TRAINING CENTRE:A NEW SKI training centre has been opened in south Co Dublin by a doctor and avid skier.
Pearse Phelan got the idea after a trip to Switzerland two years ago, when he was amazed to see a young Dutch skier fluently descend a piste with an advanced ski-school class on his first day on snow. When he asked how this was possible, he learned that the skier had spent eight weeks learning on a Maxxtracks ski-slope simulator in Amsterdam.
Pearse travelled to The Netherlands to investigate, and now, 18 months later, he has opened Ski Centre, in a converted warehouse off the M50 in Sandyford.
The ski slopes in the centre operate like giant treadmills, 10 metres long by five metres wide. The slope can be tilted to increase its steepness and be set at speeds of up to 65km/h. Skiers and snowboarders ski against the movement of the treadmill, which creates the effect of an endless mountain run.
Qualified instructors provide feedback and advice within an arm's length of the student. As there are no ski lifts, slope time is maximised, so bad habits picked up can be cured quickly, and progress for beginners is rapid.
Niall Phelan, an instructor at the centre, says that "a reasonably fit person would need only four hours on the machine to be a confident beginner capable of pisted runs on their first day on snow".
Ski Centre also has a snowsports-specific gym, kitted out with the latest in Skier's Edge machines.
Ian and Jane McGarry, the parents of the Irish Olympic skiers Kirsten and Tamsen, run the centre, which has an opening €10 trial offer. Four adult classes cost €208.
Ski Centre, Stillorgan Business Park, Co Dublin, 01-2930588, www.skicentre.ie