The time has arrived!!!

oops nope. i put the wrong year in lol that was for 2012. Wish i could go away skiing again this year.
But yeh im just after somewhere that i can book for beginners.
What would i class my self now? lol im not really a beginner but i think im far from Intermediate :lol:

Sm4sh - You're a skier, that's all that really matters :lol:

Ah yes! i am now officially a skier!!

Sm4sh,
Don't worry too much about what level of skier you are. In all the group lessons I've been in they simply ask how many weeks of ski-ing I've done and then test me with the others to separate out the groups. There is usually a group for skiers with one week of experience, which would be you. And then people generally move up or down the groups depending on how fast they improve, so that the standard of each group stays about the same. As you could see for yourself, it is very annoying when there are slow learners who hold back the rest of the group, and it's upsetting for them as well - feeling like they are being pushed on too fast out of their comfort zone.

I think that's very bad, your instructor not even turning up for the last day! You can see now why most of us were rather critical of Borovets and Bulgaria. That simply wouldn't happen in a posh (and very expensive!) resort like Courchevel, where I was. If the instructor was ill or whatever they'd find another one.

Have fun picking your resort for next year! I took my younger daughter to Zell am See in Austria for her second ski holiday, which seemed to work out very well for her.

Ally

Hi Sm4sh
So glad you had a good time in Borovets I went there and didnt have a brilliant time really ...next time I went to Andorra with some friends i made in Borovets and we had a great time, a lot of things were a lot better!! (lift queues and lifts for one!) There is a massive ski area linked up together ..and the lessons I had took me from the level you are at now, to doing reds and parallel turns in a week!
The instructors were very good and friendly and always on time and as Ally G says they ask how many weeks and check out your skiing before making groups and swap people around later if they are obviously at the wrong level...
Hope your next trip is a real good one!!!

Yeh. there was a woman who was really behind, she got upset and said our instructor was against her. and she swapped groups.

And yes it was bad that he didnt turn up for the last day. my friend saw him on one of the runs and it looked like he was teaching someone else.
Someone else saw the instructor and he said his lift pass didnt work and that we should all turn up to the presentation evening they had.
We all turned up even got him a good tip between us all. But again he didnt turn up and so we got kicked out.
We put a complaint in with our reps and are going try to get a refund on that days lessons. Dont really work out at much but going complain anyway :wink:
Ah well all in all it was a really good week. Wish i was still there now! :(

Brucie wrote:Tony,
If you feel no pain in your legs during a days ski-ing you are either Superman or staying in your comfort zone. I suspect the latter :!:

Hardly. I am definitely not superman, and I can tell you I most definitely do not ski within my comfort zone - far from it in fact, as my wife would confirm.

Hi Sm4sh

Glad you had a good time and got the bug I did exactly the same two years ago, and this weekend I embark on my 4th trip.

I have not been to Andorra or Bulgaria so can only give advice on where I have been.

Kaprun- Austria (March 2009) my first trip excellenat resort if a little quiet on a night, skiing was great and there was a mass of blues to choose from and some steady reds. I didnt find it too expensive either and food drinks were pretty reasonable. We also skied in Zell am see whilst there and again I though the skiing good.

Kranska Gora- Slovenia (Dec 2009) brilliant for beginners as nealry all the runs here were blue and quite short this was my second trip, a bit light on snow and very little to do in the town, I didnt find this resort at all challenging and after four days was pretty bored.

Mayrohofen- Austria (March 2010) I loved this reosrt for my third trip and would definatley go back although I do like to experiance other places. There was so much to do here skied lots of blues and some quite challenging reds, also had excellant one on one coaching which I am sure brought me on leaps and bounds so was worth the money. Town is excellant too with loads to do we took in some traditional Austrian nights which were great.

This time Austria again but we are going to Soll not too sure how the snow is so that's my only worry but I will see on Sunday cant wait.

I think from what little advice I can give I would go with a larger resort as you have plenty to go at all the time and they generally seem to be much more on the ball with instuctors etc.

Some of my friends have tried Bulgaria and didnt like it too much but thats there opinion I suppose.

Enjoy your skiing it took me 38 years to do it first time and now its the one thing that gets booked first, I cant understand what took me so long its a great holiday.

Hope this helps

Steve