Ready to start your adventure in skiing and boarding? Ready to learn to ski or board the Colorado mountains? Well, look no further as we are here to help!
In our first installment – Beginner Ski Guide – we talked about gear; from base layers to jackets, and from rental skis to purchasing. In this newest installment, we’ll cover the basics of learning the physical act of skiing and snowboarding.
Word t0 the wise! We are not doctors, and you should always consult your doctor before starting a workout regiment.
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Table of contents
Conditioning
Conditioning for skiing – or any physical activity – is key. If you gained a little during Covid (no shame! I sure did), skiing is not a great way to reintroduce yourself to activity. Skiing is hard on the knees, the legs, the back, and your entire core. Throw in a little extra weight and you’re asking for a short day. Or worse… an injury and a shortened ski trip.
Generally speaking, 6 weeks is a good couch-to-5k workout scheme. It is also a good couch-to-slopes plan. There are dozens of apps and unlimited websites for couch-to-5k, so I won’t rehash that here, but the general premise is start slow, stop when you body is telling you to, and gradually increase your cardio over a 6ish week period. About half way into the training, add in strength training to the cardio. Squats, lunges, pushups, setups, and wall-stands are all great. If you have access to a gym, that is also great way to increase your strength.
I have seen some people wearing “altitude masks” that attempt to simulate the lower oxygen levels at altitude. Personally I think they are a little silly for recreation activity… maybe if you are a hardcore athlete. But unless you’re competing, there is no reason to restrict your breathing.
Hydration
Similar to conditioning, don’t wait to get to Colorado to start hydrating! Prior to any trip to altitude, we begin drinking more liquids for an entire week. I personally like Gatorade Zero and Powerade Zero because they taste good and have no calories. But water is free and works just as well. You can use tablets (like Nuun) or flavorings to make it easier to drink more. If you’re driving to Breckenridge, don’t restrict water from yourself or the kids during the drive. It’s a pain to stop at every rest stop, but hydrating significantly reduces the risk of headaches and altitude sickness.
Traveling
Flying is obviously the fastest way to move around the country, but if you have the ability to drive to the mountains, that might help with altitude sickness. For those of us living below 9,000 feet (that’s pretty much everyone outside of Colorado) a sudden change in altitude can leave you gasping for breath… the air at 9,000 is MUCH thinner than sea level, which means there is much less oxygen. If you fly in, your body has no time to adapt… Denver (DIA) is around 5,280 feet and Vail (EGE) is 6,500 feet. Then a short drive to Breck puts you at 9,000. If you have the ability to drive, a longer gradual adjustment to altitude may decrease your chance of headaches or more serious symptoms of altitude sickness.
Lessons
Lessons are not cheap… but honestly, if you’ve made it this far you’ve already figured out that skiing is not a cheap hobby! A good instructor can make all the difference in your first trip being a success or failure. There are several types of lessons you can choose from:
- Group lessons
- Family lessons
- Private lessons
Group Lessons
Personally I LOVE group lessons. They are going to run you about $200 per day (a little less for half day) per adult and about $300 per day for little kids (includes their lift ticket, lunch, and plenty of hot chocolate breaks). Generally speaking, group lessons will start by instructors asking your experience level.
If you’ve never skied before, you’ll get slope side instructions on how to put skis on, how to stand up, slow down, speed up, and other basics. You’ll then head to bunny sloped (a really small hill) to begin irking on basics of skiing. Depending on your progress, you might be there all day or you might progress to the magic carpet, which is basically a long conveyor belt that will take you up a slightly steeper mountain than the bunny slope. Here you’ll be able to try out your new found skills on a run that’s about 20-30 yards long.
As the day progresses you start to progress from pizza/french fries and begin to work on making turns. If you’re a quick learner, there is a chance you’ll hit the ski lift once at the end of your first day, but most people won’t see the lift until day #2.
Hitting the lifts is where the real fun begins. Your small group of beginner skiers will follow the instructor as you learn how to tie multiple turns into one longer run. Instructors are great and figuring out what the right length of a run needs to be and will adjust it depending on your group. By the end of day 2 you will be shocked how much you have progressed and will start to feel confident that you don’t need to pay that $200 per day for lessons.
DON’T STOP LESSONS YET! As tempting as it may be to save yourself a little money, take a third lesson! You might opt to take a day off to let your newly found muscles rest, and you might even venture down the mountain solo a few times, but day #3 with your group is where you really pick up a lot of skill and techniques. Instructors will start to break your bad habits (we all have them) and will begin to break you away from ever doing “pizza” skis.
At the end of each day, your instructor will tell you your new level, which will help guide you next instructor on what you need to work on. Don’t feel bad if you don’t progress as quickly as others, and don’t feel to good if you advanced faster! Everyone learns at a different pace, but the main goal is to enjoy nature and get some great exercise at the same time.
Private Lessons
Private lessons are a great – albeit expensive – option for learning to ski. There is no “stranger danger” since you’ll be by yourself with no one else, and you will progress as quickly or slowly as you are capable without worrying about anyone else. Expect to pay about 5x the cost of groups lesson ($1,000 or so) since you’ll have one instructor all to yourself instead of 5 group skiers.
I have done private lessons before, and do occasionally take another one if there is something very specific that I want to work on. However, I like to meet new people in different group lessons and since I often ski at quiet times of the year I have actually gotten private lessons for the price of a group lesson when no one else showed up at my ability level.
Family Lessons
Family lessons are a great idea… but in all practicality a pretty terrible execution. On average, it’s going to be very rare that you, your spouse, your teenager, and your preteen are all at a similar level and needing to work on the same things. Sure… maybe your first ski lesson this way will be fine, and can be a great way to get the younger kids to not be nervous. But after day #1 I recommend going the group or private lesson route so everyone can break off and do their own level without feeling bored or feeling like they’re slowing everyone else down.
Tipping your Instructor
You just paid $200 for that lesson, and most of that went to the instructor, right? WRONG! Instructors are paid a little more than minimum wage and absolutely depend on tips to make up for a pretty terrible wage.
Think of this kind of like tipping at a restaurant… 15% for a okay experience, 20% for an average, and something higher than that for exceptional instructors. I do keep in mind that if I am in a small group lesson (1-3 people), I try to tip a little better to make up for the small class. I also tip my repeat instructors more so I can make sure I get them again.
On one solitary trip I gave nothing to the instructor because frankly I thought she had a horrible attitude with my kids that she was teaching a kids’ group lesson. Our kids has skied for several years and she kept them on the bunny slope for 3/4 of the day… I saw it and mentioned they needed to be on the real slopes after lunch because their time was being wasted, then there they were back on the bunny slope again after lunch. It was a little awkward when we saw her again while she was working at the Frisco Marina the following summer 😬
The net of this is, be generous with the instructors – mountain living is expensive, and they all need a beer after dealing with new skiers all day!
Instruction from Non-resort Employees
As tempting as it may be to find a private person to take you and your family skiing, this is a terrible idea. Aside from the fact that it is actually against the law in Colorado to take lessons from a non-resort employee, there are plenty of other reasons to avoid it. Professionally trained ski instructors go through various levels of training and certification which proves that they know what they are doing, have good safety skills in mind, and – most importantly – oversight to assure you don’t get “over your skis” while you are learning. If you manage to find a “brah” to teach you how to ski, ask yourself a couple of questions:
- Do I really want this complete stranger that for some reason can’t get a job with the resort taking me on the mountain for the first time?
- How good can this guy actually be if he is willing to risk a lifetime ban from the resort if he is caught giving unsanctioned lessons?
- Do **you** really want to get a lifetime ban from Vail Resorts if you get caught receiving a lesson from a non-employee?
Now, if you have a relative wanting to teach you basics, that is totally fine (assuming you’re not paying them). I taught my 3 year old daughter how to ski and that is completely fine – as well as completely necessary as little kids classes were not offered during Covid. However, there is a point where my skills on teaching are outmatched by their need to learn, so off to lessons she’ll go this year to learn from professionals.
Where to Learn
Picking a place to learn to ski can be almost as important as your instructors. Beginner skiers need to have long, easy green runs to learn on initially, then you’ll want a good mix of green, easy and hard blues, and easy and hard blacks. We skied several Colorado resorts our first year of skiing, so I’ll give a brief synopsis of them here.
Breckenridge
We love Peak 9 in Breckenridge. At the base of Quicksilver Superchair there are multiple bunny slopes, magic carpets, and tow bars that can honestly be great for an entire first day. After day 1, the Quicksilver will take you to some of the longest green runs on the planet. As your skills get a but better and you become more adventurous, alternate paths down the mountain will introduce harder greens and some easy blue runs. And from Peak 9 you can also access Mercury Chair and Beaver Run chair to get to blues and blacks, as well as the Super Connect over to Peak 8.
We definitely recommend using the Village Ski School at the base of Peak 9. It tends to be a little less crowded than Peak 8 which gives smaller class sizes, faster lift lines, and less crowded runs. Side benefit – if you are in a lesson, you skip the lift lines and go to the front of the crowd at all Vail Resorts.
Eldora
Our first two days of skiing were at Eldora, and we had a great time. Eldora is close to Boulder and is significantly cheaper than Vail Resorts. However, the resort is smaller, the instructors are not quite as good, and you have to drive to the resort as there is no housing near by. If you are looking for a budget trip, Eldora is a great option. If you are looking for a destination with skiing, nightlife, shopping, and other things to do, it is not worth the trip.
Arapahoe Basin
A Basin is a wonderful resort, but it is NOT for beginners. We spent our 3rd-ever day of skiing at A Basin and it was a little terrifying for everyone except me (but I also don’t have a rational sense of my own mortality!). Similar to Eldora, there is no on-mountain activities other than skiing and all lodging is a drive away. It is also hugely popular with snowboarders and front rangers (day trippers from Denver) because it is relatively inexpensive when compared to Vail Resorts. I definitely recommend heading to A Basin – it is an absolutely stunning and beautiful place to be – but wait until you are solidly skiing blues before heading out to A Basin.
Keystone
Keystone is where we spent our second ever ski trip over a long President’s Day weekend with some friends that had never skied before. It is a good place to learn IF it is later in the season; early season doesn’t offer a great way for beginner skiers to get off the mountain (in 2020, the only open run to the bottom was a difficult blue run or a difficult black run). Once you get into January the greens open up and its a nice place to ski. If you are doing early or late skiing, I don’t recommend new skiers hitting Keystone.
Hopefully this has been a helpful read and you feel a little better about taking your next steps to learn to ski. If you have questions, feel free to reach out here. And of course don’t forget to check out lodging at one of our amazing Peak 9 condos.