You're going snowboarding, my friends said. Where? Then I told them and they didn't look so jealous. "Milton Keynes."
OK, it's not as exciting as saying you're off to Chamonix, Whistler or Mammoth but - now that Europe's largest indoor real snow slope has opened there - Milton Keynes could well become a breeding ground for tomorrow's skiers and snowboarders.
About one hour after getting on the train from London, I was there at the top of Snozone's two 170m slopes (there's also a 135m training slope), boots strapped to the board, jacket zipped up tight, breath visible in the -2 C air, trying to remember how the hell to do it.
There's 1,500 tonnes of the white stuff on these slopes and it felt good, just like real snow in fact, which was fortunate because I took a spectacular tumble - or faceshot, to use the correct boarding term - halfway down and was glad of a soft landing. At the foot of the run, the two 170m slopes are served by button tows, always a tough one for boarders, but good practice nevertheless.
No one's ever going to say an indoor ski-slope is as good as the real thing. I mean, no Frenchman ever gets up out of bed in Chamonix on a clear, crisp winter morning and says: "Let's fly to Britain and try an indoor slope." But that's hardly the point. Snozone is a tool, a bridge to the real thing. And there was nothing artificial about the ache in my muscles after an hour of shaky turns, so it's also a pretty good work-out.
I thought it was good value, and the slopes were fairly quiet - although with snowboarding now Britain's fastest growing sport, it's unlikely to stay that way for very long.
• Healthland Snozone is at the Xscape Centre, 602 Marlborough Gate, central Milton Keynes MK9 3XS (info and bookings: 01908 230260, www.snozone.co.uk). By car, it is five minutes from the M1, junction 14. By rail, it is on the London to Glasgow line, 40 minutes from London Euston, 70 minutes from Birmingham New Street. From the station, Snozone is then only five minutes by taxi, 10 by bus.
The slope is open daily from 9am-11pm. Off-peak period is Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm. Off-peak prices: adults (16+) £15/hour, junior £10, family (two adults, two children) £45. Peak period is Monday-Friday, 6pm-11pm, 9am-11pm at weekends and bank holidays. Peak prices: adult £20, junior £14, family £55. Prices include skis, boards, boots, poles and head protection. Group lessons are available: learn to snowboard in a weekend (Sat-Sun, 9am-5pm) for £200, juniors £160.
The Tamworth Snowdome, Britain's other indoor slope, is at Tamworth, near Birmingham. Details on 01827 67905, website currently being updated.
