beginners advice please

For a small fee, I will find anyone a holiday anywhere at a fantastic price )

Hi Ruby1

Bear in mind that when you take ski lessons it is most likely that the adults and kids will be separated. The norm is to meet up for lunch and then at the ski school meeting place at the end of the day. Can recommend the 1st Wildschonau Ski School in Niederau, Austria for lessons. :-)

It's difficult to advise you of a sure-fire instructor. Even if you go to a highly recommended school; you will unlikely get the same person who received the accolade. One trick is to try to meet a potential instructor before you book to try to get a vibe off them - if you get a bad vibe then you are better off sourcing another. (I realise the logistics of this pre-booking but it can be done once in resort).

The key is to tell the instructor what you are experiencing. If things are moving too fast then inform them.

Have fun, don't push yourself too hard, have a darn good health insurance plan, take your time. You'll love it. I found it helpful to talk to other skiers and heed thier advice :P Befriend and orthopedic surgeon

IceGhost wrote:Have fun, don't push yourself too hard, have a darn good health insurance plan, take your time. You'll love it. I found it helpful to talk to other skiers and heed thier advice :P Befriend and orthopedic surgeon

To give a little perspective, I'm on the slopes fifty to seventy times a year. I have never needed to see a doctor for any injury from skiing or snowboarding.

Trencher

Hi Ruby,

We are also a family of 4 (2 adults at 40+ and 2 kids, 10 & 15, who were 9 and 14 when we first went).

We have been skiing for the last 2 years, and hopefully again in 2009.

On both occasions we have had group lessons. It can be a bit of a rabble to begin with but I have found that it soon settles down and you find yourself in the appropriate group. Its easier if you're complete beginners as you would go straight into the beginners group. Our kids have left us behind now and are in different groups!! but they want to snowboard next year.

I had never skied before we went and my wife had been when she was at school. We went to a local dry slope for a family session but I just wanted to know what it felt like with skis and boots on. It was easier to learn on real snow in the resort.

Personally I wouldn't spend money on dry slope lessons

Enjoy it. Just ski within your capabilities, and don't worry if you feel others are making more progress, you will get there. I couldn't get the prallel turns last year but this year it clicked and I was fine and was able to ski red runs this time with confidence.

All the best to you.

Personally, I would never compare indoor lessons to those out on the alps. In my experience, indoor lessons are rushed and geared towards the best person in the group - lessons on the snow are quite the contrary.

I had an indoor snowboard lesson in milton keynes which completely put me off snowboarding. My Partner (a seasoned skier) had a few lessons on snowboarding in the alps and loved it. I suppose the lesson here is that nothing compares to being out there - in terms of lessons as well as scenary/atmosphere etc.

We are taking the kids next year (14 and 9) and I am completely sure they will be better than me! I can confirm though that the norm is separate lessons for adults and children, then meet up for lunch and ski together in the afternoon.

julietP wrote:Personally, I would never compare indoor lessons to those out on the alps. In my experience, indoor lessons are rushed and geared towards the best person in the group - lessons on the snow are quite the contrary.

I suppose the lesson here is that nothing compares to being out there - in terms of lessons as well as scenary/atmosphere etc.

Perhaps the OP could look at learning on a dry slope. My own experience: I took 4 hours of tuition on a dry slope, and had some practice time by myself. After the ski-off in resort, I was put into a group who all had 5 weeks on-snow experience. So, yes, lessons could be seen as rushed, but then again, I think I learned more in the tuition time.

If I was in a group having tuition, and the lesson was geared to the weakest group member, I would be asking to move groups, since I don't expect to be standing around. I don't need to pay an instructor to stare at the wonderful scenery, I need a lift ticket for that.
It will all depend on how you view lessons, for some folks, it's a social activity, for others, it's to improve their skills.