Dry Slope Skiing

Hello guys. How was everyones ski holiday? iv not been on in a while. Got a quick question though...
Is it a good idea to have my first lesson on a dry slope? the lessons are quite cheap compared to the snow dome. lol

Hi Sm4sh,
It's nice to hear from you again :D

There was a thread on this subject recently, here: http://www.j2ski.com/ski-chat-forum/posts/list/8156.page

I think almost everyone was in favour of getting some practice on an artificial slope here in the U.K. first, before going on holiday, but there were a couple of us who had negative feelings regarding the dry (or mat) type of slope as compared to the articial snow. However, as you say, lessons on the outdoor mats are much cheaper.

I guess it depends on where you live, in relation to the proximity of the nearest artificial slope, and how much money you can spare for lessons.

Ally

I think dry slopes are fine for complete novices (skiing), when you're learning basic snowploughs etc..., but once you get past that, then a snow dome would be better.

yeh. i can get 3 hour and half lessons on the dry slop for the price of 1 two hour lesson at the snow dome. ill have a look at that link. maybe try the dry slop then the snow dome when iv lernt the basics.

n yeah iv not been on here much past couple of months. makes me wait longer thinking about skiing :lol:
ah well its less then a year now :D 341 days! (i dont keep working it out it says on me calander )

Plastic slopes are unforgiving on poor technique which is why I suspect people generally prefer the snow domes. However, you become a technically good skier if you stay on the plastic.

I was thinking about going to the Milton Keynes snowdome myself, and I had a look at their website.

They currently have an offer on with Tesco, where for a package of four 1 hour group lessons you can use your Tesco vouchers which are worth four times their face value. So that, as far as I can see, for the adult group lessons which currently cost £100 for 4 hours you can get them for only £25 worth of Tesco vouchers. But you do have to order the lessons ahead of time and sort out the vouchers, you can't just turn up with your Tesco vouchers and expect to get the lessons cheap.

This also applies to their other snow domes at Braehead and Castleford.

http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/product.aspx?R=899

And, the other thing that occurred to me, was that beginners might not realize you need different clothing for snow domes and outdoor mat dry slopes. Snow domes are cold - the one at Milton Keynes is minus 4 degrees, and you need to wear ski gear, like salopettes and ski jacket, woolly hat, ski gloves and ski socks (although you can hire ski gear at Milton Keynes).

Whereas, if you are ski-ing outside on a mat you are subject to the current weather conditions - like rain or sun - and you need to adapt your clothing to this. However, even in mid-summer you still need to wear clothing that will protect you from getting scraped on the mat, like gloves, long sleeves and long trousers.

Ally