First time review

I am a 40-year old Greek male that was re-introduced to skiing 3 years ago after a 22-year break following a horrific accident in 1974 when I broke both ankles (on my third day skiing). Since 1996, I have been taking my family to the Alps (Switzerland and France) every year for a weeks' skiing during the school holidays in February. Apart from skiing, I enjoy wakeboarding, waterskiing and windsurfing.

It was during our holiday in Belle Plagne (part of the vast La Plagne complex) in France last February, that I decided to give skiboarding a try, following all the fuss and publicity that Prince Edward had received when he was pictured "Snow Blading" in Switzerland in all the British newspapers. I borrowed a pair of Salomon Buzz SnowBlades (90cm) from the hire shop, and still clutching my ski poles, had my first attempt down an easy blue run. After a few shaky runs during which I found that adopting the typical skiing stance of leaning forward was not the way to go, I started enjoying myself, to the point that at the end of my first day skiboarding, I returned my skis to the hire shop and BOUGHT the Snow Blades in the same transaction.

By the end of the second day I was comfortably skiing fakie (backwards), and on day three I was so confident on the Blades that I had decided to video my kids by skiing behind them down an easy red run. At the end of the second day I videoed them coming down the mountain towards me with me skiing backwards.

To say that I am hooked on skiboarding (Europeans, annoyingly call it SnowBlading) would be a huge understatement. Whilst my skiing had a lot of room for improvement, progress was not exactly rapid. With my Blades, I can skiboard down difficult slopes that I could only dream before. The small size of these things makes carving so much easier. When I ski with my regular skiing buddy (we used to be of the same skiing standard), I find that he still has the edge in terms of top speed when going down a very long smooth run, but at the first sign of a drop I leave him miles behind. Even jumps are so easy with the Blades.

The only minuses relate to the fact that having never skated or rollerbladed, I have difficulty "skating" on flat terrain in my Snow Blades, now that I got rid of my ski poles.

Even though I am in the middle of an acrimonious divorce, my passion for skiboarding is such that I have had to "negotiate" with my soon to be ex-wife to take my daughter for a week's skiing in Nendaz in Switzerland next February. I will let you know how I get on. In the meantime, I would love to hear from any like-minded individuals based in the United Kingdom. If you are a single skiboarding female then it would be an added bonus!!

Alexis,
Age 40
London, England

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