 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all,
After doing a season on the snow last year and finding myself mostly stuck in the UK this year, I'm thinking about giving the local dryslope a go in an attempt to get my fix. (Norfolk ski slope-dendix main and snowflex other bits)
Does anyone here dry-ski and snow-ski regularly? I'm looking at this being my main hobby and going a couple of times a week-is it real/fun enough for this?
From what I've read I'm expecting to find it slightly frustrating adapting technique. Adapting happens already on real snow for ice/powder/slushy/cannon snow conditions, Is dry slope skiing that alien to snow skiing?.... Will I then be crap back on snow?
I'm not too concerned about the lack of area to ski as I'm quite used to lapping one run and concentrating on technique plus there's a mogul field which I'm quite excited about! And I could always try race training.
What do people wear on a dry slope, will my nice snow gear get wrecked in a tumble? Or do I wear jeans and a big jumper like a french snowblader? I'll take my boots but don't want to wreck my bases so I'll leave my skis at home.
Obviously there's only so much you can read or be told about it and the knowledge will be gained from giving it a go, but any hints before I go would be great.
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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properjob, Give it a go. I ski (and teach) regularly at our local slope and enjoy it. I find it's better to drop into a lesson to keep the interest up rather than free skiing. At our place lessons work out well compaired to free skiing.
The thing to remember is that while the properties of the surface are quite different to snow, the general movement patterns you need to make are much the same. Snow is slippy and grippy, while plastic is not that slippy and not really grippy. Certainly on most hire kit.
I tend to free ski in jeans and a hoody on the slopes hire kit.
Give it a go, and take it easy to start with 
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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 need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
Take yout own skis, apply some Polar-X or CH4 wax, and the bases will be fine. Edges don't last that long tho - but the slope skis will be soft and blunt.
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But the frictions created on the plastic will lead to Railing along the base not matter how much wax you put on there. Oh and once your skis touch plastic your Warrently is void!!!!!!!!
Dry slopes are great for practice but use old kit or borrow from the 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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Fattes13,
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But the frictions created on the plastic will lead to Railing along the base not matter how much wax you put on there. Oh and once your skis touch plastic your Warrently is void!!!!!!!!
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Not in my experience... As long as the slope is wet (i.e. has a misting system) you skis don't come to much harm. Slope hire skis are usually too blunt to be of any use. My 'plastic' skis (used for racing and training) have a lot less damage to them than my snow skis. Edges do wear out faster, but as long as the slope is wet, bases don't heat up - and yes, I have burnt out several pairs of skis in the past - on a 'dry' dryslope, as opposed to a 'wet' dryslope.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Dry slopes are fabulous for developing your technique. As David@mediacopy says.....do join a group lesson and i would certainly recommend Race Training. The Norfolk Ski Club is excellent and you'll have alot of fun.
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properjob, Hi, I and MrsS are both regulars at the Norfolk slope (now Norfolk Snowsports Club). The club is an excellent facility and all the slopes are well misted so it does not destroy skis too quick. We have dedicated "dry-slope skis", and find that with regular waxing with Polar-x and sharpening they can withstand several years of use at 2 - 4 sessions per week. (Regular racers though do get through them much faster due to the requirements of so much edge shapening). If you want to do anything decent, especially racing you will need your own skis (racers use max 155) as the club ones are too soft, too blunt, and too wide a radius for slalom.
It could get pretty tedious just skiing open practice but we make good use of the coached clubs there. Tuesdays is Ladies Club which MrsS has attended, then Wednesday we both go to Masters Coaching, open to all parallel and above adults (supposedly over 30), which has different groups working on technique, with a focus on (race) carving, but encompassing other stuff from time to time. Thursdays is Freestyle night,which I know little about. Friday early evening is "Wannabe Racers", and introduction to slalom racing for both children and adults - once you have proved yourself there (which I haven't yet!) there are the ERSA and National race teams to move onto, with training each week as well as regular races.
If you want to get involved there is plenty to do, and the club also welcomes volunteers to help run the place (for each hour worked you get a free hours skiing) - I run the bar on Tuesday nights while MrsS does her instructor training.
Robin
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properjob, And as far as clothing goes - in winter some people wear normal ski gear, I wear old stuff, but most of the time a softshell and a pair of cheapo Umbro shell trousers from a chav sports shop do fine. If you fall on dendix it will trash clothing so don't wear good stuff - but make sure you are fully covered!
Oh - and plenty of people there ski a lot on snow as well
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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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In my view the opportunity to maintain skiing throughout the year far outweighs the drawbacks with plastic, and obviously there are some drawbacks as others have already highlighted, but they are manageable.
If you are considering the Norfolk Snowsports Club I feel sure you will be made very welcome, as I have always been, and have access to lots of different terrain and surfaces simulating a variety of mountain terrain. The club is a members club and very sociable with lots to offer for just about anyone with an interest in snowsports.
As for equipment I would agree with ski, about using your own skis. If you plan to ski as regularly as you suggest then waxing every week or so should protect your bases, I ski twice a week and have not suffered any problems. However, if you are fortunate enough to have an additional set of skis that you could use on plastic so much the better  I do know lots of people that prefer to use club skis but most of the more serious skiers will use their own skis.
One of the advantages of skiing at Norfolk is that you can take advantage of structured sessions where instruction is available at a very small fee, with small groups of people of the same standard, details are available on the website. I hope that you are persuaded to come along.
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Thanks for the info everyone.
RobinS, Richard E, Thanks for the local knowledge, I'm sure I'll bump into you (not literally!) there soon.
Sounds like it could be my new hobby, The volunteer aspect sounds great as I work shifts so I'm often off when my girlfriends at work and doing something helpful for ski time far outweighs the sofa!
I'll try to get down sometime and give it a go and find out more.
I threw out some shredded old ski pants about a month ago, doh! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I went to the Sunderland dry slope on Saturday. We went to give a friend who is coming away with us some practice after years and years away from skiing. I learned on this slope and always found it good however on Saturday it was very hard to ski on and was very dry and sticky. I did not see any spraying of water at all. I was very dissapointed
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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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properjob, I teach and train regularly on dry and would say go for it.
On the comments above:
david@mediacopy, spot on, can't add much to that although I have a pair of lightweight North Face pants I wear on the dry, keeps me dry when it's raining or misting and keeps the old dry slope sludge at bay.
ski, yup, Polar X (from Data) is good stuff but I'd advise just ironing it on and not scraping it off - leave a good layer on the skis and the bases will have some protection. I apply it every time I train to my slalom skis and the bases were fine for skiing snow at Xmas/New Year once I'd removed any vestiges of the dry slope wax and put some proper snow stuff on instead.
Also totally agree with ski's second post - beware dry unmisted slopes, they kill skis ... I say that as someone who melted my bases on a good pair of new skis many years ago on a dry slope before misting systems became standard. Slope hire skis are useless for training purposes IMHO so you will probably want to use a pair of your own skis if you get into it.
GreyCat is, I feel, spot on - they are very good for developing technique.
I also agree with the comments about skis and clothing from RobinS and Richard E.
Can't comment on Norfolk but it sounds very good - enjoy 
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Dendix slopes are good for practising technique and they're hard to fault if you take them for what they are. Try and avoid Snowflex and other inferior surfaces and to alleviate the 'sameness' try and fix an objective for your session (carving arcs, short swings, one ski, little meaningless contests that are fun, moguls on one ski, etc).
As a youngster (18 years old, I would add) I enjoyed going down the lift track at Sandown where I worked slaloming between the moving Poma lift! I don't do that now......
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You know it makes sense.
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properjob, As another long time member of the Norfolk club I can definately recommend the slope. It's probably the best dry slope facility in the country. It had a massive redevelopment a few years ago with the aid of lottery funding.
It has a main slope in dendix with a fun park with kickers & 1/4 pipe to the side and a mogul field too all in snowflex. There is also an intermediate slope and nursary beginners slope in snowflex.
As RobinS said there are many different clubs for various groups throughout the week. The race team is one of the strongest in the country with a large number who have made it into the British children's team (on snow) and the England Junior team. There have been a number of British age group champions too. One of the current British World Cup team, TJ Baldwin, learnt to ski there and is still registered as a Norfolk team racer.
It is a really friendly club and prices are really cheap, especially the bar! Megs food at the restaurant is also great.
They hold many races and other events there throughout the year, including the All England champs, British Champs, Farmers Jam etc.
Enjoy your time there, it will definately help you improve for you time on the snow.
PM me if you want to know anything else
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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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It's all sounding very good, I'll have to find time to head down and put it into practice!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I must retract the slagging off I gave Sunderland last week. I have just been again and it was 1000000% better simply because the misting was working. There was also a club for slalom skiers running aswell.
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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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| safc2008ftm wrote: |
| I must retract the slagging off I gave Sunderland last week. I have just been again and it was 1000000% better simply because the misting was working. There was also a club for slalom skiers running aswell. |
safc2008ftm,
How is the Silksworth slope doing? I remember when it was built.....ha ha , i am very old!!
I visited the Norfolk slope a week ago and it was fantastic. Amazing club atmosphere, something for everyone.
I noticed that these folk are really giving it a go http://www.skirossendale.co.uk/ good luck to them.
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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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Herrprentler, silksworth seems to be doing well. They have 3 separate runs and even some sort of jump there now. It was nicely busy with a mix of recreational skiers, beginners on lessons, slalom skiers and also snow tubing parties. They are offering a months pass for £20 at the moment
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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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safc2008ftm,
Is the £20 for unlimited use?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I believe so. I think it runs on a calendar month basis. Not sure though. May be worth giving them a call if interested.
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I finally went to the slope today, really enjoyed it and I'm now a member!
I found snowflex really odd and hard to turn but dendix was great and almost like real snow! Carving was tricky to hold an edge but this may have been partly due to the edges on the hire skis. Had a good play in the rollers at the side too, almost flet like I was back hitting the moguls again! There are moguls but they're snowflex so I'll leave them for a while.
See some of you there soon!
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| properjob wrote: |
See some of you there soon! |
Glad you enjoyed it, looking forward to meeting you - any clues how to recognise you?
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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'll be wearing my waterproof cycle gear, red jacket, black trousers all with mud sprayed up the back!
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On snowflex a little washing up liquid on your bases seems to help for speed. Snowflex moguls are really not worthwhile.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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>>On snowflex a little washing up liquid on your bases seems to help for speed
What does that do to the wax? And it contains salt, cannot be great for the skis?
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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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James the Last,
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What does that do to the wax? And it contains salt, cannot be great for the skis?
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It wont't stay on long enough to do much harm.... you'd need to re-apply each run. Dry slope racers put a variety of slippery stuff on, over wax, to get a good start, most of it will have worn off within 5 metres or so. Mr Sheen is a favourite, as well as various forms of cable-pulling grease, 3in1 Silicone spray and others. I usually find the effort and expense of doing this to be in direct inverse proportion to how well I do 
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ski, Usually, if a few people do it then the start gate is nice and slick anyway!!! That gunk gets everywhere...
properjob, whatever you do, don't wear jeans. Not cool. And if they get damp or you fall....well all I can say is don't wear em  Trackies are fine, especially in warmer months. You might be able to pick up some cheap salopettes in directsport type shops for colder months.
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You know it makes sense.
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Been skiing again and there was misting on the snowflex, seemed much better, just had to be a bit more aggresive with the turns. I'm going to have to try the moguls out on a nice wet day as I'm missing bumps the most!
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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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Not completely relevant, but can anyone comment on any of the slopes in the Bristol area. Reading this thread has made me keen to try, particularly as I'm pining for the mountains
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Poster: A snowHead
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properjob, Just seen your description of clothing above - presumably it was you at Masters on Wednesday. I won't be there for a couple of weeks now as am away in Swtzerland, but if you come up to the bar after masters you can get to know severl of the regulars.
Robin
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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nickH, I'd go for Gloucester rather than the Churchill one but I haven't been there for around 4 years and I instruct at Gloucester so obviously my info on the other slope is well out of date and I have a bias towards Gloucester ... but it always was the better slope lol! 
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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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Thanks roga, am probably moving back to bris shortly so will check them both out -is the Gloucester one much of a run up from town ?
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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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nickH, 40/45 mins from north Bristol I'd say - often not much longer than it used to take to get to Churchill from where I live but obviously it'd depend on whereabouts you live in Bristol.
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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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RobinS, Yep, that was me. Unfortunately I didn't realise the instructors wear the same colours as my tatty bike gear, it wasn't intentional! I'll be there next week then away for a couple of weeks and hopefully getting to the alps! Maybe catch you mid March. Just off to the pole sesh! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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we were being shown cross blocking yesterday and I kept hitting the gates with my legs. I need to get some shin guards. Does anyone know what's special about the ski shin guards that warrants the prices? Does anyone use anything else? I've been looking at these? http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=2734 They're meant for mountain biking so are flexible enough for pedalling, any thoughts?
I got hit a couple of times in the knee, do the shin guards cover the knee too, or am I doing something wrong?
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Bump...
There must be someone on their lunch who knows about shin guards?
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properjob, Make your own out of plastic guttering.
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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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Really? Doesn't sound very ergonomic, I take it flexibility is not an issue then?!
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FAQ
