What is "Level 4" for skiers though? They set that as the minimum ability for open practice, but don't define it.
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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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It means you need to have mastered linked snowplough, beware though, I considered myself a decent skier when I first started riding at bracknell, but it took me a couple of hours to get my head round permasnow, harder to master than dendix, but much more forgiving if you fall.
Also, it's one of the slopes that hold the increasingly popular Orange aim Series ski/snowboard competitions, and all points gained at these event are carried out to international classification (ie TTR world rankings) so I don't think dryslopes should be disregarded, especially when bigger and better ones are being built all over the place, Noeux les mines (france) Barcelona etc.. Visit www.snowflex.com to check it all out.
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| Ludo wrote: |
| It means you need to have mastered linked snowplough |
Blimey, levels 1, 2 & 3 must be very basic then!
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cookie monster, I would have agreed with you a couple of years ago. Having worked on Dendix for about 2 years in the early 80s I came out here, and never set foot on the stuff for 15 years. But then I arranged to meet some fellow snowheads at Gloucester, and found it was OK! I wouldn't do it regularly, but then I live in the alps, so don't feel the need to ski when in the UK. However I was pleasantly surprised, and also marginally prefer snowflex to dendix.
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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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Well, I went to Bowles tonight (and met some snowheads ) and was slightly nervous about going on the slope again after 10 months. However, after a couple of goes my confidence went up loads and it wasn't so bad afterall.
Now, I've only had a week on snow, so maybe my experience of one or the other isn't stopping me on either surface.
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Is it still a dry slope when its raining ? 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Mr.Si, there is no reason why it should, regardless of experience. Plastic shows up all the problems that you can get away with on snow - therefore it's great for learning and practising. glad you had a good time. 
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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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| Odin wrote: |
| Is it still a dry slope when its raining ? |
It gets better when it's raining, some of the best conditions I've had on a dry slope have been cold, misty november evenings.
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And a dry slope in the snow is almost like the real thing
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You know it makes sense.
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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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I really noticed the difference, from MK on Sunday on the snow, back onto the dry slope yesterday evening - I really had to think more about what I was asking my body to do... I was back at the dry slope this morning for the 3hr coffee morning session (My name is Michelle. I am a ski-oholic ) and had some great instruction, and *think* that I've finally stopped flicking my tails at the end of the carve. It's definitely helping my skiing!
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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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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 learned to ski on Dendix and trained / raced on it for many years (2 nights per week for about 5 years). It definitely helped my snow skiing massively, no question at all. I haven't skied on plastic for years now though, because I live close to MK snowdome. Shame it's so fecking expensive to ski there, otherwise I'd do it more often!
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FAQ
When we race, there's usually a 'difficult' (well for me anyway), gate just where the gradient changes. Most (well every) times I screw that one up, and then continue soooo slooowly to the finish 
Please, I'd much rather ski on fake proper snow any day.
