How long does it take to learn to ski/snowboard

[TheHodgeHeg]

I'm going on a ski holiday at the end of February but have never skied before.

My FIL and BIL will be skiing and DH will be boarding so I can pick whichever I like although would prefer to board with DH.

I've got six half hour sessions at a dry slope planned (like a carpet treadmill). Do you think this would be enough to get the basics? I could possibly double the number of sessions and just spend a couple of hours at the dry slope each weekend (the way they do it a half hour session lasts an hour with ten mins on ten mins off three times).

I'd ideally want to take a private lesson on the first morning of the holiday and then I'd hope to be able to do some easy runs by myself.

I guess it's a how long is a piece of string question really but it'd be nice to hear your opinions.

I think it massively depends on how quickly you pick up physical/sporty stuff in general, combined with how keen and determined you are to be good at it!

Of the people who I've known take up skiing as an adult (no snowboarders though) those who were successful were the ones who pushed through the sore muscle pain barrier. Speed of picking it up was very variable.

Sorry that isn't much help . The lessons may be enough. More may help if you're still struggling with the real basics at that point. But if you have the basics then best to stop as its not that similar to snow, and you'd be wasting money.

I would look up some ski exercises or join a ski fit group though, getting the right muscles ready will help a lot.

people who figure skate and understand edges seem to learn fairly quickly. what other sports do you participate in?

In general I'd say it is easier to get the basics of skiing than snowboarding. However everyone I know learnt by doing ski/board school on holiday where you have a few hours each day. Are your half-hour lessons private or part of a group? If it's in a group then I'd be concerned about how much you'd actually cover in half an hour, and suggest at least an hour instead. Even 1-2-1 it's not a lot of time to learn a technique & practice it.

When I learnt to ski, we had a week of ski school, and were able to stay upright, stop, turn etc on day one, albeit in a very rudimentary way, and went on real runs (big wide open ones) on day 3.

Snowboarding is a different kettle of fish. It's not uncommon to do a week's holiday and not leave the nursery slope! Some people do just "get it" but they're a minority. My SIL & her DH had lessons & by the end of the week he was able to do a run, slowly & with a few falls. She still could barely go a few metres without falling.

I picked boarding up relatively quickly, but that was largely because I could already ski & some of the theory is the same - e.g. How you hold your weight, leaning down the mountain (feels very un-natural and scary!) etc Even so, it was at least day 4 before I could go on a real run with DH and his friends. And my muscles were screaming!

I've never done either on the carpet treadmill thingy. DH has had a private snowboard lesson on one to perfect his technique (he's pretty good already) and he says it felt quite weird, and not like snow. It hurts a hell of a lot more when you fall, and also doesn't prepare you for the change in conditions (soft snow, slush, ice etc). Do you have a place near you with the "real" snow? Tamworth, MK, Leeds have them from memory, but not sure down south. That would definitely be better than the carpet thing.

Also, where are you going? Some resorts are significantly better for boarding than others. Where there's flattish bits between runs, on skis you can just schuss along with your poles, but on a board you'd have to take it off and walk which is v annoying! On skis you don't need much of a slope to push off and practice turns etc, but on a board you need a fair degree of a slope just to move. Worth looking what the lifts are like too as using a drag-lift on a board is VERY hard, even for those who have done it for years. Chairlifts are tricky too, and I've found in some resorts (particularly in France) they can be quite strict about it when you're very obviously a beginner who can't use the lift properly as it holds other people up cos they have to stop the lift for you to get off.

Whichever you do, I'd definitely start doing some squats before you go as your thighs will be aching.

Good luck!

I guess learning to ski takes a couple of days, from my own experience. But then I knew how to ski as a child, so the "couple of days" was how to get going again after something like a 20+ years gap of no skiing at all, as I stopped skiing at around the age of twelve and didn't pick it up again for a loooong time. Never learned snowboarding, I think it's not for me, looks dangerous...

Oo thank you so much for the replies everyone this is really helpful!

I'm not a very sporty person but my balance is good and I have some experience with boards from stand up paddle boarding and I can ice skate (badly as I'm too afraid of falling on the ice). We did a ski session at the slope last week and I could balance fine when going straight but had a tendency to cross skis at the front when turning. I figure that wouldn't be an issue with boarding but that overall balance might be harder.

That's a good point about the lifts and set up of the slopes - I hadn't even considered that. We're going to Hakuba in Japan. Sadly no real snow to practice on in advance as I live in SE Asia - the first dry slope in the country only opened a couple of months ago! The lessons aren't private and will normally be 4-6 people split into two groups and you then have ten minutes on ten minutes off for an hour. I don't think it's the best set up really but the best that's on offer (unless I want to pay mega bucks for private tuition).

Good idea re squats/ski fit, I'll have a look for something on youtube! I'm pretty motivated with this. By my final ten minute session on the skis I was loving the feeling of swooshing along and imagine it's infinitely better on real snow and with a beautiful view!

I had one one-hour lesson of snowboarding and then just took myself on the green runs. First day i fell down lots and it took me forever to complete one run.
The next time i was much better already and finished the green run in half the time as the first day...ill never be a great boarder but it did not take long to pick it up enough to be able to enjoy myself.

We've just come back from a week in Whistler and I've never skiied before but did have some snowboard lessons years ago. Would definitely say that skiing is easier to learn and you spend far less time falling over! By the end of 5 days of lessons I was able to ski properly down a long green run (the easiest) but wasn't ready for the next stage. I would definitely recommend going to ski school as there is a lot of stuff that you need to get comfortable with before you should go down the proper runs e.g chair lifts, understanding how to deal with other people, being in control etc... I'm sporty and pretty fit, but it was hard work! Fun after a few days but I didn't really enjoy it to start with.

Let your hubby snowboard and you settle for skiing, then you can assist him should he end up toppling over and break an arm, wrist or leg while snowboarding...

I've been skiing a few times although I'm not very sport so I wasn't great. The last couple of times I used very short skis (cannot remember what they were called) I found them much easier and it avoided the crosses toes thing!

I found boarding easier to learn than skiing (one thing to control as opposed to two) but neither well enough to go beyond the practice slope! Definitely have a private lesson when you get there, dry slope is so different from real snow that I'm not sure the lessons there will be all that helpful (though better than nothing of course)

Dh is a ski instructor. He tried snowboarding. Once.

If your main aim is to pick something up fast enough to be able to cover some ground with dh, then ski. But in all honesty, if they are accomplished skiers and riders, then please don’t hope for too much. It will take a few concerted weeks of holidays before you are able to really keep up - but skiing and riding with people who are better than you is a good thing (for you, lol)
When we started with mixed groups, we would recommend lessons in the morning for the beginners - this gave the better skiers and riders some time to explore the mountain, and the beginners time to practice on the lifts and get some solid instruction on the slope. In the afternoons you can try and ski and ride together.

When I skied with dh the first time, I cried. I am literally the ballsiest, but I felt so bloody useless and incompetent that I had a total pity party. It actually only took a day before I was able to cope with the easy blues and the chairlift, but those first few runs were completely soul destroying.
Don’t be like the billions of mummies who bail from ski school and sit in the hotel though. As long as you don’t mind some bruises and aches and bone numbing tiredness, you’ll be fine

As someone else said, learning the basics of skiing is easier than learning to snowboard. With snowboarding, you spend most of the time on your arse in the snow. It's more difficult to have both of your feet strapped to one board than it is to have both of your feet moving independently. The latter is obviously more natural.

I can do both, but vastly prefer skiing and would recommend it over boarding to a beginner.

I would definitely say ski rather than board - your motivation will help and it’s likely you’ll progress enough to feel you’re getting somewhere whereas boarding can be, erm, mostly sitting down (ime anyway!)

I wouldn’t bank on spending that much time skiing with your friends though, as I’d bet they’ll want to shoop off to harder runs and you’ll need to practise loads on the wide runs to get your confidence up. It will still be loads of fun though! It might be worth doing a couple of group lessons after your private one, for social purposes too

Let your hubby snowboard and you settle for skiing, then you can assist him should he end up toppling over and break an arm, wrist or leg while snowboarding...

More likely to be the other way around I'd say. Skiing is loads easier to learn by all accounts but skiers do seem to get hurt much more often/badly. I think it's because boarding kind of holds you together. Wrist guards are a must, obviously.

OP, I have exceptionally terrible balance/coordination and would struggle with anything like this so you'd probably need less time than me, but it took me two six-hour lessons on a real snow indoor slope to be able to be on a slope completely by myself and (very slowly) link turns when boarding. Using a drag lift was the hardest bit for me. I still have lessons on holiday but that's more for technique and to have someone to help me while on the actual mountain. If you can bear to break the pain barrier of learning, I'd board like your DH - it's just the most ridiculously good fun and I love doing the same thing as DP so we can chat about it. (I mean the figurative pain barrier btw - the actual muscle pain is sore but bearable, I find, and gives you a great sense of achievement). Very jealous you're going in Japan!

The worst thing is although I said DH, we're not actually married yet and our wedding is about a month after our ski holiday so broken bones absolutely have to be avoided! I felt like snowboarding would be safer in that regard because I could just sit down if I felt like I was going to fall whereas with skiing it seems easier to twist your ankle if your skis go over each other when trying to stop.

None of the rest of the party are particularly accomplished skiers and I'm not too bothered about keeping up with them in any case, perfectly happy to pootle along at my own pace and meet them for a hot chocolate/ Japanese curry at the bottom of the slope. But yeah, maybe ski school would be fun from a social point of view and definitely necessary for learning how to do the lifts etc which I hadn't even thought about.

You've all given me lots to think about!

Crosspost pigeon I've heard Japan is great, although much busier than it used to be, so I'm really looking forward to it! It's the closest skiing to us but still a seven hour flight away . At least it's in the same time zone

I taught skiing and snowboarding for many years. I would recommend that you learn to ski. It's easier to learn, and as others have said, you have to go through a pain barrier with snowboarding- you will get bruised and battered as part of the learning process. Skiing is more gentle, in my experience. But please have a lesson when you get there, just to get used to the mountain. Even better would be lessons for the first few days. Group lessons are so muxh fun and you won't feel frustrated if you can't keep up with your OH and friends. you are travelling at speed, you can't just 'sit down' on a board, but you can slow down easily on a pair of skis. Have fun, it's totally addictive!

Doreme I think I'll probably book lessons for every morning. After reading all the posts here I'm not sure it's the kind of thing you can just jump into after very little practice!

I think daily lessons is a great plan; the instructors will be able to show best ways off the lifts and best runs for your ability, and then you can concentrate on getting in the mileage (so to speak).

I’ve never considered skiing in Japan; be keen to hear feedback!

I'll let you know how it is. DP's family went years ago and loved it but speaking to the guy at the dry slope it's changed a lot since then and is now much busier. The snow is meant to be fabulous and powdery though.

Honestly I think you need a good couple of weeks skiing to be relatively competent. Having skied with non skiers a couple of hours in ski school in the morning and some messing about in the afternoon can get you down the green runs by the end of the week.

It is physically demanding, if you have semi decent upper body strength it's much easier to push up after a fall. Wall sits are good for quad strength.

Day 3 seems to be the make it or break it day - if you can get through that you 'get' it.

I have never snowboarded so can't speak about that.

Ooh just thought of something else I found on my first snowboarding trip.

You need fairly strong upper arms or you can't get up!! If you're on a reasonably steep slope it's fine, but I really struggled on the flatter ones. I put a lot of effort into building up my thigh muscles, and didn't think about the arms.

To your point about being able to sit down when you think you're going to fall: I found with boarding I'd get no warning!! If you catch an edge you'll just go immediately - sometimes on your bum, sometimes your face!

With the lifts - if you're with the ski/board school, usually the instructor makes a gesture at the lift people & they slow it right down for you.

Just to completely go against everything I've just said about skiing being preferable though....
At the risk of sounding like a total girl, snowboard boots are WAY WAY WAY nicer than ski boots!! They're just like big comfy trainers. Trying to walk in ski boots is the most ungainly, uncomfortable, awkward thing. Ever. And they always but the loos in the basement of mountain restaurants so you risk your life going for a wee!! Whereas I may have danced drunkenly on tables in my snowboard boots

Also v jealous of you going to Japan!

Skiing I find people pick up quite quickly but it’s harder to master the advanced techniques.

Snowboarding tends to be half a day of falling and then after a couple of days you’re well on the way to being able to get down reasonably hard runs.

I can do both, but MUCH prefer skiing. I agree it's easier to start skiing and you are less likely to fall too.
I've had some big stacks on boards. If you catch an edge, you're gone. That's not the case on skis.
More of the mountain is accessible on skis than a board. Moguls are fun on skis, bloody hard work on a board.
If you have good balance, you might get on better on a board, but you need to be tough to push beyond the initial stage IMO.
The resorts are designed for skiers and its therefore easier to get about - flat bits are a total pain on a board.
My DH is an excellent boarder, but even he switched to skis when the kids were little as it's easier to help them.
Skiing is also ok on bad snow, boarding is shite (IMO) unless conditions are good. Japan though will be good from that point of view.

Sitting down isn't the issue on a board, it's breaking your wrist falling forward. Catch an edge and bam.

Cheers for the "catching an edge" terminology. That's made it much easier to read a bit about the mechanics of snowboarding.

I wish I was going for two weeks and could spend a week on each! Alas, five days on the snow is probably not enough to cram in both boarding and skiing.