paging UK Boarders: newbie question for the locals

wrote:
I was thinking of learning to snowboard with 4 friends in the next
few months. I was considering doing a "Learn to board in a day" course
in either MK (expensive, but local) or Tamworth (further away, but
cheaper).

Do it :-)

Can anyone who's actually done one of these tell me if they're any
good ?

I can give you my own testimonial of MK, as I did the one day
introduction course.

It rocked. The instructor (Dan - dunno if he still works there) was
brilliant. Knew his stuff, rode well himself and was a brilliant
teacher. That was back in the spring of 2005.

That was my first and last trip to the snowdome in MK, I moved to
another country where I can ride all winter on the open slopes. :-)

Will I actually be able to board after one of these courses ?

That was my one and only time on a board before doing the real thing
maybe 9 months later. I remembered a lot of the basics and definately
appreciated the foundation work.

Of course, one day is pretty tight so unless you're *really* natural at
it, you will need more time to be able to ride for fun instead of just
falling on your arse all the time. (That's not to say that falling on
your arse isn't fun... Just make sure that you take some good
painkillers for the evening and day after your trip... ;-))

How fit do my fairly unfit mates need to be for this ?

How long is a piece of string?

--
David Peacock -

David Peacock wrote:
wrote:
I was thinking of learning to snowboard with 4 friends in the next
few months. I was considering doing a "Learn to board in a day" course
in either MK (expensive, but local) or Tamworth (further away, but
cheaper).

Do it :-)

I shall.


Can anyone who's actually done one of these tell me if they're any
good ?

I can give you my own testimonial of MK, as I did the one day
introduction course.

It rocked. The instructor (Dan - dunno if he still works there) was
brilliant. Knew his stuff, rode well himself and was a brilliant
teacher. That was back in the spring of 2005.

Cool - that's the sort of thing I was after. Someone who did it and had
a good time.


That was my first and last trip to the snowdome in MK, I moved to
another country where I can ride all winter on the open slopes. :-)

Will I actually be able to board after one of these courses ?

That was my one and only time on a board before doing the real thing
maybe 9 months later. I remembered a lot of the basics and definately
appreciated the foundation work.

Of course, one day is pretty tight so unless you're *really* natural at
it, you will need more time to be able to ride for fun instead of just
falling on your arse all the time. (That's not to say that falling on
your arse isn't fun... Just make sure that you take some good
painkillers for the evening and day after your trip... ;-))

What I meant to ask was - were you safe to go on a hill / slope with
other people or did you need to take more lessons. I presume it was the
former.


How fit do my fairly unfit mates need to be for this ?

How long is a piece of string?

2 foot. Now what's the answer to my question ?

I don't know - I play a bunch of squash and occasionally train in
martial arts, I expect I will manage the day no problem. A couple of my
mates consider walking to the bar sufficient exercise for the week - I
suspect that they will have an interesting time. The g/f does pilates
quite a bit so that should be interesting.

Thanks for the answer.

wrote:
David Peacock wrote:
That was my one and only time on a board before doing the real thing
maybe 9 months later. I remembered a lot of the basics and definately
appreciated the foundation work.

Of course, one day is pretty tight so unless you're *really* natural at
it, you will need more time to be able to ride for fun instead of just
falling on your arse all the time. (That's not to say that falling on
your arse isn't fun... Just make sure that you take some good
painkillers for the evening and day after your trip... ;-))

What I meant to ask was - were you safe to go on a hill / slope with
other people or did you need to take more lessons. I presume it was the
former.

Safe is a mindset. I was safe from the first time I strapped in because
I listened to my instructor about safety and have an IQ greater than 4,
all the basics like give priority to those downhill of you, and
generally be aware of other people. That's enough to make you safe in
the early stages.

However, one day is not enough for most people to get competent enough
to be considered even a beginner. Most people say that the magic number
is three days of effort before you "get it" and can then ride.

Of course, snowboarding is a life-skill, you will always be able to
improve.

Did I go back for formal lessons after one day? No. Is that a good
thing? Dunno. What I do know is that I can ride at a basic level,
controlling myself on the hill and am able to have fun. I have a long
way to go. :-)

How long is a piece of string?

2 foot. Now what's the answer to my question ?

LOL!

I don't know - I play a bunch of squash and occasionally train in
martial arts, I expect I will manage the day no problem. A couple of my
mates consider walking to the bar sufficient exercise for the week - I
suspect that they will have an interesting time. The g/f does pilates
quite a bit so that should be interesting.

Snowboarding is a very physical activity. If they have trouble
rollerblading or mountainbiking or even kicking a football around, they
will have problems snowboarding. You use your entire body. That said, I
am not exactly Mr Fitness. I guess that doesn't help you much - it's a
tough one to guage.

--
David Peacock -

wrote:
Sean wrote:
In particular, this thread may interest you:
http://www.snowboardclub.co.uk/PNphp...c-t-13059.html


Cool. I'll take a look later.

And I have. This is the forum I was reading yesterday. I tried to
register but that didn't work so I've mailed the admin people to see if
they can fix it. Looks like an interesting place.
Thanks.

On Tue, 30 May 2006 15:10:27 GMT, allegedly
wrote:

[2] and never having seen one I'm assuming that they run all the way to
the foot of the mountain - maybe they don't. Possibly I should stick to
what I know for explanations - but where's the fun in that ?

It depends on the type. A hard slab one can start, go so far and stop.
An airbourne powder one will hit the valley floor and then continue on. If
the other side of the valley is close enough, it can go up the other side,
depending on the power it picks up on the way down.

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow -
Securing your e-mail

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://rssFAQ.org/

Switters wrote:
On Tue, 30 May 2006 15:10:27 GMT, allegedly
wrote:

[2] and never having seen one I'm assuming that they run all the way to
the foot of the mountain - maybe they don't. Possibly I should stick to
what I know for explanations - but where's the fun in that ?

It depends on the type. A hard slab one can start, go so far and stop.
An airbourne powder one will hit the valley floor and then continue on. If
the other side of the valley is close enough, it can go up the other side,
depending on the power it picks up on the way down.


Sounds nasty that. Hopefully it won't happen at X-scape while I'm there.

wrote:
Switters wrote:
On Tue, 30 May 2006 15:10:27 GMT,
allegedly wrote:

[2] and never having seen one I'm assuming that they run all the
way to the foot of the mountain - maybe they don't. Possibly I
should stick to what I know for explanations - but where's the fun
in that ?

It depends on the type. A hard slab one can start, go so far and
stop. An airbourne powder one will hit the valley floor and then
continue on. If the other side of the valley is close enough, it can
go up the other side, depending on the power it picks up on the way
down.


Sounds nasty that. Hopefully it won't happen at X-scape while I'm
there.

No - the avalanche is more likely to start in your wallet and finish in the
till!

wrote:
wrote:
Sean wrote:
In particular, this thread may interest you:
http://www.snowboardclub.co.uk/PNphp...c-t-13059.html


Cool. I'll take a look later.

And I have. This is the forum I was reading yesterday. I tried to
register but that didn't work so I've mailed the admin people to see if
they can fix it. Looks like an interesting place.
Thanks.

But sadly I'm not allowed to join Not even so much as a "Dear
Gertrude, get stuffed, signed the admins" email... ah well.

On Thu, 01 Jun 2006 09:07:08 GMT, allegedly
wrote:

wrote:

And I have. This is the forum I was reading yesterday. I tried to
register but that didn't work so I've mailed the admin people to see if
they can fix it. Looks like an interesting place.
Thanks.

But sadly I'm not allowed to join Not even so much as a "Dear
Gertrude, get stuffed, signed the admins" email... ah well.

Pfff, who needs them. Forums are slow, full of people with huge avatars
and difficult to navigate. You got us now.

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow -
Securing your e-mail

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://rssFAQ.org/

On Mon, 05 Jun 2006 16:32:19 GMT, allegedly
wrote:

I suspect that I'll post here in a few minutes with some dumb clothing
questions instead.

That's the point of this group: to post questions and discuss stuff. It's
was Usenet was invented for. :-)

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow -
Securing your e-mail

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://rssFAQ.org/