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#1
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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 |
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#2
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Snowboard beginner
"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. |
#3
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Snowboard beginner
"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 |
#4
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Snowboard beginner
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. |
#5
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Snowboard beginner
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. |
#6
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Snowboard beginner
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. |
#7
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Snowboard beginner
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 |
#8
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Snowboard beginner
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 |
#9
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Snowboard beginner
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. |
#10
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Snowboard beginner
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 |
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