btw, is this the same missus that expects flowers and chocolate every friday?

Seriously?? WTF?

Learning to snowboard involves a week of pain. Once it clicks its the most fun you can have in snow and you will be hitting the black runs. You can learn to “ski” in three days but progression will be slow and you will spend every holiday mincing it down the green and blues.

snowboarding is generally easier to pick up than skiing. after a week you should be going down runs! skiing, to perfect, takes longer but it’s far more fun than bumboarding 😈

after a week you should be going down runs!

It takes a lot less than a week.

My first experience on a board was lying to the hire shop by blagging that I could do it “set it up goofy please mate” (the only term I knew) and going straight to the top of a red in Tignes on a chairlift. I’d been on a monoski for a couple days and thought it can’t be much different, can it?

An hour later I got to the bottom of the run with an arse like Mike Tyson’s cellmate……but…. I had managed to link a couple of turns by then and a couple of days cruising blues it felt almost in control.

My advice would be to definitely get some lesson at a snowdome and buy a Buttshield – best few quid I’ve ever spent 😉

Is she bike fit? if so it shouldn’t be that hard physically.

I leanrned in Les Deux Alpes on a one week holiday with 3 morning lessons, by the end of the week I managed to ride from the highest point of the glacier to the village at the bottom.
That was 15 years (ish) ago and I go abroad most winters now.

If your mates are getting deals like that, definitely stick with them, Canada is still on my wishlist!

I found it quite hard work, but by the third day or so the tired legs and stomach muscles are just normal and you’ll be spending a lot less time falling over and getting up again so it gets a bit easier on the body over a week. Wrist guards and helmet are recommended based on my experience, I had a skier’s pole smack the back of my head as he shot past me after I had fallen over, would have made a real mess without the helmet. Its very hard to override the urge to put your arms out when you catch an edge and fall, and someone in my group broke her wrist doing just that half way through the week.

Have a look at Neil Mcnab’s book Snowboarding and its accompanying DVD. I Learnt to board in 2 hours at the snowdome at the age of 40, still ripping up powder now 16 years later!

+1 for this book, really helped me understand what I needed to be doing when learning. Also a big +1 for getting the basics sorted at proper snow dome before you go on holiday.

When learning you will fall over a lot and it will hurt, and you need a fair amount of determination to persevere with it. Skiing is a lot easier from this point of view, mostly because getting it wrong is a lot less painful. From what you say about your missus skiing could be a better bet. Also if she will just be pootling around on piste then skiing is much less of a faff.

Once you get the hang of turns they are pretty much effortless

That is a pretty sweet moment, everything just clicks and you can carve your way down slopes effortlessly. It was the 2nd day of my 4th holiday for me, but I’m a slow learner. Was riding reds and mincing the occasional black by the end of the first hol but was hard work. So much easier now.

BASI 2 instructor here with some dryslope teaching experience!

4-hour sessions is a good length. Full-day is too much (you’ll be wrecked!). 2 hours means you have to stop just when you’re starting to get the hang of it.

At the end of 2 4-hour sessions, you should be getting the hang of turning, but not everyone will achieve this. Skate/surf/windsurf/wakeboard/kitesurf experience will massively speed-up the learning process. I’d suggest 2 weekends like this, with some practise in-between, would prepare you pretty well for going on a trip to the mountains.

Butt-shorts and a helmet are a good idea, never been that fussed on wrist guards. Opinion is pretty divided on their effectiveness, even within the industry. If you don’t have a background in “stuff that makes you fall over” (mountain-biking, rugby, martial arts, etc.!) then it’s maybe a good idea.

Physically, it can be tough. With a good instructor and a small group, then there shouldn’t be too much falling over, but a couple of falls are probably inevitable. A lot of girls really struggle to go from sitting down to getting up onto the board. We get the “I just don’t have the strength!” line a lot, when actually it’s technique that’s important, not strength. A hand up the first few times sorts most people, but we used to keep a “booster seat” at the side of the slope for those who really struggled! Expect aching abs from lifting yourself up (until you get the technique right!) and burning thighs (until you can relax and get the balance).

As for dryslope versus snowdome versus real mountain, I don’t really have a strong opinion. Dryslope is a little harder to learn on, but the difference is less than some suggest. It also encourages good technique as “cheating” doesn’t work as well! There’s more friction than with real snow, so things happen a bit slower, which can actually be a good thing for beginners. Learning in the mountains is awesome, but better to learn before you go and make the most of your limited holiday time.

Oh aye, and turning<>carving. 😉

I’d second what Steveomcd said, try before you go and a snowdome is a better option than dryslope.

In terms of learning on the mountain, get a good instructor, preferably from a snowboarding school rather than a ski and board one.

On average the beginners we have coming to stay with us have a Eureka moment by their third lesson and from that moment on start to have massive smiles on their faces when we pick them up at the end of the day.

A couple of other things. Firstly I’d recommend getting a helmet, rather than hiring one. You’ll get a more comfortable one and they are worth it. Pretty much everyone I know out here wouldn’t board without one.

Secondly I wouldn’t recommend wrist guards. The first thing my instructor told me when I was learning was not to put my wrists out or I’d end up breaking them. If you fall hard enough to break your wrist, but are wearing guards, the chances are you’ll end up with a break further up your arm.

Either way I’d say just get out and do it. Both of you will love it, superfit or not.

Andy

Pretty much everyone I know out here wouldn’t board without one.

A risk compensation at its finest.

*TJ to the thread please* 😉

Secondly I wouldn’t recommend wrist guards. The first thing my instructor told me when I was learning was not to put my wrists out or I’d end up breaking them. If you fall hard enough to break your wrist, but are wearing guards, the chances are you’ll end up with a break further up your arm.

Yeah this is a common statement. i felt that the number of small low speed incidents I had where I had instinctively put my arms out to land justified wearing them, as they would have been pretty painful without the guards if not breaking my wrists. maybe when I get faster I’ll stop wearing them.

If you fall hard enough to break your wrist, but are wearing guards, the chances are you’ll end up with a break further up your arm.

This is such crap. There are a couple of my cousins friend’s brother’s uncle’s vicar’s daughter had this happen to her stories out there and now it is repeated as fact all over the internet.
How many people fall with wristguards on and don’t break their wrist or arm? We don’t know because it is a non event and not reported. You can bet that it is a significant number given how many beginners wear wristguards and fall over, a lot. If this was a genuine problem it would be much more publicised and have stats to support it.

I’ve got no axe to grind here, I don’t wear wristguards nor do I work for a wristguard manufacturer, I just hate to see this rubbish repeated as fact.

Don’t bother. You’ll end up loving it, she won’t enjoy it that much, you’ll end up getting pi$$ed off at her for not being into it and moaning.

Avoid the hassle.

If you must though, ski-ing is a lot less painfull to learn and less off putting to unfit novices.

I do both ski and board but find i’m enjoying the ski more these days, i also think its a bit cooler and more “on trend”that boarding in the alps.

You will never know if she will struggle or not until she tries it, physically it’s tiring for ALL beginners as you will be tense which leads to muscle fatigue. You both will fall lots including the inevitable catching of an edge and face planting this will frustrate annoy the hell out you but it’s all part of learning to board.

Just remember patience is key here and keeping the weight on your front foot which will feel odd as your natural reaction is to weight the back foot, this will lead to no end of cartoon moments 😆
When linking turns you will get the I’ve cracked it moment as it all clicks, your first turns will be gentle sliding turns and once you have these down you both will have the biggest smiles on your faces.

Helmets are a definite, wrist guards your choice but my opinion for a learner is yes, boots these are the most important piece of kit you need as poor fitting boots will wreck you within 5 minutes so if hiring try on as many as possible until you find the comfiest pair.

Don’t bother. You’ll end up loving it, she won’t enjoy it that much, you’ll end up getting pi$$ed off at her for not being into it and moaning.

MrsGrahamS and I have been boarding together for more than ten years and both love it.

I learned to snowboard 2 years ago and have since been on four further boarding holidays. I’d definitley recommend that you buy either padded shorts or a marvellous little invention called an Asspad (I failed to do either of these things on my first holiday, slipped on some ice and broke my coccyx which was infinitely more painful than any injury I’ve received in biking. But don’t let this tale of woe put you off). I’d also recommend learning on real snow; we went on a beginners’ course in Bulgaria with the entire holiday costing less than a course of lessons at X-Scape.
Finally, as long as you’re basically bike fit then there shouldn’t be any problem. There’s a bit of walking uphill involved at first, but then let the chairlift take the strain.

snowboarding appears more cool

Not a good reason. IME snowboarding had a faster learning curve to carving and off-piste (than skiing*), as long as you don’t mind taking a few knocks. That’s a good reason.

Deffo put a towel down your pants and use some light wrist protection when learning.

*I have no objection to skiing. In the same way I have no objection to road cycling 😉

I was pretty fit when I did the “learn in a day” at castleford and it was tough, a lot of groups don’t get to level 4 (allowed to use the big drag lift on your own) which is pretty poor IMHO. I’ve had a couple of gos on snowflex slopes and can’t say that it felt anything like real snowboarding, dendix might be better. I’d weigh the costs – taking a day out of your holiday and getting a private lesson will almost certainly get you better tuition/less time waiting for lifts/descent snow snow to learn on and you’ll get some idea about mountain etiquette etc. when we went on our first holiday we all strapped in at the top of the hill and didn’t have a clue what to expect next…

Looking back over the last few years I think I’d have had more fun on the slopes without my GF there, but she makes the holiday more enjoyable overall. I’ve seen, and been amused by some much funnier slopeside tantrums than she has ever manged to be fair, but I do keep pumping her with haribo through the day.

My kids have rip-stiks – skateboards with 2 wheels and the board twists in the middle. Once moving downhill the action is SOOO much like snowboarding – it must be a good way to learn without being on snow/dendex.

we went on a beginners’ course in Bulgaria with the entire holiday costing less than a course of lessons at X-Scape

Xscape is £29 a lesson or a Learn to Board four lesson Beginners course for £105.

If you got flights, accommodation, lift pass, equipment and lessons for less than that then I’m seriously impressed!

I tried snowboarding. It’s like skiing, except less fun. Happily, its fallen out of fashion.