When the lovely people at Helly Hansen first invited me to Les Menuires on a ski trip, I hesitated — for two very serious reasons.
Firstly, I would have to ski. I’m a snowboarder. If my snowboard mates found out, it would be considered a crime punishable by lifelong ridicule — no parole.
Secondly… I don’t ski.
Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m 51 now and I skied for about five days on a school trip when I was 14. I also attempted a lads’ ski trip in my early thirties — although that memory is somewhat hazy and best left unexamined. At heart, I’m a snowboarder. For the past 15 years I’ve ridden with some of the best snowboard athletes and journalists in the world — and even managed a few of them.
But I succumbed to the dark side for two reasons.
The first: Helly Hansen asked very nicely (and the opportunity to review their latest kit had absolutely nothing to do with it…).
The second: I would be relearning to ski under the watchful eye of Warren Smith, one of Helly Hansen’s ambassadors. Warren is one of Britain’s leading professional freeskiers, an internationally qualified performance coach and instructor, and founder of the Warren Smith Ski Academy, established in 1998. Widely regarded as one of the most innovative ski coaches in the Alps, I figured if Warren couldn’t get me up to speed in a few days, nobody could.
We headed to Les Menuires in the magnificent Three Valleys in France — the largest ski area in the world. I’ve visited before and it never disappoints. The long, top-to-bottom blue runs were in immaculate condition. No excuses.
Learning to Ski with Warren Smith
The moment I clipped into my hire skis behind the hotel, reality hit. The gentle run down to the lift should have been straightforward — instead I felt like Bambi on ice, grateful not to collide with anything… or anyone.
Yet within an hour I was confidently linking turns on sweeping blue pistes. Warren has a remarkable eye for detail, spotting the smallest technical adjustments that make the biggest difference. Somehow, he also appears to have eyes in the back of his head.
Crucially, he didn’t overload me with information. He drip-fed one adjustment at a time, allowing me to focus and embed it properly. There’s nothing worse than instruction overload.
By the end of day one, I was skiing parallel turns. Not perfect — but chalk and cheese compared to that first tentative descent. Skiing and snowboarding demand different skill sets, yet they share important fundamentals: committing forward into the mountain rather than leaning back, engaging the core so the legs stay fluid rather than rigid, and — perhaps most importantly — looking where you want to go. The body follows the eyes.
For me, the game-changers were engaging the hips and transferring weight decisively into the turn. Warren’s explanations and demonstrations made complex movements feel simple.
That said, he must possess the patience of a saint. When instructed to follow each other in a neat snake formation down the slope, my snowboard instincts repeatedly kicked in. I cut the line, accelerated past everyone and generally disrupted the system. Old habits die hard.
Over the next few days my confidence grew. I ventured onto steeper terrain, flirted with the edges of the piste, and even braved the park — admittedly just a few rollers and a small bridge, but I’m counting it.
I had an unexpectedly brilliant few days. I genuinely couldn’t believe how far I’d progressed on skis. Credit to Warren for teaching this old dog new tricks.
Skiing vs Snowboarding
Am I now a convert? Not quite.
I loved the experience and would happily ski again. But nothing quite replaces that surf-like flow of a snowboard floating on fresh powder or the feeling of carving through early morning corduroy.
What skiing has given me, though, is freedom. On the next family ski trip, I can spend a day on skis with my wife and daughter. And there’s something satisfying about having more than one way to get down a mountain.
Info:
For more information on Helly Hansen click here
For more information on the Warren Smith Ski Academy click here
