Skier and Snowboarder’s Jo Lewis made a visit to The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead for her first ever ski lesson.
What better way to start the working week on a dreary Monday in winter than by hitting the slopes?
I headed off to The Snow Centre, the real snow ski and snowboard facility in Hemel Hempstead, for my first ever ski lesson, and with the UK having been covered by a blanket of snow the previous week I found myself somewhat acclimatised for the day ahead.
The visit to the centre had been kindly organised by Louise Newton from Iglu Ski, who was there to lead the way and cheer me on throughout. We had time for a quick look around the venue before my lesson – The Snow Centre is set over three floors with a great shop downstairs for browsing and buying the latest clothing and equipment, a large area with a kit room for getting ready for your adventure on the first floor and then the lovely alpine-feel restaurant The Lodge Bar & Kitchen on the second floor. Here you can relax, have a drink and dine overlooking the slopes, seated in a beautifully decorated room with a real mountain feel, adding the alpine experience.
But soon it was time to get kitted out. The beauty of The Snow Centre is they can provide everything you need to give skiing a go, without needing to invest in equipment before you are sure you have fallen in love with the sport. The helpful staff selected the right waterproofs, helmet, boots and skis to suit my needs – you can also buy some gloves there if you don’t have any waterproof ones yourself.
Dressed and ready to go, my instructor Caitlin arrived for my one-on-one lesson – and so it was time to hit the slopes for the first time. Having arrived for a morning lesson, the temperature on the slopes was around -6C to ensure the snow is kept in the best condition, this means the temperature only gets up to around -2C after a day full of bodies skiing in there, allowing the snow to remain at optimum condition.
Easing me into the lesson gently, we began with the basics, being shown how to attach, release and carry the skis – and then quickly we were off to the training slope. The centre has a 160m main slope (where you have to be able to control speed and direction, perform controlled linked turns, stop when required and use the button lift unassisted in order to use it) as well as the UK’s largest indoor lesson slope, where I was to begin.
We started off with Caitlin showing me the best way to get up a slope – side stepping and turning the edge of the skis into the snow to stop me from sliding back down. I was soon appreciating the sub zero temperature, especially as I worked hard to try not to scoop up too much snow on the skis as I made my way up the slope.
The beauty of learning on real snow is that you get a feel for how to position your skis in it, as well as the fact that the surface changes as skiers go over it, giving you a realistic feel for how it will be up on the mountains.
Having discovered how to get up the slope, it was time to learn how to get back down in a controlled manner – with Caitlin showing me the correct body position I needed to be in and angles to have my skis at for a smooth, controlled descent.
After repeating this many times and giving my inner thighs a definite workout, we then looked to get me higher up the slope using the magic carpet. While getting on was an easier task, stepping off took more thought than I was expecting – needing to turn your leading leg to a right angle and position your ski on the slope so it was secure before lifting your following one off and swinging it round to match so you didn’t immediately start sliding down the slope. As the magic carpet is continually moving you need to manoeuvre swiftly – one time as I went to lift my trailing foot off I managed to disconnect my boot from my ski and the ski carried on going up the carpet by itself – until a helpful fellow skier grabbed it for me!
Caitlin was very encouraging throughout, reminding me how to position myself each time we descended, leaning into the boots while keeping my head up to ensure my balance – rather than constantly looking at what my feet were doing! Cunningly, each time we alighted the magic carpet she had taken us a little further up the slope, gradually giving a longer run downhill.
Although the aim was for me to go straight down the slope in a controlled fashion practising braking, my legs seemed to have a different idea – so as I seemed to be making smooth turns we progressed on to how to zig zag down the slope. Turning right proved much more natural for my legs, but then changing to go left did not happen so smoothly – so I definitely need to give that some practise.
When it comes to turning, I had no idea how much there was to think about, with where you shifted your weight, the direction of the ski that is turning you and the position of the other ski in order to keep you balanced and in control. I am sure with practice my body will move without thought, but on some occasions I found myself over thinking and panicking as I picked up speed.
Before I knew it my time on the slopes was over, but I had definitely got a taste for skiing. And somehow I had managed to make it through the lesson without falling (although I did have to be caught once), but in hindsight maybe that would have been an added part of the experience!
Having handed back my gear, it was time to head to the bar upstairs to have some delicious tartiflette in the restaurant with Louise while we relaxed watching the other skiers enjoying their day out zipping down the slopes.
Categories: Club & Slope News, News
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