 Poster: A snowHead
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I hope this isn't the wrong place, I didn't see a sub forum that was specifically for beginner advice for this type of thing.
I've been interested in snowboarding for a while and finally want to give it a try. For my introduction, I'm going to do an all day beginners session at an indoor slope in the UK. I know someone else that did it, and it sufficiently equipped them for a trip abroad. So I'm counting on that, but after the session if I don't feel ready, I can do another couple of lessons. Assuming I do feel ready after this session, I'm hoping for some advice on what to do next. I picked Arinsal (because it looks to be good for beginners) as my destination and was going to book through Heidi, but thought it might be better to do it myself so I have more flight options. It's all new to me though, so I want to make sure I'm not missing anything. I've noted the following things down - Do these look like reasonable things to consider/things that need sorting? Is there anything missing?
Booking on Heidi starts around December 5th so I assume I shouldn't consider going any earlier than that. I really wanted to go this year, but I’m not sure if booking for December is risky. I can go a bit later, maybe around December 15th for 5 nights.
Book a flight to either Barcelona or Marseille. Not sure if one option is better than the other, if not I’ll just go by price and arrival/departure times.
Book a hotel - Hotel Sant Gothard is pretty cheap, which is fine for me.
Book transfers – Assume this is straightforward once I have my flight details. Andbus seems to be highly recommended.
Equipment and lessons – I assume there will be plenty of options to choose from which can be sorted separately.
The hotel listing details says it’s a few minutes away from ski lifts. The resorts look so big and complicated, I don’t know if there’s any more I need to know. I assume one way or another I’ll be able to figure out how to get to whatever the right slope is to start.
Closer to the time, I’ll figure out what equipment I can rent and what I should buy. Not sure if I could get away with only taking a backpack so I don’t have to pay for to take a suitcase on the flight. I usually travel light.
Any advice on the above details or anything else I need to consider would be appreciated. I'll be going alone if that's relevant. I'm still researching and read that Sunweb can be cheaper than booking accommodation and passes separately, so that's something else for me to look into. Thanks!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 4-04-26 17:35; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Welcome. First question; have you ever been skiing before? Your questions suggest not.
Boarding needs a decent snow depth so I would go as late as possible, not the first week of opening. Though Andorra might cannon snow to prepare for the holiday in early Dec, you might be lucky.
Clothing no real difference from skiing hence my question above. (Longer jacket, to sit on, maybe). Spare pare of gloves as beginners can get wet gloves.
Rent board and boots. Crazy or extravagant to buy on a first trip.
Lessons at resort should be good in Andorra and the instructor will take you to the most appropriate snow and slopes. Strongly recommend.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Hotel Gottard is about 1km from the main access gondola, but there is a regular free bus there & back. Arinsal would be a good choice for a beginner, but please book ski school too. As above, early Dec. could be risky. If you can wait till last minute to book, you could get lucky with conditions but dont rely on it. Arinsal has great English speaking instructors. Airports usually used are Barcelona & Toulouse. not Marseille. Andbus are great. Look at Andorra travel service. English owned and what they don't know about Andorra isn't worth knowing.If you dont already have any ski/board equipment? Do buy a decent Jacket, Salopettes or ski pants and a reasonably good pair of gloves. Wear those to travel as they can be bulky. Not sure I would want to just take a back pack but if you can take enough in there for the trip well done!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Piano6307,
Good questions, I have stayed at St Gothard hotel its perfect. Arinsal is a good place to start.
Have a look at esquiades.com as you can book a very good package of hotel, ski pass(+hire if needed) possibly even transfer bus from Airport.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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If you haven’t been skiing before, then 5 days with just a backpack would be a challenge. You’ll need 2 pairs of proper ski socks, ideally 2 sets of thermal underwear top and bottom, ski trousers or salopettes, at least one fleece and pair of fat gloves, plus non ski wear. Again I’m thinking of clothes getting wet while learning and not drying overnight. Hiking boots should be ok. Goggles or shades (not great in Dec) and neck tube don’t take much space. What about helmet, there is increasing pressure to wear one (and if you catch an edge backwards you’ll appreciate it) and some don’t like the idea of wearing a rented one.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Why Marseille? It's literally ages away. Barcelona or Toulouse are the two nearest airports and both served by Andbus.
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@Piano6307, Arinsal is a good for beginners. Go later not earlier. Equipment will be easy to find. Lessons possibly not so easy if you want group lessons. There’ll be a small group of instructors working from the beginning of the season but most will probably begin working around 19/20 Dec. You’ll be able to book private lessons (€70 an hour this season - possibly more next season) but group lessons are unlikely if your first day would be a Wednesday.
Defo look at Barcelona or Toulouse. That way you can just jump on a bus. Anywhere else you’d need a car to get here. Marseille is a ridiculously long journey though - airports within a reasonable distance would be Girona, Reus, Carcasonne or Perpignan. There’s a tiny airport close by called La Seu but you’d need to connect via Madrid or Palma there’s only a couple of flights per week.
If you want help booking, look at Andorra Mountain Collective. They specialise in that valley and Arinsal in particular. Andorra Travel Service can help for Arinsal but are better for Grandvalira.
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My first dki trip was after an indoor learn to ski day plus 2 or 3 more evening sessions practice. The mountains were a big step up. So if you go that route planning for more lessons when you get there is a good idea (more lessons is a mantra on here).
Begining of Decis the start of the season and often has limited opening depending on how early the snow arrives. A lot of my early trips were at xmas. What I learned from that was, on average, you want to go high (+1800m base) to get the best chance of decent conditions. The only poor xmas trips have been when I've broken that rule... and that's 3 weeks later than you're thinking. The snowHeads PSB and PiPAU bashes at the begining of Dec in Tignes has always had good snow on the 7 times I've been.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thanks for the advice everyone, that's really helpful. The consensus seems to be that my planned date is too early, which is fine. I still think Arinsal looks like a great destination, so maybe I can visit there in Jan-Feb. If I still wanted to do a trip in December as my first one, what other reasonably priced beginner friendly resorts would people recommend?
@Orange200 - No I've never been skiing before, should have mentioned that. Will look into the right equipment a bit more and see what I can buy beforehand.
@Old Man Of Lech & @hammerite - Thanks, that's good to know about the resort, and thanks for clarifying about the airports, think I got mixed up between Toulouse and Marseille.
Thanks again!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Piano6307, for snow, generally, Arinsal should be fine especially for a beginner as the amount of terrain you’ll be accessing will be quite small. Out of the past 5 winters there’s only 1 that skiing would be iffy on 15th Dec. The ski area is at 1,900m. However, you’d still probably struggle to get a group lesson starting then! You could email the ski school to ask. They close for the season on Monday though so not sure whether you’d get a response very quickly.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@adithorp, I'm not sure if I'd be a burden turning up to something like that on my first time on a mountain haha. I read through it though and it looks really cool, I'll def look into joining one once I know what I'm doing. Not sure if I should still consider Tignes for my first trip, I've looked but seen mixed opinions on how suitable it is. Do you know if it'd be any good for that?
@hammerite, that's good to know, thanks.
Open to any other suggestions for more suitable destinations.
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You know it makes sense.
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I feel the challenge is MidDec, cheapish, beginners. Pick any two! I wonder Obergurgl but thought it wasn’t cheap.
Hammerite is it correct that they pump snow early in Andorra for the early Dec holiday? If so I think that could be as good a place as any. Very beginner friendly.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@hammerite, thanks for the advice, I contacted the ski school and they were really helpful. They said conditions are generally reliable but they also use extensive snowmaking to help maintain consistent coverage, so they thought mid-December should usually be okay, but obviously they can't give any guarantees. Group lessons should be available but they start on Monday, so I'll adjust my dates so Monday is my first day there so I have the choice between group and private.
I might book flights and accommodation soon and deal with the other things closer to the time, as they said prices for lessons won't be available just yet.
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Poster: A snowHead
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My advice to newbies: go with a tour operator. Get a (slightly subsidised) week of lessons (usually mornings only, which gives you the afternoon to practice). Get padded shorts and knee pads at least. You'll thank me for that last one!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Orange200, if it’s cold enough they get the cannons running to get a base down for when it snows. They keep them going until there’s a substantial base down because it can switch from cold and snowy, to warm and dry quite quickly here. This season the cannons weren’t used beyond the Christmas/New Year holiday because the base was good and it just kept snowing regularly.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| GuyrillaMonsoon wrote: |
| My advice to newbies: go with a tour operator. Get a (slightly subsidised) week of lessons (usually mornings only, which gives you the afternoon to practice). Get padded shorts and knee pads at least. You'll thank me for that last one! |
+1
@Piano6307, I would also lean towards going with a Tour Operator on a first snow trip, it's a steep learning curve and having someone arranging it all and pointing you in the right direction is definitely an advantage, but sadly they don't often do great deals for single travellers.
Once you know how it all works, it will be a lot easier to plan a DIY trip next time.
The padded clothing for snowboarding is a good shout too. Wrist guards too, my son broke his radius on his first snowboard trip.
If you're travelling solo and it has to be early December, I would suggest trying to get on the pre-season Bash to Tignes and book some group lessons in resort. The fellow snowHeads on the trip will provide company and good advice.
Do you have a mate (the one that did it before?) that you could go along with??
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Wrist guards are a must.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| welshskier wrote: |
| Wrist guards are a must. |
Been some debate on this - you can use search history to find threads on them.
My son snowboarded quite a lot and never used them or padded shorts.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I did 12-15 weeks of boarding, never used padding or guards. Spent lots on lessons, maybe that helped.
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| GuyrillaMonsoon wrote: |
| My advice to newbies: go with a tour operator. Get a (slightly subsidised) week of lessons (usually mornings only, which gives you the afternoon to practice). Get padded shorts and knee pads at least. You'll thank me for that last one! |
Even more so if you are traveling solo (as the OP has said they are).
With a ski/snowboard holiday, there is always some risk of injury, and a TO will generally get you home and help with any paperwork etc. that may be necessary. Even now after about 15 trips, I wouldn't do it myself for a solo ski trip. I would if traveling with somebody else.
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My daughter did a season as a chalet girl and although a good skier tried snowboarding and broke her wrist first time!
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FAQ
pre-season bash to Tignes details aren't up yet but you could look at the info from the last one to get an idea along with the bash guide and FAQ thread in the same section...
