Snowboarding down carpet in an air-conditioned room doesn't compare with threading your way through a snowy wilderness. But if you want to get some practise before you head to the mountains, the best place to fake it is at Slope Infinity in North Point, the world's largest revolving carpet-ski and snowboard training deck.
Using real skis, ski boots, ski bindings, poles, and snowboards, and with its variable-speed, ultra-wide revolving carpet (like a reverse treadmill), the centre's managers say a one-hour lesson equates to several hours of learning on a mountain without the distractions of cold, crowded slopes and queues for the chairlift.
So I strapped on my boots, hooked myself up to the safety harness, boarded the snowboard ... and fell over.
Rad Carney, my instructor, was patient. But I could tell that my many failed attempts at a reverse turn were frustrating him.
'Bend knees, put your weight on you heels; yes, that feeling of letting go is the feeling you should be experiencing,' he said.
And while boarding away on the carpet looks silly, there is method in this madness. Carney says training on a revolving carpet has been proven to be effective for reinforcing 'muscle memory - a learned movement pattern or habit - and developing efficient habits and skills to improve skiing and snowboarding techniques'.