Looking for a snowboard school in the High Tatras where you actually learn to ride – instead of waiting for the instructor of a crowded group to finally get to you? At Premiere Ski School & Rent we teach snowboarding exclusively through private lessons. Your instructor spends the whole session with you or your family alone and adjusts the pace to your ability, so you will link your first turns much faster. We teach in Tatranská Lomnica and Starý Smokovec, daily from 8:00 to 21:00, throughout the winter season from December until roughly the end of March or early April.
Why a private snowboard school beats a group course
Compared to skiing, snowboarding has one fundamental quirk: the very beginning is physically tougher. You spend the first hours learning to fall and get up, finding your balance on the edge and practising side slips – and this is exactly the stage that decides whether you fall in love with the sport or put the board away after one sore weekend. In a group course, the instructor simply cannot be there for every fall of every participant. In a private lesson they stand next to you the whole time: they hold you during your first edge slide, correct a faulty stance immediately and choose drills based precisely on what you can already do and what still needs work.
That is why you will not find any group courses at our school – private lessons are the only format we offer, for both ski and snowboard. All our instructors are APUL-certified and speak Slovak, Czech, Polish and English, so there is no language barrier for international visitors. Our team counts more than 30 instructors, the school builds on over 20 years of experience, and clients rate us 4.8 stars on Google based on 216 reviews.
Your first rides: what a lesson looks like
If you are standing on a snowboard for the first time, do not expect jumps or fast riding. The lesson starts with the fundamentals that everything else depends on:
- Stance and balance – we find out whether you ride more naturally with your left or right foot forward (regular or goofy), and you learn to fall and get up safely;
- edge sliding – speed control on both the toe and heel edge is the foundation without which you cannot move on the slope;
- the “falling leaf” – moving across the slope in both directions without turning the board gives you confidence and a feel for the edge;
- first turns – linking the edges, the moment when standing on a board turns into real snowboarding.
More advanced riders use private sessions to improve carved turns, gain confidence at higher speed or handle more demanding terrain. You set the content of the lesson – the instructor builds the programme around your goals, not around a group average.
A school of snowboarding for kids and adults alike
Snowboarding is not just a sport for teenagers. Our lessons are booked by schoolkids, parents with children and adults who stood on a board for the first time after forty – and it is adult beginners who appreciate the private format the most: no strangers watching you fall, and progress comes quickly. We teach children from the age of 3; whether skis or a snowboard are the better start for your child is something we are happy to discuss over the phone. How we work with the youngest is described in detail in our article on courses for children – the principles of playful teaching apply on a board just the same.
For families with children we especially recommend Jakubkova lúka in Starý Smokovec: the gentle, safe slope next to Hotel Atrium, easy for parents to keep an eye on, is made for first rides.
Snowboard lesson prices: the same as skiing
A snowboard lesson costs exactly the same as a ski lesson with us – no board surcharge. Private lesson prices in Tatranská Lomnica:
- 60 minutes – €44,
- 90 minutes – €63 – the most popular length: enough time for real progress, but without total exhaustion,
- 120 minutes – €77,
- each additional person on the lesson only +€17 – siblings or a group of friends ride together at a better rate,
- multi-day tuition with a discount: −5 % for 3 days, −10 % for 6 or more days.
In Starý Smokovec a 60-minute lesson costs the same €44 and a 120-minute lesson €77, while guests of Hotel Atrium get reduced prices of €37 and €66 respectively. An additional person there pays +€10 for the one-hour and +€15 for the two-hour lesson. You will find the complete, always up-to-date overview in our price list.
No need to buy gear: a rental shop right by the slope
You do not have to buy a board worth hundreds of euros for your first rides. At our rental shop in Tatranská Lomnica – which is also an official Rossignol Test Centre – you can rent snowboard equipment from the Rossignol FORZA line. A complete set costs €26–30 per day, €50–57 for two days and €73–84 for three days; the board alone is €20–25 per day and boots €15–20 per day. On top of that, you get a helmet for free with your lesson.
Renting also has a practical advantage for beginners: until you know whether the board really hooks you, you do not invest a single extra cent in your own gear.
Where we teach: Tatranská Lomnica and Starý Smokovec
You will find us at two locations in the High Tatras. Our main base – school and rental shop – sits at Tatranská Lomnica 62; we wrote a separate guide to skiing in Tatranská Lomnica covering the resort, its slopes and facilities. The second branch operates in Starý Smokovec at Jakubkova lúka, next to Hotel Atrium. Addresses, maps and practical information for both spots are on our locations page.
We do not sell ski passes at the school – lift tickets are available online via gopass.travel, and current resort information can be found at vt.sk.
Booking: your first turn is closer than you think
Booking a lesson takes one phone call: dial +421 911 561 561, we are available daily from 8:00 to 21:00. Tell us who will be riding, how much experience they have and when you are coming to the Tatras – we will suggest the right lesson length and location. The season runs from December until roughly the end of March or early April, and especially around Christmas, New Year’s Eve and the spring holiday weeks private instructors book up fast, so we recommend reserving in advance.
Your first clean turn on the edge is a feeling you never forget. With a snowboard school where the instructor focuses on you alone, you will get there sooner than you expect – quite possibly in your very first lesson.
