Newbie! Advice needed: where ,when, what?

A snowHead

Hi folks, bought the gear; going for first lessons at the snowdome tomorrow night.
No idea about where to go or when (Like the idea of Italy).
Absolute beginner any suggestions dont mind paying a bit more, if that makes any difference. all suggestions including good websites, appreciated.
Ta.

A snowHead

mudplugga, Welcome to Snowheads. Enjoy the fridge tomorrow. Italy not really my bag, but La Thuile was nice, as was Cervinia. Lots of people will be along no doubt to tell you all about other places soon.

M

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

mudplugga, you could do worse than investing £18.99 in 'Where to Ski and Snowboard' by Chris Gill and Dave Watts. Make sure you get the recently published 2011 edition.

700 pages of warts and all analysis of pretty much every major resort on the planet. Each resort has a section about suitability for novice skiers, and feedback on the ski schools. I sure some on these forums would disagree about some of the resort verdicts, but it's a mine of information. It's pretty easy to get hold of, most book shops seem to stock it.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

mudplugga, good luck with it.

As Spud9 says, there are so many resorts out there to choose from that you're better off finding something to suit you.

If its just complete beginners going with you, then I would perhaps suggest that you don't worry about places with a huge ski area; the lift pass will cost you a lot more and, with you just finding your feet on snow, you just won't make the most of it. Most importantly, find a resort that has a good ski school and a good amount of easy terrain.

If you haven't got any ski brochures, get some and have a read through and pick out resorts you like the look of. The brochures have all the information you will need on the various resorts and how suitable they are for your level.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Ski brochures are OK but could leave you more confused than you were when you started. They are selling a product, so everywhere looks wonderful.

As complete beginners I suggest your main criteria should be the availability of good, snowsure nursery slopes with easy access, decent green or blue easy pistes to move onto after a couple of days, the position of your accommodation compared to the lifts (walking in ski boots lugging skis and poles is not easy for a beginner), the reputation of the ski school.

On the availability of runs to progress onto, don't be misled by piste maps showing long snaking green (easiest) runs leading back to the resort. These are often just forest roads that are covered in snow. They will be narrow, often icy, and near beginners will be terrified by faster skiers bombing down them on the way home at the end of the day.

As regards 'when'-

November- the insane, and ski racers practising on glaciers.
Early December - The impecunious and those cunning skiers who can spot the sudden appearance of good snow and have the flexibility to get to it quickly.
Christmas/New Year The start of the main season. Expensive, popular with those who hate Christmas. Probably cold but there may be little snow.
January.Cheapish, likely to be cold, you'll be skiing inshadow a lot. Snow should have arrived by now, even in a bad year. a good choice if you are not bothered about working on your tan and al fresco lunches.
Feb. high season. busy, expensive, especially at half term (and not just UK half term, watch out for eg French half term if you go to France)
March. Getting warmer, slightly cheaper, often good skiing to be had. prob best to ignore resorts with low skiing, esp in late March
April. Like March but more so. Cheap except for Easter. Go high.

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mudplugga,
Welcome to snowHead

, I suspect most people who enjoy skiing will enjoy pretty much any resort as a first off. The advice above is pretty good.
Very broadly speaking you can divide resorts into traditional ones which tend to be a bit more attractive and purpose built ones which are a bit more functional.From a practical point of view the latter usually have better immediate access to the skiing than most accommodation in the traditional ones.
If you are pepared to spend a bit more money what will benefit you most is spending the extra n decent quality lessons forst of all. Secondly getting your accommodation near the slopes can save quite a bit of hassle if you are not used to it.
I definately agree with the points above that big fancy ski areas are an extra expense that will not benefit you in your first couple of weeks and the sheer extent of the area and nubers of more experienced skiers flying around can be a bit intimidating.
The next big question is knowing when you are going some resorts are a lot busier at different times than others due to national holidays. EG Mid Feb is often a good time to avoid France. If you are going towards the beginning or end of the season picking a resort with a good snow record is worthwhile as although nowadays with man made snow you are unlikely to suffer from a complete absence of snow a good covering of the white stuff keeps the areas less crowded and the skiing conditions better. If you are going in January it is nice to have assess to some south facing slopes as the north facing aeas can be bitterly cold.
Italy has some great skiing though a few of the areas in the Piedemont have somewhat patchy snow records. La Thuile mentioned above is a fine area but being north and East facing can be pretty cold early season. One of my first weeks skiing was in Bormio which had tremendous intermediate skiing and goes fairly high so should have reliable snow. Much of the accommodation is a distance form the sloes but its a lovely town and not expensive.

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

mudplugga, Welcome to snowHead

s
Good move doing the initial learning in a snowdome it means you will be up to top of mountain on your trip.
Once you have got started group lessons are a hoot.
Be warned skiing holidays are more than just skiing; the views, lunches & apres are addictive.
Austria has many good resorts for beginners and will give you the full alpine & apres experience.
If you find a good offer there is plenty of info out there to tell of its suitability for you.

After all it is free

thanks all. this is really helpful. I have to say you lot are much more friendly than the MTB forums I usually frequent.

Thanks again!

mudplugga, of all the above good advice, finding the right ski school is probably the most important. Are you on your own, or going with family? Having lessons in the snowdome is an excellent idea. Please come back and tell us how you get on.

If you're a fast learner and quite fit and athletic you could find group lessons a bit slow - there are often 10 - 12 people, and you can spend too much time standing round, though group lessons can be a good laugh if you're not too earnest about it all. Some ski schools (e.g. BASS, Britishskischool.com) will have maximum group size of 6 - and if they are flexible about moving people between groups, so much the better. If you really want to get on fast then private lessons are probably the way to go; more expensive but often 2 or 3 people for the same price as 1, and a bit more sociable.

I'd say end of January/early February is probably the best compromise. You don't necessarily ski in shadow in January - it depends where you go and the aspect of the slopes!

So if you're not on too tight a budget, I'd say spend as much as necessary on your lessons. You'll enjoy it all much better once you feel some sense of mastery - it's an exhilarating process because by the end of your first week, if you go to the right place, you could be covering the mountain quite well.

One very good resort, if you're not on a tight budget, is Courchevel. There are great slopes to progress to, and some excellent tuition available. The widest, nicest, nursery slope I think I've ever seen. Also fun for people watching and if you choose the right package it doesn't have to cost a fortune.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

mudplugga, As a beginner, it really doesn't much matter where you go as long as the ski school is good and you are with a good crowd. You don't need much snow at all for the first 3 or 4 years. Italy is lovely. Austria is great and good value. You are abslolutely right to get some fridge lessons in so you know the basics. You do not want to be standing around while people do "This is a ski!" You are going to have a ball.

snowHead

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

If you are interested in Italy I suggest trying Passo Tonale. It ticks a lot of boxes:
- cheap to get to and when you are there
- At 1800m so fairly snow sure
- most accomodation is a short walk to where the ski school meets
- lots of gentle nursery slopes and nice blues to graduate to
- Great places to eat
- Tour operators do a learn to ski package including lessons, ski and boot hire and ski pass for around £200
- Its in Italy

snow reports

mudplugga, Hi,
Best advice you'll get wink

Either pop down to thomas cook or/and search the web.
Find a resort you like the look of.
Come on here and ask for details from someone who's been there. You'll always find someone.

Other stuff
You don't say what your dates are - Half Term, New Year, Easter will cost more.
You should be able to do the whole thing (flights, Lift Pass, Equipment, Hotel, etc,etc ,etc) for around £600 except for high season.

Don't wait for a last minute deal - they "sometimes" happen but most times just lead to stress.
Don't go DIY - that way leads to maddness and gaffer tape.

mudplugga, is it just you going or are you planning to go with a group? Are you after a good nightlife or just somewhere where you can concentrate on learning to ski.

Different countries, IMV, have slightly different ways of teaching too, so an idea of where you might be thinking of going for the next few triops will help. Austria I found quite practical but the teaching very formulaic (although that was 10 years ago now); Italy taught me to ski with grace and beauty and Switzerland tended to persuade me tobe at one with the snow (and literally at one in the snow on one day!). Ski school in france is big business and have very strict rules on who can teach and the prices tend to be high, but there are ways around it with organisations like UCPA who run all inclusive weeks - see other posts on the forum for details. I would recommend Flaine or La Plagne for beginners looking at UCPA centres (prices include instruction, equipment and lift passes).

What's your budget?

You know it makes sense.

I did almost all my earlyarp skiing in Italy, it's pretty darned good.

There are famous resorts there, but some of the smaller ones might be just as good for a first timer.

Sella Nevea, high, small, no linked to Former Yugoslavia (Slovania ?). The hotels are right on the slopess and everything is to hand ski wise. Hotel Canin had beter food.

Passo Aprica, more urban, but a wider ski area with well linked lifts so you can ride around and cover more area. There were plenty of lifts at resort level so you could go up and across. A lot of resorts don't bother with this type of lift now, but it's good when you're starting out because you can get lots of runs in and not have to ride miles on a lift.

Foppolo, actually I can't recall to much about this place, but it had snow and some slopes, that's a good basis for a ski resort.

Sauze d'Oulx is a bit Brit oriented and the town square is now just a carpark. It used ot be 'The Benidorm of the Alps', but it's got a bit common since then. It did boast 'Renzo at the ski school. he's the guy who taught me to actually ski instead of just sliding down a hill on skis ("The theeng ees, issa gotta look good innit ? otherwise issa not gonna feel good an' if issa feel good, issa gonna look good innit ?") if he's still teaching, try to get him.

Wherever you go, a week at a ski resort is probably better than a week not at a ski resort.

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

Thanks everyone, for all the advice. All really useful.
First lesson went well,though found it hard to maintain concentration(up for work at 6am three hour lesson at 8pm!)
calf muscles aching a bit today( lesson was on monday)
Got the bug though!

Thanks again all.
Very Happy

A snowHead

mudplugga, that's great. Prepare to spend a lot of money on ski holidays over the years. Aching calves is a good sign. snowHead

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Newbie! Advice needed: where ,when, what?

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