10 Tips For Skiing Beginners

Here are our ten top tips for skiing beginners:

1. Fitness; In your first skiing lesson you’ll be using a lot of effort, walking uphill and using muscles you haven’t used before - so come prepared!
2. Being flexible as well as fit will help when skiing too
3. Use a reputable gym/trainer to get the right fitness program in preparation before going skiing for the first time
4. Using dry or indoor ski slopes can be a great idea to get the real basics out if the way
5. Beware - skiing lessons can be expensive, crowded and use low end ski instructors
6. Cheap ski lessons are a false economy and might slow progress in the long term
7. There are no “quick fixes” in ski tuition, so get good quality skiing lessons
8. Check your ski instructor's qualifications. BASI, SSE are the main bodies in UK and have differing levels, 1(entry)-4(international) for example
9. Sunscreen, clothing and eyewear are essential pieces of equipment, as well as well fitting boots. Don’t scrimp or cut corners when having skiing lessons
10. Skiing is a fun sport, so your lessons should be enjoyable. If not find a different ski instructor!

For more info on skiing for beginners and details of our ski lessons in les gets and ski lessons in morzine,

Based in Les Gets, Alpine Learning Curves service the Les Gets, Morzine and Avoriaz regions in the Portes du Soleil.

Out ski instructors are all BASI, PSIA, AASI, GEM and UK Snowsports accredited. The Alpine Learning Curves team approach to teaching is fun, knowledgeable and factual. For the ski beginner, the hard part is choosing which tuition option to take! Babs is on hand to talk you through this.

Visit www.alpinelearningcurves.co.uk to find out more!

Toys

Head have delivered all our toys for the season and I am sitting here gloating over them until the boys come and pick them up. Skis for Nathan, a snowboard for Ed, boots & skis for Joe & me.

These are the first new alpine ski boots I have bought since leaving Andorra in 2001 so it was with some trepidation I tried them on. The trouble with ski boots is that you can’t really tell if they are a good fit until you get on the slopes but first impressions were good at least. What’s a good fit? Depends really…..

Now I’m not teaching or doing performance exams any more, for me a good fit would be the same interpretation as a lot of our clients. I want something that is comfortable enough to wear all day, snug enough to enhance precision but not so tight circulation is compromised. The plastic outer shell should flex evenly and not collapse suddenly if pressure is applied to the cuff. Too stiff, however, and you will not be able to flex and extend the ankle joint effectively.

Why is it so hard to assess these things when you first try on a new pair of boots? Ski boots will bed down with wear, so that something that seems a nice and comfortable in the shop can quickly become a sloppy fit. This can seriously compromise your technique. I daresay this is a compromise a lot of recreational skiers would consider worthwhile if it means they are going to be able to ski all day in comfort but if boots are too sloppy it could result in rubbing which creates painful sores or more permanent bone spurs. So generally you should expect the boots to be uncomfortably tight to begin with and then start to relax after a few days’ wear.

Air temperature can radically effect the stiffness and therefore the flex of a boot. Most plastics are softer in warmer temperatures (ie in a nice cosy, heated shop) and get harder as the temperature drops, so your feet suddenly feel like they’ve been set in concrete when you hit the slopes! Happily manufacturers are onto this and have made lots of progress over the past few years in producing and delivering consistent and user friendly plastics but meanwhile it is still a consideration.

And then there is the whole issue of alignment. I am really really lucky and on the two occasions I have been to alignment specialists they have deemed any adjustments to be so slight as to be insignificant. A good alignment specialist is worth their weight in gold so if you are investing in a new pair of boots take the time to visit one. Solutions4Feet are mentioned on our Useful Links page, Keith in Morzine is our favourite local guy and now Alain Baxter is opening his shop in Scotland. These guys have a wealth of knowledge and experience to put at your disposal and could potentially save an awful lot of frustration and wasted effort not just in your skiing but in other sports too, not to mention injury prevention.

Not long ago I went to a friend’s place for dinner where a couple of the guys would have happily spent all night discussing the merits of power straps and whether to fasten bootclips from the top down or vice-versa. I also know a female colleague who would not contemplate starting a new season without a brand spanking new pair of boots every year. Kit has never held the same fascination for me (which is possibly one of the reasons I never made my full-cert) but even I know the powerful contribution a well selected, good fitting pair of boots can make to anyone’s ski experience.

Alpine Learning Curves offer ski lessons in Les Gets and ski lessons in Morzine - visit www.alpinelearningcurves.co.uk to find out more!

Weekends & Short Breaks

Alpine Learning Curves have always taken pride in the fact we treat our clients as individuals and in offering flexible programmes whenever and wherever we can.

In recognition of the fact that the standard ski week is now beyond many people’s budget with the economy as it is, we are offering clients the following options in an attempt to make weekend breaks and/or low season holidays a viable option:

For low season (4^th- 23^rd Dec then 7^th Jan – 4^th Feb) we are offering 5x2hr group lessons for 210 Euros per person (15 Euros less than normal price).

To set up a 5x2hr course we need a minimum of 3 compatible clients.

Weekend & Wednesday Workshops!

Every Wednesday & Saturday afternoon Alpine Learning Curves are setting up Workshops for Skiers, Boarders & Telemarkers who can't slot into group lessons based on ski-weeks but don't really want to go to the expense of private lessons either.

Workshops run with a maximum of 8 people but WE ONLY NEED TWO COMPATIBLE CLIENTS to set one up!

Ski with a top qualified British Instructor for as little as 40 Euros!

3 hour Workshops will have on snow video feedback included free!

Want more than one lesson?

We only need two compatible clients to set up a group for up to 3x2hrs

Even if you are arriving mid-week!

Checkout our web-site for more details!

Funniest Caption Competition?

Delilah seems to have picked up some bad habits while we're over here in Blighty. I thought the idea of the dentasticks was to chew them not smoke 'em!

Never mind she'll be back to being a powder hound in a couple of months - check out the video of

 Lyla Powder Lesson in the snow on our gallery!

new business cards

we've received our new ALC cards and want do see them doing strange and wonderful things!! here are 2 ideas that came from face book, where will they turn up next???

clearing glass after a mishap, from Johnny Black from Pompey and to shim a Telecaster's neck from Dom Kench from Seville, cheers chaps!!