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Spruce up your skiing with a skills course in the UK this spring and summer

Tackling moguls indoors on a Warren Smith Ski Academy one-day course
Tackling moguls indoors on a Warren Smith Ski Academy one-day course

Although some high-altitude resorts in the Alps are still open for late-season skiing until the end of the month, most are winding down, and skiers and snowboarders are thinking about next winter's holiday. But you don’t have to wait until next season to work on improving technique. 

Indoor snow centres around the UK provide an excellent opportunity to practise skills and work on problem areas all year round, and for complete novices to learn turns for the first time.

And starting next Monday, April 23, National Schools Snowsport Week offers free or discounted taster sessions for schoolchildren in England to try out skiing and snowboarding at a range of UK indoor snow centres and dry slopes.

During the winter, the Warren Smith Ski Academy holds courses in Verbier, Switzerland, and Cervinia in Italy. Now its instructors are back in the UK and offering coaching sessions at three different snow centres, giving British skiers a chance to build on the skills they’ve learnt over the season, or correct problems they've found.

“I’ve been using indoor real snow venues since 1994 and I cannot recommend them enough,” Warren Smith says.

Warren Smith summer courses at indoor snow slopes
Indoor snow slopes tend to be blissfully quiet during the summer months

“You get the chance to work on your technique, test out your ski equipment, home in on a specific element of your technique that might have been bugging you during your winter break, or carefully return to skiing if you’ve had an injury.

“Most importantly, heading to an indoor slope bridges the long gap between winter seasons and keeps you ski fit, using many of the muscles that only ache on ski holidays.”

Top tips | How to prepare for the slopes
Top tips | How to prepare for the slopes

As well as running the Academy, Warren is ski skills editor for The Telegraph, and was one of the coaches on Channel's reality TV winter-sports show The Jump from 2014 to 2017 - the programme did not get its usual airing this February, with Channel 4 citing Winter Olympic coverage as the reason, but may return next year. 

“A lot of people ask me how we got all the celebrities for The Jump up to a decent level so quickly, and I have to say a big part of that was the work they did at The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead in December before the shows started,” he says. “Some of them went from complete beginner to carving in that small window.”

The great indoors | Reasons to visit a snow centre in summer
The great indoors | Reasons to visit a snow centre in summer

This year, evening as well as daytime Academy sessions are available, and as well as general coaching with all-mountain sessions, there are specific classes for working on technique in moguls.

The six-hour sessions run from April to June at Chill Factore in Manchester, the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead and SnoZone in Castleford. More details and a full list of dates are available on the Academy's website.

The coolest snow centres and indoor ski slopes
The coolest snow centres and indoor ski slopes

For those who really feel like there’s no substitute for fresh air and mountain scenery, a number of ski schools do run courses in the Alps over the summer, including the Warren Smith Ski Academy, usually in resorts with high-altitude glaciers – another opportunity to hone skills before the next trip to the slopes.