Ideas on snowboarding

Looking for guidance with snowboarding in Italy for a first timer or would elsewhere be better?

Italy would be a good bet for first time snowboarding but probably most skiers will argue that France, Andorra, Austria, USA etc. are also good and you couldn't argue with that. What I think you should aim for is a resort that doesn't entail you, as a novice, having to negotiate drag lifts or T-bars but look for a resort that offers either chair lifts to your area or cabins-in other words you remove your board for entry into cabins and sit down if you are on a chair lift. If you are keen on Italy a pretty good bet would be Madonna di Campiglio which is a popular resort with freestyle boarders. Also La Plagne, in France, must be worth considering. It has five terrain zones with all manner of facilities for boarders and if you stay in the top villages (Aime La Plagne, Plagne Bellcote, or Plagne Village you can start off from outside your front door. If your budget stretches to the USA probably Breckenridge is an ideal place to get into boarding with some very flattering 'flat' runs to start you off. Wish you luck.

ryjax wrote:Looking for guidance with snowboarding in Italy for a first timer or would elsewhere be better?

When do you plan on going? A group of us from J2Ski (and our friends and family) are going to Folgarida (linked with Madonna di Campiglio) on 2nd Feb.

This is what www.worldsnowboardguide.com have to say about Folgarida:

Beginners can come here knowing that they won't be disappointed. The resort is ideal for novices with an excellent selection of easy runs to try out, including good nursery areas that can be easily reached but are serviced by draglifts.

http://www.worldsnowboardguide.com/resorts/italy/folgarida/resort_riding.cfm

We have 3 snowboarders coming with us already.

But even if you can't manage to go there at the same time as us, I think it would be a good place to go. Folgarida is cheaper than Madonna di Campiglio.

Best advice....... Get your board and cut it in two down the length.
Strap the two halves to each foot and crack on.