DCSki Forums

roninzero

December 22, 2006

Member since 12/22/2006 🔗

1 posts

Hi I'm Candace! I am new to skiing and snowboarding I have never tried it before. If you guys could please help me find a resort that is close and that is really Noob friendly that would be great.

bawalker

December 22, 2006

Member since 12/1/2003 🔗

1,547 posts

Hey Candace, welcome to the world of snow addiction.

Everyone else here will be slightly politically correct calling it a joy of the winter, but really we are die hard snow addicts that when we don't get it at winter, we go into withdrawl. lol

If you are looking to learn to snowboard, you can goto numerous resorts in the area all within a 3 hour drive of where you are at. First could be Whitetail. Take 270 out of DC then take 70 West until you see signs for Whitetail in PA.

Secondly would be to take 66 west into West Virginia (past my hometown here) and head to Canaan Valley or timberline.

Thirdly would be to take I-270 to I-70 and then I-68 and follow the signs to Wisp ski resort in Maryland.

Roy

December 24, 2006

Member since 01/11/2000 🔗

609 posts

New blood and the skiers and boarders are fighting for which side to join!

If you want to learn to SKI, you can still go to any of the places bawalker suggested. Go to the resort profiles section of DC Ski for more info on the resorts. The Map section will help you better understand the locations also.

Since you have never been before, can I ask why you want to learn? I'm a former instructor and this was the question I always asked noobs.

tempfishnski

December 24, 2006

Member since 09/16/2006 🔗

66 posts

You trying to get some Nooby Baywalker?

comprex

January 12, 2007

Member since 04/11/2003 🔗

1,326 posts

Quote:

I'm a former instructor

????

Wot's this "former" business?

GaryEsq

January 14, 2007

Member since 12/20/2005 🔗

54 posts

Quote:

Gary - Great to hear from someone on staff at Wisp. How long have you been teaching boarding there. For some reason that name rings a bell, but I could be wrong. Last year when I took skiing lessons (first time ever) I had this guy who was an excellent teacher who moved to the McHenry area a few years ago and was a former/is school teacher.

Does Wisp offer advanced snowboarding lessons? The reason I ask is because currently I handle all greens perfectly. In fact one of my favorites is "The Wisp Trail" where "Road Runner" intersects and there is a blue level drop off. I love hitting that and making a big GS style turn in it. Anyhow trails like Muskrat, Boulder Run, Ace's Run, Down Under, etc have allowed me to learn and handle myself on those in varied conditions pretty well.

But when it comes to trails like Squirrel Cage, Odin's Chute, etc I ride them and find myself edging down. I think I'm trying to force the turns too much or being to 'heavy' on my feet by really pushing hard into and forcing the turn. I'd like to take some lessons on how to handle such blacks with much more ease than I do.

Brad

Hey Brad! def should sound familiar...I was SWPA Snowboarder, but changed the name since I moved to MD. Great to hear from you as well! This is my first year at Wisp...if you want we should arrange a private sometime, I def could help you making turns on the steeper terrain. Just off the top of my head, I'm thinking there may be some stance issues I'd like to check out (like sometimes we forget to keep our shoulders parallel, or sit back too much, and fail to "finish the turn" esp on the toe side which results in relying too much on the heal edge...I know some drills to break that). Also I'd like to make sure you're turning via twisting the board, as opposed to a straight weight transfer. Yes, we do offer advanced lessons, in fact we LOVE them since 99.9% are never evers. Let me know the next time your planning on coming up, looks like they'll be able to blow starting tues, so wed night an on should be better conditions.