Skiing

I LOVE to ski! Whether its in the French Alps or the far-away land of Canada, give me a mountain with snow, two planks to strap to my feet, and I’m the happiest person in the world!

You guessed it, this page needs updating. This is currently a placeholder. I will probably get around to this when I’m away skiing, when I can think of all the things I know and love to put in here.

The content below is a WORK IN PROGRESS. Please check back later though for more up-to-date information.

Places I’ve skied

Andorra Arinsal Soldeu Pas de la Casa	Austria St. AntonBad Hofgastein / Sport Gastein / Bad Gastein	Canada Whistler / Blackcombe – BC
France Avoriaz Morzine	Italy Bardonecchia Le Thuile	USA Snowking – Jackson, WY

Equipment I use

Helmet	Salomon Allium ’08 Custom Air
Goggles	Smith Optics Knowledge OTG
Boots	Tecnica Dragon 100
Skies	Salomon X-Wing Tornado Ti with Salomon Z12 B80 bindings
Blades	Atomic ETL 123 with Salomon Z12 B80 bindings

Where can I learn to ski / snowboard?

Until relatively recently, UK residents were at a serious disadvantage when it came to learning to ski. As we are not blessed by much in the way of mountains or snow in the UK, we were always limited to dry ski slopes. When I first started, this was no exception. The dry slope in Aldershot, Hampshire was where I first started my adventure.

Thanks to advances in technology and atmospherics, a snowy mountainside can now be simulated in an indoor environment.

The Snow Centre, Hemel Hempstead

The Snow Centre at Hemel Hempstead is where I first skied indoors. It offers very realistic snow, two slopes (Main and Beginner), good instructors and a cool (simulated) mountain air. Beginner lessons are not taken on the main slope, offering a safer and more intimate experience for those less familiar with the world of snow sports.

The only two drawbacks is the  main slope is not the biggest around. While it is enough to get familiar with your equipment and the feeling of skiing, you will not be able to link many turns before you reach the bottom and have to return to the top. Peak times can mean more queuing than skiing. This is not a problem if you are partaking in a lesson, as instructors have a private queue to allow their lessons to continue uninterrupted.

The venue is very modern and offers a good aprés-ski option in the form of an upstairs café / bar overlooking the slopes. A Snow and Rock shop is present in the entrance hall to the centre, and offers a place where you can try out the latest skies on offer.

SNO!zone, Milton Keynes

SNO!zone at Milton Keynes Xscape was one of the first indoor ski experiences in the UK. While the snow is not ‘quite’ as realistic as that provided by The Snow Centre, the main slope is wider, longer and more varied, with the snow conditions often being a bit more random than those at Hemel. This is not to say that the piste is poorly maintained, just that it is more like a real mountain. I would grade this an easy to average blue by European standards. The beginners slope is slightly longer and wider than the one at Hemel, offering a larger area for lessons. The slope is of average gradient for beginners. Personally I would grade the beginners slope as a green or very easy blue.

Something to note for those wanting to have a chilled out family day at Milton, is that no photography or videoing is allowed. The official line was to do with Health and Safety concerns. This might put some families off as they would want to have the occasional snap or video or their children learning to ski.