 Poster: A snowHead
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We are new to skiing (but hooked of course) and having had two - separate - weeks away now this season and no prospect of any more until Xmas - I am wondering - do you lot all satisfy your lust over the summer months at dry ski slopes or just sit and dream of the next hit?
We have two dry ski slopes nearby so in theory could go every week but is it worth it? Can't imagine it feels like the real thing? I presume people go to perfect technique but it is actually any fun?! Are they just for kids or raw beginners? And can you really translate what you have learnt on them to the snow? I am not asking silly q here - I am just very curious! (and desperate!)
Sally
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| sally s wrote: |
We are new to skiing (but hooked of course) and having had two - separate - weeks away now this season and no prospect of any more until Xmas - I am wondering - do you lot all satisfy your lust over the summer months at dry ski slopes or just sit and dream of the next hit?
We have two dry ski slopes nearby so in theory could go every week but is it worth it? Can't imagine it feels like the real thing? I presume people go to perfect technique but it is actually any fun?! Are they just for kids or raw beginners? And can you really translate what you have learnt on them to the snow? I am not asking silly q here - I am just very curious! (and desperate!)
Sally |
They are not very much like the real thing, but are enough like uit to be worth going a few times just to keep up with what you have done on the snow. I believe Snowflex is somewhat closer than Dendix, but I have never skied on Snowflex, so am just going by marketing hype.
Anything new you learn on the dry slope you will definitely be able to carry forward to the snow - real snow is easier to ski on than the dry slope, and is much faster, but also (usually) hurts less wwhen you fall.
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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 think I'd get bored with skiing if I did it in the summer too. My first ever lessons were on that rope stuff and whilst it gets you used to the basics of wearing the equipment, and forming a snow plough it can't match the pure sensation of skiing on snow. In fact I would go as far as to say that skiing on that might put a lot of people off.
I haven't skiied on any of the newer surfaces and obviously there are snowdomes now, but once you've been on a mountain everything pales in comparison.
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sally s,
I teach on plastic 3 times a week in the winter and twice a week all summer.
We went to Plymouth last weekend to look at the Uni for my son, noticed the dry slope there and went for a look. The matting is all new and the carpet type rather than dendix, so far fewer injuries. Looks like a good slope, worth a try.
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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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If you go to perfect your technique it is invaluable and you still do get a buzz from it (especially racing) but of course it is a long way from the mountains and snow. Bit like a bike ride on a summers day along country lanes compared to an exercise bike in the gym, but is still worth it!
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sally s, dry slopes seem to generate a whole range of opinions. A dry slope is not like snow and if you are looking for out-of-season snow then an occasional trip to an indoor slope would be better (although it would be a long trip for you).
That said, anything you can learn on a dry slope you can take with you to the real thing. I find that snow is a very forgiving surface, while plastic, especially Dendix, will find out all your faults.
I have skied on snow for some years, but it is only in the last year or so that I have skied regularly on plastic. If you look on a dry slope as a way of improving your technique, then you will get something out of it. If all you want is to ski without thinking about technique, then you will be wasting your time and money.
Try your local slopes. Join a group or club where you can benefit from instruction. I did just that last autumn - in the high season we worked on technique because the slope was relatively busy, but now things are tailing off we are back (actually they are back and I am just starting) to practising gates. OK, so you don't think you want to tackle a slalom course, but there is more to this. Instead of turning where you want to turn on an otherwise open and even slope, you have to turn where the coach has set the gates. Just think of it as turning around a series of obstructions - if you can turn where you have to then you can certainly turn where you want to. The nature of the instruction is also very different. Instead of the "follow me" or "do what I do" approach I have often found in resorts, it is much more based on an analysis of your last run down and suggestions for the next run - more personal and more constructive.
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Thanks all for the replies - I have taken the consensus to be that it is worth a try at least - but have just looked at prices at the Plymouth slope - not sure what I was expecting but not a bargain anyway and for all 4 of us to go it wouldn't be a weekly expense we could stretch too so now not sure whether to just start saving for next year's trips instead. May let kids have a go and see how they get on first.
Very interesting thread though and Spyderman thank you for the thumbs up for the Plymouth one so at least I know its a decent slope.
Summer skiiing - well being on the Devon coast it is compulsory to sail/surf/windsurf all summer so a week not doing that in the school hols is unthinkable - but - now you suggest it - does that mean Oct half term is an option for skiing - where, with whom or does it snow in winter, sun shine in summer and rain in Autumn to wash snow away before it all kicks off again?
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sally s, In the Oct half term you would be limited to Tignes, Hintertux and Zermatt (maybe others but not sure). Les 2 Alpes opens for a week around that time and a number of us went to the pre season bash (PSB) for a long weekend there then.
At that time of year it is only the glaciers open (with only a few runs and the snow is on the thin side.
If you want to keep the summers for sailing, an excellent time to visit the glaciers would be in the May half term (assuming that you are limited to school holidays). Glorious weather, still loads of snow and quiet slopes. Flights can be very cheap then too.
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FAQ
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