 Poster: A snowHead
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Should novice skiers go to resorts with ski-in/ski-out facilities and with hotels close to lifts? Does this not lull beginners in to a false sense of ease and convenience? Perhaps they should make their first ski trip one with lots of walking in ski boots with skis over the shoulder/cradled in the arms or clamped in the arm-pits. Oh and don't forget to go to a resort, where when you get off the lift, you have to pole uphill to the start of the piste. Ergo Chamonix is perfect for beginners 8-).
So where should you go as a beginner skier :~/
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yes, new skiers should have an easy time.
The better their first experience, then the more likely they are to return. And once they are hooked, they will be more ready to put up with what most of us know to be the norm.
Incidentally, purely by accident, my first ever ski trip was also the only genuine ski in/ski out holiday I have had - it was literally a case of step out of the chalet door, put on skis, and ski down 200 yards to the nearest drag lift, and the chalet could not be reached without walking across the piste (or skiing back to door), as it was in the middle of a point where the piste split.
This was in Verbier. (Piste Bleu, for anybody that knows it)
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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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halfhand, yep - scare the buggers off our crowded slopes eh? 
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Start em at a rainlashed dryslope with no tow where they have to sidestep or heringbone up for every run.
Let them graduate to a frictionless rope only tow.
When they've served their time treat em to a trip to Cairngorm where they'll get blown over on the top of every lift and have to forage for snow by the fences.
Make them really appreciate that first trip to Europe with real snow when they get to stay within half a mile of the nearest bus stop.
Note: this is not protectionism but not far off my formative ski experience, I feel better for it.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
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You were lucky!
I learned to snowboard on a dendex slope in sheffield, with a rope tow, on a carving board & hard boots!!!
And we 'ad lumps of coal for apres, and we were grateful
(Ok the last bit isn't true but it's amazing I ever tried it again really)
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Tue 3-11-09 23:04; edited 2 times in total
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| Quote: |
Should novice skiers go to resorts with ski-in/ski-out facilities?
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I don't think "ski-in/ski-out" is exactly beneficial if you can't ski yet....
Like for instance Hochsoelden is not recommended for total beginners because just to get down to the chairlift that takes you up to the meeting places is a semi-drama plus you ALWAYS have to ski down after class to get back there and if memory serves me right that is not exactly the nicest run to go down (with the added benefit that loads of people who are skiing down to Soelden also ski it - especially in the afternoons).
Reasonable walking distance to the main lift/s and/or close to a ski bus stop is in my opinion much more suitable than ski-in/ski-out.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| schneeflocke wrote: |
| Quote: |
Should novice skiers go to resorts with ski-in/ski-out facilities?
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I don't think "ski-in/ski-out" is exactly beneficial if you can't ski yet.... |
Very true
| schneeflocke wrote: |
| Reasonable walking distance to the main lift/s and/or close to a ski bus stop is in my opinion much more suitable than ski-in/ski-out. |
OTOH there are many places where being on / or virtually on the front de neige has got to be a good idea if you are a beginner - e.g. Arc 1800, Courchevel 1650, Montalbert, Avoriaz etc
Remember that beginners will find walking in ski boats carrying kit difficult, strange, a pain in the derriere - jeez even some people who have done many weeks still can't carry their skis properly. Plus in the 1st lesson walking up the hill for some/all of it, or doing the crabbing sideways malarkey unless you're blessed with magic carpets. This is super super tiring and therefore not having far to go before/after is a great idea. Plus you're more likely to forget something so not having to get on a bus, walk for too long or get a lift to get home to pick it up is a good idea (IMHO)
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| firebug wrote: |
You were lucky!
I learned to snowboard on a dendex slope in sheffield, with a rope tow, on a carving board & hard boots!!!
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Swap Sheffield for Bromley and that's me, picking bits of slope out yer bum for a week only to repeat. Mind I knew what I was in for as I learnt to ski there 10 years previous. After you faceplant dendix a few times icy cat tracks hold no fear to the aspiring intermediate.
Good times.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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its full, too crowded and they should be flamed and discouraged
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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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Bit of rough and smooth in concert with one another I reckon. e.g. I took my folks on their first last year, and had perfect blue skies all week. Fast forward a year to 09 when we went again, and the slightest whiff of fog descends and they moan like stupid children that I'd taken them somewhere worse than the previous year.
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I do think it can be a problem if people have super easy conditions for their first couple of trips - big shock to the system if the sun stops shining "I hate this flat light", or there's a bit of fog "I can't stand this whiteout" (sic) or the snow is a bit hardpacked "I hate ice" (sic).
Probably quite a lot of us started in less-than-ideal conditions. I wonder sometimes why we flap so much about making things as easy as possible for our nearest and dearest (I'm doing precisely that with grand kids and daughter in law at Christmas - have already booked them private lessons with hand picked instructors, etc etc).
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You know it makes sense.
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Catterick dry slope. End of.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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fatbob wrote:
| Quote: |
Start em at a rainlashed dryslope with no tow where they have to sidestep or heringbone up for every run.
Let them graduate to a frictionless rope only tow.
When they've served their time treat em to a trip to Cairngorm where they'll get blown over on the top of every lift and have to forage for snow by the fences.
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That was me! A week of unending grimness at the Aviemore Youth Hostel, ice on my face on the slopes, didn't ski again for about 6 years. I then re-learnt on the dry slope at Sheffield, followed by our first proper trip, on honeymoon, to Banff. Lovely! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Pros and cons. My first ski trip was to Chamonix, which meant lots of staggering about in ski boots with skis on my shoulder and waiting for buses. But the weather was great and I loved knocking about the town.
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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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Learning to ski is hard enough work for a beginner. You put in a huge amount of work and sweat heavily for a tiny amount of movement around the snow, plus you fall a lot and struggle to get up and have soggy gloves. Now I just angle my body a bit and speed down big spectacular slopes with very little effort despite not being very fit. I can afford to make a bit more effort to get my fix and financially want to spend less so I can go more times per year and share a guide with my friends.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Who cares? I dont think I would take people who would whinge about walking a little bit anyway.
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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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I always think they should be made work hard for the first couple of days i.e. plenty of walking and side stepping, then they will really enjoy the sensation of skiing and get hooked
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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fatbob, Swirly, character building stuff!!
After our trip to Grindelwald, where I learned properly and which I really liked, we went to Tignes out of season three times, thinking it would be quiet.
And so it is, but the people who are there are mostly either residents, doing race training, or on disability snowsport weeks - sometimes all three! After a couple of weeks of being hopelessly outclassed, frequently by people with no legs, I was convinced that I was useless, but having fun all the same. 
pam w, it's true, I have a friend who is the same. Two perfect weeks, and after than, nothing would please!
I personally am not crazy about ski in/ski out as it's nice to go through the town too. I suppose there's always Avoriaz where you can do both.
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Well. In these times of Climate change i would discourage anyone from taking up the sport. They will just get hooked and have to stop when all the snow melts. I think that good advice would serve us all well. They wont be disapointed and existing riders get smaller lift lines and plenty of freshness to enjoy what's left! 
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My first trip was to Soll which isn't the most beginner friendly resort; the lift is well out of the village, the beginner slopes are not very inspiring and the progression slopes are worse. In fact, the first blue slope they bring you on as a beginner ends in a spot that's too steep for real beginners so they take you off the side of the piste and make you do a horrible steep climb to get back in position. Not to mention the wonderful 'blue' home run. However, I was lucky on a number of key fronts when I think back;
The ski instructor was a wonderful lady from Argentina called Sylvia who had great English and a fab attitude.
I went for Christmas 2004 and conditions were, by complete fluke, totally perfect. So all the trudging in boots was in done in fab weather. I still remember being mesmerised on the coach ride by icicles hanging at the airport eaves and frozen rivers and waterfalls (done this trip a few times now and haven't seen it since).
All I wanted was to escape a bleak family Christmas so imagine my complete enchantment at the scenery and Austrian apres and Christmas magic - all completely unanticipated.
I never for a second thought that indoors me would fall in love with skiing and if anyone described all the lugging and dragging and general first week hardship, I don't think I'd have bothered going because I still find it hard to express to others how everything else makes up for it one hundred fold. I've been on 'dry' slopes in miserable horizontal Irish rain since and can't imagine that it would have inspired the same buzz in me.
So based on my own experience, I'd say conditions, instructor, conditions and atmosphere maketh the beginner experience.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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fatbob, are you me in disguise?? Either that or you were on the same school trip as me! Identical to my first skiing experience: 3 lessons at Rushden dry slope in the dark and rain (1 kid broke a thumb and had to drop out) wearing jeans and a kagoule. Then a week in the Cairngorm which saw only 4 out of 6 days on the mountain because of the wind/rain/snow - all of us wearing jeans and legwarmers with waterproof trousers, the warmest jackets our Mums could find with a Kag over the top, and a pair of plastic gloves off the market (they'd call it child abuse today). And so...in Feb 1980 I was hooked
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| MissRibena wrote: |
| My first trip was to Soll which isn't the most beginner friendly resort; |
It must be - it is where the beginner group went in "On the Piste"
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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FAQ
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