Need skiing lessons - anyone used Snozone?

Raider

Raider

Raider

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,576
Location
Leamington Spa / Oxford
I'm going skiing for the very first time with some friends in January, and I wanted to get a few lessons just to familiarise myself a bit.

I noticed that the SnoZone place is in Milton Keynes, which isn't too far. The prices for private lessons are obscene, but they do group lessons for around £27 an hour, or £75 for a 3-hour course.

Anyone tried this place, or one of the other Snozones? Any advice or experiences welcomed
 
if you've never done it, i'd take the 3 hour course

if you know that jump & turn is the way to do it, instead of 'slow plough' straight off, then you'll learn quicker..

feels weird at first, but once you force yourself to do that, you'll learn really quickly
 
bledd. How long does the average person take to learn the basics? Always fancied this myself and since I now live in milton keynes I dont really have an excuse not to...

Oh and wtf do you mean by jump and turn? :D
 
well at first they'll probably teach you the 'snow plough' method of turning and stopping, (basically, making a V with your skis) which is useless after you get past that point of learning..

keep your skis parallel, then jump and turn 30 degree's to the left, then the same, but 60 to the right, then the same and 60 to the left, repeat..

basically what this guy is doing around 45 seconds in..
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-learn-the-skiing-basics-and-fundamentals-194329/

i have no sound here, so have no idea what the video is like..

then to stop, do a 90 degree jump/turn and lean into the slope :)



i'm no expert, but it's great fun
 
Last edited:
It's not really a jump and turn, more a bounce and turn ;)

I love skiing, been skiing since I was about 6 but haven't been in probably about 4 years now :(

Edit: Jump and turns are for very steep slopes.
 
Last edited:
bledd. said:
well at first they'll probably teach you the 'snow plough' method of turning and stopping, (basically, making a V with your skis) which is useless after you get past that point of learning..

keep your skis parallel, then jump and turn 30 degree's to the left, then the same, but 60 to the right, then the same and 60 to the left, repeat..

basically what this guy is doing around 45 seconds in..
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-learn-the-skiing-basics-and-fundamentals-194329/

i have no sound here, so have no idea what the video is like..

then to stop, do a 90 degree jump/turn and lean into the slope :)



i'm no expert, but it's great fun
Click to expand...

Sorry, but what? Snowploughing is designed to teach you about weight shifting and it by far the best thing to do when starting. Hockey stopping and parallel turns will come later but jumping turns is never needed (ok, maybe on really steep stuff or moguls). Have a look at the video below, its the best way to start. (p.s no expert either but have been skiing for 17 years)

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-do-basic-turns-when-skiing-17978/view/

I would try the lessons, do as much as you can afford before you go, I havn't done lessons at the snow dome but friends have and they seemed to enjoy them. Doing more before means you have more chance of going solo when you go away, it usually is cheaper (when including lift pass etc) to do them over here anyway.

p.s don't skimp on socks, buy a few decent pairs, they're worth their weight in gold.
 
My gf had 2 3 hour skiing lessons at MK taking her up to level 4. She then went on her first skiing holiday and the lessons learned were invaluable. Very good place to get a starter and pick up the basics before hitting the mountain.
 
xarr said:
p.s don't skimp on socks, buy a few decent pairs, they're worth their weight in gold.
Click to expand...

Most important bit ever!

Anyway i used to live back in mk (before uni) and the snow zone is an ok place to get to grips with skiing...

I only did 3 hours of lessons before going on a skiing holiday and it taught me the essentials, like how to put on the boots/skis (saved about half a day of the holiday) and how to snowplow.

The snow there isnt too nice though (i think its made out of patrolium or something so dont eat it!!), its quite a bit finer than real snow and tends to ice over if too many snowboarders have been on the slope :(

You'll find its a pretty easy way to get to grips with the whole thing though, and the shops about it have mountains of useful things for a skiing holliday.

Ah i miss mk sometimes...
 
Yeh it's a great place, you'll have a lot of fun there - loads more fun than a dry slope. I'm looking forward to the new one in Hemel Hempstead opening soon!
 
I also took some lessons in MK about 5-6years back and they are very good, its really good to get a feel for it before you actually hit the slopes for real, I would definitly recommend the 3-hour session.
 
Honestly, all messing around in a Snowdome will give you is delusions of competence. Learning on a mountain is a lot more effective.
 
Raider said:
I'm going skiing for the very first time with some friends in January, and I wanted to get a few lessons just to familiarise myself a bit.

I noticed that the SnoZone place is in Milton Keynes, which isn't too far. The prices for private lessons are obscene, but they do group lessons for around £27 an hour, or £75 for a 3-hour course.

Anyone tried this place, or one of the other Snozones? Any advice or experiences welcomed
Click to expand...


Am going snowboarding for the first time in February next year, so myself and the two others going who have never been skiing or boarding before had a 3-hour lesson at the place in MK last week. That was for levels 1 & 2, and we are going back for 3 & 4 in a couple of weeks.

Thought it was excellent, the instructor was helpful and the groups are only made up of 7 or 8 people, so it's not too crowded. We went on a Wednesday and the main slope wasn't too busy, not sure how busy it gets on the weekend.

Would definitely recommend, we figured it'd be best to get the basics sorted so we get more time actually doing something once we get to the States :)
 
I did an intensive 8 hours snowboard in a weekend at the castleford snozone about 2 weeks ago and is definatley worthwhile. I can already ski and regulaly ski both dry and artificial slopes.

Personally, whilst you can learn on a dry slope, it's a much more realistic experience somewhere like snozone
 
I learnt to snowboard in MK snozone. The instructors are really good. Sometimes you can be unlucky with the training slope being pretty icy, but other times (early in the day) it's fresher. Best thing with learning is to do the lessons all together or very close together to get the best chance of picking it up.
 
I work at snozone in castleford and like u said the private lesson are an obsecene amount of money. Just stick with the single lessons and do lessons 1-6. Level's 1-2 are snowplough and snowplough turning on the nursery slope. Levels 3-4 are snowplough turning on the main slope. Try and get levels 3-4 early in the morning or at around 5ish, the slope will just have been groomed and wont be icy.

Once you have done levels 1-4 i would say do levels 5-6 as well if your off on holiday. You will appreciate the mountain a whole lot more being able to ski parrallel properly, and you will be able to experience the more challenging red and black runs.

Hope that helps.
 
Get a few lessons whilst out on your holiday, get basics (snow plough upto parallels) if you can, but this will just give you an idea of how to do it.

Once you get out there you will see what a real mountain is like and how much faster the snow is.

If you are going with some friends who are of similar level try and get a small private group, is cheaper and you get much more from the lessons than in the bigger groups.
 
Aspecto said:
Try and get levels 3-4 early in the morning or at around 5ish, the slope will just have been groomed and wont be icy.
Click to expand...

This is the problem with the snowzone at mk.. im not sure about the learners slope but the main slope does get a few patches of ice as the day wears on... so it is best to book a slot as early in the day as you can or after they kick everyone off to "groom" the ice

i definitely think at least a couple of lessons will be useful, i have been snowboarding a couple of times and the last time a few friends who had never been before joined us, and it didn't snow for the entire week... meaning the lower slopes got icy... which was not good for the poor beginners not yet good enough to travel further up the mountain to the better snow on the harder runs... If they had had a few lessons before hand and gotten the basics down they could have skipped the poor runs and gone straight to the better ones.. as it was they never really recovered
 
Mr Jack said:
Honestly, all messing around in a Snowdome will give you is delusions of competence. Learning on a mountain is a lot more effective.
Click to expand...

It's more effective perhaps but it isn't an option for everyone, I'd also argue that getting some practice in before you go is likely to make your trip that much more enjoyable. The basic principles remain the same so if you've got a beginning of the skills then that will serve you well wherever you are. I'd agree that artificial snow will never make you an expert at skiing/snowboarding but it is better than nothing.

Also if it isn't too late I'd recommend snowboarding over skiing but I am slightly biased in that regard. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom