 Poster: A snowHead
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I once tried some snowblades  ......in my defence, it was about 20 years ago when I was young and foolish. Scrap that, it is indefensible, and very very embarrassing. I promise to never ever do this again. Ever.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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I'm a bit scared...can't think of a really embarrassing story...that means mine must be yet to come!
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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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andyph, our group calls that "loss of vertical hold". In my case, it is usually brought on as I stop at the end of a particularly satisfying run where I had to work hard, and nailed it. Just as you think that must have looked really cool, the world turns sideways suddenly...
I think it happens to almost everyone, especially when the contrast is poor - your brain has difficulty working out which way is up when it doesn't have the visual cues of a horizon or a tree line.
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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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Shimmy Alcott, You disappoint me.
Here is mine...
Big scrum of queue about 2.30pm at 6 pack chairlift connecting chairlift at top of Mottaret. Decided that waiting for DH so we could be on same chair was pointless, was best to just get on. Get stuck in throng behind group who DITHERED and DITHERED about how they had to make it all the way over to Courchevel, and would the make the lift  .
So, MarjMJ being in holiday mode i.e. not bothering about being nice to people, decided I would use my best giraffe neck slithery shoulders to try to fill the next 6 pack, and hence get away from the ditherers...Made good use of shuffling up through the queue...and got to the gates...so, when the gate opened to let us through, I sped like a boardercross competitor across the loading platform....caught up with the preceding chair, tried to grab if for balance, as you do, but held on too long, and promptly skied right off the end of the platform.
Fortunately...not a big drop. Fortunately was sensible enough to ski out to the side and avoid getting brained by the chair...Swithering looks all round from lifties, queue etc etc [and rightly so].
DH has not seen this...he overhears 2 guys who say...'Did you see that woman FALL off the chair'...so DH is then uploaded onto the now restarted chair, thinking 'OMG she is going to be inCANDEScent when she gets to the top' thinking someone had pushed me off...only to be totally confused by a somewhat contrite MarjMJ turning up at the top.
Lesson? Get the Blimming ditherers off the slops,...oK, no, Lesson - patience, MarjMJ, patience...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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If only this guy was a Snowhead....
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Getting onto a chairlift, the chap alongside me managed to sit down and miss the chair. So he than grabbed hold of the skis nearest to him - one of mine, and one belonging to the person on the other side. With the result that he pulled us both off the chair, skis first which than sank in right up to the bindings. Now you try getting your self up when you're lying flat on your face, you can't move your feet because they're anchored to the ground by your skis and you can't even lift your head for more than a few seconds at a time because they didn't stop the lift so the skis of the people on the subsequesnt chairs are whizzing past only inches above you!
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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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Was vaugely embarrising as people were looking at us, but was more cross than anything
Getting on a 6 man chair in Arc 1950 - was a bit odd in that you sit down where the chair is turning. The person in front drooped their poles and lost a ski while getting on, but the rather bored lifty missed it, I shouted in my best French (Oi You!) but before he noticed my daughter had tripped over the ski and was half on half off the lift.
Said lifty was then shouting at us for causing a queue 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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andyph, ah yes the Troncs  Having said that we have had three incidents on the Rosta which looks quite innocuous. And I was VERY proud of a 3 legged exit with a beginner friend of mine after she had a mishap getting on the Fys (now that's also got a swift uptake)
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Skiing backwards into a lift pylon while teaching someone how to ski in a private lesson!
Skiing throuhgt a drag lift out on to the Golf Course at the dry slope where I teach
There are many many more but they are the bet of them
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You know it makes sense.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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I frequently fall over in front of people, especially if I am teaching. Always trying to sort myself out with gloves and stuff
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We got our friends skiing and after a few lessons on the dry slope they wanted to go to the Chillfactore. I don't think our friend quite appreciated how slippy the snow is compared to the dry slope. She set off from half way up the slope, lost control completely and landed in a big heap entangled in the safety meshing and the rather long queue. She was warned that if she did that "once more, you're off". She's a wee bit self concious so she decided to leave anyway. Worked out at cost per skiing second I reckon that ski cost more than a trip to courchevel
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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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andyph, You soon stop noticing it - and all off-piste skiers fairly much have to carry one. Shovel and probe are not that heavy but I normally have a water bottle, spare gloves and extra layer, and often skins. When I very occasionally recently I have a rope and harness and other toys in there it gets much heavier. And touring is another ball-game. I once climbed and skied to an unsupervised hut with wine for 8 people in my backpack!!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Way back in the day when it was ok to smoke in gondolas I attempted to flick my cigarette out of the window (I know...) and despite it being a distance of only about 3 inches I missed and it bounced onto the ...er... lap of the enormous bavarian opposite who - to his discredit - failed to see the funny side. 
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red 27,
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snowball, you are Sherpa Tenzing and I claim my £5. 
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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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Hurtle, And me
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Roy Hockley, nice one.
andyph,  , but Sherpas don't earn much so you'll have to claim it off my sponsor, BernardC. (PS, he doesn't actually know he's my sponsor.)
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You know it makes sense.
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Roy Hockley wins, even by proxy. That's an excellent story.
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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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andyph, her bodyguards turned up!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Roy Hockley, all blonde Norsk goddesses, dedicated to their leader? "All back to my prime ministerial chalet for a sauna and baby oil rub down?" 
Tell, tell!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Roy Hockley, that's amazing, lol! Awesome.
My embarrassing moment, well I've had a few, but the one this year was in Chamonix, was stood on a steepish red having just stopped to radio my mum or something like that, grabbed my ski poles again, moved my ski slightly over, 'jammed' on my ski poles and i fell over, hard snow and pole across stomach hurt!! And I slid a fair bit of a way down the steep red flat on my face!
The other one was getting caught by the bounced-back safety bar, footrests around my leg on the Lac chairlift in VT and I was down and out and it bloody hurt! And I had massive inner thigh bruises too which was really bad
Non-skiing but ski related had to be at the BBC when I had to report back to the big important ski sunday editor, and didn't quite dare to go into the edit suite to stood outside feeling like an UTTER LEMON while Gabby Cook and Graham Bell were talking just next to me in the corridor, I did go in after a couple of minutes but felt soooo stupid
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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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crazy_skier_jules, I managed to tell some girl from ski sunday that in my opinion skiing was a poisonous disease and the lauberhorn race was an assbag magnet and the worst week of the winter. Awesome 
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Not surprisingly, mine had to do with a drag lift, like so many other snowheads. It was in Austria. Somewhere mid-mountain, I lined up for a lift which in my casual glance, I neglected to notice it was not a chair but a T-bar!
Being from the states, I was already skiing blacks but had never seen a drag lift.  In the mean time, I had struck up a nice conversation with a nice Italian guy in the line, who naturally proceeded to share the T-bar with me...
Not having enough to time to ask for help or instruction, nor even time to worry, I optimistically hoped I could somehow manage to get on the T-bar properly, despite having never tried one nor having the foggiest idea how.  I promptly fell and tangle up with the said nice italian chap, who was quite confused as to what happened. 
Second attempt, still having no clue of what I was suppose to do. The friendly italian chap offered to hold the bar so I can position myself in leasure. I was able to grab onto the bar with both hands but still couldn't hang on. So the nice lad let go of the bar and re-join me next to the loading area.
Realizing my hopeless situation, I confessed I've never riden a t-bar before. So he offerd the standard 3-word advice: "don't sit down". I gave it another go and it looked like I got it. We were a good 15 yards into the lift. He was clearly pleased with the result of his improptous instructor's role: "see, it's not hard"... upon which I promptly fell off!
(By then, I was too demoralized to try yet another time. So I opted to ski down the fairly steep and somewhat mogully black to the lower lift which was a chair. The italian chap was impressed by how competantly I handled the difficult terrain, and found it amusing how I can NOT know how to ride a t-bar!)
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