 Poster: A snowHead
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We need to get some more subjects going on this forum.
I'm not long back from Belle Plagne and I had the MOST scary moment skiing there I've ever encountered (whilst skiing).
I'm not by nature a daredevil so most of my skiing is on nicely prepared pistes. My kids went off piste through the trees going down to Monchavin and had a good time so in the PM they said they would take us there as well. The kids are only 2nd week so I was not concerned. Anyway we go into the trees on a piste I have never been on and someone falls and I end up on a different track going in a different direction to everyone else.
I could not go back (snow too deep to turn) and I had no idea where I was or where this track ended. Everyone disappeared and I was all alone going through trees on a steeper slope than I liked.
To say I was worried is a definite understatement. I had visions of falling and hurting myself and no one knowing where I was etc etc.
I was lucky in that the track came back to the piste eventually but it taught me just how easy bad things can happen to even the most careful person. To say I was unhappy is also an understatement.
Come on confess. What's happened to you?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Agree that trees are scary. Pootling along on a gentle blue slope with some beginner friends I thought I'd follow someones tracks in the trees by the side - oh my god did I have to work hard to make the same turns. Not going back into the trees until my technique is better!
Other scary moments... narrow runs at the top of mountains. So worried about not making the turn and falling off the cliff. Particularly if the drop is on the left side as my left to right turns are noticeably worse than turning from right to left.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Took my partner to the top of a blue in Hinterglemm. Looked down realising that it was far too tough for her in her first proper week of skiing. Fortunately, a friend from the hotel arrived and we got her down it with only one fall.
I'm not sure what was the most scary - the look down the slope or the look on her face!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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M.M.
"as my left to right turns are noticeably worse than turning from right to left."
Funny that, so are mine, sure it's the same for everyone though.
Or was it right to left?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Mine was in courmayeur - cruising down the piste, long wide turns. NOticed that I was coming up to a snow cannon so decided that rather thab exerting myself to get the turn in before the cannon, I'd sweep round the back of it
It was at that point that I realised that in the flat light I hadn;t noticed that the piste finished at the snow cannon and the ground dropped away sharply - like 35 degrees! I was suddenly 8 feet above the ground and it was falling away from me...
I panicked and fell and crashed but luckily didn;t hurt myself. Climbed out and carried on as though nothing had happened 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Snowplough edit your signature and tidy up the "NEAR heard of ski-lifts".
It's pretty good up to that point. 
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Scariest moment? Ski-ing off-piste with a couple of instructors who, it turned out, like jumps. They had the group dropping off a baby cliff (okay, okay, it was probably no where near "cliff"-like - but it seemed it at the time). From where I was standing waiting my turn I couldn't see the others landing - I could just see them dropping off the "cliff" followed by shouts from the instructor along the lines of 'your left ski is behind you and your pole is down the slope'. Waiting for my turn was def the scariest moment!
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I was skiing in PAL last week of season in Andorra. What snow there was was blue, cm's of ice in some places. I was skiing along a blue that had a red run dropping off the side. Finally the ice got me and started slipping and fell. Slid on my back along the blue and finally into the top of the red.
If anything the ice was worse on the red and i couldnt stop myself. both skis came off and tried to use the base of my poles as an ice pick but they couldnt penetrate the ice. I must of slipped 60/70 meters before the camber of the slope carried me into a bank.
Scared, oh yes  makes me laugh now though but at the time !!!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Probably two weeks ago on the Tunnel run in Alpe D'Huez in a complete white-out, sleet and high winds. You know the bit just after the tunnel itself and then 100 yards or so of track, where the piste just drops away to the right. First time I'd tackled it, and couldn't see more than two yards in front of my face, with zero definition (glasses steamed up and goggles iced up). Each turn was a pure leap of faith. Definitely skiing with the force! As it turned out, the steep section is only about 100 yards long, but I didn't have a clue about that until I was two yards from the bottom! The Sarenne the following day in good conditions was an absolute doddle in comparison.
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Le Tunnel! I was talked into doing this run at Alpe d'Huez by some mates. We took the cable car up (none of us really talking!) got into the tunnel. Half way along there's a memorial to someone (did they die doing the run I asked myself). At the end there's a couple of stretchers, then turn right out of the tunnel, down an icy ledge and jump out onto the run. To my horror it was 40 degrees and sheet ice with bumps. Never been so scared in my life. I did long traverses but sometime you've got to face down the run. Very scary. Somehow didn't fall.
Tip for hyped up intermediate DON'T DO THE TUNNEL!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Dave,
Is the Sarenne the 16km black back to the resort?
I'm off to Alpe D'Huez in a couple of weeks and as an intermediate (all reds and most blacks don't do moguls can cope with ice) is it one I should try.
Slowplough
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Definitely. A couple of steepish or narrowish bits at the top, but nothing special. Most of it is just a fantastic red, with the last 4km or so a fairly green trail through the trees. You don't quite believe that it's 16km though - guess it just shows how much distance we usually cover without really knowing it. Enjoy!
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Last week in La Plagne. Near the top of the hill on Saturday, which was a white-out, and an extra dense cloud came by. Vis dropped to about 50 feet and I knew I was somewhere near the cliff drop-off and a one way skeleton luge trip to Champagny. Did a very abrupt hockey stop and wimped it for five mins until I found the next piste marker and vis had lifted a bit.
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You know it makes sense.
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Had a scary moment a couple of weeks ago in Breckenridge, i was skiing down the Lake Chutes on Peak 8, the snow conditions were variable and i hit a bit of heavy snow and tripped, bear in mind the slope is around 50 degrees. I started sliding and new that there were some rocks below me luckily i stopped about 100m later and didn't hit anything on the way down.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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While steep tree skiing at St Anton, dropped onto what I thought was deep powder but there was a tree root/branch underneath. Went into a forward summersalt and landed hanging by my legs from a small tree below. Another time I almost fell off a rickety bridge onto stones in icy waters below.
The wind was strong at Sölden and the gondola up to the glacier tunnel was shut. The only way up was with the T-bar, the wind became stronger and about half way up the T-bar cable was pulled off it's runner. So everyone on the lift started to slide backwards. After a few seconds we had picked up quite a bit of speed. People were falling off the T-bar and other people were hitting them while traveling backwards. I was sitting their thinking "I hope my knees get through this in one piece".
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Poster: A snowHead
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Let's see:
Following a gully in Alta. Just made a trun, and discovered there was a waterfall.
That was mildly scary.
But by far the scariest was skiing alongside Masque in Castleford a few months ago. That guy should carry a government health warning. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Not me, but here's a story I was told a story a few years ago by a colleague called Peter. He was a pretty good skiier, and had splashed out for an off-piste guide for the day. Not sure of the resort, may Val d'Isere or similar, definitely europe though
They'd been playing in a bowl and were headin back, taking the single steep drag lift, when half way up the hill Peter's Poma cable snapped. He fell and began to gather speed backwards, heading towards a sizeable drop over a cliff. He was saved only because the jolt on the cable alerted the guide who turned to see what was happening, and immediaely dropped off the poma and put himself into a racing tuck to pass Peter and arrest his slide before the cliff (otherwise I wouldn;t have heard the story myself in order to pass it on).
Scary to hear about, never mind experience
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Missed a trail junction in Killington and found myself on a very icy black with massive moguls.
As I didn't fancy the climb back up I decided to try and get down and only lasted two turns before I fell and lost a ski.
Luckily I didnt slide too far but the slope was so steep that I couldn't get my ski back on (I don't use poles) so I decided to take the other off and climb to the bottom.
I have since seen advice about not doing that on another thread and I can second this as I spent half an hour thinking that I was about to die every other minute.
I was sweating more than Peter Andre in that tank of spiders and cockroaches last week and people in the chairlift kept calling down asking if I needed rescuing (I probably did but didn't realise)
The good part was when the run leveled out and I was able to ski the rest of the run looking like I had just blasted down from the top.
Took a couple of stiff drinks to recover though.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I've thought some more and remember my worst scary skiing experience. It was at Mont Sainte Marie (just north of Ottawa where I was living at the time). Came down a run that we hadn't done that day and I was just getting into carving skis and was going down a wide blue run carving out bit fast turns. I came over a rise turning across the slope to discover that they'd manufactured a man made mogul field over half the run and I was traversing at high speed towards it before I could put a turn in. Total panic! I tried to put a turn in but landed up with no skis on bouncing down a load of very icy bumps on my back. When eventually I came to a stop the whole world went blue and I actually thought that I'd passed to the other side - actually what had happened was my (yellow) goggles had come off and my eyes were adjusting to the light. I picked myself up to find that I'd ripped my salopettes, lost my lift pass and hurt my back (needed lots of physio).
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Finishing a long drunken late lunch, only to discover that no one in our party of four had any money with them.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Last week in Alpe d'huez. Run was quite busy so I thought, "oh, yes, can get round this lot". Unfortunately, skied too near orange netting where snow was deep and lost it. Went under netting, catching one ski in said netting. I was now hanging over a snowy cliff just by one ski. Luckily I had 2 friends who saw me disappear and stopped. I wasn't panicking but then Pat said "Don't move - if your ski gets unhooked you'll slide hundreds of feet!" I tried to pull myself up but my friends convinced me if might be a big, fatal mistake. They rang the emergency number with the result that I was dug out and manhandled by 4 burly Frenchmen 
It was only then that I realised what danger I had been in. I kept muttering "What a plonker" over and over again. I bet the Frenchmen all went back saying to everyone, "Ques que ce, 'plonker'?"
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looking thru the photos of my last trip to be confronted a photot of a large white hairy a*se
Anyone knows the culprit... theres a reward
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The top of a T-bar lift on the glacier at Passo Tonale. Was my first holiday, I was on my own, never had a lesson and the only way back down was a steep red or a black run. I've haven't had that same feeling of fear in the seven years since! On the bright side, it was a nice view and I did survive.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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M'Lawd. I rest my case. My client, a normally sane person and sober by nature did this one time commit a reckless and stupid act which he now deeply regrets and he would like to remind the court that the saying " There but for the grace of God go I" is so very true.
Q. What do you call a Liverpudlian in a suit?
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A. The Accused.
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Went up to Aviemore last weekend with girlfriend (green/blue skier), her sister (blue/red skier) and her sister's boyfriend (complete beginner).
He'd only taken one lesson on a dry slope prior to us getting to Cairngorm, so only knew how to get into a snowplough. Beginner lessons were cancelled for the day, because of conditions (yet the beginner slopes were open - weird!)
He scared the hell out of me when he just decided to schuss down one of the green runs towards middle station. Snow was lovely powder, but he couldn't (at that point) turn, and even his snowplough was shakey - the only way he could reliably stop was by falling over!!
I was more scared for him than I think I'd even been for myself... Nutter!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Wow scariest moment skiing? Lots and lots and lots. Every time I see a piste basher, every time I look down a slope (must stop doing that), but my worst has to be in Obertauren when the gang we were with decided to do the blues from the top of the mountain. There were about 8 of us and all varying levels of ability. It was my 2nd week. I was fine until virtually at the bottom and someone mentioned in passing that we had to traverse across a black. I nearly wet my pants. I snowploughed gingerly onto the edge of the black and then realised that the path would narrow once we had crossed the black and everyone had picked up speed and were getting away from me (I had already told hubby to go away, in unladylike terms) and I knew I had to catch em up.
I managed to cross the black, ski the fast bit ( how do you spell shush??) and stopped by ploughing into the lot of them.
I needed at least 4 pints to calm down.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Schuss. Well done though! Just think how easy all those blues and reds seem now.
Skiing is eight parts confidence and two parts luck.
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Hi Masopa, thanks for that! I always thought hubby was telling me to shut up.
Not sure the reds are that easy, but certainly the blues are boring (ha ha, hark at me!!!!!!). Wish I had discovered blades 4/5 yrs ago, I would be on blacks now!!!!!! NOT.
aka Helena from SCGB
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You know it makes sense.
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Hi Helena - it's great now that so many of us have managed (largely thanks to the effort of Elizabeth & Co) to find this site.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Oh I just remembered another one. Skiing again, in Obertauren. White out conditions (which I quite like cos I cant see where I am going). Decide to follow a one legged skier down the main blue. Everyone else had schussed off to the umbrella bar and I was left behind again. Try following him exactly, he seemed to know what he was doing. Straight over a jump. Arms, legs, poles go in different directions. Spectacular fall in front of bar.
Turns out, he was a para-olympic skier, practising his jumps. Laughed his ass off at me! and then proceeded to chat me up, dirty bug.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Definitely my scariest moment was on a SCGB holiday in St Anton 3 or 4 yrs ago. It was crap weather all week - rain/sleet/snow and fog, and we were all desperate to get off-piste as soon as the weather improved. Putting maybe a bit too much pressure on the guides resulted in 2 groups of skiers (total 16 including guides) skiing the same off-piste route near Zurs on the last day of the holiday.
A huge avalanche (fracture line 1m high, >200m wide) swept away 13 of the group. I was left with 2 other guys at the top of the slope, while the guide luckily skied out the bottom of the avalanche. From where we were, we could see about 4 or 5 shapes on the surface of the snow way below us. This meant that 7 or 8 were buried. We had tranceivers, but only 1 shovel between us. With that ratio of searchers to victims, the odds were bad. I've skied since I was a kid, probably 60 weeks total, and nothing compares with the next couple of minutes for fear.
Thank God, after a couple of minutes of panic, the reason we couldn't see the other skiers was that they had been swept over a ridge and were not visible from where we were, and the snow was exactly the right consistency to ensure no-one was completely buried. In the end, apart from a couple of twisted knees, lost poles and shock, no-one was really hurt. But I can still hear the screams of the people as the avalanche hit....
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Now THAT is nasty. Scary enough to put you off for a while!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Fox hasn't seen me do the flying K at Les Arcs on a board, still quicker than you 'two sticks' and I do have a health warning tatood on my butt . . .
"If you're a bloke, and you can read this . . . you better pray I'm dead"
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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OK - you win!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Wow, plake gets the prize.
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No contest, but don't let that stop you adding yours.
Talking about whiteouts as Fruity was, last year 4 of us were at the top of the mountain in a total whiteout and had to literally follow the edges of the piste to see anything. We took a wrong turn and ended up miles away from where we thought we were. Luckily we recognised a piste sign and were able to suss exactly where we were. It then took ages to get back home.
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Let's see one of the scariest I'd have to say was going down a double black diamond trial and sliding about 100 feet before stopping. I just wanted to know that I was gonna stop and not get hurt....I did stop and didn't get hurt. 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Oh my word - some horror stories here.... Plake's is really, really awful....
Mine seems so insignificant in comparison....... last year in Val D'Isere - with a crowd including 2 kids (one of 6) who it was only their second week - and our daughter's third week - we accidentally ended up at the top of the black "Epaule du Charvet". The six year old fell immediately - and my husband (barely competent on a black on his own) had to negotiate the massive moguls himself -and carrying the six year olds skis. The rest of the party seemed only interested in "saving themselves" - leaving me trying to survive myself - and keeping the other kids going with tales of "what fun" we were having... 2 on skis and the 6 year old sliding down on his bum with ever increasing speed...
Other scary moments usually include looking at photos of how ghastly I look in my hat and goggles!
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I think my biggest fear is getting lost and ending up at the top of a run that i am not confident in tackling (i've never done a black, and wouldn't feel confident on a difficult icy red in bad conditions) I've only done 2 weeks on snow. Last year we did ski school so we knew the runs, this year i probably won't so i'll have to study the piste map very closely!
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FAQ
