First ski steps in a snowdome or on the slopes?

A snowHead

Hi,

I have never skied before and I'm desperate to get into the sport as soon as my timetable frees up a little. Living close to being somewhere reasonably easy to access Manchester, there is something of an allure to heading to Chill Factore for a few lessons but, having been up during an off-peak afternoon before to look around, I was surprised how busy it was and, at £140 for 6 hours lessons, I can't help but feel it's an expensive way of learning by the time you've had 18 hours on the slopes as opposed to flying out to France or Andorra and taking lessons (with all else included) for £600.

Where did you learn and what advice would you give as to what is the best way to tackle getting into the sport?

A snowHead

I took my first tottering steps at the Lecht in Scotland. Many years later I hit Lake Louise (canada) knowing that my wallet was going to hurt but that I was going to take as many lessons as it took. I enjoyed the lessons on the slopes from the pov it was deserted, it was the real deal, it was up in the beautiful mountains - rather than some grim dome in the UK somewhere. Personal preference I think. I think if you want to get really good be prepared to spend the dough... there are lots of people who can "get down" the hill, but very few do it with style. Smile

I now live somewhere which is only a couple of miles from the world's longest indoor snow slope (woohoo rah etc.) - I go there once in a while just to get cold (when it's 35 outside in the summer! Very Happy

) or I want to play in the terrain park or something. On saying that though, one of my colleagues signed up for their weekly lesson deal and got on well with it - although he did take supplemental lessons once he got to Austria.

I personally think learning in a dome has serious limitations but I think one of these introduction days they do isn't such a bad idea. You'll cover things which sound really basic but you'll learn how to put your boots on, how to carry your equipment, how to walk down steps with ski-boots on which will save extra stress once you get to your resort.

Welcome to the wonderful world of snow btw.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Actually quite a common dilema. After a little thought it is proberly worth spending some time with a bit of tuition in the uk, simply to advance you 2 days when you arrive in the mountains. The further along you are when you get to the mountains the more you will enjoy it. alternatively why not do two trips to the mountains this year, or a single long trip. And to bevhonest it's not the cheapest holiday/sport, equipment can be expensive, travel to locations is expensive, accomodation is expensive, services (lift passes etc), are expensive, gordon brown has s***wed us over on the exchange rate. BUT IT IS MASSIVELY FUN!!!
And worth every hard earned penny.. Very Happy

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Astraeus, Try a dry ski slope - it will be much cheaper I am sure and you have a bit more contol in my opinion as it is slower than the Chill Factore slope. Then have one or two sessions at Chill Factore to get the feel of the real slippery stuff (if you have learned to stay in control and can stop then you can free ski at the Chillfactore rather than have a lesson.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

OK, so it was a very long time ago (late 70s/early 80s) but I took my first skiing steps on a dry slope. Snowdomes didn't exist back then. A course of lessons over six weeks then off to Austria for my first school ski trip which involved morning lessons and free afternoons.

Unless you have full day lessons on your ski holiday, learning the basics first in the UK is the best option in my opinion. Otherwise what do you do for the first couple of half days in resort? You can't do much more than bimble about on the nursery slope, yet if you are already armed with the basics, the odd green or blue slope should be well within your capability. I'm sure you'll enjoy your holiday more if you can get about the mountain.

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Like Queen Bodecia, I too took my first steps on a dry slope in the 80s during my school summer holiday supplemented with a few sessions in the autumn. By the time I went on my first trip, I was competent enough to be fast tracked from the beginner's group into the intermediates in my first morning! I think that without the dry slope experience I would have languished frustratingly in the beginner's group for the rest of the week. So, based on my own experience I would heartily recommend putting in some work before you get to the slopes. Oh, and keep going to your indoor/dry slope when you return home to continue making progress when you are not fortunate enough to be in the mountains.

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Don't know how old or how fit you are, but it's worth having a few sessions beforehand to get your leg muscles used to something new, with time to recover, before you're committed for a week. I learned piecemeal on dreadful dry slopes and I think it helped a good deal when going onto the right stuff - but also having a lift up rather than trudging up sideways also helped.

After all it is free

Hi Astraeus, I haven't been to the Chill Factore, so I don't know the set up there. Most of the indoor slopes have separate learner areas, which shouldn't be quite as busy as the main slope (although even the learner areas will be busy at this time of year!). I started skiing in a snowdome (MK) and it convinced me that learning to ski was something I could do and wanted to do. Snowdomes don't give you the full skiing experience (you need a lot more stamina in the mountains, as the pistes tend to be a bit longer than an indoor run), but give you a good, controlled environment to start in. Indoor lessons are no substitute for experience on the mountain, but will give you a head start.

Having seen a mate who'd never skiied before do a 3 hour session at an indoor slope, and have sorted out linked snowplough turns, I am convinced this is a good idea.

He's going to go away with a group and have a day or so playing on the beginner slopes, and then head to the blues and greens with a sympathetic few members of the group who will give him a few pointers and get him down the mountain safely.

I think this is a good combination - do a day or two session at the indoor places, then go away a big step ahead of the complete beginners. Some will find they need more tuition, if you're fairly natural then you may find you can just go ahead and ski (obviously being careful and taking it slowly) - then you can have a lesson or two as suits you once you've practiced the stuff you've learned already.

To those reccomending dry slopes, I learned on a dry slope, and frankly falling over is massively more likely to hurt, and cause injury. I don't think I'll ever want to ski on a dry slope again - the snow slopes in the UK are more expensive, but are much better for giving you a feel of how it's going to be out there, and you won't get hurt nearly as much if you do fall over a bit.

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Astraeus, I've taught extensively on dry slopes and on snow for over 20 years now. I currently work at Chill Factore.

In my view theres two ways of looking at the cost of taking a beginners course at a snowdome before going on holiday. You can look at it from the pure cost angle (which if pennies are scarce then may not give you any choice) or from the other standpoint every day you spend in the mountains (if you are just doing a week or 2 weeks a year) is an experience to be maximized and the resources expended are not just monetary (i.e use of annual leave from work). If looking at it from the 2nd point of view taking lessons before you go on holiday (and whilst on it) will help you maximise the enjoyment you get of that first week (or 2) of your skiing life. If you really can't afford snowdome lessons but desperately want lessons before going on holiday then go the dry slope route. Inevitably though when you go on holiday it will take you a little time to adjust to snow as it runs faster and the texture and feel is very different (so edge use, foot turning and pressuring skills are subtly different).

As for Chill Factore, the beginners slope is purely for those on lessons, so anyone on open practice must use the main slope. This keeps the numbers down a bit, however if you can avoid weekends at the moment as they are the busiest particularly afternoons and Saturday mornings when all the kids lessons are on then that is better for you.

You can go 3 routes.

1/ an all day beginners lesson which is basically 6 hrs instruction plus an hour for lunch (pizza and soft drink included) plus 2 half hour breaks. This is an intensive day, you need to be mentally 'up for it' and the fitter you are the better. I have taught these lessons a lot and there always tends to be a bit of a split in the groups ability as the day goes on, this is natural as people learn at different rates, at different phases of their development. The slope management 'try' to pull another instructor in if splits occur, but this is only if one is available so not guaranteed (or something you have paid for), but in my experience normally we manage to get someone else. If you are not reasonably fit I would not recommend this course.

2/ private lessons, pricey, but obviously you have the instructor to yourself (particularly good for the 'naturally gifted' fast learner or those that are particularly nervous/slower developers)

3/ beginners course over 3 weeks. Works out to the same instruction (about - marginally less) than the day course split equally over 3 weeks (1hr 50 min sessions). These are better in that you get a rest between sessions obviously rather than a full days intensive instruction. Inevitably there is a bit of recap at the beginning of each session for you to 'get your legs back' and refresh your memory of what was previously taught.

HTH

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I think you would find the 6 hours of lessons at Chill Factore very good value, as from personal experience, their tuition is miles better than you are likely to find in the Alps - also smaller class sizes. UK-trained ski instructors are trained to teach, whereas you'll find many instructors in the Alps whose sole qualification is that they passed the French/other nationality slalom speed test. Also, don't forget the £140 at Chill Factore includes the lift pass for the two hours (3x £25 / £30).

A friend did the equivalent course on Sheffield Dry Slope and effectively went into Class 2 in the Alps straight away. He got a lot more out of his first week skiing than he would have done otherwise.

Have a great time, whatever you decide to do.

snow reports

like my son says its a good way of finding your skilegs before you hit the slopes

The cost of learning at a snowdome is eyewateringly expensive, I'd look at dry slopes.

You know it makes sense.

Thank you all very much for your input.

I'm based in Sheffield and so the idea of going onto the dry ski slope up at the Sheffield Ski Village is quite appealing. The cost of learning the beginner stages is £24 and I'd be tempted to go up and, with a break in between, do the two 90 minute sessions to get me from Level 1 to Level 7 at the cost of £48. If I find that I'm competent on the dry slopes, I could then shoot across to Chillfactore and have a blast on real snow.

If I went to Chillfactore having learned to ski on a dry slope, could I then go straight in for Improver Lessons or Guided Practice or would it still be advisable to take the Beginner Lessons at Chillfactore?

skir67, when is best to visit Chillfactore? I have every morning during the week available so when would be the quietest time to visit?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Astraeus, my OH did lots of lessons on the dry slope and then, on his first ski holiday, was happy on all the blues in Belle Plagne - skiing with our Sis and BiL who had more experience

A snowHead

I would say spend your UK time making sure you are fit and then just go abroad and have lessons over there, there are some fantastic beginner deals to be had and if you are fit then you will find it way easier! SKiing inside a fridge has never appealed to me but I know some people rave about them.

A snowHead

I shouldn't have any problems with my fitness - I jog, play football and box regularly so my levels of fitness are reasonably good. The only thing I imagine having issue with is the unusual movement on my ankles and knees from skiing but again, this is something I do a lot of in boxing so shouldn't present too many problems.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Astraeus, as you're fit, I'd do the learn to ski in a day at a snowdome if I were you. I had a few lessons on a dry slope before I went to the Alps. To be honest, if I hadn't have already booked the holiday I would have given up skiing there and then! It wasn't a good experience and dendix is nothing like snow, either to slide on or to fall on.

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Astraeus, Have you booked your holiday? If not that would be a consideration when deciding what to do. You might choose a resort based on the tuition available.

Not all ski lessons are the same, and some are worse than useless. I would also recommend the plastic rather than snowdome to start. I don't like the 'learn in a day' courses. Every person who's come to me, who's done one of these has had to go back to the beginning, and thus have wasted their money. 6 hours is fine, but not in one day, and the pressure is on so the students seem to be rushed to get to a certain level, with resultant faults and poor balance etc. Of course I may just have been unlucky!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Astraeus, As you are in Sheffield, then the obvious answer is to giive SSV a go. If you don't get on with them, then try further afield (Castleford, ChillFactor, Rossendale), but to ignore a slope right on your doorstep - especially when it is a cheap option, seems pointless.

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Astraeus, "and box regularly" - well that should useful experience should you end up in a French lift queue!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Astraeus, I think you've settled on a good plan. I learnt on a dryslope and yes, it can be painful, but it gives you such a head start once in resort.

After all it is free

Astraeus, No you don't need to be semi-competant to get the most out of it - I suggest the reverse is true.

Go as a total novice, priding your virginity and take your first unsteady steps on real, beautiful snow. You'll fall over, be freezing cold, your feet will hurt and you will feel utterly ridiculous. You will laugh, you will cry, you will (at some stage) wish you had never come but in the end they will be the best days of your life and losing your cherry on some UK carpet just dilutes the experience.

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red 27, spot on!

Astraeus, beginner and competent doesnt have to be mutually exclusive. Most resorts are big enough to cater for all abilities, dont be afraid of joining group lessons, they're great fun.

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Astraeus, Personally I think that whatever you can do before you get to going on your hols will be a benefit. Lets' face it, the first hour of your first ever beginners ski school will be spent teaching someone how to get up when they fall over or how to put your boots on properly so, if you can do all this before you get there, then that can only mean you can progress quicker. Just my personal view of course but ski school the first time can be a bit demoralising. Get a few lessons before you go would be my view...you'll give yourself a real headstart.

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Astraeus, My first trip to a Snowdome was after learning for about 4 weeks on a real mountain. Snowdomes are a lot of money in contrast to your mountain trip as you have noticed, but, yes, you can learn to ski in one if you wish. However, there is no guarantee that you will learn to ski in ski school on a mountain or in a snow dome, it took attendance at a Snowheads bash before I learned to ski wink

If you want a bit of both though a couple of the Snowheads instructors are tied up with an operation at Hemel Hempstead ski centre called, I think, 'Inside Out skiing' and I believe their course starts with lessons inside and finishes with the instructors taking you to a resort to consolidate what you have learned. PM rob@rar if you want more info.

red 27, Nadenoodlee, I have to agree with you after my initiation to skiing. I had no instruction before my first trip, so I found myself in the mountains which I fell in love with. I then had the fantastic experience of learning to ski with a group of people and a great instructor, it was so much fun.

I didn't care that I couldn't ski much more than the beginner runs in the first few days but I could do much more by the end of the week. I'm not sure I would have been enticed into skiing if my first experience was in a snowdome or dry slope. I suppose it's the love of the mountains that got me hooked on skiing and you won't get that anywhere else.

My advice IMHO would be to go on a ski holiday and have fun. You will then know if you want to take it further. snowHead

You know it makes sense.

Astraeus, Normally to go into a guided practice group at chill factore you have to have done a beginners course previously. This didn't used to be the case, but it was changed as it was found that people were just booking the 'guided practice' to try to get lessons 'on the cheap'. It was also found that people were coming from dryslope environments and booking guided discovery lessons and having real difficulties in making the transition from plastic to snow (not in every persons case, but certainly enough to create massive splits ability gaps in the lessons, which was no good for the clients, the instructor and ultimately therefore the business).

Guided practice is really designed for improving the quality of linked snowplough turning the client has previously developed on a beginners course, so essentially working on posture improvements, eradicating unwanted shoulder and hip rotation, improving foot/leg turning skills and introducing and improving pressuring skills whilst plough turning. Its a pre-cursor to going onto the improver course which moves into the plough parallel phases.

As you say you are fit and play plenty of sports then a one day course may work for you if you are also 'up for it' mentally. Chill may not be the place for you if you want to do dryslope first and then jump into a 'improver' style lesson, the lesson structure we have now actively tries to discourage this now owing to the experiences mentioned above.

easiski, maybe you have been unlucky with the clients you have had and their experiences of 1 day courses, fact is these courses do work out ok for a lot of people, but for some people they really are not advisable. They tend to suit younger (usually not children under a certain age), fitter, non-nervous clients I have found. Having taught a lot of both the one day courses and the standard 3x2 hr courses there is often little difference between the levels of clients at the end of either course, and this is looking at the results of both my teaching and that of others. The dryslopes I've worked at in the past used to employ the 3x2hr format (but not the all day one) which used to produce similar results also.

Obviously I can't vouch for what goes on at other snowdomes or claim any knowledge of what goals they are setting for their clients through their course structures.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

A snowHead

Personally, I think those first few days of learning to ski if you're out on a mountain can be pretty miserable. So much standing around, falling over, side-stepping up an insy winsy slope, waiting for others. If it's cold, wet and windy it really isn't much fun. I would recommend getting the basics sorted in the UK, either at a snowdome (preferred) or dry slope. You'll enjoy your first time out skiing much more if you can at least get around the mountain a bit.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

There is a lot to be said for learning to ski in a controlled atmosphere with a small group, certianally till you can link your turns.

Chill factore is a good facility and the instructors are generally very good. You could go and learn from scratch on the mountain but if your in a big group, the weather is not ideal and your instructor is not able to give you enough input then you may become frustrated before you get going.

Plastic slopes are good for improving technique and are generally cheaper but at this time of year can be cold and wet without having the alure of real snow. Like with many things you get what you pay for, If you were looking at 18hrs of slope time then chill factore membership would more than pay for itself with 30% off standard pricing

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Unless you are very fit, co-ordinated and confident the first steps of skiing are painful. Taking intial lessons in a snowdome in small doses allows days for muscles to recover between lessons. Once you stop fighting the slope it is not so painful on the muscles. However you don't get the mountain experience which gets you hooked and I had more fun & laughs learning in a group of novices on the mountain, the snowdome experience was not fun but got me over the initial hurdle so I was at the top of the mountain on my first alpine trip. I envy you being virgins as you have a revelation to come. Enjoy.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We are off to Arinsal in a few weeks time, for the first time for my wife and 6 year old, i'v been up a mountain b4 when at high school(distant memory). Having distant memories of the first time I have decided to get my wife and son upto recreation standard on the indoor (Hemel) slope, my hopes being that when they get up onto the big expensive mountain they will progress further and faster with all the boring side stepping and snowplough stuff learned here. Then i thought what am i going to do whilst they are having their 3 hour morning lessons, snowboarding lessons sounded like a good idea, so off to Hemel for the basics- straight into intermediate on the mountain. The snowzones are a fantastic tool, and in my opinion you would be daft to spend a week and a large amount of money to learn how to side step on the mountain when you could be doing and seeing so much more.

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But if all the beginners are learning in snowdomes then what will have to laugh at when we're on chair lifts?!?

ricfrench, I learned to board in Arinsal - great teachers. Went back with BF a few years later, he had done a "learn to board day" and was all mouth before we got there, we went into the done it before group so they could split us into advanced and intermediate, he ended up in a group of girls who spent most of the week crying, I ended up with some mental boys and a chillean instructor who jumped over the fences into the chair lifts! Shocked

AWESOME! FYI the Spa in the Princesa Parc is brilliant and open to non reisdents for like 12euro or something if she fancies a break, you can take little people in too.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

What works and is right for one person will be totally wrong for someone else.
Our first experience of skiing was a two week beginners package to Austria. We had a fantastic time and began a love affair with skiing that will last untill I buy my first zimmer frame.
We are taking our son and his fiance with us this year (this week, in fact Very Happy

) and they did the 'ski in a day' in a fridge. They are both young and fit so got through it with no worries and are now like 5 year olds on xmas eve, they are so excited for friday to come!
We were going to take a couple of freinds with us last year, but they failed to complete the course at Tamworth, due to exhaustion - and that has just about put them off for life.
I know if we'd just taken them away and put them in a beginner group in the mountains, they'd have been fine.

After all it is free

Thank you all very much for your input. I'm going to give the dry ski slope experience a miss for the foreseeable future and tap into it as a resource to practice once I'm competent. What I don't want to do is learn bad habits on plastic and then struggle on snow.

I'll go to Chillfactore sometime next month when I have the time and get a full-day session in. skir67, what day do you recommend choosing for the learn-in-a-day session so as to not be overrun with skiers?

If you really want to get ahead at a reasonable cost, go dry slope skiing every week starting asap and then try the more expensive snowdome a few times before going on your first holiday just to get a feel for real snow. I learned to ski on a dry slope about 6 months before I went on my first holiday (long before Snowdomes existed) and was already on the club junior race team before I hit the snow. Switching to snow was very easy and I was way ahead of any other first timers on my first holiday. Never looked back since.

You're just as likely to learn bad habits on snow so I wouldn't let that put you off learning on a dry slope. One thing is for sure, lots of practice on either snow or plastic will make you a much better skier when you eventually head for the mountains.

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Hmm. So much to consider. I am almost certain I'll enjoy skiing so don't anticipate being put off by snowing down a plastic hillside without the sight of snow anywhere. That's what sways me in the direction of the Sheffield Ski Village - that and the offer of 8 hours tuition and 2 hours recreational skiing plus equipment hire and lift pass for £80!

At that price I'm tempted just to see what it's like and, if the plastic isn't fun, then just blast over to Chillfactore. Either way, I'm 99% sure I'll hit a snowdome before I go abroad just to get used to having snow under my skis.

Help!!

First ski steps in a snowdome or on the slopes?

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