Everything started moving. If I didn’t act fast, I’d probably fly straight back into the wall behind me. My legs were wobbly: They didn’t know what to do with this new sensation. It was somehow both familiar and foreign.
My arms flailed about for a moment, utterly useless, before resting at my sides. The knees. It was all in the knees. I knew that. I remembered that. Now I needed to do it.
I formed my skis into the familiar pizza-pie triangle. It was the shape that allowed me to learn how to ski. It’s how they teach you how to slow down on the slopes.
But I wasn’t slowing down. I was going backward.
I straightened my knees and squatted down a bit more. My skis now looked like French fries, the position I use to accelerate down the mountain. I started gliding down the wet, rolling carpet. Success.
Ski slopes have been home to me since I was 4 years old. My dad, bless his heart, patiently waited for me to clunk along behind him with my unsteady gait in the big boots. Now skiing and snowboarding are some of my most beloved winter activities. I hit the slopes most weekends.
Up until this summer, I didn’t have any tricks to keep my ski-legs under me. It never took me long to catch up to where I left off the season before, but other than an occasional trip on a longboard to stay sharp with snowboarding, there was no way to practice.
The Tribune’s agriculture editor and my dear friend, Nikki Work, discovered Snobahn, in Centennial, an indoor ski and snowboard facility. Snobahn opened its doors this June, my birthday month. Work took me as a birthday gift in July. It’s the first of its kind in Colorado. Boulder’s Shredder gym, Thornton’s Progresh and Copper Mountain’s Woodward action sports training facility require skiers to hike up stairs. Also, the slopes at those facilities don’t cycle for continuous movement.
What it’s like
Snobahn looks like a normal building, the kind you’d find in a strip mall, and indeed, it is located in the SouthGlenn Mall. It blends in with the restaurants and shops in the area. When you walk inside, it’s room temperature, not frosty like an ice rink. You don’t need the same kind of ski gear you would on the mountain.
They provide all the gear you’ll need for the fun stuff, like boots, boards and skis. You ski or snowboard on a treadmill-like white mat. It reminded me of moist AstroTurf.
The facility will be open year-round and is designed for both beginners and experts.
Some people show up to learn indoors before they’ve ever tried skiing on the mountain, said Sarah Borden, one of Snobahn’s assistant managers.
The condensed version of a lesson – without the lift line, without the stop and go, without the crowds – helps people learn the basics faster, Borden said.
The details
You have to take at least one half-hour lesson before you do anything else. It costs about $30 for 30 minutes for the first lesson, and that includes all the equipment. It’s cheaper and easier than a traditional lesson, Borden said.
Other lessons cost $35 for kids and $40 for adults. Memberships run at a $75/month for three months for adults and $50/month for three months for kids. That’s still quite a bit less than a ski pass.
In a few weeks, Snobahn will kick off its new marketing campaign, since summer will be coming to a close.
“We’ll encourage experts to come train before the season starts,” Borden said.
Most Snobahn instructors taught or still teach folks on the mountain as well. My instructor was able to anticipate what I wanted to do out of habit and what I needed to do instead on the different terrain. I appreciated that.
Success
It took me a couple tries to figure out how to work the edge of the ski. I had to cut harder and sharper with the skis than I usually do in the snow.
Form matters on the mat. Even though I can ski black diamonds comfortably on the mountain, I’ve found I can get away with sloppy form. Sometimes I’m even overtly lazy about it. That didn’t work at Snobahn. Poor form made for a choppy ride and I nearly toppled over a couple times. I discovered keeping the skis neatly parallel was imperative, not just good practice.
It took me a whole session to really figure it out. For some reason, holding a pair of poles helped everything make sense. My instructor told me that was normal. Muscle memory is a funny thing.
Eventually I got the hang of it. I had about 10 minutes to cruise around. I practiced leisurely turns and tight turns. I became very aware of my form and how to fix it. I think I’ll be better this winter because of it.
Most of all, I realized how much I missed the icy wind on my cheeks.
