wiredgizmo

Hi guys, me and a couple friends, about 10-15 total, are going to snowboard in a week or two and I had a few questions. We've bought all our gears besides boards/bindings/boots which we're gonna rent. Planning to go to Wolf Creek ski resort.

Here's the problem, none of us know how to snowboard, there might be one guy coming along but he's a real beginner maybe 2-3 times. Should we all pay to take lessons or should we just get out there and learn ourselves. 40$/2hr, 60$/4hr lessons. I guessing the pricing is 40-60$/per person with 10-15 of us = around 500-750$ for lesson from 1 instructor is kind of a waste? So We're also only going 1 day, its a 3hr drive, so the was thinking maybe not the 4hr lesson since we'll have less time to have fun with ourselves.

Any tips/advice? Thanks

sweeper

I think a lot of people think they'll be fine with no lessons, but snowboarding is like anything else, you're not going to stick a board on your feet and be able to use it properly straight away. Learning good technique when you start is pretty important, it'll help you progress a lot faster and ultimately you'll start enjoying snowboarding a lot sooner. If you've already bought clothes etc, it's really not that big a price to pay for one lesson. It'll be worth it. I'd say a lesson would be more fun than spending a day falling over and getting frustrated (bear in mind you won't be able to stay standing up/balanced easily or turn when you start), you're not going to be able to have fun until you can actually ride properly. Probably less likely to get injured/injure other people too.

This is just my opinion, but I'd say lessons are super important, and in my experience were pretty fun when I started out.

EDIT: Also check out this super useful thread/videos by Snowolf.

wrathfuldeity

3 options

-no lessons...have fun with the klusterF

-3 people take lessons then teach the others in groups of 5

-Best option....tip the instructor(s) well

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wiredgizmo

So I checked the resort's web. Their beginners package includes 4 hours of lesson time + lift ticket for 1 lift, rentals separate. But looking at the map (http://wolfcreekski.com/images/10_ma...TIAL_VIEW=150%), the NOVA Chair lift, the one included, looks REALLY short and the area to ski around is REALLY small. This lift seems like it won't even take you to the bunny hill, so we'll probably have to buy the beginner package + an all day pass.

There's a chance we'll have an intermediate snowboarder coming also, does this change anything?

Lol wrathfuldeity had good idea. Option #2, 3 people take lessons while the rest can go get breakfast or something.

Btw, how much is a good tip for instructor?