 Poster: A snowHead
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Ok, so I knew that falling on it is more painful than on snow (have had a few mild slow-speed trips&slips on dendex in the past) but nothing prepared me for the feeling last night of hitting the plastic scrubbing brush at speed ......
...... bluddy'ell it HURTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Thankfully nothing was twisted, but I have scabby scrapes on both knees & elbow, with a whoppingly impressive blue/black shiner appearing on the inside of my left knee. There aren't enough frozen peas in my freezer to cover the bruised bits, and I'm typing this with a gel icepak taped to the worst of the bruising. Haven't felt pain like this since I were 5yrs old falling off my bike!
However, if the reports on this site, and elsewhere are anything to go by, I would still prefer dendex. Used to play indoor netball on astroturf (it's faster and more furious than normal netball - and it's a Kiwi thing) & falling over on astroturf caused more pain and cheese-grater damage than last night's effort, which is saying something considering I run at far less than half the speed I ski at.
And at least dendex was invented with "proper" skiing in mind - any gumby can learn on snowflex et al, but thereafter a snowflex slope doesn't have the wherewithall to encourage progression. It seems some slope mangers are VERY short-sighted these days.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Manda, I used to play Hockey ( field ) on what we called redgra which was a hard sand like surface with lots of bits of grit on top. Falling over, and I did many times, on that was awful. I had to go to A&E one night to have the bits of stone/grit removed from my hip - and have the Tetanus jab in the @rse just to add insult to injury.
CP
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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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CP, I played hockey on redgra too. Happy (if painful) memories.....the grit used to reek havoc on my stick as I recall.... 
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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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[Urban] legend has it that the inventor of Dendix, whose name is on the tip of my fingers, originally decided that the slope should be smooth and the skis should be scrubbing brushes. It's said that he prototyped the idea on the kitchen floor on that basis (sorry, no photos available)
Gell well soon, Manda. It could've been worse. I used to work on a skateboard magazine, where we had regular visits from heroes with various bones in the wrong places.
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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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Ooops - sorry Manda, hope the ice is working ! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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David Goldsmith, yep, I was lucky - although I screamed so loudly the instructor was initially worried I'd wrenched my knee! 
BTW, the bristles shredded my lycra leggings. Denim would be a good idea, but I'd find it too restrictive. What's the preferred trouser fabric for dendex warriors?
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Manda, Old trackie bottoms, with waterproof overtrousers. - all need to have friction burns..... 
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Manda, I use an old pair of tracksuit bottoms, but don't wear waterproof pants over as they are likely to rip on dendrix. I don't worry about getting wet as the skiing keeps me warm and I change out of the wet bottoms and old pullover nylon jacket after I've been skiing.
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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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Manda, A cheap pair of Moto-X pants would seem to be the best idea. Most of them have built in hip and knee protection. Check out ebay for 2hnd stuff.
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ski, davidb, you sure that's enough protection from the deadly bristles? I was thinking about some roomy canvas cargos until it gets cold enough and then I'd invest in some cheap but heavy ski trousers (wot I don't intend to take to the snow....)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Masque, postings in the night.....
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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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Masque, thanks for the tip - being a girl an' all I wouldn't have thought of moto X! eBay is indeed off-loading 2nd hand trousers.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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ski, Sitting on a bike is pretty much right for skiing.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Manda, I also wear a mountain bike body armour (similar to the motorbike protection jacket) underneath the jacket, as I've had some heavy falls in the past, but only on the upper body particularly around the shoulder and jaring of the neck. The bruising and soreness lasts for a few days and I struggle to move my arms without pain. So I decided to wear protection, which is a little expensive, but worth it as I've had some heavy falls and have been fine, and I no longer wake up the next morning feeling like I've been run over.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Manda, Could be worse try falling on tarmac. Skiied the Scottish Roller ski championship at the weekend at Huntly. Nordic rather than downhill, but there is a hill on the course and you get up to a fair old speed and falling is not nice. One of the RAF racers was telling me of one of the Euoropean courses which has a 300m long steep downhill section where falling means large areas of missing skin. There are some piccies at http://www.huntly.net/nordicski/index.htm luckily none of me!
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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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Masque what kind of sking do YOU do, exactly? 
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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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Masque, Hmm - you must ride a different one to me !
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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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Manda, horizontal . . . 
but I was referring 'ski' to the range of movement available
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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But thinking about it, a moto X'r standing on his pegs will have his centre of mass just in front of his toes and his hands reaching forward at about waist height . . . sounds OK to me for a reasonable ski stance.
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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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thread reminds Greg why he avoids plastic slopes 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I went skiing at the warmwell holidya park in dorset last week, they have a 110 metre snowflex slope....
I paid £8.0 for an hour and handed back my stuff 5 mins later.... I could only go in straight lines !
Horrid stuff, like skiing on tarmac.
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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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Royal, I spent my childhood just down the road from Warmwell in Wool!
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ahhh wool very nice place to live, the warmwell place is very good too, pity they dont have a real snow slope though !
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You know it makes sense.
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It's yellow and purple now. My bruise, that is. Pitty I don't have a port to upload the pix 
Cathy Coins no, not really. People who normally go the speed that I was doing, can actually ski. Which helps with the not falling over.  In any case dendix is better than NOT skiing at all. 
Royal, yeah, but not like skiing tarmac cause tarmac stops you dead, thereby preventing buildup of ANY speed.
The apparent pit-falls of dendix are infact it's benefit - i.e. because you have to really work on good form (in order to avoid, for one, the bruising), your skiing improves dramatically. I initially found it impossible to put in more than 4 turns on the Soton dendex slope, and most of those were skidded to some extent. After some coaching I was up to about 10 turns on a good day. Some even carved!
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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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Manda,
Denim trews are the best for dendix - buy a cheap pair a couple of sizes too big, so OK for mobility.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Manda, it's not just plastic. I'm limping round this morning having straddled a gate at Castleford last night. My ski didn't release but flipped me up enough to land very heavily on my hip about twelve feet from the offending gate 
I'm pleased to say that I drew warm applause, cheers and shouts of "Nine out of ten!" from the poma. I'm buying some of those protective shorts pdq.
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FAQ
. According to the doctor I have an inflamed pre-patellar bursa - aka housemaid's knee 