December 3, 2008 E-MAIL PRINT

Go with green circles

by Tony Chamberlain/

This is not what beginners want going on around them on the practice slope. (photo: Tony Chamberlain)

This is not what beginners want going on around them on the practice slope. (photo: Tony Chamberlain)

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So, as a newish skier or rider, what bothers you most isn’t the fact that people from 8 to 80 seem better than you, but that you can’t really get away from them to work on your skills.

It goes without saying that the first two fundamentals in learning this incredibly exciting winter sport of sliding on slopes is getting good equipment suited to your size and style, and having at least an hour or two of private, one-on-one instruction from a professional PSIA ski instructor. Not a brother. Not a girlfriend. Not a husband.

The third most important choice for you to make is where to go to practice. The worst possible scenario for a newbie is to wind up on a blue run you’ve been told is a piece of cake, which is why so many hotshot, barely intermediates seem to be flying down the run.

Sugarloaf’s wonderful run, Tote Road, sometimes falls into this category.
For a new skier or rider struggling to stay upright while attempting a shallow traverse across the fall line to be constantly looking uphill at the unguided missiles tearing down the trail towards him, is far from an ideal learning environment.

It’s scary and intimidating.

So, for beginners trying to remember what your instructors told you about keeping those shoulders still, get away from the crowds. Spend half a day on terrain designed, cut and groomed for you. A place where you’ll never see yapping teenagers chasing each other down the fall line on the edge of control.

One of the best such areas is South Peak at Sunapee. From the parking lot, this is the face opposite the main ski area, which right away segregates you from the mainstream crowd. This is also the area’s learning center, where all skiers and riders seem to be in the same boat — there to learn and practice.
Runs like Smooth Sailing Province and Paradise give you the predictable repetition to get ready for the easy transition across to the ski area itself, where some runs provide a natural transition.

Both sides of the mountain have long, fairly consistently pitched sidecuts — Outer Ridge and Stovepipe — that let you work on repetition for a long time before stopping to ride up again. These long stretches are where the big skill leaps are made.

Some areas label run-outs as beginner terrain. Bad idea. While wide and easy, run-outs to the lift from trails above are places that concentrate fast-moving skiers heading for the next run. This can be more distracting than an icy mogul field.

Several areas have good beginner runs, and here’s a sampling: Hudson Highway at Saddleback (a 3-plus-miler), Polecat on Wildcat (2¾ miles) and Toll Rode at Stowe (4 miles). These are well-pitched runs that don’t get so flat that you end up plodding on flats.

Bretton Woods has a number of fine beginner runs with good transitions to increase the challenge without getting in over your head. Some other areas with good low-stress offerings are Cranmore, Stratton, Okemo, and Sunday River.
 

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