I would suggest you do have some lessons before you go - why waste your first few days on the mountain doing the very basics. Your precious holiday time shouldn't be spent learning how to do your boots up, putting on skis, side stepping and the like.
Some posters have commented on the cost of lessons at the various snowdomes - one option might be to have your first few lessons on a dry slope - significantly cheaper. When you've got the hang of it have a try at a snowdome just to appreciate the difference between carpet & snow.
However the snowdome experience is not the same as a real mountain with lumps bumps slush and the like but it much closer than a dry slope. Indeed after your first skiing holiday you probably wouldn't ever want to go back to a dry slope but they do provide you with a useful progression at a better price than artificial snow in the UK.
Why have lessons before you go? Unless you spend the entire day in ski school you won't get to do much skiing on the first few days on the slopes when the lesson has finished.
Should you book lessons when you book your package - probably - it often works out cheaper as part of the package & the ski schools can be busy at peak times in some resorts. This may be influenced by other factors such as who you are going with - my first week was with a mate who used to work as a ski instructor so the lessons gave hime a break! (literally - he skiid into a river bed & broke his thumb!). If you are on your own or with other inexperienced skiers it can be quite daunting without the knowlege that you have got lessons - the instructors usually give you tips on what to practice outside of lessons & which slopes are suitable for your ability.
Beginners! Need lots of advice please!!
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Started by Julie hitchman in Beginning Skiing 05-Jul-2008 - 24 Replies
Andymol2
reply to 'Beginners! Need lots of advice please!!' posted Aug-2010
Andy M
Piste2powder
reply to 'Beginners! Need lots of advice please!!' posted Aug-2010
Hi, advice from an instructor. The more lessons the better, wether you try snow domes of artificial. The only problem can come if you are told different methods from different instructors, what you have to remember is that there are lots of different methods out there and none of them are wrong, but saying that some are much more effective than others. So the best addvice I can give you is go for the lessons to get started in britain (it will help with the start of the week and give you a good idea of what to expect) and when you have the lessons in resort, listen to the instructor try not to get confused if they say some differnt things, just give them a go and do your best. but most importantly skiing holidays are fun holidays, don't take it too seriously just enjoy the experience.
Snowb4ndit
reply to 'Beginners! Need lots of advice please!!' posted Aug-2010
Lessons are a must in my opinion for all the reasons already discussed and the TO packages have always proven to be very good value in my experience. If you go to the resort website and add up the individual costa for lift pass, ski hire and lessons, my guess is the TO price for the package will be cheaper.
I would recommend a few 2 hour sessions at a dry slope to get all the mundane bits out of the way like how to put on your boots and skis, how to get up after a fall, and how to stop and start etc. (Doing these things on the mountain in a group, make for very cold fingers and toes, while you're hanging around alot waiting for each member of the group to have their turn.)
If you've had a few lessons before hand, you can then get straight in to the 'learning to ski bits' that are fun.
:wink:
I would recommend a few 2 hour sessions at a dry slope to get all the mundane bits out of the way like how to put on your boots and skis, how to get up after a fall, and how to stop and start etc. (Doing these things on the mountain in a group, make for very cold fingers and toes, while you're hanging around alot waiting for each member of the group to have their turn.)
If you've had a few lessons before hand, you can then get straight in to the 'learning to ski bits' that are fun.
:wink:
Take Life With A Pinch Of Salt... A Wedge Of Lime, & A Shot Of Tequila :-)
Brooksy
reply to 'Beginners! Need lots of advice please!!' posted Aug-2010
snowb4ndit wrote:Lessons are a must in my opinion for all the reasons already discussed and the TO packages have always proven to be very good value in my experience. If you go to the resort website and add up the individual costa for lift pass, ski hire and lessons, my guess is the TO price for the package will be cheaper.
I would recommend a few 2 hour sessions at a dry slope to get all the mundane bits out of the way like how to put on your boots and skis, how to get up after a fall, and how to stop and start etc. (Doing these things on the mountain in a group, make for very cold fingers and toes, while you're hanging around alot waiting for each member of the group to have their turn.)
If you've had a few lessons before hand, you can then get straight in to the 'learning to ski bits' that are fun.
:wink:
Just to add to the above learn how not to sit down on drag lifts.
My first ski trip & lessons were in Mayhofren, knew absolutely nothing about skiing or equipment,first shock the boots, second the skis, spent first morning walking in a circle to get used to both, afternoon session getting up after falling over & basics of snowplough stop & slight turns.
Second day how to use the button lift as this was required to progress, there were 14 of us in the class & believe me the class proceeds as fast as the slowest pupil, there were 3 that could not deal with the lift & 1 in particular totally useless they could not stop sitting down & falling off.
In the meantime the instructor & those of us that had no problems waited 40 mins at the top for the rest to join us, this wasted a lot of our lesson time & became boring although funny at first.
So all the above can be learnt at the dry slopes before you go, leading to more advanced lessons in the resort, more enjoyable & VFM IMO.
Timeforabeer
reply to 'Beginners! Need lots of advice please!!' posted Aug-2010
Sorry if this has been said already - in a rush so can't check the whole thread - look out for 'Freshers Week' packages from TOs, which offer free tuition/lift passes/ski hire. They're in unpopular weeks but will save a packet.
Also check out Inside Out Skiing - they are running beginners classes in small groups this month.
Also check out Inside Out Skiing - they are running beginners classes in small groups this month.
Yeah, I knew that.
Timeforabeer
reply to 'Beginners! Need lots of advice please!!' posted Aug-2010
Ah sorry I've now read your post, schoolboy error, and you've already booked... in my experience, no one suddenly stops needing lessons, it's just that if you 'get it' you might want to move up a group.
Re lessons in a snow dome, it's like learning to scuba dive in a swimming pool. Worth it, but an approximation of the real deal.
Re lessons in a snow dome, it's like learning to scuba dive in a swimming pool. Worth it, but an approximation of the real deal.
Yeah, I knew that.
Broom
reply to 'Beginners! Need lots of advice please!!' posted Aug-2010
I took my first lessons at the Chill Factor in Manchester, and than went to a ski resort, the advantage is that you dont loose your first 2 days on a nursery slope at the resort
Edited 1 time. Last update at 11-Aug-2010
Dobby
reply to 'Beginners! Need lots of advice please!!' posted Nov-2010
Ski lessons in resort will also show you which slopes you can ski. You don't want to find yourself on some nominally green/blue slope that turns out to be a wee bit steep.
Dobby
Dobby
Topic last updated on 18-December-2010 at 09:00