AT the end of February of this year, you’ll find me somewhere on a mountain in France. Morzine, to be precise.
As with many novice skiers, the idea of hitting the slopes with no prior experience is rather daunting. And while I haven’t got time to take a road trip to Ben Nevis, luckily, there are a number of other local options to prevent me arriving on the Alps with ‘all the gear, no idea’.
You only have to fly down the slope uncontrollably and crash into the barrier at the bottom once to do everything in your power not to let it happen again.
Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing three types of pre-ski preparation suggestions for beginners, starting with the closest thing to the real deal, Chill Factore.
Chill Factore in the Trafford Park area of Manchester, is the UK’s longest real snow slope at 180 metres long, so there’s no better place to get into the ski spirit. ‘Guarantee To Ski’ is the Chill Factore’s latest package for newcomers to the sport. Offered as an intensive one day course, two day course or three week course, it aims to take you from zero to the standard required to plough ski confidentially on the main slope – that’s levels 1, 2 and 3. If you don’t achieve that, they’ll let you re-sit the level you’re struggling with again, free of charge.
With limited time, I booked in for the all day session. Arriving at 9am, it began as real skiing for dummies session, but it’s what we all needed. I for one, had no idea how to even fasten a ski boot let alone attach it to the ski, and within our group of teenage girls, a middle aged man and woman and little old me, we needed to get to grips with every element as we were all in prep for first-time skiing holidays.
James Lockerbie James Lockerbie, our instructor, was patient, attentive and, well, an expert – all at the age of 16. Yes, 16-years-old.
James explained the rigorous process to becoming an instructor and believe me when I say the Chill Factore don’t hire anything less than the best. Following in his father’s footsteps, Andrew Lockerbie (from BASI - the British Association of Snowsport Instructors), evidentially James was born on skis and knows what it takes to hone your skills quickly and confidentially.
Funnily enough, you have to learn to walk before you can ski, because skis aren’t the easiest of footwear to manoeuvre in. James began by teaching us how to side step up the slope and get a feel for the grip on the edge of the skis rather than depending on the ski lift. It’s important to know how to get yourself out of trouble quickly. We also weren’t given ski poles so as not to rely on them for balance and instead learnt the awkward forward leaning positioning to stay balanced.
After the initial induction we were all soon sliding down the baby slope. It was very much a case of getting stuck in straight away to get over the fear of falling, which was a concern of everyone in the group, particularly taller students like me who looked all legs and arms. However, it was soon clear that by listening to everything James said you could easily eliminate the chance of going face first and take full control.
The day was broken up into manageable chunks, taking two 15 minute breaks and a lunch hour to refuel the body and mind. Food and drink is included in the Guarantee to Ski package and consists of tea, coffee and soft drinks plus a choice of pizza and jacket potatoes for lunch – carb-heavy because you will need it.
Guarantee to Ski lunch
After lunch, both the beginners and main slopes were busy, but it’s interesting to note how the instructors work around each other. It may look chaotic but it’s actually very systematic.
James laid out cones for us to learn how to change direction by using the plough technique whereby skis are positioned like a large slice of pizza and leaning into the leg opposite to the direction you’re taking. Some got it immediately, others didn’t. But you only have to fly down the slope uncontrollably and crash into the barrier at the bottom once to do everything in your power not to let it happen again. It’s embarrassing, but then everyone has been there at some point. Maybe even James. When he was three, probably.
Moving onto the main slope, it was time to take our now proud ploughing to the seasoned skiers zone. Although the main slope may seem like Everest at first, it’s actually divided into areas for different abilities. After being taught how to get on the tricky button lift, we all breathed a sigh of relief as James told us we’d only be going half way.
The main slope - Chill Factore
The afternoon was then the opportunity to practice the plough and we soon found we were able to zig-zag down the hill in a closely linked line without ploughing into the back of the person in front.
Guarantee to Ski was clearly designed with people like me in mind. Sometimes you need to throw yourself in at the deep end to really stand a fighting chance and I believe in just one day I learnt enough to not only spend less on lessons out in France, but also be able to spend time enjoying the holiday I’ve already paid for. And the apres-ski, of course.
Courses start from £120. Chill Factore members get 30 per cent off. For more information on Guarantee To Ski, please click here.
