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The needlepoint spread on the Hill is a mat made of plastic “brushes” attached to a metal frame. The bristles of the brushes are about 10cm high. An irrigation system is located under the mat. It is responsible for spraying a mist of water floating over the slope, which you often see in pictures from the Hill.

The water greatly enhances the sliding of the skis on the mat. It is not sprayed non-stop – irrigation is turned on based on demand. Sunshine, humidity, and air temperature, as well as the number of skiers on the slopes all affect how long moisture stays on the “brushes”. Water is usually turned off at intervals of about 10 minutes for a duration of 1-2 minutes.

Learning to ride the needle? There are several benefits from training on this surface. The first and most important is that we can ride on it and gain skills even when the temperatures are too high for snow. Second, even “hydrated” brush generates much more friction than snow. This makes sliding down them about 30 – 40% slower than on snow.

Training basic stunts like climbing, plowing – controlling speed and stopping is much safer and easier to learn just on the green mat. This is because skis accelerate much more slowly and to lower speeds than they do on snow. For the same reason, we experience less painful falls. Transitioning to parallel driving, where you are already moving faster, is also easier especially for people who are afraid of speed at first.

I took my first steps on the dry slope – how will it be on snow? The transition from mat to snow is usually several minutes of instruction with an instructor. This is because the skiing technique is identical. After a few sessions on the dry slope, developed muscle memory ensures a very quick transition to riding on snow and most importantly – the most difficult, or first steps and potentially most painful falls are already behind us then offset by learning on a “slow surface”.

When choosing a needlework for classes, remember to have waterproof clothing with you. Regular ski pants are fine here – especially we advise you not to ride on an “watered” slope made of cotton clothing.

– Do not dress the child in too thick clothes, he or she does a lot of physical effort during classes. Dress them appropriately for the weather of the day!

– Waterproof trousers are required. Children often lie in the snow during lessons and their clothes quickly get wet. Don’t tuck the aprons of your snow pants into your ski boots. When the ski boots are fastened, they cause pressure and quite a bit of discomfort.

– Pay attention to the gloves. They must be waterproof and the right size. They must be easy to put on and yet not fall off. We do not recommend woolen gloves – snow sticks to them and they quickly get wet. For longer activities, alternate gloves are often useful. Gloves also play an important protective role for your child’s hands.

– If it’s a sunny day, you may need sunglasses that fit under the helmet. The snow reflects the light and it can be very disruptive during class.

– A balaclava under the helmet is not necessary. The helmets we provide have insulation.

– Ski goggles are not required. – Ski goggles are not necessary. In addition, they often evaporate which only makes learning more difficult.

– Children often feel thirsty during classes – take a thermos with tea or a bottle of water with you.

It all depends on the week we want to go to class. The occupancy rate of Górka Szczęśliwicka significantly increases during the Masovian holidays and the week preceding the winter holidays. It does not mean, however, that during this period we cannot select the hours when there will be no queues to the ski lifts.

On Górka there are also skiing competitions about which we always inform our clients. Then only half of the slope is available, which significantly limits the learning opportunities for riders.

In addition to the winter break, in the evening hours, there are also ski training sessions for sports clubs, which exclude part of the slope from use. For beginners, they are not a big obstacle because they don’t last long and take up little space. When booking a class in Zone4Skiing, you will be informed

Weekends are also very popular when there is a lot of snow.

– the highest occupancy, regardless of the period, is always on Sundays, queues for the lifts can be formed mainly in January and February. However, not every week will be heavily occupied. If you book classes, you can ask our employee what the situation is based on the previous days.

– days during which we will probably meet few skiers on the slope are Monday – Thursday 10:00 – 16:00 regardless of the month (except winter holidays)

– if we care about the weekends, we recommend 10:00 – 12:00 and 17:00 – 20:00 (outside the winter holidays)

– during the Masovian holidays, most of the groups taking part in day camp activities take place between 10:00 – 12:00 and 14:00 – 16:00. During the winter break, during these hours you will surely encounter a lot of occupancy on the slope.

Górka Szczęśliwicka is equipped with a highly efficient snowmaking system. It is activated when temperatures stay below -4°C. The slope is equipped with 6 snow cannons, which are able to snow the entire slope in just a few days at appropriate temperatures. Many times the snow cover was so heavy that it lasted until April!

The snow cannons located on the slope are supplied with water from a special tank, which is fed to them with hoses similar to those used by fire departments.

The cannons are equipped with special nozzles that spray water under high pressure. The sprayed water freezes in the cold air, resulting in artificial snow falling to the ground.

Whether water or snow will fall on the ground is due to the resultant of two atmospheric factors – air temperature and humidity. In Warsaw the average air humidity is over 85%, which makes the cannons can be used at temperatures below -4°C. Interestingly, when humidity is below 30%, artificial snow can be produced from temperatures as low as 1°C!

When it comes to the youngest years the determinant here is the degree of psychophysical development of our child. The youngest students in our school are 3 – 4 years old. Willingness to learn, interest, and the ability to understand and repeat the movements shown to the child by the instructor are key. We teach the youngest by maintaining a balance between skill acquisition and fun. We are well aware that the key is to keep your child interested in further learning.

We are happy to provide advice on how to prepare your child for learning to ski.

Our ski training courses are in line with ISIA global standards. Our instructors have full knowledge of teaching people of all age groups and skill levels.

Our trainings are conducted in such a way as to maintain a balance between the student’s sense of security and the acquisition of new skills. Instructors choose the course of training, exercises and approach to the client individually for each person.

At the initial stage of learning, you will learn the rules of safety on the slope, the nomenclature of the equipment you will use and you will acquire key, basic skills and knowledge. We start by putting on skis and practicing the position while moving on a flat surface, walking and climbing. Then, on a slight slope, you will practice ascending and first slides with a speed-controlled plow to stop.

The next stage that you will go to with our instructor is learning to ride a T-bar lift. Thanks to this, you will be able to practice plow arches (turning when driving a plow) and refine controlled slides with a plow in a larger space and on sections of a slope with a slightly greater slope.

Once you have mastered the plow technique, you will slowly switch to parallel driving – first on a slope and then to parallel turns. This stage requires a slightly faster ride and is only introduced in people who have good control over their plowing technique. Our training technique ensures a smooth transition from parallel driving without sudden jumps in skill.

Parallel skiing requires more technique and coordination from us. In fact, now you are starting your true adventure with skiing. Here, you and your instructor will focus more on the details, and it is through these details that you will be able to correctly execute the stunts while parallel riding. You will learn how to ride a chute, make turns with different radii, or parallel braking. When you have mastered the above to a reasonable degree you will begin to learn to edge ride!