skiing...A beginners Guide
Discussion
Ladies and genmtleman......please can the P.H. masses submit their recomendations for a good ski vennue especially for snow virgins like myself, which also offer nice scenery and plenty of things to do tabogoning....skating.... etc
Thank you ......over to you
p.s
Budget fairly flexible and could stretch to Canada to incorperate trip to Vancouver
Thank you ......over to you
p.s
Budget fairly flexible and could stretch to Canada to incorperate trip to Vancouver
If you can stretch to Canada, then do it. You won't have to put up with fat, lazy w4nkers employed at the lifts, and rude t0553rs in the queues (France). The service, food and (most of the time) the snow is better.
Andorra does have a reputation of being beginner friendly. If not, then one of the big French resorts is a guaranteed bet for diverse pistes. Espace Killy (Tignes, Val d'Isere) or 3 valleys (Meribel, Courchevel, Val Thorens).
This site has a rating for most resorts. It's focused for boarders, but has the same information about percentage of green/blue pistes: www.worldsnowboardguide.com.
Andorra does have a reputation of being beginner friendly. If not, then one of the big French resorts is a guaranteed bet for diverse pistes. Espace Killy (Tignes, Val d'Isere) or 3 valleys (Meribel, Courchevel, Val Thorens).
This site has a rating for most resorts. It's focused for boarders, but has the same information about percentage of green/blue pistes: www.worldsnowboardguide.com.
We went to Morzine last February for my birthday. I have three observations. 1) Skiing is bloody expensive. 2) You fall over a lot. 3) Wine is very cheap out there.
I took the sensible route and decided to spend my money on wine. I can fall over quite easily without having to strap expensive slippy stuff to my feet.
This year, we're going to Paris for my birthday...
I took the sensible route and decided to spend my money on wine. I can fall over quite easily without having to strap expensive slippy stuff to my feet.
This year, we're going to Paris for my birthday...
rude girl said:
We went to Morzine last February for my birthday. I have three observations. 1) Skiing is bloody expensive. 2) You fall over a lot. 3) Wine is very cheap out there.
I took the sensible route and decided to spend my money on wine. I can fall over quite easily without having to strap expensive slippy stuff to my feet.
This year, we're going to Paris for my birthday...
You seem to have 2) and 3) in the wrong order
Alpe d'Huez is superb for beginners. The slopes get progressively more difficult the higher you go. Nice wide greens to find your feet on, then next stop on the lift, will be a slightly more tricky blue, which by the way, you will almost certainly try before the end of your first week.
Night life was also pretty good, with clubs, bars and an outdoor ice rink.
Night life was also pretty good, with clubs, bars and an outdoor ice rink.
Another vote for Alp D'Heuz - by far the most beginner friendly of the french resorts that I have been to. Espace Killy (Val D'Isere/Tignes) has tricky resort runs for beginners, and in my opinion the three valley's is also too crowded and therefore resort runs become rocky/icy/horrible.
Andorra is another good shout - you can get cheap all in one packages which are great for testing the water without laying out too much cash.
When you go, just rent the cheapest gear - the more expensive stuff is too good for beginners and the cheaper stuff will be more forgiving whilst you learn.
Above all - go at it with a postive attitude. It is hard work, you will get tired, you will fall over - but you will get a buzz when you get to the bottom and look up at that Blue/red/black that you've just mastered!! Make sure you do some exercise before you go especially focusing on the thighs and calves.
HTH
Andorra is another good shout - you can get cheap all in one packages which are great for testing the water without laying out too much cash.
When you go, just rent the cheapest gear - the more expensive stuff is too good for beginners and the cheaper stuff will be more forgiving whilst you learn.
Above all - go at it with a postive attitude. It is hard work, you will get tired, you will fall over - but you will get a buzz when you get to the bottom and look up at that Blue/red/black that you've just mastered!! Make sure you do some exercise before you go especially focusing on the thighs and calves.
HTH
Another vote for Andorra here too - good variety of skiing and amazingly cheap booze.
Here's a tip - don't agree to go down an Olympic black run on your first day skiing with less than 3 hours experience. Result - spend the next three hours doing this:
traverse across slope, pull funny faces and wave arms as you cross paths with v.experienced skiiers (to be identified by red all-in-one suits), stop against tree, sit down, take skis off, fall into powdery snow, turn around, attempt to re-mount skis, knock pole over(it adopts a nice high speed journey down the piste), eventually re-mount skis and traverse across slope the other way.
After a few of these, you probably decide that this whole removing skis to turn around thing is pretty tiresome, so:
attempt to snowplough turn on a nice icy slope, point skis progressively down the hill, pick up speed at some amazing rate, gradually adopt the motion of swimming front crawl (only you are on skis), this is normally followed either by an accident involving losing a ski (and its not easy walking down a ski slope!) or crashing into a bit of soft off-piste snow.
Anyway, skiing is mint, highly recommend it, just watch out for 'boarders sat just over the brow of a hill in the middle of the ideal line down a ski run! (Learning to jump can be handy at this point).
>> Edited by jagwirexkr on Monday 30th January 13:54
Here's a tip - don't agree to go down an Olympic black run on your first day skiing with less than 3 hours experience. Result - spend the next three hours doing this:
traverse across slope, pull funny faces and wave arms as you cross paths with v.experienced skiiers (to be identified by red all-in-one suits), stop against tree, sit down, take skis off, fall into powdery snow, turn around, attempt to re-mount skis, knock pole over(it adopts a nice high speed journey down the piste), eventually re-mount skis and traverse across slope the other way.
After a few of these, you probably decide that this whole removing skis to turn around thing is pretty tiresome, so:
attempt to snowplough turn on a nice icy slope, point skis progressively down the hill, pick up speed at some amazing rate, gradually adopt the motion of swimming front crawl (only you are on skis), this is normally followed either by an accident involving losing a ski (and its not easy walking down a ski slope!) or crashing into a bit of soft off-piste snow.
Anyway, skiing is mint, highly recommend it, just watch out for 'boarders sat just over the brow of a hill in the middle of the ideal line down a ski run! (Learning to jump can be handy at this point).
>> Edited by jagwirexkr on Monday 30th January 13:54
I was wondering how long it would take before it became a skiing vs boarding topic! 
I think that these days, both enjoy the slopes and get on without too many problems. I dont recall seeing any incidents when I was in Tignes at the beginning of January. The only issue that I have is aimed at both boarders and skiers who stop in the middle of a slope in a group of about 4-8 people and, as mentioned above, sometimes just over the crest of the hill!
Good bit of advice above on taking things at your own pace. I've seen too many people storm down a Steep Red or Black in full snow plow with no turns and picking up speed at a scary pace! - You wont learn anything by doing that other than it hurts when you ski into people/tree's/rocks at the bottom.
I think that being good at skiing or boarding is as much in the mind as it is being physically able. You need to be confident in your ability to make each turn and stop. It is no different turning on a steep slope or a shallow slope - same technique with perhaps a little more edge....
I think that these days, both enjoy the slopes and get on without too many problems. I dont recall seeing any incidents when I was in Tignes at the beginning of January. The only issue that I have is aimed at both boarders and skiers who stop in the middle of a slope in a group of about 4-8 people and, as mentioned above, sometimes just over the crest of the hill!
Good bit of advice above on taking things at your own pace. I've seen too many people storm down a Steep Red or Black in full snow plow with no turns and picking up speed at a scary pace! - You wont learn anything by doing that other than it hurts when you ski into people/tree's/rocks at the bottom.
I think that being good at skiing or boarding is as much in the mind as it is being physically able. You need to be confident in your ability to make each turn and stop. It is no different turning on a steep slope or a shallow slope - same technique with perhaps a little more edge....
skibum said:
Some good advice
But can you give us a few more clues.
- Is it wife & kids (ages?), boys trip, or couple of mates? If bays only, are you looking for the full lairy drinking sessions, or a slightly more relaxed attitude?
- Do you plan to ski or board?
- You mention views, other activities. If you plan to ski fully, you really won't have that much time (or energy) to do too much of this. But if you have a couple of young kids, and plan to spend the afternoons with them, then this is much more important.
- Have you ever dry-sloped, or are you an absolute virgin?
I would suggest:
- Consider a chalet-hotel deal. Less formal than a hotel, more people and more social than a chalet. Having meals prepared saves you a lot of hassle over self-catering (though remember the staff have one day off), at least for your first time. A chalet would also be fun, perhaps look for one with a dozen or more people.
- If you have young children, take a look at Mark Warner. Expensive, but some nice extras.
- I do like Austria - a nice balance of German efficiency, French laissez-faire, and normally a pretty village.
- It's worth picking up a copy of the Which Good Ski Guide. They rate resorts on beginner appeal, charm, and a load of other things (including non-skiing activities). You want a good nursery area (to learn), generous easy runs (to venture when you stop falling down every 10'), skiing convenience (slopes close to your chalet - you don't want to be lugging your skis far or catching buses too much), and probably several other factors. It will also give you some good general advice, and give you an idea what to expect & restaurants, runs, bars, etc. to check out.
If you can stretch to te cash and travel time of Canada, then Whistler's a no-brainer really. You can get into debates about the quality and range of the ski-ing in France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, USA and even Scotland (skied 'em all) and there's no doubt there's larger areas, bigger verticals and greater challenge elsewhere than Whistler. But for a 'quality' experience, especially for beginners, only the US comes close.
Do Canada first and you should get hooked to try the more interesting European destinations in future years. Do Europe firsts and there's a chance you'll be put off for life with pushy lift queues, surly lift operators, poor/no piste preparation, poor instructors etc. Yes, it's quite possible to get none of the above in a Euro resort, but why take the risk. Go to Canada! Plus you get to visit Vancouver, which is nice.
Do Canada first and you should get hooked to try the more interesting European destinations in future years. Do Europe firsts and there's a chance you'll be put off for life with pushy lift queues, surly lift operators, poor/no piste preparation, poor instructors etc. Yes, it's quite possible to get none of the above in a Euro resort, but why take the risk. Go to Canada! Plus you get to visit Vancouver, which is nice.
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