Any skiers out there?

[porteous]

Do you have a local dry ski slope? My family learned there (I was a complete novice of 60!). Did an 8 hour course spread over a month, then one morning with a coach when we arrived at Les Arcs - worked a treat and FAR cheaper than ski school out there. Keep on blue runs for a while then upgrade with an instructor, or just ignore the hard stuff and enjoy!.

As others have said, Easter best for kids, not too cold. We baught an ex GPO post bus for £2000 (LDV. 6 seats, van back end,over 30mpg on a run) did the whole one week trip plus travelling time, including ski passes, for under £250 a head and sold the post bus for £2300 when we got back.

Now do the dry ski slope every 2-3 months to avoid skill fade and go for a week or two every year either to France or Italy.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

This is a thread about skiing, not the items in your dungeon.

An anecdote about cable bindings would have been a sure giveaway.

 

[BigSteev]

Blimey, I'm in agreement with linf.

I've tried snowboarding. It's like skiing except with more pain and less fun.

Lies! It's easier to learn - there's only one type of turn, none of that snowplough, stem turn, parallel progression and there's none of that individual, rotational stress on the knees either. Fall over and everything stays attached meaning you can get straight up without having to climb back up the mountain to retrieve your other ski/a pole etc.

 

[Hamish]

I'll wade in here with my first ever post <trembles with excitement>

Yes, you can do it cheaper, but skiing is always going to be expensive.
Jan is cheapest - but Mid March or even mid-late April can get much nicer weather, and gives time to give decent base for the snow.

French mega-resorts are expensive (especially food/drink on mountains) and as novices you don't need them so avoid.

Drive and self-cater if you can and fill the car with essentials you don't want to buy in the resort (salt/sugar/oil etc etc)

Bulgaria has the rep for being cheapest if you want to go the tour op route but beware as infrastructure can be poor (allegedly - never been myself)

Peronal opinion is Austria giving best value for money - cheapish flights often available (no-frills airlines are not always cheapest, especially if including luggage check-in, and CC cost. You can get to e.g. Sazburg or Munich with real airlines) and low-cost transfers or (good)public transport available

Have a look at the forums here for lots of skiing advice ..
http://snowheads.com/
Especially this thread
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=54522
and this...
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1317839

 

[Archie_tect]

Fall over and everything stays attached...

That's the theory[um]... fine when your ligaments and joints are less than 30 years old.... not so confident now!

 

[Archie_tect]

I'll wade in here with my first ever post <trembles with excitement>

Yes, you can do it cheaper, but skiing is always going to be expensive.
Jan is cheapest - but Mid March or even mid-late April can get much nicer weather, and gives time to give decent base for the snow.

French mega-resorts are expensive (especially food/drink on mountains) and as novices you don't need them so avoid.

Drive and self-cater if you can and fill the car with essentials you don't want to buy in the resort (salt/sugar/oil etc etc)

Bulgaria has the rep for being cheapest if you want to go the tour op route but beware as infrastructure can be poor (allegedly - never been myself)

Peronal opinion is Austria giving best value for money - cheapish flights often available (no-frills airlines are not always cheapest, especially if including luggage check-in, and CC cost. You can get to e.g. Sazburg or Munich with real airlines) and low-cost transfers or (good)public transport available

Have a look at the forums here for lots of skiing advice ..
http://snowheads.com/
Especially this thread
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=54522
and this...
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1317839

Great post Hamish... I agree about Austria. Our first ever ski trip abroad was to Westendorf which is great for beginners [ski school starts in the snow covered school tennis courts- learning how to get up again....

 

[User482]

Lies! It's easier to learn - there's only one type of turn, none of that snowplough, stem turn, parallel progression and there's none of that individual, rotational stress on the knees either. Fall over and everything stays attached meaning you can get straight up without having to climb back up the mountain to retrieve your other ski/a pole etc.

Just as well, considering that's all snowboarders seem to do.

 

[TheDoctor]

Lies! It's easier to learn - there's only one type of turn, none of that snowplough, stem turn, parallel progression and there's none of that individual, rotational stress on the knees either. Fall over and everything stays attached meaning you can get straight up without having to climb back up the mountain to retrieve your other ski/a pole etc.

Sounds just like snowblades then. Except for the whole falling-over bit, which I only do if I'm showing off being incredibly silly. Like continous-spins down-a-red silly, which tends to go a bit awry when I get dizzy...

 

[andyfromotley]

Thanks for everones advice, i am researching. Gosh i thought choosing my bikes was difficult!

 

[User169]

Great post Hamish... I agree about Austria. Our first ever ski trip abroad was to Westendorf which is great for beginners [ski school starts in the snow covered school tennis courts- learning how to get up again....

Austria's good I'd agree, although the resorts tend to be lower-lying so less snow sure. Head to a high altitude French resort if you want the best chance of having good snow.

 

[darkstar]

Blimey, I'm in agreement with linf.

I've tried snowboarding. It's like skiing except with more pain and less fun. And I reckon that modern skis are massively easier to learn on than the stuff that was in use when I were a lad. All to the good.

Your so wrong! A fall on skis can be a lot more painful than a fall on a Snowboard, a twisted knee is NOT a nice outcome from a simple fall, but it's possible. On a snowboard you likely to just land on your arse and laugh it off imo.

 

[User482]

Your so wrong! A fall on skis can be a lot more painful than a fall on a Snowboard, a twisted knee is NOT a nice outcome from a simple fall, but it's possible. On a snowboard you likely to just land on your arse and laugh it off imo.

Like I said before, it's just as well. Most of the snowboarders I see seem to spend their entire time falling over, and then pretend that they just fancied a sit down. In the middle of the slope. In any case, very few of them ever go fast enough to be in danger of serious injury.

 

[Hamish]

Austria's good I'd agree, although the resorts tend to be lower-lying so less snow sure. Head to a high altitude French resort if you want the best chance of having good snow.

It's debatable. Austria is further east so benefits from lower temps due to continental land mass and I think can also benefit from certain weather systems
Austrian resorts also tend to be based on pasture land rather than rocks, so don't necessarily need a lot of snow to provide good skiing.
In January you can often find good skiing protected by trees in Austria when French resorts have icy slopes, rocks poking through the pistes and lifts shut due to high winds.
If possible it's always best to wait and see where the snow starts landing if you can.