 Poster: A snowHead
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Likely to be taking a complete beginner skiing. I remember when I first started that the first couple of days were fairly hard work.
Is £155 for a 7 hour "learn to ski in a day" course at MK worth it? Or if not, what is better.
Thanks, as ever.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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James the Last, we have this same dilemma with a friend who'll be travelling with us this year. She's a complete beginner and will be taking group lessons in resort; however, she wants to have a go at Hemel before we go to get a proper feel for skiing.
My feeling is that, given that she's going to get a week of lessons in resort anyway, £155 is a lot to spend on top of that. Also, she'd be taking complete beginner lessons in resort anyway so might find the first day or two just going over what she covered in the fridge. That said, I can see that at the very least from a confidence point of view that it would obviously have some benefit.
Will keep an eye on this thread to see what others think is best.
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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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James the last - i did this three years ago when i first started skiing (at 35), I found the 7 hours rather difficult as I was not as fit as I thought I was and hit a block at the MK level three so did not get onto the main slope and gave up after 5 hours (the idea was to be on the main slope by lunch). I was not the only one who failed to progress it was a balance confidence thing.
I found by the time I went on Holiday 6 weeks later i had not retained that much of the information i was taught and the instructors in resort concentrated on the basics in a variety of ways and so it was different enough to what I did in the dome so that I was not bored.
If i was to recommend something like this, i would suggest it is better to do 2 half days is if the beginner does hit a block (physical or mental) it will not be wasted money and may help with the desire to continue.
It was useful enough and gave me enough to really want to go skiing on a real hill, so it was worthwhile, but i would have got better value out of 2 half days.
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Do they run taster sessions? Perhaps one of theose might be better, it's just an intro to skiing so gets you used to the skis and some basics, not as comprehensive as a ski in a day, and the beginner lessons in resort are less likely to be repetitive.
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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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Sitter's idea is a good one. The 7 hour sessions for beginners are pretty gruelling (I did one as a very elderly beginner snowboarder - got to the end of the day but couldn't move for about a week after). Depending on where you are, Hemel is probably better.
But if your beginner is keen and resilient, and not a newcomer to any kind of physical exertion, they might well enjoy a day learning to ski in a fridge.
Where are you going? Somewhere where there's really good instruction available?
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My bunch of beginners last year - on myadvice - did a warm-up session (so to speak) in a fridge and didn't like it.
Let's face it, skiing in a post-apocalyptic aircraft hanger is rubbish.
Better to learn in the great outdoors, surrounded by the beauty of the mountains in the fresh air. After all, that's what it's really about, eh.
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learn to ski in a day is a very bad idea. Too long for a first timer, they dont absorb the information and are pushed too quickly and end up with bad habits and poor confidence. only works for fit people who pick up skills quickly. most end up doing the course all over again...
a few 2-4 hour sessions prior to going abroad to learn the basics and get some confidence is a very good idea. I dont agree with the price arguement as your week in alps is most likely going to cost nearly a grand why spend the first few days on the learner slope when you could do that much cheaper indoors at a dome and really get out and enjoy the full mountain for your week away.
but i would say that as i teach those kind of lessons! 
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>>I dont agree with the price arguement as your week in alps is most likely going to cost nearly a grand
Absolutely. A couple of days at £150 is no cheaper than the alpine days. And remember, the Alpine days have a group of people so each day in the Alps is costing thousands...
Yes, Hemel would be closer, thanks pamw.
The reason it came to mind is we've been invited to Villard Reculas in ADH in January. According to wisdom on here, (and looking at the map) the village is tiny and inaccessible. Getting to ADH itself is not possible. EDF do have a ski school in the village, but they need 5 for group lessons, which seems unlikely in January. It was a struggle in the centre of Meribel in January last year to find group lessons!
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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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I did a £75 level 1-2 at Xscape in Castleford.
I thought it was ok - although when we got out to the mountain the ski instructor there told us to forget everything we were taught!?!?!
And we had some people in the class that struggled a fair bit and that meant we had to practice the same drills over and over and probably we would have been ready to go on the main slope much earlier than we were allowed.
I wanted to have lesson before we went to the mountain though to learn how to walk about in the boots/feel what it's like to wear skis etc.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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James the Last, not to get salesy but to clarify the cost arguement we charge £79 for a single 3 1/2 hour taster session and £189 for a group of 3 3 1/2 sessions.
i think hemel charge £25 for a one hour taster and £75 for a 3 hour combi lesson
my point was that a single day in the alps is going to cos far more than that per day so why not get up to speed at home, lots of people go to the gym several times to get ready why not take a few lessons on a dry slope or indoor dome.
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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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Three or so shorter trips before going seems to work best from the feedback we get - agree completely with Pam W about fit and coordinated person cracking it but they'd still need a refresher before going. We've seen a lot of dome and dryslope skiers take straight to the snow and get a huge amount out of their first week on snow, but not after just one session.
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James the Last, regardless of what your beginner does beforehand, I'd say they'd definitely need some on-snow tuition. Given what you say about the resort it sounds as though a couple of private lessons, out there, would be the best bet (even if there were group lessons available the chances are they'd be in French). Given that scenario, a couple of the sort of sessions skimottaret describes should be absolutely ideal, as the ESF instructor will soon see what your friend can do, and take them on from there. Someone who has made good use of a couple of good sessions in a fridge should romp ahead with a private instructor out on the mountain. Fitting them into standard-issue group lessons in-resort is probably a bit more problematical.
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You know it makes sense.
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Oh yes, pam w the on-snow tuition is a dead cert. My main worry is a beginner being stuck in a village with absolutely nowhere to go for about 3 days - hence the idea of their being brought up to speed first.
3 evenings with skimottaret sounds like the ticket. How accessible from the station is your snow drome?
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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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I just had a 1 hour taster lesson at chillfactore before my first ski trip. Didn't learn much but felt happier knowing the very basics and confirmed to me I was going to enjoy learning.
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Poster: A snowHead
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How accessible from the station is your snow drome?
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not terribly; very healthy walk or short taxi ride. I gave schneeflocke a lift back there after the last SHs session I attended.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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my (then) 8 yr old daughter had a sequence of 1 hour lessons over several weeks at MK before her first ski holiday, so at the very least she was used to boots, ski's, falling over etc. She really enjoyed them, it was very good for her confidence and she progressed very quickly when we got out there.
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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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James the Last, cab takes about five minutes, is about a fiver and there are usually a couple outside the station (I would give the walk a miss - it is a bit in the middle of nowhere: especially if you have not been before and in the pitch dark)
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Husband paid for me to have a 2 half day learn-to-ski course followed by a private lesson at the Gosling dry slope at Wellyn Garden City before my first ever ski holiday. I think it was the best thing for me - at least I wasn't having to spend my time in resort falling over and side stepping and could actually get out on the mountain and do some real skiing/snow ploughing (the fact that I was suffering from a pulmonary embolism and DVT at the time, which had been misdiagnosed as pleurisy before the holiday, meant it wasn't exactly the best of trips overall but that is neither here nor there!). If you can snow plough on a dry slope you can def do it on snow.
And when we got to the resort, the ski classes (booked through Thomson) ran Mon-Fri so if I hadn't done any skiing before we went, would have meant a very boring day on the Sunday; instead I was able to go up onto the slopes with the others and have a go.
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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 did the MK ski in a day thing before my first ski holiday 7 years ago. I have since been told by an instructor that she thought the worst people to teach to ski are rugby players and bikers. I was both, but managed to pick it up ok. we were allowed to practice on the main slope from lunch onwards while some others got a little more one on one. I really enjoyed it and was certainly hooked from that moment on, wife says I didn't shut up about it for days.
We went on hols the following week and I'm glad I did the day. Although I went in the beginners group, everyone had done atleast a weeks skiing already, except one woman who had never been on snow before. After the first hour or so of trying to get her to stand up the instructor refused to teach her any more and told her to get some private lessons. This left her very upset, it meant that the rest of the group could ski on, but not a nice way of handling it. It was a beginners group afterall.
I feel that spending the day at MK certainly helped me get more out of the holiday. As for the fitness thing, if you can do a couple of half days, that's probably the best as I used to train quite a bit, but I was knackered. Lots of mental concentration aswell as strange physical exercise.
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WayneC, would a total beginner be right for a ladies morning?
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Is a dry slope worth it?
It may be urban myth, but my understanding is:
1. It hurts if you fall over.
2. You run a serious risk of breaking something if you do fall over - thus ruining your forthcoming holiday.
3. Skiing in the rain is horrid.
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James the Last,
1. On snowflex it doesn't hurt, and even on Dendix at beginner speeds you are very unlikely to hurt yourself.
2. Not really - I ski on Dendix twice week, and it is very rare that anyone breaks anything.
3. On plastic skiing in the rain is better than in the sun. If you can't cope with UK outdoor weather will you cope with weather in the alps?
In Norwich we have beginner lessons on the nursery snowflex slope several times a week, usually in a series of 4 lessons, but sometimes 2 double length, or all one day. Learning in one day as many have said is only really suited to the fit and determined.
I don't know about slopes nearer to the OP but here you could do 4 beginner lessons for £50 - much cheaper than a snowdome!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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On snowflex it doesn't hurt, and even on Dendix at beginner speeds you are very unlikely to hurt yourself.
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you might not hurt yourself (as in "injure yourself properly") but it certainly can hurt, falling at beginner speed on dendix. My OH dislocated a thumb, too - at Gloucester. Classic dry slope injury, they told us at A & E. It's never been the same since.
Someone who trains on Dendix twice a week is probably quite fit, and definitely not a wimp. For non-sporty beginners I do think it can be a discouraging sort of environment. And I distinctly remember smacking hard onto my side - bashed hip and elbow, both bruised. OK, it was not the end of the world and I quite happily carried on skiing but it did definitely hurt because the surface was so hard. I'm not a total wimp - or I wouldn't have taken up snowboarding at 58 - but I do think a spot of caution with beginners on dryslopes is called for.
I agree that dryslopes are better in the rain, though! Just as well, as it rained constantly when we used to go to the one with no lift, in the Ayrshire coalfield. Darvel, I think it was, or some dismal spot of the sort.
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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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pam w, In Norwich the beginner lessons are on snowflex, which is much user friendly for beginners than the dendix where thumb injuries can happen, it is only after the 4 lessons you get to move on to the main slope.
I just believe that the "dangerousness" of dry-slopes is overstated. We have hundreds of people skiing every week this time of year, everyone from complete beginners to national standard racers, and while injuries inevitably do occur they are not common. I normally see as many injured skiers evacuated off the slopes in a one week holiday than in a year's worth (perhaps 80-90) evenings at the dry slope. The most common injuries are grazes from the bristles, caused by wearing inadequate clothing.
Each to his own, but there must be a great many thousands of skiers who have successfully learned to ski on UK dry slopes, so it can be a bit annoying to see them written off as unpleasant dangerous places.
Robin
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I know two people who have done the classic "thumb stuck in a hole in the Dendix" thing, and really hurt themselves.
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You know it makes sense.
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I know as many people who have broken thier legs ordinary piste skiing on snow, as have damaged thumbs on dendix - and the dendix skiers is a much bigger sample!
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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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The only person I know who has damaged something permanently skiing broke a leg on a dry ski slope about 20 years ago.
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Poster: A snowHead
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it can be a bit annoying to see them written off as unpleasant dangerous places.
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indeed, and I don't think I did so. I even enjoyed what must have been the crummiest dry slope in the world, without a lift. But it's not a great environment for people who are not at all sporty and inclined to wimpishness. I think they're best suited to people who really want to learn and improve - like the people who race generally on plastic. Not everyone who will happily go and flop around for a couple of hours a day on proper snow in a nice pretty resort, then spend the rest of the day lounging round doing nothing, will relish being out in the pouring rain, in the pitch dark, on an artificial slope. As we know from SHs, many people sort of do a week's beginner lessons when they start, then don't go near any more lessons or instruction. Some of us tend to the other extreme.  I didn't say they were dangerous either - I was just challenging the rather macho assertion that it wouldn't hurt. Even my son, who has a high pain threshold, is very well coordinated, now a brilliant skier and good snowboarder, struggled with learning to board on Dendix. He did it, but he didn't much enjoy it, and he got some fearsome bruises. Swadlincote, I think it was, a long time ago.
I didn't mention that my OH (apart from the thumb injury) also stabbed himself in the calf muscle, with a stick, at Swadlincote. Through his jeans, he had a significant puncture injury.
But I wouldn't blame the slope for that - he's just clumsy.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| RobinS wrote: |
| I know as many people who have broken thier legs ordinary piste skiing on snow, as have damaged thumbs on dendix - and the dendix skiers is a much bigger sample! |
Agree, I know a fellow that broke his collar bone and wasn't even moving. Just tripped over his skis turning to look where his friends had got to after stopping to wait at the bottom of a black slope (on snow).
My GF was fine doing the dry slope stuff and then hated being cold stood around in the snow.
No one right answer...
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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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Oooh - but you can't beat the cold and the actual snow that you get in a dome. It's exciting!  No way would I swap that for a cold windy rainy dry ski slope!
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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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Back to the original question...
I think doing the ski in a day thing is a good idea, MrsH and I both did this when MK had just opened. I didn't find it overly tiring, though I suspect it found some whole new ways to ache the next day - but then again that still happens! 
It gets the faffing around trying to work out what a ski is, how to put it on, how to get it off again shortly after when you fall over, walking round in circles, sidestepping up the hill, etc, etc out of the way, and to be honest if you spend a day in the mountains doing that you are not really appreciating the mountains!
On the other hand it did make me a little nervous of the real holiday as MrsH was dead good right from the start and I found I couldn't snowplough (still can't very well!), and could only turn in one direction!!
When we got to our proper holiday (in lake louise which has some nice mountain scenery to enjoy not from the nursery slope!), we didn't have to start in the absolute never-ever group which meant we got to progress up the mountain far more quickly.
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I did a ski in a day course at MK. It was OK, and confirmed that I wasn't going to be hopeless at skiing (my initial fear). It also pointed out that finding boots that weren't plain evil was going to be hard, but that's a different issue. It also confirmed that my knee which had had some issues was probably going to cope with skiing.
I got to level 5 in the 1 day course, as did the other girl (there were 3 of us). The bloke got to level 4, so all 3 made it to recreational standard. I think we were all vaguely co-ordinated though - although I can't exactly be described as fit, I have done some high level sport in my time, and am quite used to being aware of and correcting my centre of mass.
I was glad to have got through the boring sidesteppy stuff at MK rather than doing it at 3200 metres for the first time. It would have been good to have worked out a solution to the wretched boots not fitting my awkward shaped feet at all well there too. Had kind of hoped that the selection of hire boots in the resort would have been better than at XScape. That said, given the solution was about £300 on boots and fitting, I'm not sure I would have taken it without having tried a week first...
Dry slopes have less appeal - I've become more of an outdoors type person since getting into skiing and horse riding and becoming "mum" to a labrador who loves long walks.
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FAQ
), and there is some risk of more serious injuries - broken limbs, collarbones, trashed knees etc. I just don't believe that the surface makes that much difference to the risk.
).
