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I have a Picture Alpin for skiing these days, but before that an Oakley ski coat that was effectively a chunky waterproof, with the benefit of the ski skirt to keep the snow out. It's fair to say I did some sliding on the snow when I was learning and not getting snow up your back is handy.
If it's a snowboard jacket with padding you'll be warm enough I'm sure, especially as it's April you go isn't it?
I've not been to the snow for years. There was a time in my life some 30 odd years ago that getting the snow was my only priority in life. For several years in a row, I'd work all year to raise money to spend the season in and around Chamonix. Prior to that and for a few years afterwards I'd go for a couple of weeks, twice a year. Then I got married and had kids. Not been since, sadly.
Wife and I keep getting invited by her family to join them on their yearly pilgrimage to the snow. But just the thought of spending a prolonged period (7days) with them is just too frightening to accept the invite.
Second and final pre hols lesson was on Thursday and it went well, IMO. The instructor, this time, seemed to have a bit more structure to learning and going through drills and techniques, rather than the previous “crack on”. Definitely useful, we now know how to put on boots and move around in skis so we should hit the ground running, or just hit the ground!
We’ve also got some cheap helmets in the sales so the kit is pretty much sorted now, albeit we might look a little ramshackle.
Again, very grateful for everyone’s contribution on here, and looking forward to it massively now.
*Dumb question incoming*. So, what footwear is needed for the day, or maybe out for a mooch on an evening? I thought we’d need snow boots, but my son seems to be of the impression that streets and footpaths in the resort will be clear. Surely there is just snow everywhere?
Blimey, I just need to get there now and calm down…..
I’ve spent many a week around resort mooching about in Converse…
Take walking boots / trainers or similar etc. I’ve got Goretex Salomons that I take. I wouldn’t buy anything specific for a one off.
Surely there is just snow everywhere?
Not this year unfortunately… 😬
There are probably web cams to tell you what conditions are like all over the resort including the pavements. I've been walking around the resort in sandals or walking boots this week.
Snow this week has been typical Spring snow. Fast groomed in the morning then soggy. Off piste it's pretty safe again with a hard crust in the morning then soft and sticky. Junior hit some sticky snow and did a forward sumersault almost landing back on his skis. I have a video but he knows I post here. 🙂
In Flaine this week and I ended up just bringing my trainers (Nike Trail trainers), the paths are all cleared and there's little snow to get in the way. I usually have walking boots, but they didn't seem necessary this season. Currently having a slow start to the morning as it's raining heavily, hoping it clears up shortly and we'll head upwards and hope for frozen rain!
Surely there is just snow everywhere?
They keep the actual streets clear (great big shovel loaders go through town and they tip the snow in big piles near the road at either end). Pavements can be a bit of a lottery, especially out towards the Paradiso (I think walking across the snow at the bottom of the pistes is more pleasant). We normally take walking boots.
One more sleep!
(A very short one if you're on the 06:15 flight from Manchester!)
@tillydog that’s me too!
Kids are doing a througher, I’m hoping to get some kip before having to set off at around 3am. Currently packing and getting very stressed with kit anxiety.
You'll be fine.
I've just got to fit the 'pile-o-stuff' on the bedroom floor into a case and I'll be done.
Well, my newbie experience at Passo Tonale is proving a challenge. Day one today and I just couldn’t get it. Took many tumbles and had the indignity of walking down the “steeper” sections of a blue run. Daughter tweaked her knee annd have a massive confidence meltdown and was skidood off the hill so I’m hoping she’s ok for the rest of the week. The only, and I mean only, consolation is that the rep said it has been the worst day this season for ice. So hoping it gets better or it could be a disaster. Day two of ski school tomorrow . Full of trepidation. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
That sounds challenging, sorry to hear it has been a tricky start.
The main thing to remember is that it is your holiday. If ski school sucks, or is pushing you uncomfortably, you can chill things out (obviously speak to them and see if they can support you with that) but even if they can't, ski what you feel comfortable on as a group or family so you have a fun day.
When we take the kids now, we say it is a 'mountain holiday'. If we ski a load, then that's cool, but if we enjoy the environment, relax, eat cheese...also all good. Some of my funnest days have been just lapping a super gentle run, trying to learn something slow and technical, or even when we go walking, sledging, the pool, or (my favourite) an early pub 😀
Ooh! Sorry to hear that.
The bottom slopes were rather unpleasant yesterday morning.
No indignity in walking, except in your own mind. I hope your daughter gets enough confidence back to carry on with the skiing - I know it can be difficult to have another try.
Here’s hoping today goes better!
Day two done. Twas light night and day. I was ready to throw the towel in after a disastrous attempt on a kiddie slope first thing then spoke to our instructor and we got back to basics, which clearly I needed notwithstanding what was learnt at Xscape. Bizarrely, and with a complete lack of any sort of coolness, I interpreted the teaching and adopted a “I’m a kettle teapot short and stout” posture to get the hips and leaning in check and was able to (in my opinion) absolutely tear up the lower blue runs! 😂😂😂. And the daughter was able to ski through the knee tweak. And there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky so that ticked off my bucket list. It was a great day, absolutely buzzing with even getting down, even with a degree of carving. It got a bit slushy after lunch which was a little difficult to ski, and I had one “ohh sh!t” moment but managed to recover ok. Snow forecast for tomorrow.
Also took the cable car up to the glacier at 3,000m. They ski down from that, which appears insane.
A great day. Knackered. Even if I had to leave tomorrow, I’d be satisfied.
WHOOP!
in common with many others, I imagine, I've been monitoring this thread this afternoon.
Ahh this is great news. Once it clicks and you are having fun, it grows from there.
Enjoy the progress, it's a long-running learning thing for all of us, so just settle in and enjoy!
That’s great news. Yes, very slushy from about 14:00 which is hard work to ski, moreso if you’re in a snowplough. Glad things are looking up.
Falling over is part and parcel of learning. The more one falls the more tired one feels.
Maybe have a long lunch after ski school and just practise what you've learned later for a short period.
Don't beat yourself up, skiing is not easy and the changing conditions at this time of the season don't help.
My first holiday was a disaster, but I persevered and went again the following year and the difference (better instructor, conditions, equipment, food and accommodation) was amazing. It is now my most favourite thing to do in the whole world.
Excellent news. I was just popping in to say that I hope you’d had a better day, and it seems you have 😎😎 What a difference a day makes.
Oh and we all have terrible days occasionally, I was ready to pack it in for good last month after a day boarding on rock hard pistes. It wasn’t fun at all.
Day three done ( for me and the daughter). It’s snowing quite hard and the slopes feel icy to me so whatever I was doing that made me feel good yesterday, just wasn’t happening today. Two hours of lessons then another three hours on the slopes is more than enough for an old boy like me so I’m taking the sensible option and calling at a do for the day. I was getting cold too. Slopes are much busier too, I mean lots busier now we are in the Easter holidays. The ski tutor has said it’s going to be manic of Good Friday and if it is, I might call it a day. That’ll be our last day and a shame to lose a day but I’d rather be safe than stupid.
BTW, 17yo son is loving it. His class have been on reds today and he’s buzzing .
Glad to hear things have improved over the last few days. Before I went on my first snowboard trip I did indoor lessons and though I could do it all. Big shock when I got out on a proper slope but I muddled through and never looked back. In my opinion the indoor stuff is useful to learn a few basics but in hindsight does not prepare you for a real slope. Generally they feel different and are obviouslyuchnlonger and often wider.
Glad you and the family have stuck with it
Day four done, and a little early at that. We’ve had over a foot of snow today and the teacher said it would make the pistes slow and more difficult to turn in. He then proceeded to take us up to a red run which had (in my novice eyes) a really steep section. Got down it with lots of turning but I have to confess the busyness of the slopes is a worrying addition to think about. There are people coming at you from all angles and speeds. We also booked an hour for the daughter and I after lunch with another tutor which probably wasn’t long enough and probably to wrong weather. She watched us, demonstrated yet another way of learning to lean and turn and after a run and half, told us time was up. The only thing I got from it was I queried how tight the boots should be as my foot felt to be moving inside them, despite all the clips being as tight as possible. Is not had any guidance on boot fit either at Xscape or at the rental so I went back today, when it was a bit quieter and ended up going for a half size down and they do feel snugger so that might translate to more movement transfer from foot to boot to ski. I’m looking for marginal gains here, as you can tell. Son came past me a few times at speed and their tutor is taking them on a black run tomorrow, which I think will be the last proper day as all the signs are that Good Friday is going to be heaving. We may just get through our respective lessons, then an hour of skiing, then hit the restaurant for a last lunch. I’m going to struggle if it’s heaving.
Rental boots are never ideal unless you have either no feeling in your feet, or the most perfectly coincidental fit for the boot. I bought a pair after 3 trips and never looked back.
Busy pistes are a pain, however the onus is on the person uphill of you to find a safe path through, not that this always pans out. If you are moving predictably, i.e. consistent distance between turns and leaving space at the edge of the piste you should be ok.
Getting down any red with a steep section in your first year is a massive achievement, this isn't something you can (usually, there are a few people who manage it) just 'get' immediately. It's likely your son will run out of confidence/ability somewhere along the way, speaking from experience here! Hopefully it'll be mild when he does.
Finally you've had a good week for learning, from crispy through to powdered pistes, it does make the process more difficult, but it's good you got the variety, our second trip was a low resort in Austria that was essentially just compacted snow and icy, falling on it was horrible and painful and the resort sucked.
Good luck with tomorrow, keep it up!
Day five. Not a good day and I’m pretty livid about the instructor. IMO, he completely misread the group ability and today, he proceeded to direct us up two lifts, to an altitude of 2525m, in a blizzard. We then had to come down a run “bleis” which dropped 437m in 3km. It was horrendous. Steep and off camber and I couldn’t see a thing. Had a big off and smacked my head so I was glad to have a helmet on. Poor daughter was petrified and I thought she was going to have be taken off the hill again. I can’t work out what his process is. If it’s to get used to reds then why not stick to those that are a single lift up and come back down into town. What he did seemed to introduce unnecessary jeopardy to a class than had been skiing for three days.
Maybe it’s my inability to crack this skiing that is frustrating me but today has really knocked me and I’m nervous even on blues now. Last day tomorrow. Around half in the class have said they aren’t going to his lesson tomorrow as it is just not fun and counter productive.
I’m pretty sacked off really, this was supposed to be fun but it’s turned into a bit of a traumatic experience.
Is it worth raising this with Crystal? I would hate for anyone else to end up like my daughter did today. Awful to see her so scared and upset and literally nothing I could do to help.
Rant over.
Oh no! That really seemed out of order to me. Some instructors are great, some not so. I feel you are possibly skiing better you think, judging by the fact the lesson was taken up a notch.
you’ve been unlucky with hire boots being dire and not fitted properly for you in the shop. Also complete change of conditions all in the space of a few days. Maybe you’re also a bit tired. I would say to the instructor tomorrow that you aren’t happy (after all you’ve paid for ski school) and you need a bit more fun.
please don’t give up.
Reckon you have been a bit unlucky. As mentioned above, instructors can be a bit hit or miss. We’ve generally had much better luck with small independent instructor companies than the generic ESF / Italian equivalent. They seem to care more that you have a good experience (& their reputation and livelihood depends on it)
Bass or ultimate ski are generally great in France for example.
also booking private lessons, although more costly, definitely helps tailor the experience to what you need. A couple of those shared between your family ( you don’t all need to be the same level of gung ho for it to work) can be much better than a week of generic ski school lessons that crystal have sourced.
Also weather has been crap for beginners this week. Generally later season is sunnier and more pleasant than you have experienced!
Ask for a change of instructor, schools have lots of them and it's just a radio or telephone call to make a swap.
Skiing in a blizzard is disorientating, I've sometimes stopped and then toppled over because without the feedback of skiing I lose the sense of which way is up. Goggles mist up and glasses get plastered in snow/ice so I wear a cap with a very long peak when it's snowing and take the goggles/glasses off if they're doing more harm than good. Don't wear anythng on your face that could direct your breath up onto the goggles/glasses and have something handy for cleaning them. If you wear a helmet make sure there's a gap between helmet and the top of the goggles so the vents are clear.
Not seeing the terrain as well makes it harder to read, take your time to memorise a section and just ski that far before having another good look.
Appreciate the comments, sort of makes me think I’m now wrong to be brassed off. Along with half of the group sharing the same thoughts. We aren’t going to request a new instructor, it’s a bit late in the day. Last day will be the son out with his group having a blast and me tracking him on “find my son” and the daughter and I will just keep it simple, without any instruction or stupid pistes. We may even try to hire a sledge or a snow bike to try and end the week with some daft fun as, at the moment, my flirtation with skiing has been only a week long relationship with no intention to revisit.
Final day done. Most importantly, we are all uninjured so Mrs Rock back home is resting easy after a week on edge.
Today was a steady day for myself and the daughter and we just tottered around blues. The lad was off again, all over the pistes and has had a blast. He seems to have really taken to it but I’m just glad that last run down I was tracking him doing was uneventful. The tutor thing still grates, we didn’t do the school today.
At risk of over thinking things, it now feels like I’ve ticked off the ski holiday dream (had only the one blue sky day but that’s better than none). Would I book again? I enjoyed it but I had a bit of a medical issue a few years ago that was potentially caused through exertion, and that has made me a bit more risk averse and I think this hols, I potentially reached the level of risk I’m happy with so cannot imagine that I’d ever be comfortable or competent doing reds and blacks. The potential for injury seems real and I’m just not as bendy as I was.
I can see why people love it, defo it’s a great holiday and good fun. But maybe that’s it. I’ll dwell some more over the next months.
Finally, thanks all for the hints tips and support. It’s been a great resource for me.
Turns out a chap in our beginners group snapped his leg in two places today…”one last run”.
It's been an interesting thread following your progress, I'm pleased it all ended well. Holidays are rarely perfect in the same way as life is rarely perfect. When I worked for a holiday company I soon realized that the gap between the reality and people's expectations was the main cause of discontent. For a first time skiing I reckon things went pretty well for you and you made the most of it despite non-brochure weather, crap boots and being pushed beyond your ability by an instructor.
If there is a next time you'll be more knowledgeable about the boots, probably book fewer more personalised classes and be less bothered by snowy days.
If you do go again have a look at resorts like Sainte Foy where it's totally geared up to a UK clientelle.
I’ve been here all week, and to be fair, the weather has been grim - by far the worst in the 5 times I’ve been to PT. Really only Monday could be classed as ‘pleasant’, but the lower slopes got slushy by early afternoon in the sunshine. The rest of the week has been distinctly unpleasant, despite some really nice snow on the ground, the visibility has been very poor, with flat light and falling snow - full whiteout on occasions.
The Bleiss run had fantastic snow, but wouldn’t be any fun if you couldn’t see the ground.
The week redeemed itself a little this afternoon when the higher runs cleared up, but not a good week to learn overall.
For me, at least, it’s not about bombing down the scariest run as fast as you can, but the feeling of scything through a series of turns in perfect control (it doesn’t happen often!) whilst surrounded by beautiful scenery.
I’m sorry that you didn’t have a more positive experience, but the weather was against all of us.
Typical conditions:
Accidents are still rare though.
It's tricky when most British skiers are recreational skiers/snowboarders, managing only one or two weeks of Alpine holidays per year. What I mean is, we have to ski regardless of the weather and conditions under foot, due to time restrictions.
I'm at home having had a 'bad' skiing accident back in January. My accident was caused by an unseen obstacle on a red piste (I wasn't the only one to hit it and crash). However this has not put me off as it's still a rare occurrence.
The OP has given it his best shot in difficult conditions with an instructor who possibly (at a guess) is wishing the season is almost over.
His son has taken to it like a duck to water and maybe, just maybe the OP could pick a small resort (like Saint Foy Tarentaise, mentioned by edukator above) to give it another go. I've had different instructors in St Foy and they've all been good, friendly and very patient.
It may well be stating the obvious, but skiing is incredibly dependent on weather conditions, and this year has been poor at best.
It’s one of the reasons that I prefer mountain biking in the Alps to skiing, it’s just more reliably good.
When skiing conditions are good (not too busy, fluffy snow, good visibility) then skiing can be brilliant. It’s also easier to make the best of sub-optimal conditions as you become more experienced, ie knowing which slopes to ski in which conditions and at what times of day. However the sad fact is that in the past couple of years, good conditions are becoming rarer and rarer.
Yes, it’s still been good higher up this year, but resort runs and links have been dreadful. It’s been harder going in the afternoons, which coupled with poor visibility have made it really hard work.
I used to be a really keen skier, these days I’m just an occasional skier. I have to say if I was just getting into it at the moment, I’m not sure I’d find it worth the bother.
I’d tend to concur @Kramer, I’ve booked for Solden Bike Republic for the end of June and I think the chances of getting decent and appropriate weather are greater. This will be around my eighth alps biking trip and aside from an odd day of biblical rain (Morzine), it’s always been a blast. And I absolutely love seeing the mountains and valleys in all their green splendidry. Ideally, if I can muster up some company, I’ll do White Room next year.
I haven’t ruled out going skiing again but the weather/conditions thing makes it feel more of a gamble, as I feel like I’d still be a newbie with the little progress I made last week. I may book some indoor lessons in the spring/summer and just see if I can refine things, and if I get some confidence, that may spur me to go again.
Albeit, I am nursing a really sore right knee after having the most innocuous of falls on the next to last day. Sort of happened in slow motion and was sure either my ankle or knee was busted, but it’s likely just a tweak.
Dunno about bike weather. We had 39C in at the top of the Pleney (think it was Pleney - somewhere in LG/M/A area of PdS) in August last year.
That’s just too hot. Even the trails were crumbling from the heat.
I'm sure you probably made more progress than you realise, it may be that you're measuring it against that of your teenaged son, which is always a recipe for disaster?
This will be around my eighth alps biking trip
It's difficult to compare biking & skiing trips because, presumably(!?), you could already ride a bike before you went to the Alps and it's something you practice throughout the rest of the year.
It's shit being a beginner at anything and unless you're naturally gifted the first couple of weeks you won't be very good at it and it is difficult to learn. If you persevere you will get to the stage that it all comes together and you start to enjoy it, if you want to. It's not for everyone and like others have said this season has been "varied" at best.
OP - we were in the 3V (mottaret) this last week, so a fair bit higher then you I think. Snow quality was very altitude-dependent and I wonder if that's partly why yr instructor took you "up". Our lower snow was heavy, which needs speed (therefore confidence) to ski nicely. Don't write yourself off just yet; it was a tricky week
Our vis was shit almost all week (and my vision suffered more than our younger group members). I consider myself a pretty good skier for an englishman and I had some awful runs this week, where I might as well have had my eyes closed.
Did you get the wind, too - ours closed multiple lifts esp on Friday (there's some terrifying video on the BBC of an Italian chairlift 😮 )