After several hours of free boarding at Snozone, courtesy of Healthand, we thought it was about time to take the plunge and see how good it was when we had to pay for our time. We booked by phone the previous Monday and were told there were lots of places left, up to the maximum of 250 slope users.

Despite the cr@ppy weather on the M1, we arrived just in time for the 8 until 11pm session. What amazed us was the total lack of any activity at the check in desk. We were expecting at least some queue, but there were just a handful of boarders milling about getting their tickets sorted. We queued for about two minutes to get our access card.

We also managed to find the "secret" changing room which is located through the toilets. There's lockers there and a whole load more room to wield your board - something that's a bit tricky in the cubicles. All the boarders were keen and ready to go. I had to borrow a quid for the lockers, which is now getting a bit of a habit. Ta ;o)

On to the slopes... when we arrived, we could see a couple of skiers on the slope and these were physically removed before the 8pm session. This could possibly be one of the best times to come (thought we) as everybody's thinking "boarding session Friday, no point going tonight". So good tip is to turn up for a few hours before one of the special sessions as it seems the slope is deserted. You'd have to pay full price though.

On the slope, it started off fairly empty. What was amazing is that is stayed that way for the whole three hours. On the slope with the jumps, I don't think there were ever more than 30 boarders at any one time.

The jumps themselves were good. About a third of the way down are two jumps side by side. Both a made of snow and occassionally reshaped by the Sno Patrol. The first is a small 2 foot jump, the second probably 4 foot. Both land with a reasonable transition if you have a little speed. The landings were also onto snow, rather than ice like at Tamworth and whilst the landing isn't powder does offer some relief for the unprotected posterior.

Towards the bottom of the slope is a table top, again made of snow and well maintained. All the jumps seem to be permanent, so should be available all week long. The other main slope was free of features for those not keen for the jumping. It's nice to see the slope pandering to the peculiar needs of boarders in this way.

The best trick we saw all evening was a 360 and only two were cleanly landed. Plenty of 180's and grabs, but no inverts. So if you're not any good, then don't be put off by the boarding only night. Everybody was polite in the line-up, encouraging and helpful. We suggest you go for it. The rules say you have to wear a lid and this was stricly enforced. The lids are freely hired from the equipment desk. They are regularly cleaned.

So basically, we had an excellent three hour session with great jumps, no queues to speak of and all for £40, which we think isn't bad value.

The only bad point was that the Poma button kept stopping. This is due to riders dismounting at the top and letting the button hit the tow-stop which automatically shuts down the tow. The lift won't then start until the Sno Patrol have reset the lift both top and bottom. So... we should all be gentle when releasing the buttons, to avoid this happening.

Yes, this is a good review of the slope and we suggest you go there to see for yourself - just not when we're around, eh?

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