Snowboard beginner

Looking at skiing in 3V or Val Cenis next Feb half term and a newbie (30
year old) wants to learn to snowboard. Apart from disowning him does anyone
have any advice - especially about the best school to use, best valley in 3V
to go to or suitability in general of resorts for learning to snowboard.

Cheers
--
Paul Schofield

Time flies like an arrow
Fruit flies like a banana

"Paul Schofield" wrote
Looking at skiing in 3V or Val Cenis next Feb half term and a newbie (30
year old) wants to learn to snowboard. Apart from disowning him does
anyone
have any advice - especially about the best school to use, best valley in
3V
to go to or suitability in general of resorts for learning to snowboard.

I can recommend Tom Donnelly of RTM (http://www.rtmsnowboarding.com/) in
Courchevel as an instructor. I did a McNab Kommunity Camp
(http://www.kommunity.com/) a couple of years ago and he was one of the
resident pros on hand to offer advice and inspiration. He proved to be a
very patient and sympathetic teacher as well as being a highly skilled
rider. Although based in Courchevel you may find that RTM can offer lessons
elsewhere in the 3V.

As far as the suitability of a resort is concerned there are a few things
the novice snowboarder would do well to avoid.

1. Cat tracks - these are hell for beginner snowboarders as, when every turn
is an act of faith, the frequency and number of turns required to safely
negotiate a cat track blocked with snow-ploughing novice skiers is daunting
(remember we boarders have no equivalent of the snow-plough and turning is
the only way to control our speed).

2. Flats - all boarders hate flats because we don't have poles to push with,
we have to unstrap our rear foot to skate (very slowly), and because to
anticipate the flat spot and bomb it requires going straight - an advanced
technique on a board due to the ease of catching an edge and slamming. The
difficulty of straight-lining makes long gently graded slopes a pain too.

3. Long traverses - being stuck on one edge for a long time is very
uncomfortable (more advanced riders can hop around and ride fakie).

4. Crowds - when you are learning to snowboard you need space around you and
being on a narrow or crowded slope can be very intimidating. The problem is
exacerbated when there are lots of novice skiers about as they tend not to
anticipate where a snowboarder is going to turn and the novice snowboarder
ends up putting all his energy into avoiding skiers above him who should be
giving him the right of way.

On this basis Val Thorens is probably the best of the 3 valleys for a novice
snowboarder with lots of wide runs, few cat tracks and (apart from the golf
course) not too many flats, Meribel is probably the worst with plenty of
flats/very gentle slopes, narrow cat tracks and beginner skiers.

Oh, and don't disown your friend just yet. I have lost count of the number
of skier friends I have brought over to the dark side and when you see how
much progress he makes in a week you might just be temptedG.

Luke
--
http://www.snowgo.com - Reading, writing and riding. A snowboarder's blog.

"Playdreamer" wrote in message
...

....snipsy...


Oh, and don't disown your friend just yet. I have lost count of the number
of skier friends I have brought over to the dark side and when you see how
much progress he makes in a week you might just be temptedG.

Luke

Cheers for that Luke - though not much chance of me being corrupted though -
old dog, new tricks etc. Actually I've found as my skiing develops the
snowboarders have become less & less of an issue - except for the dozy
*******s that congregate in the middle of the piste, just over a brow!

Paul

In message , Paul
Schofield writes
except for the dozy *******s that congregate in the middle of the
piste, just over a brow!

I no longer even see these as a problem. Decapitate more snow boarders
is what I say!!
--
Pete Devlin (To email - press reply, remove Garbage Sifter)
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
Lossiemouth RUFC http://www.lossiemouth-rufc.co.uk
Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.

On Thu, 11 Mar 2004 13:03:57 +0000, pete devlin
wrote:

In message , Paul
Schofield writes
except for the dozy *******s that congregate in the middle of the
piste, just over a brow!

I no longer even see these as a problem. Decapitate more snow boarders
is what I say!!

What are you doing skiing on the piste in the first place?

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

In message , Ace
writes
On Thu, 11 Mar 2004 13:03:57 +0000, pete devlin
wrote:

In message , Paul
Schofield writes
except for the dozy *******s that congregate in the middle of the
piste, just over a brow!

I no longer even see these as a problem. Decapitate more snow boarders
is what I say!!

What are you doing skiing on the piste in the first place?

They are a means to navigate to the good bits. The only style required
on them is the egg style. When done correctly a "figure 11" track will
be left behind in the snow. This ensures a good transfer time between
areas of proper skiing. Extra points are accrued should the odd bore-der
be skied over along the way.
--
Pete Devlin (To email - press reply, remove Garbage Sifter)
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
Lossiemouth RUFC http://www.lossiemouth-rufc.co.uk
Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.

pete devlin wrote:

In message , Paul
Schofield writes

except for the dozy *******s that congregate in the middle of the
piste, just over a brow!


I no longer even see these as a problem. Decapitate more snow boarders
is what I say!!

You realise most boarders and bladers can still do several runs without
their head or brain being attached ?

Ian

pete devlin wrote:
In message , Ace
writes
On Thu, 11 Mar 2004 13:03:57 +0000, pete devlin
wrote:

In message , Paul
Schofield writes
except for the dozy *******s that congregate in the middle of the
piste, just over a brow!

I no longer even see these as a problem. Decapitate more snow
boarders is what I say!!

What are you doing skiing on the piste in the first place?

They are a means to navigate to the good bits. The only style required
on them is the egg style. When done correctly a "figure 11" track will
be left behind in the snow. This ensures a good transfer time between
areas of proper skiing. Extra points are accrued should the odd
bore-der be skied over along the way.

surely that would ruin your "figure 11" track

--
Chris *:-)

Downhill Good, Uphill BAD!

www.suffolkvikings.org.uk

In message , MoonMan
writes
surely that would ruin your "figure 11" track

Not really, just reddens it for a while. Bit like a car driving through
paint.
--
Pete Devlin (To email - press reply, remove Garbage Sifter)
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
Lossiemouth RUFC http://www.lossiemouth-rufc.co.uk
Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.

pete devlin wrote:
In message , MoonMan
writes
surely that would ruin your "figure 11" track

Not really, just reddens it for a while. Bit like a car driving
through paint.

does the missing bit count as "air"?

--
Chris *:-)

Downhill Good, Uphill BAD!

www.suffolkvikings.org.uk