 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello there.
I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good European resort for a beginner snowboarder? My girlfriend and I are planning to go somewhere in January and it needs to be somewhere where she can build up her experience.
She was a bit spoiled in her first ever boarding holiday as we went to Breckenridge with it's beautiful, huge, wide slopes. There she had a whale of a time and was picking things up very quickly (um, until she fell and broke her wrist...). This year we went to Soll in Austria because it seemed to offer plenty of blues for her and a range of stuff for me (I'm a good intermediate pushing onto blacks). Unfortunately Soll sucked, partly because the snow was soooooooo bad this year, but also what Soll classified as a blue was often rediculous or could only be got to by going down a red first.
So, I'd appreciate any hints and tips anyone has for a resort with plenty of nice boarder-friendly blues. If it's got plenty of reds and blacks for me that's ideal, but frankly I'd settle for an easier resort so she can get her confidance up (I'm happy as just long as I'm on snow).
Cheers!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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2Alpes. No drag lifts either.
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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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ifiboard, Vallandry, has huge fat gentle and quiet bowl to learn in, an easy run back to village, nightlife's just enough unless you want to dance on tables. Alternatively and livelier is Les Arc 1800 with easy access to the same bowl above Vallandry and even easier run back along a wide gentle greeny/blue. It's all very non-threatening for boarders. But if you want to go steep and deep it's just as easy to find stuff to scare the crap out of you in the huge domain 
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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 learned to board at Les Deux Alpes, have some bad memories there - espically the learner slopes drag lifts 
Les Arc sounds interesting. Having a glacier and thus guarenteed snow is a bonus after the ice-slush-grass-fest of Soll this year! Never hear of Vallandry, I'll look it up.
Cheers for the tips.
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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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ifiboard, if you're going outside New Year period, why not just wait & see where the best conditions are, ther's always loads of availability in January.
Les Arcs is IMO one of the best all round resorts. Another possibility is Livigno, but a bit more limited on the difficult stuff. If you're hell-bent on booking in advance, Cervinia is usually snow-sure, has wide easy slopes plus access to Zermatt.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I agree, why not book the flights now and see what looks good...
I learned in Grindelwald with a very mixed ability group and everyone had a good time, might be a possibility? It's pretty, too.
One more suggestion, to help get confidence back up after a fall, I really recomend getting pads (knee, wrist and bum) - I've had so many friends who get all the stuffing knocked out of them by a nasty fall when they're learning, and pads have helped them enormously.
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Chamonix, everything gets easier thereafter.
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, why do you think my friends stack it so much 
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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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firebug, I don't know, why do your friends stack it so much?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Though actually, if you went mid January, that's when they do the rather iffily named Talents des Aiguilles event, and there is loads of stuff aimed at women and all the girls get a two day pass for free (well it's meant to be one, but you can usually wangle two) with free tuition, good discounts and all sorts. So it might not be such a daft idea! 
Though I'd still say, get a shortlist together and decide for sure nearer the 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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I wasn't thinking of booking that soon - it's just looking out my window on a rainy rainy day my mind can often wander to a snowy slope 
I've been to Breck more times that Europe and I've always sorted out flights / accom seperately. But in Europe I've only ever done packages - tried to do it on my own for Soll this year, but ended up struggling to find places or decent prices so ended up just going with Neilson.
Picking up a cheap flight soon and making my mind up on location nearer the time sounds interesting but where would I find the accom? Any recommended sites you use firebug?
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yeah Breckenridge is great!
well we are always very last minute, and get hotel recommendations from friends, or sites like tripadvisor and ivebeenthere, check the hotel pics/reviews on google and then book. We normally go off peak season, like you are, and have never had any problems finding somewhere.
For peak season we'd usually just call the tourist office for wherever we were going and ask them. They normally keep a list of available rooms and it saves a lot of ringing round as it can be a real problem getting a place.
Igluski and ifyouski are good if you're looking for places in a catered chalet.
One place that I've never tried but a lot of friends have recommended is Laax - stay at the Rider's Palace.
If you went to Tignes I really reccommend the Dragon Lodge.
useful article?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2006/oct/08/skiing.wintersports2
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