I remember the first time I ever tried snowboarding. I was 16 years old and indestructible. Well more or less. It took me probably an hour just to stand up. The next day I was so sore I could hardly move. Regardless, I loved it. I went a handful of times over the next couple of years, and only once to Marmot Basin. Then, when B and I got together, the babies came and I had little to no free time. Still, do to be completely honest. So I wasn’t able to hit the hill for years. Probably 7 or 8.
When L and Big H were gifted snowboarding lessons from their aunt and uncle last Christmas I was so excited. I was finally going to get back to the hill. But this time, I was going to take lessons myself.
B and I booked lessons at Jaspers Marmot Basin at the same time the boys took theirs. We booked the two-hour group lesson for beginners. Even though I had snowboarded before, it had been so long since I had gone, and B had never even tried it.
Included with the lesson was a Full Day Rental, Lower Mountain Lift Ticket, and of course the 2-hour lesson on the bunny hill. You can upgrade to include the full lift ticket if you want, but realistically it probably isn’t necessary for a beginner. – The kid’s lessons included their rentals, lift tickets, lessons, lunch, and time in childcare as well. –
The website suggests arriving an hour beforehand to get your rentals. I suggest longer. We were there an hour and a half before and were a few minutes late for our lessons. Weekdays are, most likely, less busy than the weekends.
When the lessons started, we had about 8 more people in our group and our instructor, Christian. Dispute the large group he was able to devote time to each student and help them as needed.
He went through the basic steps of standing up. Toe edge and heel edge, and switching between the two. Practising each thing a few times between adding in the next step. When you reached the bottom of the little hill you took the magic carpet back up to the top and started all over again
By the end of the two hours, my husband was done. Exhausted. Not at all surprising. So, we headed up to have a bite to eat where we met up with my brother and sister-in-law (who had injured herself on the hill). Her and B stayed there for the rest of the day.
Now, I have an irrational fear of chair lifts, which makes for a great time on the chairlift. So my brother fed me some liquid courage before dragging me to Eagle Express Quad Chairlift.
After the panicking inducing departure from the lift, we followed the Sleepy Hollow run down to Old Road back to the chalet. It took me about 2 hours and ALL of my energy.
At that point, we grabbed the kids and headed back to our hotel in Jasper for the night.
I have been to a couple of different ski hills over the years, but Marmot Basin my favourite to date. Next time I return I plan on doing lessons again, to increase my skills and maybe learn something new before heading up that dreaded lift up the mountain.
Do you have a favourite ski hill in your area?