 Poster: A snowHead
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Thats ideal benji, you can meet up for lunch or if she gets on really well with her other class mates you can have most of the day bombing round and meet up at 3.30. Well done! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I am not sure she'll thank you. Lessons are clearly important. You need at least one for every sport (tell you how to hold a racket, lift a sail etc) but if someone who has excellent balance skills they are likely to pick up skiing fairly quickly. My experience a few years ago was to do 'learn to ski in a day' at Tamworth, I cannot recommend this too highly. As someone who had previously skateboarded, windsurfed etc. I progressed OK. 1st day at resort was a bit of a shock as the runs were steeper and more icy, so I spent the morning on my back bottom, but after being reminded to 'keep forward' I started progressing again. I had so much to work on that I did not take a lesson that week but just toured the mountain progressing from greens to reds. If you want the companionship etc of ski school then 4 hours a day is fine. To actually progress in skiing I would have thought this is too much as you are on 'holiday' and 2 hrs every so often and lots of practice seems more reasonable? After all a good holiday skier is someone who is safe to others, and able to to enjoy themselves.
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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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I had a female friend do the same, went skiing for a week but didn't want lessons. She didn't enjoy it.
Ask your friend if she would go swimming without having lessons if she couldn't swim? I wouldn't be fun......
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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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Say that a pre-holiday trip to the snowdome to practise a few vital skills (such as how to stop!), will save her a lot of learning time when she is on the hill. Hopefully the upshot of this trip is that she will realise how important getting some decent lessons are.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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bbski, Being able to get around the mountain and being able to ski are two different things. Many recreational skiers can get around quite adequately, but substitute exploring for ski-ing due to lack of technique. The better your technique the more enjoyment you get out of ski-ing. The intermediate plateau exists only because people stop learning, and eventually realise that they're getting nowhere.
stuarth, Good for you.
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benjj, great idea to buy ski lessons as a present. I have to agree with one of the above posters that six full days of lessons is probably not the best bang for your money, especially if the group is a big one. your friend might find it difficult to stay focused (as in a group setting there will be alot of standing around) or struggle fitness wise. I think it would be better to spend the raised money on private tuition, 1-2 hours a time would then give her a chance to practice the stuff learned (you probably need to check up on her once in a while). she could also rest/do some other fun stuff and it would feel more relaxed rather than having lessons all the time. private tuition is sooo much more effective IMHO.
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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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More regular lessons would mean you had someone much better than you giving you constant feedback.
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I agree with you stuarth. Although it is some years since I had a group lesson when I first learnt to ski I had great fun meeting new people in classes and learning to ski with them. Private tuition to me comes later once you have hit the intermediate plateau. A group class will give the other members in the party more time to ski at a faster pace.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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'I think there are people on this site so ski mad that they would do 4 hrs of chemistry lessons if they thought it would help their technique! ' - how ? Going skiing on Friday, so I need to know now ! 
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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 think there are people on this site so ski mad that they would do 4 hrs of chemistry lessons if they thought it would help their technique!
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Wax formulation is a fascinating subject!
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How to make snow, chemical additives perhaps?
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You know it makes sense.
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snowy, it sounds as though you have never been on cross country skis. Stopping on alpine skis, with hard metal edges, to which you are firmly attached, is a piece of cake. Stopping on cross-country skis is a great deal more difficult. Not if you're on the flat, of course, but there's not much point in that! As a competent skier - skied about 40 weeks and had LOADS of lessons - I was taken aback to find how hard it is to control cross country skis. A gentle slope looks terrifying when you know you can't stop. Our instructor told us that all the local French ski club kids, who are hot stuff, do a lot of work on cross country skis to improve their balance and "feel". Oh, and by the way, you DEFINITELY need lessons on cross country skis too, if you want to do more than shuffle around on the flat. Most resorts only have flat-shuffling paths for cross country, not worth bothering. Go to a resort with a range of pistes at different levels of difficulty - like Les Saisies. And get lessons.
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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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bbski, you might want to try physics, maths and geography as well as chemistry - they would all apply!
stuarth, I too am a late starter - Jan, 2004 - and I take lessons as much as I can, so where do you ski that has an unlimited season lesson pass? - I could do with that!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| pollittcl wrote: |
stuarth, I too am a late starter - Jan, 2004 - and I take lessons as much as I can, so where do you ski that has an unlimited season lesson pass? - I could do with that! |
Whistler (Platinum Pass)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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bbski, I'd reallly enjoy another 4 hours of chemistry lessons, when do I start!!!
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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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Best idea, after three days she may be able to ski an afternoon with you if she is lucky..
Anything else would be silly...and over ambitious..
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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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This last year I went to Courchevel with fiancee, her sister and her sister's bf. He was similar - didn't want to take lessons but had never put on a pair of skis in his life.
First, we made sure he took one trip to the local dryslope, where he was taught the real basics (snowplough etc.). Then we headed up to Aviemore for a weekend, where the conditions were brutal - 70mph winds at the top and -40 with windchill. To be fair to him, he was going to get lessons there, but the conditions were so bad they weren't taking beginners out!
When we got to Courchevel in March, he'd had one day on real snow and half a day on the dryslope, so virtually nothing. Still, it put him in good stead for the real thing, and despite taking no lessons, he was able to get down reds (albeit not overly elegantly) by the end of the holiday.
I still think he would have got so much more out of it had he taken lessons, and at one point I was on the verge of suggesting he pops his skis and walks down the side of the slope, because he was being something of a (slowly) moving obstacle rather than a skier!
So, to summarise, she may be ok, but will probably hate the lessons, if she'd already made up her mind. Still, at least you'll have her out of your hair for half of every day, so your holiday should be fine!!
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FAQ
) I guess I don't fall into that 'holiday' skier category, I am always trying to improve (tougher terrain, faster, more efficient, technically better) I was a late starter (5 years ago) and just too impatient to be getting on!! 
