Soldeu - Easiest Blue run's...Help?

I'm off to Soldeu in a few weeks and this will be my second ski trip. My last was a total disaster and I want to avoid a similar situation happening again. Prior to my previous (first) ski trip I had a fair amount of lessons at Manchester Chill Factore and completed both beginner and improver lessons. I went to Bansko and after on two runs down a green was coaxed up to the blue Plato run which was far more challenging than I had anticipated and as a result took a bad tumble on my first day and badly sprained my knee, so was escorted off the mountain. This experience has really knocked my confidence and I am now having a panic about going back on the slopes. Can anyone recommend a very easy and wide blue in Soldeu??

You need to go to a ski school to learn how to ski in a real mountain environment. I don't think indoor slopes are really comparable to an actual mountains, unless you are on a flat run.

Crabby - welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear of your tumble - knocked confidence is the principle problem for most beginners (you get nervous so the natural desire is to sit back which is only going to go one way....). You're doing the right thing by "getting back on the horse" and huge respect to you for that as many people never recover psychologically from their first bad tumble and never ski again, sadly.

I'm off to Soldeu in 10 days myself so we may overlap? I haven't been for 15 years (everywhere else around the ski globe since) so can't really help you with specific runs.

I would say though that your best bet to a) regain confidence and b) get advice on slopes is to have a lesson in resort

Andorra is famed for its excellent, English speaking, ski school. A private lesson for a couple of hours (if you don't want to do full on ski school) will give you confidence as they reinforce strong technique and also show you where is suitable for your level. Time spent on the lifts can be used to "quiz" your instructor on where else in the area to try / avoid given your level

Generally speaking the pistes in Andorra are wider and better groomed than Bulgaria (generalisation I know before someone throws metaphorical rocks at me) so this will help your confidence. Just remember to tell yourself that a little more gradient is actually in your favour: you only have to think about the turning, the "downhill" bit will take care of itself - this is also a sub feature of having a wider slope so fewer turns necessary in comparison to indoor slopes where the "downhill" part often is a conscious effort for beginners.

I'm there from 22nd to 29th Jan so, if we coincide, then the missus and I would be happy to meet up and ski with you a bit to help you with your confidence (we are NOT instructors but reasonably competent and used to skiing with friends of varying abilities so I would NEVER take someone down a slope I didn't believe they were capable of and, more importantly, they were comfortable with - which seems to be the opposite of your time in Bulgaria).

Someone like Brucie will be along in a bit and he's our man on the ground in Soldeu so will be more specific about runs (and less rambling as I look back on this post).

Hope this helps though

Andy

I would definitely echo the above comments. Get into ski school and trust your instructor to gauge the runs to your ability and progression. Soldeu has a terrific beginners area near to the top of the gondola, and from there you can progress to a number of different blues. If you need any advice when you are here look me up in the Harp!

Welcome Crabby! What Andy said - a couple of hours private instruction as soon as you get on the snow, to address your specific requirements, should get you over your initial confidence hurdle. Group lessons can then bring you on in the company of others at the same level.

Do as much fitness improvement as you can before you go, including lots of stretches and balance exercises - just a few minutes a day can make a big difference. Also take time to warm up your muscles before you ski each day (most of us forget to do this); less chance of sprains and pulls, and you'll ski better too...

But most of all - have fun! 8)

Thanks guys for some real constructive advice. Unfortunately my over ambitious husband who has loads of snowboarding experience was too eager to get on exciting slopes but misjudged my ability on our past trip which is why it went so badly.. Hence this trip I am taking responsibility for the runs I attempt and therefore I will definitely take your advice and get a private lesson. Really appreciate your kind offer of support, it's good to think there are such helpful people out there. If you see someone flailing down the mountain it'll probably be me :-)

I would always be a strong advocate of ski-school for the first few times that you ski (and for occasional lessons for ever thereafter -)). Any half decent ski instructor will be totally aware of exactly the capabilities of each of the students in the class and will push them just enough to bring them on but not enough that it becomes deeply uncomfortable or worse still dangerous. It is a much more comfortable environment for an early skier when they don't have to worry about whether or not they are good enough to get down a particular slope. With all due respects to your hubby (and to any other friends, etc), he is not trained to know what you are capable of, no matter how good a skier he may be himself :!:.

Quite apart from the stress/safety dimension, ski school is nearly always good fun with a few other learners at the same stage of development as yourself. You will have plenty of time to spend with hubby in the evenings and, by taking a structured approach to your skill development will speed up the time when you will feel comfortable joining him on the slopes.

Anyway, hope that helps and that you discover (or rediscover) the great joy that is skiing on your forthcoming trip :thumbup:.

Echo the ski school advice.
As a second week skier I wouldn't worry about getting stuck on the blues in the Grandvalira. Generally they are wide and well groomed so even if your confidence is low you can take wide turns and flatten the hill.

For me on my second weeks skiing the wide pistes made a huge difference to me allowing me to practice safely. My first week had been in the Portes Du Soleil where many of the pistes were roads and less well groomed on the French side at least.