 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi guy's and gals, just returned from a week in Notre Dame De Bellecombe! I had a great time, i snowboarded last year but skied this year and loved it.
Basically I had one full day for a ski course at the dry slope which is all it took as i picked it up fairly quickly. I put in a further 6-7 sessions of open practice on the dry slope before i went so i was really comfortable with my turns and general skiing. During my holiday i worked hard on my technique but by the 4th day i was very comfortable on reds and fairly good on easy blacks. By the last day i did some fairly hard blacks with reasonable size moguls/drops etc, however i felt comfy and was always in control.
As we have had loads of snow here in Kent i thought I'd hit the dry slope with a friend, after 2 runs i took my skis off and went back inside! I was finding it ridiculously hard to turn, the skis seemed to have so much grip that side-slipping on the steepest part wasn't even happening. Obviously it was fairly busy there with plenty of snowboarders & skiers and the snow had packed right down into the bristles, could this have been the cause of my problems? I understand snow and dry-slope is very different and nothing can beat the real thing!
So basically my main question is... Are snowdomes such as Milton Keynes closer to the real thing and far more enjoyable to ski on or are they like a dry slope with some snow slapped on top?
Thanks-Hugh
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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IMO, once you can ski, the Snowdome in Milton Keynes is far too short a run to be much fun. Have only been twice, and you spend 10x more time on the drag than on the run.
It is however just like skiing on real snow - well, the sort of sugary snow you get when its melting in the sun...
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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'll find a snowdome to be much more like the real thing.
Sounds like the dry ski slope you were skiing on all the snow had packed into the gaps between the bristles and so you were actually skiing the dendix rather than the snow. Having skied on a dry slope in those conditions before, funnily enough the matting becomes quite dry and the sliding experience isn't too good, you would probably have found the experience easier and more fun if you were skiing on the dry slope in the rain or shortly after a rain shower.
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cool, thanks guy's, just what i thought! I think i'll stick to the snowdome then, especially as the new one is opening a little closer soon! -Hugh
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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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snowdomes may be short but if you use them to improve your technique by doing drills and focusing on your skills it stops them getting boring. Also once you get to a certain level you may want to do a bit of race training which improves your normal skiing plenty too. Or if freestyle is your thing most slopes do freestyle nights and setup rails and jumps.
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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 you go to a dryslope on a really cold night it can be excellent as the water the sprinklers spray out freezes and creates a really fast surface that is nearly as close to the real thing as I have ever found. On the two occasions I have been to indoor slopes I haven't enjoyed them.
Whenever you go back to dryslope after real snow you find it really hard to turn initially as it takes a lot less effort on snow and you forget to exaggerate all your movements on dryslope.
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i find indoor way too short but havent tried dry slopes
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O nce you are proficient on 'Reds' then (IMO)Snowdome runs are too short,too expensive and too crowded.
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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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If you remember that snow domes (particularly at this time of year) are over-crowded, beginners and muppets stopping in all the wrong places, people dawdling off the lifts, etc then a snow dome is exactly like being in resorts like Meribel!
Seriously, given that dry slopes (like Matson and Pontypool) are absolutely terrible to ski/board on, and still come in at £18 an hour, a snow dome is a far better option at £25 an hour. Dry slopes aren't much, if any, longer than indoor slopes to make a difference.
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I don't know what you have round your way, but good dry slopes, with good sprinkler systems (such as ours in Norwich) are very worthwhile for improver training. Also costs can be dramatically different, for members our slope is £5.50 per hour - vastly less than MK Snowdome. Plastic is much harder to ski on than snow, but if you persevere and learn proper techniques on the dendix when you get back on snow it all seems really easy!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| hyweljenkins wrote: |
If you remember that snow domes (particularly at this time of year) are over-crowded, beginners and muppets stopping in all the wrong places, people dawdling off the lifts, etc then a snow dome is exactly like being in resorts like Meribel!
Seriously, given that dry slopes (like Matson and Pontypool) are absolutely terrible to ski/board on, and still come in at £18 an hour, a snow dome is a far better option at £25 an hour. Dry slopes aren't much, if any, longer than indoor slopes to make a difference. |
I haven't been to Pontypool, but all the dry slopes I have skied on are £10 per hour or less.
And I can reach Gloucester (£9 per hour) in a lunchtime from work, or Cardiff or Pontypool in 40 minutes in the evening.
The nearest snowdome is Tamworth, just over 2 hours away from home.
For anybody that far away from snowdomes, I think dry slopes, while not ideal, are a better option than nothing.
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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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alex_heney, last time I went to Matson (about a year ago), I was there on a Wednesday evening and it was £18 for an hour. Pontypool is £11 for an hour and, given that you need to go in to Torfaen for it, that definitely isn't worth it.
I'm an hour from Tamworth, twenty minutes from Matson, and would rather suck my eyes out through straws than ski there again. It's rubbish, completely and utterly. Not because dry surfaces are rubbish, but because their patchy mix of Dendix and Snowflex, and remarkably low quality equipment, make it unskiable.
Ironically, I first skied at Pontypool in 1978 (my friend's dad was the GM there until about 1981), and learnt to ski there on Saturday mornings in 1983/4 - 50p for three hours' tuition, including piste & safety theory. You couldn't progress from the dinky beginner's area unless you passed practical and theory tests.
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| hyweljenkins wrote: |
| alex_heney, last time I went to Matson (about a year ago), I was there on a Wednesday evening and it was £18 for an hour. |
Well they have obviously agreed with you that £18/hour is too much. Current (peak season) prices for Gloucester are at http://www.gloucesterski.com/Default.asp?Page=49 and the maximum is £13/hour - or for £22 you can ski all day! You can even buy an annual pass which gives you unlimited skiing year round.
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| It's rubbish, completely and utterly. Not because dry surfaces are rubbish, but because their patchy mix of Dendix and Snowflex |
Hardly patchy. One slope is 100% dendix, and the other is snowflex at the top in the "terrain park": both appropriate surfaces for their intended use. Rossendale has a similar arrangement and on sunday it was noticeable how little difficulty skiers had changing between the two surfaces - having such adaptability is important when skiing a real mountain in variable conditions.
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| and remarkably low quality equipment |
Most skiers who regularly (i.e. every week or so) use their own gear.
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You know it makes sense.
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| hugh_b wrote: |
As we have had loads of snow here in Kent i thought I'd hit the dry slope with a friend, after 2 runs i took my skis off and went back inside! I was finding it ridiculously hard to turn, the skis seemed to have so much grip that side-slipping on the steepest part wasn't even happening. Obviously it was fairly busy there with plenty of snowboarders & skiers and the snow had packed right down into the bristles, could this have been the cause of my problems? I understand snow and dry-slope is very different and nothing can beat the real thing!
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A dendix slope with packed snow in it can't be lubricated and dries out very quickly - that makes it very slow!
Dendix slopes really shouldn't be called "dry" slopes - they need good lubrication (either from a misting system, or rain, or ideally frost), and can then be very like skiing on snow.
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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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ok guy's, well, currently i can visit the mk snowdome in the morning on a weekday so i'm guessing it's going to be a little quieter? My local dry slope is john nike, it has no sprinkler systems and the matting is fairly worn out, you regularly get a group of idiots who can't actually ski having a go and blagging their way through the reception.
It also costs £16.00 for 1 1/2 hours which is what it costs off peak at mk. Mk also seem to have a special offer on of £30 for 3 hours on a mon/weds/fri morning so i think i'm going to go to this.
I may try the dryslope again when there's no snow on the surface as it was terrible yesterday. I can only assume it was the snow getting in-between the bristles and packing down that made it terrible to ski on.
hugh
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Poster: A snowHead
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hyweljenkins, Maybe it is more expensive in the evenings. I've only been at lunchtimes, and certainly only paid £9 for an hour a few weeks ago.
It is an odd mixture, and I am not keen on it, but it gets the legs doing the right things again, and it is the only reasonably accessible place I have, given that I don't usually want to go out again in the evening after a 1.5 hour commute home.
The right hand slope is OK, apart from being a bit short and easy. But the left hand slope is a pain, with the mix of snowflex followed by very bumpy dendix.
I've just checked their price list, and it is now "High season" (15th December to 22nd Feb), so prices are a bit higher - but still only £11 per hour off peak or £13 peak. I think I last went around 10th December.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| RobW wrote: |
| hyweljenkins wrote: |
| alex_heney, last time I went to Matson (about a year ago), I was there on a Wednesday evening and it was £18 for an hour. |
Well they have obviously agreed with you that £18/hour is too much. Current (peak season) prices for Gloucester are at http://www.gloucesterski.com/Default.asp?Page=49 and the maximum is £13/hour - or for £22 you can ski all day! You can even buy an annual pass which gives you unlimited skiing year round.
| Quote: |
| It's rubbish, completely and utterly. Not because dry surfaces are rubbish, but because their patchy mix of Dendix and Snowflex |
Hardly patchy. One slope is 100% dendix, and the other is snowflex at the top in the "terrain park": |
The left slope, looking up, has, at least had, Snowflex section in the Dendix below the terrain park.
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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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hugh_b, you might be surprised at how busy MK will be during the week at this time of year.
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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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hugh_b, As you can visit MK snowdome on a weekday morning, it might be bearable. At weekends it's a complete joke and full of totally out of control numpties. They also close off a large part of the slope for kids sledging, making the numpties funnel into a narrow section at the bottom. So I wouldn't go anywhere near the place at peak times.
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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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uktrailmonster, ditto Tamworth, especially during the discount sessions. I'd happily pay £35 for an hour if they cut the number of slope users by 30%.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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hyweljenkins, It's a shame because I live quite close to MK and it would be useful for a bit of regular training. But the way they run the place makes it a very unnattractive proposition.
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| hyweljenkins wrote: |
| RobW wrote: |
| hyweljenkins wrote: |
| alex_heney, last time I went to Matson (about a year ago), I was there on a Wednesday evening and it was £18 for an hour. |
Well they have obviously agreed with you that £18/hour is too much. Current (peak season) prices for Gloucester are at http://www.gloucesterski.com/Default.asp?Page=49 and the maximum is £13/hour - or for £22 you can ski all day! You can even buy an annual pass which gives you unlimited skiing year round.
| Quote: |
| It's rubbish, completely and utterly. Not because dry surfaces are rubbish, but because their patchy mix of Dendix and Snowflex |
Hardly patchy. One slope is 100% dendix, and the other is snowflex at the top in the "terrain park": |
The left slope, looking up, has, at least had, Snowflex section in the Dendix below the terrain park. |
No, the Snowflex stops about 20ft below the last "obstacle" in the park, and there is none below that.
And if you don't want to ski the snowflex, there is an entry point to that slope just below the end of it.
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hugh_b, snowdomes are much more like the real thing than dry. However it's (obviously) artificial snow and doesn't quite feel like natural snow except immediately after it's been groomed. If you can make weekday mornings MK should be good but over the ski season you need to get there as soon as poss after it opens. Can be crowded at other times. As others have said indoor slopes are prob a little short for more than the occasional fun sliding session but are very very good indeed for learning/improving/training and opportunities are there for the committed (  ).
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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 bet they are all a bit quiet this week 
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hyweljenkins, what alex_heney said - and I'd say Matson is one of the nicest dry slopes to ski on - skiers' left very straightforward and skiers' right has a bit of interest to keep you on your toes.
hugh_b, if you can get to MK off-peak for 3 hour stints then that sounds a good plan. Otherwise try Bromley in preference to Chatham. Bromley is a pretty nice slope to ski on - doesn't have any misting, but the matting always seems to be reasonably slippy, for plastic. RobinS summed things up pretty well - plastic doesn't give you any cheats for less than perfect technique so is a good (althouhg occasionally frustrating) training surface, but everything will then seem so much easier when you get back onto snow.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
If you remember that snow domes (particularly at this time of year) are over-crowded, beginners and muppets stopping in all the wrong places, people dawdling off the lifts, etc then a snow dome is exactly like being in resorts like Meribel!
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Which is why Notre Dame de Bellecombe is superior to Meribel. Though I suspect it might be pushing it to suggest there are "hard blacks" in N D de B.
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