The first day of skiing or snowboarding used to be a painful and frustrating series of face plants in the snow.

It doesn’t have to be that way, according to Dave Anderson, owner of the Wild West Ski Shop and now a proud owner of the Magic Carpet — an essentially fall-proof way to learn to ski or snowboard.

Anderson, who has taught skiing at Ski Apache since 1978 and snowboarding since 1994, first learned about the carpet from his students.

“I would be teaching a beginning class, and I’d notice that a few of the kids would be a lot better than the rest,” Anderson said. “When I asked if they’d snowboarded before, it turned out that they’d never been on snow, but they had a lesson or two on the carpet. Once they got on the snow, they learned faster and had a better time.”

The Endless Slope Ski and Snowboard Deck consists of an angled carpet about six feet wide and eight feet deep. The student is supported by stainless steel bars in front and back and by a safety harness worn around the waist.

“It’s like moving down the mountain, except that the carpeted slope moves under you rather than you moving down the hill,” Anderson said.

Anderson begins the lesson by getting on the carpet himself and giving a short demonstration. Then he helps the student put on the boots, strap on the board and stand up.

With the student’s board pointing straight downhill, Anderson holds on to the front of it and turns on the carpet. When the student is comfortable with the sensation of movement, he begins to guide the board from side to side, instructing the student to pivot his or her feet.

“You never have this luxury on the hill,” he remarked.

When the student can pivot, Anderson lets go of the board and gives instructions for turning. “Flatten the board, twist, now up on the toes.” He can stop the carpet instantly via a remote control that he keeps in his hand.

“This is a way to learn the basics in a really safe way,” he said. “You avoid the pain of that first day. It’s also more comfortable in that you’re not outside with the wind blowing snow in your face and people buzzing by you.”

Anderson also gives private skiing and snowboarding lessons at Ski Apache, and can give a follow up session to help students transition from the carpet to the snow.

The Endless Slope is not just for beginners.

“I have instructors and people who work at ski shops — excellent skiers and boarders — who do a session on the carpet to work on technique,” he said. “It’s a safer way to learn to do a 180 or 360 degree turn than trying to do it on the mountain.”

Anderson will have the Magic Carpet at Snowblast Ruidoso, a ski and snowboard show at the Ruidoso Convention Center Dec. 17-18.

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Lots of snow means skiers and boarders are having fun and working on their skills at Sugar Bowl, Heavenly and Squaw. And in Curtis Park.

It's there, in that completely snow-free - indeed, hill-free - Sacramento neighborhood, that novices and experts alike can develop their ski legs on a rolling length of carpet that serves as a passable ski slope.

The contraption, run by ski instructor Sam Morishima out of his tiny garage, manages to emulate a snowy slope well enough for students to improve their skiing while 90 minutes away from the nearest decent snow.

Morishima's mechanical slope isn't the only indoor version of an essentially outdoor sport available to Sacramento area residents. For skiing, rock climbing or playing soccer, tennis or hockey, Sacramento has a number of sheltered venues for people who are, at least for the rainy season, willing to settle for being inside.

That can become necessary because, while Sacramento isn't hit by winter nearly as hard as much of the nation, rock climbing and mountain biking are among the sports that can become problematic when it gets wet or cold outside. Or, as in recent weeks, both.

Even in good weather, the best places to engage in those sports can be at least an hour's drive away.

So a number of entrepreneurs have tried indoor alternatives to outdoor sports. Many have come and gone over the past 10 years, notably indoor golf simulators. Some are doing well and others are still being planned.

Morishima's "endless slope" at his Curtis Park SnoZone Ski and Snowboard School is doing very well, according to its owner.

Using a remarkable contraption that gives him a terrific opportunity to observe his students, Morishima is able to correct their form as they're actually skiing.

"By seeing up close what the student is doing, I can help them correct it right away," says Morishima, who has trained professional skiers at his schools in Sacramento and San Francisco.

He even trained the chimp who performed snowboard stunts in the 2003 film "MXP: Most Xtreme Primate."

"It's much more difficult and inefficient to do it watching them ski by, or even skiing with them," he says. "Students learn much faster this way, at all levels."

If there's a sport even less likely than downhill skiing to be transferable indoors, it's mountain biking.

But that is the dream of Mike Upchurch, who says he is just weeks - and a rented building - away from opening Skills Factory (www.indoormtb.com), which he hopes will offer year round access to technical tracks that will help mountain bikers hone their skills.

"What we're looking to do is provide the obstacles at stations for various skills," he says. "It'll be like circuit training for cyclists."

Skills Factory also will feature about a mile of trails so flatlanders who don't have time for a trip to the foothills can get in a good workout.

But Skills Factory still exists only on paper, and judging from conversations with operators - and the number of disconnected phones - indoor sports venues are iffy commercial propositions.

While climbing walls tend to do well, at least a couple of indoor golf businesses have failed in the Sacramento area, and no one appears to be pursuing that option at the moment.

Tim Hovanscek is a local golf instructor who tried operating a golf simulator out of a friend's plumbing business in Roseville a couple of years ago. He lasted more than a year, but, as he says, "It was really hard to justify the cost of the machine ($50,000) - people weren't going to pay a $50 greens fee to play with it."

The problem, he says, is that the weather never gets too bad in the Sacramento area to drive enough duffers indoors.

"What I found in Sacramento," he says, "is that if it's a bad day, you just wait until tomorrow. You're not getting socked in with three months of snow. The weather will be better tomorrow."

By contrast, he says, "There are six (simulator) units up at the Hilton in Reno, and they're pretty busy. But that's in Reno."

Still, he says, the basic benefit of an indoor simulator, whether for golf or any other sport, is that it's a good teaching tool, and he hopes to get another one.

"The simulator is a godsend for teaching," he says. "People love to be able to see their swing (and) get a good analysis. Golfers want to be ready to go (play outdoors) in March, and you can get a real head start with the simulator."

Learning is still the focus of most indoor sports venues in Sacramento. Pools at local scuba dive shops such as Dolphin Scuba Diving Center and the new Sports Chalet in Sacramento's north area are short on coral reefs and sunken boats, but they will give students the skills needed to head for dive spots on the coast. Such places offer a chance to prepare athletes for the real deal.

And some sports have moved indoors permanently. Basketball and swimming have long been common indoor activities. There are also places to practice or to play in-line hockey, baseball (with batting cages and pitching "tunnels"), archery and soccer.

And there are some relatively new sports that have arisen at some indoor venues, one being "broomball," a form of ice hockey played with an air-filled ball and a plastic "broom" or paddle. Players wear shoes instead of skates.

What follows is a list of some of the places where you can enjoy indoor versions of outdoor sports, if even just for training.

These are not the only places offering indoor activities - particularly for tennis, swimming and basketball - but they are good places to start.