One of the good things about skiing and snowboarding is that you can have as much fun learning as when you have learnt all the basics and start to get good.
When you’re learning you want to get better so you can go faster and further on the mountains, and the feeling of progressing is very exhilarating.
But once you are good you spend a lot of time using lifts to get back up the slopes, as you get down the slopes much faster, so you almost miss the days when you were nervously trying to make a turn on an easy slope!
There are three main ways to learn: first and most commonly in a group class, usually with 5 – 10 other people who should also be complete beginners; second where you hire a private instructor for one-to-one instruction and third where a friend or relative teaches you.
Learning in a group class is often the most fun and usually the most affordable way to learn. You should all have a laugh together and provide each other with support and encouragement as you improve together. There’s often a basic test of how you’ve progressed at the end of the week and you get a certificate of achievement and a badge or similar. Sometimes there’s a bit of a party too.
Private lessons cost more but you will normally progress more quickly as you are getting intensive one-to-one instruction.
Learning from a friend or relative is rarely recommended unless they’re trained as a ski instructor as they won’t know the best way to teach and keep you safe. Of course it may go swimmingly but more typically tension rises and tempers are lost and neither side have much fun.
