 Poster: A snowHead
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Ok, So having just got a new job, but still with a week to sit at home before starting, I have brought out my old ski mags for inspiration towards a well needed break in the new year...it's probably going to be march-april time so i have a bit of time to show willing to my new employers as well as save up a bit of cash for the trip.
Now comes the scary bit, i'm going to be going with just my girlfriend for the first time. AND she's never skied before. AND at this moment in time it will be just the two of us going.
So, i've won a few battles already, i've convinced her that i won't try to teach her and that she should have lessons, and more importantly that she should try skiing rather that snowboarding! 
But where do we go that will challenge me enough, allow her to ski and grow confidence, and perhaps allows us to still spend the majority of time together (well, start and finish near enough to one another.) - Don't worry i do plan on spending most of my time with her on the slope that she can cope with (well, i may not tell her what they are first toward the end of the week..)
I learnt in Andorra years ago, was i thought a great place to learn compared to some other resorts i've been to, no greens as such outside of the nursery, so you learnt fast (and a little hard) but there's not likely to have that much snow that late on in the season...
Any ideas or tips for us both surviving the trip relationship in tact would be much appreciated! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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stevos999, I found, a couple of years ago, that Morzine works well for more experienced skiers to bomb around in the mornings while the beginners are at ski school, and for there to be plenty of easy runs for them to enjoy together in the afternoons. Nice place too, with an enviably short transfer time. Was slightly dubious about the standard of instruction on offer by ESF, though, maybe some experts will come along in a minute to suggest other instruction options.
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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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stevos999, La Plagne.
La Plagne is often criticised for too many long easy "boring" green and blue slopes
Just what you need.
And where we are going this Christmas with daughter's learner-skier boyfriend.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I still have total beginner spaces on the very good value trip linked to in my sig below. The lessons are in groups of max 4, at a price you'd be hard pushed to beat. You wouldn't have to take lessons yourself if you didn't want to, there are two others in that position. There are also folks who have opted to stay in different accommodation and join us for the lessons, so if you wanted to be more by yourselves that could be an option too.
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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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Alpe d'Huez has a large central bowl of greens and blues which is great for beginners and easy for meeting up after lessons. Also suggest Folgarida in the Dolomites which we went to with some beginners and they absolutely loved it. You can ski over to Madonna di Campiglio or Marilleva and then meet up in the central ski school area with lots of bars/restaurants.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Alpe d'Huez has a large central bowl of greens and blues which is great for beginners and easy for meeting up after lessons
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I would second that. We can also help on the pampering side of things to make sure that the holiday is not just about skiing but lovely food and wine etc as well! Get in touch if you are interested - we offer special discounts to Snowheads and have a couple of Alpe d'Huez based options that might work well for you 
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For me i don't think you can go wrong learning over the pond in the USA or Canada. English speaking lots of nursery/green runs in many resorts as well as runs for the more experienced! I learnt in the USA and was paralelling on day 2! I think its the language barrior that does it!
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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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Was in the same situation once: Obergurgl in Austria did the trick!!
Fantastic chocolate box village, high enough to guarantee snow in resort, good beginners slopes and lovely scenery. She'll be hooked!! We've skied happily ever after for the following 16 years !
IMO Austria or Switzerland can't be beaten for a first timer - and definitely not if there's a romantic element involved. If she doesn't like it there she'll not like anywhere.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Chris Brookes, if it's anything like Wengen unpisted nursery slopes and a seriously dodgy teaching method! 
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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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Another vote for Alpe d'Huez. Tons of beginner skiing and runs onto which she can progress, plenty of eating holes to which you can both ski.
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Yet another one for Alpe d'Huez. Almost all the runs back from the mid-stations to the town are greens but there's a ton of great skiing across the rest of the resort. Took my rather timid one-week's-experience fiancee there last year and both and I much preferred it to Les Deux Alpes (sorry easiski!) where we went the year before.
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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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Westendorf or a similar small scale Austrian resort.
Somewhere favoured by beginners that is a proper town but attractive and not overrun with show offs and hotshots. Nearby links would give you scope and/or mileage if you got bored.
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Poster: A snowHead
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You seem to be heading in the right direction, wherever you go!
I'd suggest the most important thing is finding somewhere that does good instruction in English.
LDA and easiski has to be a good option...
If you go to Morzine then consider using BASS.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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stevos999, Forget about trying to please her, go somewhere you want to go. There's no point trying to find somewhere she likes because....
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but she will go, and she will tolerate it, then next year you'll marry and she will never let you go skiing - or indulge any other pre-her passions again - until you finally wake up and divorce her in 2019
Do I sound a little jaundiced?
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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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Courchevel, using Ski Supreme or New Generation ski schools.
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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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Obergurgl.
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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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The Dolomites - beautiful, beautiful, beautiful !
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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If finances allow go stay in a nice Swiss hotel with Spa etc. Get her sold on the concept of a winter holiday by treating her to some luxury- the skiing will follow.
Slowly, slowly catchy monkey. 
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| Quote: |
Romantic suppers in town each evening, what more can she want
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Er, maybe someone like Brad Pitt or George Clooney - and not stevos999 - to share them with  ..........!!!!
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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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stevos999, St Christoph in Austria is in a stunning spot and great for beginners. Linked into St Anton (for the apres) and Lech for the stunning views etc. Or my perosnal fave, Oberlech
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Thank you all for your comments, even mountainaddict ! you've given me a few ideas and i'll got on the case asap. Thanks again! (she's very keen with the ski idea now, although i suspect it's more about a whole new shopping avenue opening up that excites here most!)
Like the idea of Alpe d'Huez because i wanted to go there two years ago, and Obergurgl... I had to look up what/where LDA was lol 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| stevos999 wrote: |
Ok, So having just got a new job, but still with a week to sit at home before starting, I have brought out my old ski mags for inspiration towards a well needed break in the new year...it's probably going to be march-april time so i have a bit of time to show willing to my new employers as well as save up a bit of cash for the trip.
Now comes the scary bit, i'm going to be going with just my girlfriend for the first time. AND she's never skied before. AND at this moment in time it will be just the two of us going.
So, i've won a few battles already, i've convinced her that i won't try to teach her and that she should have lessons, and more importantly that she should try skiing rather that snowboarding!
But where do we go that will challenge me enough, allow her to ski and grow confidence, and perhaps allows us to still spend the majority of time together (well, start and finish near enough to one another.) - Don't worry i do plan on spending most of my time with her on the slope that she can cope with (well, i may not tell her what they are first toward the end of the week..)
I learnt in Andorra years ago, was i thought a great place to learn compared to some other resorts i've been to, no greens as such outside of the nursery, so you learnt fast (and a little hard) but there's not likely to have that much snow that late on in the season...
Any ideas or tips for us both surviving the trip relationship in tact would be much appreciated! |
I took mine to Verbier and taught her myself. We skied together pretty much 100% of the time all week (she did go for one single consolidating lesson after I'd taught her for a couple of days. The instructor described her as 'excellent'). On day 4 she did her first black run.
She is now far, far, better than I am.
So I would recommend doing that.
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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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paulio, usually, teaching your other half to ski/board is a recipe for instadivorce. It may have worked for you, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it.
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That's what a "recommendation" is though, isn't it: an anecdotal testimony of something you found to be satisfactory.
(Yes, original poster, Lizzard's right - I think we were some kind of one-in-a-million aberration)
I just love telling that story as an antidote to the well trodden "never teach your other half" advice.
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You know it makes sense.
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stevos999, If choosing ADH, which is a good option, then contact Ski Masterclass for her lessons. From the future point of view it's most important that she enjoys learning and wants to go again.
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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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Cortina as the pistes are immaculate, the views stupendous, the food amazing, and its a great place to learn. If you want to challenge yourself take out a guide for a couple of afternoons. Above all go where she wants and do what she wants to do, if you can get her to love it it will make future trips much easier!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Not been to AD'H and I thought that LDA was spectacular but not particularly mixed party friendly, Likewise Tignes. If AD'H isn't on the cards have a hink about Peisey-Vallandry, across the valley from La Plagne and a very short link over the ridge into the main Les Arcs bowls.
Peisey has a superb beginners bowl a short chair ride from the main accommodation and some glorious wide gentle blues (or a supper gentle winding forest green) to bring you back to the villages. It doesn't require long lift journeys to get from one area to another and there are plenty of smooth easy routes for the beginner to explore the wider area. Worth putting on the list as an alternative.
edit: the New Gen School there has a well deserved good reputation.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 1-12-08 20:28; edited 2 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Re Alpe d'Huez and Ski Masterclass - we had a two hour carving/sorting out bad habits lesson with them last year and it was brilliant! Certainly recommend them.
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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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| mountainaddict wrote: |
Was in the same situation once: Obergurgl in Austria did the trick!!
Fantastic chocolate box village, high enough to guarantee snow in resort, good beginners slopes and lovely scenery. She'll be hooked!! We've skied happily ever after for the following 16 years !
IMO Austria or Switzerland can't be beaten for a first timer - and definitely not if there's a romantic element involved. If she doesn't like it there she'll not like anywhere. |
+1
Think hard before you follow the advice for France. It just ain't as romantic & chocolate boxy as Austria & Switzerland. I ski France all the time these days (Val d'Isere, Les Arcs, Alpe d'Huez, Three Valleys etc) but I would not choose France for a first ski date holiday.
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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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stevos999, feedback on the posts ?
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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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| Quote: |
She is now far, far, better than I am.
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paulio, she was obviously a born skier and natural athlete, and could have learnt to ski well with any old instructor.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
usually, teaching your other half to ski/board is a recipe for instadivorce
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we had a two hour carving/sorting out bad habits lesson
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Methinks that the first quote would inevitably lead to the second quote - except the "carving" would involve knives and not skis; the bad habits to be sorted would include gems like "Well you leave the top off the toothpaste;" and the "lesson" would be one that was learned the hard way......
stevos999 : Good luck with the booking!!
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| al.p wrote: |
| mountainaddict wrote: |
Was in the same situation once: Obergurgl in Austria did the trick!!
Fantastic chocolate box village, high enough to guarantee snow in resort, good beginners slopes and lovely scenery. She'll be hooked!! We've skied happily ever after for the following 16 years !
IMO Austria or Switzerland can't be beaten for a first timer - and definitely not if there's a romantic element involved. If she doesn't like it there she'll not like anywhere. |
+1
Think hard before you follow the advice for France. It just ain't as romantic & chocolate boxy as Austria & Switzerland. I ski France all the time these days (Val d'Isere, Les Arcs, Alpe d'Huez, Three Valleys etc) but I would not choose France for a first ski date holiday. |
I also agree with that comment - I think yuo should take the other half somewhere 'pretty' that is also good for beginniing skiing. once she's hooked you can then introduce her to the 'joys' of high windswept architectural nightmares.
Now Alpe D'huez is not an architectural nightmare and has off-slope activitices too, but it's not as chocoloate box pretty as some austrian resorts as per photo above
Tough decision really but have fun wherever you end up
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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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| stevos999 wrote: |
| Quote: |
stevos999, feedback on the posts ?
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yep, loving all the posts, it's something that makes snowheads special!! I understand and agree with all the posts that point out the choc box quality of austria having skied Kitz this year, and having been to Val thorens know the difference. off slope activities i think will win her over but at the same time snow quality and the stubbornness of annabel (can't keep saying the "mrs") will mean that i reckon she'll love the whole ski experience that all of us fell in love with. money is a slight issue so can't this year see the ideal holiday happening but i'm certain that the likes of AD'H and LDA (- i'm learning the lingo!) may be the best of all worlds. like i said i learnt in andorra, and although there wasn't the piture perfect world of Austria (and Brekenridge) i think the sheer thrill and still the odd non ski activities will be great. I'm thinking that if i can then i'll take a few lessons myself -if they run at the same times as the newbie lessons, I'll also get the most out of the hols.
Again, i'm forever thankful for all the comments, makes me so happy to be a snowhead! |
In which case then go to ADH - http://www.alpedhuez.net/resort.html has the resort and piste maps linked. Make sure you check where you're accommodation is and try and get it as close to bottom of the Fontbelle chair in the Bergers sector, or as close to 'rond pont' des pistes as possible, as walking with skis in ski boots and having to use the buckets is a bit of pain for a 1st timer.
Remember to take SPEEDO's not boardies or other long shorts if you want to use the pool - yep genuine budgie smugglers are required.
Make sure you take the chair that goes over to the signal sector, under the altiport - though perhaps not one for her on her 1st trip
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| Quote: |
Remember to take SPEEDO's not boardies or other long shorts if you want to use the pool - yep genuine budgie smugglers are required.
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Not if you go to Austria - none required at all
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FAQ
