Who is going skiing and where in 2017
Discussion
Welshbeef said:
Where is great in the U.K. (south) to practice ?
Hemel Hempstead (http://www.thesnowcentre.com/) if you want real snow. But have a look at Ski PLex (https://www.skiplex.co.uk/) in Reading, Basingstoke and Chiswick - which is a long revolving carpet. My kids had a couple of sessions at the Woodley one, and looks like good fun and is supposed to speed up learning.
prand said:
Hemel Hempstead (http://www.thesnowcentre.com/) if you want real snow. But have a look at Ski PLex (https://www.skiplex.co.uk/) in Reading, Basingstoke and Chiswick - which is a long revolving carpet. My kids had a couple of sessions at the Woodley one, and looks like good fun and is supposed to speed up learning.
Woodley is 4 miles away - but not sure how a revolving carpet works. Can you carve on it or is it purely for total novices Snow plough to parallel turbCheib said:
There are indoor ski slopes at Hemel Hempsted and Milton Keynes....daft that the only two near London are half an hour from each other but they're both busy!
Dry slopes in Southampton, Aldershot and Bournemouth as well. Depending on where you live, they are good enough to remind the legs what to do.All runs on dry and the indoor 'snow' are very short compared to a resort though. No idea what the gradient compares to. Green/blue at most it would say given the audience as you can straight line them without issues.
KTF said:
Dry slopes in Southampton, Aldershot and Bournemouth as well. Depending on where you live, they are good enough to remind the legs what to do.
All runs on dry and the indoor 'snow' are very short compared to a resort though. No idea what the gradient compares to. Green/blue at most it would say given the audience as you can straight line them without issues.
Sounds good - live in Reading so appears lots of options. All runs on dry and the indoor 'snow' are very short compared to a resort though. No idea what the gradient compares to. Green/blue at most it would say given the audience as you can straight line them without issues.
Will UK ski areas teach 2yo/3yo to ski/board or is it more above 5?
Our oldest has skied quite a bit on real snow but our middle one 2.5yrs really wants to try it and I'm convinced he will be a boarder who straight lines runs I'd need new pants on.
Welshbeef said:
Woodley is 4 miles away - but not sure how a revolving carpet works. Can you carve on it or is it purely for total novices Snow plough to parallel turns
Yes you can ski normally, its definitely not just for beginners. They can turn up the speed and gradient to simulate steeper or faster slopes. You are basically skiing on the spot as fast as the carpet is moving, you can turn and go straight to your heart's content, theoretically on an unending slope. The instructor keeps close control of a the stop/start remote so so if you fall over or stop, the carpet can be stopped quickly so you don't go flying off the back.Welshbeef said:
Cheib said:
Welshbeef said:
Where is great in the U.K. (south) to practice ?
There are indoor ski slopes at Hemel Hempsted and Milton Keynes....daft that the only two near London are half an hour from each other but they're both busy! How many runs/what sort of gradient do you get (guessing mild Green runs equivalent)
Both have two pomas.
Snow conditions are similar although folk will often claim one is better than the other. They can get icy at busy times when the snow gets scrapped off the refrigerated base, but both get pisted from time to time to help
For what little difference it makes, I prefer the atmosphere at Hemel as it's a dedicated skiing/boarding centre with an alpine feel to the cafe/bar, whereas MK Snozone is in a shopping centre and feels more soulless as a result
Went to Hemel on Saturday. My other half needed a few runs to get her confidence back after a huge crash 2 seasons ago that snapped her cruciate.
It was very busy, and it's very short. We did about 5 runs and gave up. It was also pretty expensive. £76 for two of us to have an hour's skiing. I'd challenge anyone to spend an hour there without dying of boredom. We gave up after 25 mins.
It's good if you want to test out some new boots, or learn to ski before a holiday for example.
It was very busy, and it's very short. We did about 5 runs and gave up. It was also pretty expensive. £76 for two of us to have an hour's skiing. I'd challenge anyone to spend an hour there without dying of boredom. We gave up after 25 mins.
It's good if you want to test out some new boots, or learn to ski before a holiday for example.
cbmotorsport said:
Went to Hemel on Saturday. My other half needed a few runs to get her confidence back after a huge crash 2 seasons ago that snapped her cruciate.
It was very busy, and it's very short. We did about 5 runs and gave up. It was also pretty expensive. £76 for two of us to have an hour's skiing. I'd challenge anyone to spend an hour there without dying of boredom. We gave up after 25 mins.
It's good if you want to test out some new boots, or learn to ski before a holiday for example.
Have to agree with this. If you're just starting out then I can see that it would be a good place to get your snowplough in shape before going to some real slopes - however anybody who can string a couple of turns together will get very bored very quickly.It was very busy, and it's very short. We did about 5 runs and gave up. It was also pretty expensive. £76 for two of us to have an hour's skiing. I'd challenge anyone to spend an hour there without dying of boredom. We gave up after 25 mins.
It's good if you want to test out some new boots, or learn to ski before a holiday for example.
It also gets busy, as above. I took my two kids on a Sunday morning (so I guess pretty much peak time, to be fair) and one minute of skiing followed by five minutes of queuing and two minutes going up a poma doesn't equate to good value for money in my book.
Welshbeef said:
Where is great in the U.K. (south) to practice ?
Skiing? Well, I've been skiing on the slope at Tweseldown race course (Aldershot) when it snowed, but I'm guessing you mean dry/indoor slopes?If so, and seeing you're in Berkshire according to your profile, Bracknell's the stand out (bigger than any others mentioned).
You could make the trek to a snow dome (MK?) - I've only skied indoors in Dubai, but it was pretty true to natural snow - They keep it VERY cold in there.
M
PS ETA I replied to your original post, no realising there was another page of replies
It's out of your way, but the Snowzone in Tamworth has a good set up. Rather than the big open slope of MK, it's got a dog-leg slope, and separately has a couple of 'beginners areas' - one that is almost completely flat, but with a ramp, and the other that's only twenty yards long. That means they can take very young kids and do an introduction to snow course that is away from people crashing down the piste. They will take kids from 4 years for ski lessons, and from 3 years for sledging and tubing.
TBH you can't really go much younger as the kid has to be comfortable in a 'lesson environment' where they're away from their parents and having to follow instructions. Reception year age is about right.
TBH you can't really go much younger as the kid has to be comfortable in a 'lesson environment' where they're away from their parents and having to follow instructions. Reception year age is about right.
Edited by Tuna on Monday 6th March 11:52
deckster said:
doesn't equate to good value for money in my book.
I know people can spend £6k on a week's ski holiday when they only spend 10hrs tops actually skiing - that's shocking value! I'd expect anywhere to be busy on a Saturday, my local swimming pool and gym is hell on a Saturday. You just find the time to go some other time. At the end of the day, we don't have mountains and natural snow to ski on in the South of England, so the alternative is always going to be comparatively expensive or compromised.
I've been to Tamworth, MK and Hemel and I do reckon they are value for money. Good for getting your ski legs back, you can get instruction to work on a particular part of your technique, and they are really good to bring beginners on (getting used to equipment, the behaviour of snow & lifts) before their first few trips.
deckster said:
cbmotorsport said:
Went to Hemel on Saturday. My other half needed a few runs to get her confidence back after a huge crash 2 seasons ago that snapped her cruciate.
It was very busy, and it's very short. We did about 5 runs and gave up. It was also pretty expensive. £76 for two of us to have an hour's skiing. I'd challenge anyone to spend an hour there without dying of boredom. We gave up after 25 mins.
It's good if you want to test out some new boots, or learn to ski before a holiday for example.
Have to agree with this. If you're just starting out then I can see that it would be a good place to get your snowplough in shape before going to some real slopes - however anybody who can string a couple of turns together will get very bored very quickly.It was very busy, and it's very short. We did about 5 runs and gave up. It was also pretty expensive. £76 for two of us to have an hour's skiing. I'd challenge anyone to spend an hour there without dying of boredom. We gave up after 25 mins.
It's good if you want to test out some new boots, or learn to ski before a holiday for example.
It also gets busy, as above. I took my two kids on a Sunday morning (so I guess pretty much peak time, to be fair) and one minute of skiing followed by five minutes of queuing and two minutes going up a poma doesn't equate to good value for money in my book.
If you go straight after school or hang about till after 8pm, it's usually pretty quiet
feef said:
Welshbeef said:
Cheib said:
Welshbeef said:
Where is great in the U.K. (south) to practice ?
There are indoor ski slopes at Hemel Hempsted and Milton Keynes....daft that the only two near London are half an hour from each other but they're both busy! How many runs/what sort of gradient do you get (guessing mild Green runs equivalent)
Both have two pomas.
Snow conditions are similar although folk will often claim one is better than the other. They can get icy at busy times when the snow gets scrapped off the refrigerated base, but both get pisted from time to time to help
For what little difference it makes, I prefer the atmosphere at Hemel as it's a dedicated skiing/boarding centre with an alpine feel to the cafe/bar, whereas MK Snozone is in a shopping centre and feels more soulless as a result
It seems Tignes has experienced another avalanche that has claimed some skiers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39192167
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