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Eurosport Commentary From World Cup Finals in Meribel

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Pretty please can we have a commentary commensurate with the fact that those racing are the worlds best skiers and not competitors in a small ski club race? Before commenting on the style and technique of the competitor wait for the intermediate time as you still get caught out as the skier either goes faster or slower than the commentators think they should. It's not very professional and the racers are, after all, the very best in the world at what they do.
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Or where they are going/have been on holiday, who they are/are not friends with etc etc wink
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@stewart woodward, is ECA commentating again at least on the Ladies or it is that idiot Fellowes doing all the races? I find Emma's commentating amazingly good, even if she is not physically there, she manages to get a good balance between pertinent comment and getting an atmosphere going.

@Howard James, that really annoys me as there is a time delay between the Live Timing ticker on the FIS site and the televised images. They should be able to get the splits a few seconds before they appear on the screen and at least get it right!
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Morning Sue/Stewart I agree with you completely. ECA and also Chemmy Alcott are commentating on the ladies races and deliver a pretty balanced commentary.

On the other hand we still have Nick Fellows and John Clark delivering commentary on the men's events. Although they did seem to ease off a bit, the commentary last weekend was sliding away yet again. Saying someone is skiing badly is late in the line, looks untidy, is looking tired etc etc and then having a green light at the next timing interval would embarrass me if I was a commentator. The object of all those racers is to be the fastest down the hill and win the race. My betting would be that they will all be cream crackered when they get to the finish, otherwise they have not delivered their all. The reverse is also true when they come out with things like. "This is beautiful skiing great line great control etc," and then the intermediate timing is red. Skiing elegantly is not the objective of the racers it's to be the fastest down the hill.

I didn't know about the timing delay Sue. That makes their commentary rather disappointing at best. Why is it that they don't play back the recordings of their commentaries on the races? There are too many errors and they stand out easily. Isn't this the best learning tool to have - the video and commentary.

Again; pretty please can we have a quality commentary on the last races from Meribel? Surely it's not too much to ask for, as I say, the worlds best skiers.
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@Howard James, the delay between the images and the actual race was introduced after the tragic deaths of 2 Austrian racers and the horrific accidents of some other racers were shown live. At least with a short delay the producer can switch the camera angle so that the audience is spared the really gory stuff. But it means also that commentators KNOW the splits/finish times before they show on the screen. So either Clark and Fellowes are being stupid or they simply ignore what is available to all the other commentators. I listen in German more often than not now as Fellowes is so off putting, the German commentators are knowledgeable and use the live ticker from the FIS site to make sure they don't blunder in the same way.
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I really doubt they know end results before, unless they have some super powers (at least for Clark I know he has one, but not related to view in future Smile), as they are not commentating delayed video feed, but live happening on course, and delay happens only when feed is transmitted further. Wink
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Thanks for your comments Sue. I am not sure quite what point primoz is making. Messrs Fellows and Clark still get it wrong either way. I am sure that commentating on a race is not a walk in the park, but I am not sure what impression these two are trying create.

Surely the pictures tell the story far better than any commentator can. I would have thought commentary is meant to add to the pictures not detract from them. They seem to believe that they should talk all, or most, of the time as the racer busts his buns to do his best. Their comments are often inappropriate and sometimes just plain wrong. The intermediate times tell us all how well/fast the racer is skiing. I don't have a problem with the commentator telling us facts like the racers past performances, home town, etc, etc. Even a bit of personal history is ok, but this desire to talk throughout the descent is not good.

The show is not about them it is about the best skiers in the world racing to win a crystal globe.

All I am asking for is objective, not subjective, commentary. I think that probably most viewers who watch the Eurosport coverage can ski. We can see when the line being skied by the racer is not good or has not worked out. We can also see when the skier has got low on the gate, when he has been caught on the tails of his skis, when he is trying to turn or is standing on the uphill ski, when he has not loaded the downhill ski at the right moment, carved his turn, skidded etc, etc. The list is long. There is not just one way down the mountain, if there was they could just put in a pair of railway lines and away we go. I am not much interested in what Messrs Fellows or Clark think is, in their opinion, the right line/way down the hill. What gets my attention is the deployment of the skill and courage of the racers and their performance when compared with their competitors. That's what it is all about isn't it?.

Again; pretty please Nick and John, can we have some prudent objective and balanced commentary for the last World Cup races in Meribel?
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Quote:

the delay between the images and the actual race was introduced after the tragic deaths of 2 Austrian racers and the horrific accidents of some other racers were shown live

it seems absolutely right to do that - the way that some horrific incidents in the past were watched loads of times on youTube etc was sickening. I would much prefer to watch the racing knowing that I wasn't about to witness somebody living their last moments!
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@Howard James, I'm just saying, that they don't comment on delayed video feed, so they would be able to know splits from FIS live timing in advance. They comment in real time, even though on your TV feed comes with few second (or few minutes depends on TV station) delay, and sometimes you know certain racer set best time, even though on your TV feed, he or she didn't even start yet. So commentators don't know splits before they are shown on TV screen. That's all I wanted to say.
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Ahhh. How sad. The Eurosport commentary lived down to my expectations. I had hoped for some improvement but alas I was disappointed. We had lots, "To my mind, in my opinion, you called it right......etc" Why oh why can't we have objective, rather than subjective, commentary on the worlds best ski racers? The best crass comment award must go to John Clark in the second run of the men's GS this morning. The racer was Fritz Dopfer, who actually finished second, and I quote, "...he maintains good contact with his skis..." Thank goodness for that then! What exactly was he expecting?

Thanks for he above information primoz. I just wish they would let the pictures and the intermediate times tell the story. The subjective gunge that they come out with is not good. Why don't they just play back the recordings of the races they commentate on and learn something themselves about commentating? It's not too difficult. Or is it that they consider themselves such experts that they don't need to learn anything about ski racing and commentary. I would suggest that you never stop learning.......
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Well, speaking for me and the better half, we like the commentary job that Nick and his chums do on Eurosport. Yes, they get things wrong sometimes and maybe they do fill a lot of run-time with commentary. But at the end of the day, they do create an entertaining dialogue and their enthusiasm for the sport comes across well, as they try to build anticipation through the races.

Once again, this season we've watched every race that has been screened, albeit with judicious use of the record button and then fast forward where necessary. The one thing we do miss is hearing about their little side bets on who is going to win, maybe they got told to rein that in?

Arguably you get more excitement and a build up watching it on the TV than being there at the actual race, and I say that having been at the World Championships in Val D'Isere a few years ago. We will probably make it to the night time slalom in Schlading in the next couple of years, that looks pretty crazy though!! Smile
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Well Sue, Pam and others, they must, as you said, be commenting after they have the intermediate times and after the racer finishes the race, that or they are psychic.... I've just tried valiantly to watch the slalom from Meribel switching the sound off periodically and they could not have made the comments they did, at the times they did, if they hadn't known the racer's time when he crossed the finish line.

If you like the commentary Andy that's fine, each to his own taste I guess. I find the mistakes irritating on a good day and sometimes somewhat arrogant when they pontificate on the skiing abilities of the worlds best ski racers and get it wrong. They slag off someone's line,. turns etc and then there is an intermediate GREEN light........ The opposite is also true; they praise someone's style, line, turn etc then we get an intermediate RED light...... This is not good.

"Oh, oh, oh," or just even one, "oh." Does Nick Fellows think he is one of Snow White's dwarfs? I love skiing and have done for way too many years, but the standard of the commentary does not do our sport any credit. Anyone who is not into skiing and chances across Eurosport skiing coverage would think we were a set of complete plonkers as we would all be likely to be judged on the style of these two. They are the only commentators on any sport that seem to make a complete horlicks of their opportunity. I get the impression that some think John Clark is a wonderful coach, but that does not necessarily migrate into a good commentator. As for Nick Fellows I don't really have any idea what he has done, but commentating on ski racing does not really seem to be his forte.

In the off season why don't they just play back the recordings of their commentaries on the ski races and then listen to F1, motor bike racing, horse racing, cycle racing commentaries etc etc. They could actually learn something about the art of commentating. The racers are, after all, the best skiers in the world and, I would have thought, they deserve a commentary commensurate with their skills and abilities. I'm off to bed now until November when the snow starts to fall again.

See you in the Three Valleys next winter.....
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@Howard James, +1 After reading this thread, I too was watching this morning, and yes, they were stating the finishing gaps before the skiers went through the finish line. Very Very Irritating, along with all your justifiable complaints from above.
When Chemmy was doing colour , she was able immediately to tell a bad line, poor technique, decent turn, talk about weight transfer etc.etc., and decribe it quickly, confidently and competently - it was a marked difference having some experience there rather than someone simply trying to fill the airwaves with inane gabble.


OTOH, Carlton Kirby did a superb job on La Verticale - racing up the Eiffel Tower stairs - on Friday, first time since 1906 apparently, and aspects of the organisation did seem to date from that period.
But he was immensely entertaining despite his not having a clue... nor, it would appear, access to any finishing times, splits, competitor background, ideas of whereabouts in the tower they were at any given camera shot... It was a hoot. Sometimes it can be done. (ok - I think the bottle of wine may have helped my tolerance levels of a bizarre piece of TV Sport. And drink may have been taken in the studio too by the level of the micky taking).
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I think Eurosport coverage has been excellent this season especially the World Champs. They have stuck to timings much better and there is more background stuff being aired - the Didier Cuche series on training was really good. So in my view it's a whole magnitude better than the Ed and Graham product placement show on the beeb. And I think Nick Fellows and John Clark do a very good job - and if you have ever tried doing a running commentary live you'll know it's a difficult thing to do so I'd love to see all the armchair heroes above have a go. Fellows also does Red Bull Air Race and pro boxing commentary for a US network and probably other stuff too, so he's not just an ex ski racer who can talk. Alpine ski racing is getting a little predictable and that's a bigger problem. Needs a bit of that skier cross excitement and some new characters.
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@Pruman, Perhaps if you had as wide a choice as those of us on the continent, you would know what a load of old tosh Fellowes is. Clark is fine if he is left to take the lead. Emma Carrick-Anderson and Chemmy Alcott have far more insightful, accurate and up-to-date knowledge of the World Cup race scene than Fellowes. Fellowes was at best a middling to poor Europa Cup racer of the 70s and 80s, the world has moved on loads since his day. John Clarke is an outstanding and highly respected coach, but Fellowes does not shut up and let him commentate.

German, Swiss and Austrian TV coverage is done with ex-professional racers like Knauss, Stangassinger, Wasmaier, Büchel, Cuche, Alexandra Meissnitzer, Miki Dorfmeister, Martina Ertl, etc. They don't give running commentaries, they comment on aspects of each run, assuming the fans watching do know a wee bit about skiing as well as World Cup, Olympic or World championship racing. Fellowes patronises and burbles meaningless rubbish, repeating the same phrases over and over again. I have found it far more pleasant to watch ÖRF or Eurosport Germany. Same pictures but far better live commentators and far less meaningless twaddle about "winding the windows down" and "oh, no he/she's hit a soft patch, lost the the line or late in the turn". Plus they have the same feed but don't seem to make the same timing errors that Clark and Fellowes have become infamous for!
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@Samerberg Sue, so you are suggesting I would be better off listening to commentary in a language I don't understand? I really must try it.

There are major differences between British Eurosport and Germany / Austria / Switzerland - the audience is far greater out there so they'd have budget for ex World Cup stars and their commentary teams travel to all the races whereas the British guys only do a few on site - you can always tell when they are actually there and it does make it better but mostly they are not there and I would imagine the feed they get in London is different from the feed they get on site. I would also say that the viewing audience for a ski race on Eurosport in the Uk is really really tiny so whoever they serve up is only ever going to entertain or annoy a few of us. And I wouldn't expect the UK audience to be as knowledgeable as the Austrian.

You go a bit OTT about Fellows and Clark especially as you don't have to listen to them. Got previous?
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@Pruman, you are Nick Fellowes and I claim my £5! rolling eyes

I prefer to listen in my mother tongue but am also just as able to listen in German or French! Italian is a wee bit too much for me as the commentators get so carried away. The Eurosport audiences in Switzerland, France, Austria and Germany is smaller because the main stream national channels also provide more coverage than the UK, but the audience profile will be the same. If you have gone to the bother of getting a Eurosport feed, then you must have more than a passing interest in winter sports! Just because the audience is a lower volume does not mean they deserve a poorer quality of commentator.

Quote:

John Clarke is an outstanding and highly respected coach, but Fellowes does not shut up and let him commentate.

If that is OTT, I do apologise for praising your co-commentator!! Toofy Grin
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I listen to it with the sound off, can't be doing with listening to numpties commentating who don't know what they are talking about and are based in a studio somewhere in UK, never having skied at that level themselves!
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I think they should get Tim Warwood and Ed Leigh in for the commentary.
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@Howard James, you made a fair point in saying each to their own on the commentary. As regards Nick Fellows' oh oh ohs, or perhaps Ho ho ho - perhaps not so much snow whites dwarfs as Santa Claus? Surely not as irritating as Chemmys repeated references in the past to the "World Champs" and "when I was hanging out with Lindsay or Jules ..." ffs.

Many years ago, my mates and I used to watch the Formula 1 races, where the largely predictable procession of cars was periodically interrupted by Murray Walker shouting "bang, bang, bang, and he's off" as someone departed the track. The parallel between this and the Eurosport team's enthusiasm, is part of the charm. Or not, depending on your view. wink
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But just to add, I'm in total agreement with the criticism about the commentary team stating the finishing margins before the skiers crossed the finish line. Ridiculous!!!
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Wow! I've been away for a short time and note more than several responses to my grizzly comments on Messrs Fellows and Clark. It seems that most of you are of a similar attitude to myself. That's a relief.

As far as the commentary from Meribel was concerned they did say they were in the commentary box (Presumably at the Chaudanne) and that they had been up at the top of the course that morning with all the racers. To me this suggests that they were actually there - unless they have a very, very fast helicopter or don't tell the truth.

I note your comments about Murray Walker commentating on F1 Andy; but he hasn't been commentating for quite some years now. The other big factor is that Murray did not profess to know the right line through a corner, which gear to be in, what gear ratio the team should have installed in the car, when the best time was to have either a tyre change or a fuel stop etc. Nor did he ever suggest that, "...To my mind...," or, "...For my liking...," the driver was doing such and such a thing wrong. Messrs Fellows and Clark have a propensity for making inappropriate comments on the techniques of the world's best ski racers skiing on their limit in trying to win the race. Murray certainly did make mistakes and was, for the most part, loved for it, but he wasn't making smart aleck comments on the driver's control of the car.

You are a lucky lady Sue; being able to listen to commentaries in languages other than English. You seem to be saying we in England have got caught in a, "Buy one get one free," syndrome with our Eurosport commentators - not good. I have to say I am inclined to agree with your proposition that English Eurosport employ a recently retired racer to commentate rather than the two people we have at the moment. I am not holding my breath!!

Clearly Pruman has not read the complete thread otherwise he would not said, "...and if you have ever tried doing a running commentary live you'll know it's a difficult thing to do so I'd love to see all the armchair heroes above have a go..." Had he done so he would have noted my comment earlier: "I am sure that commentating on a race is not a walk in the park, but I am not sure what impression these two are trying create." Now I am beginning to think that quite a few of, what have been termed, the armchair heroes could take a passable swing at commentating. Where do we apply Pruman any idea?

Thanks for the comments everyone. It's encouraging to know that I am not alone.

Perhaps Messrs Fellows and Clark should ski the race as fore-runners and show us all how it should be skied properly...... I am sure if they pressed their case with determination with the FIS they could be talked into it. At least Graham Bell managed to do this AND commentate on the way down.

All I would really like is to have a commentary commensurate with the quality of the ski racing I am watching. Is this too much to ask?
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Howard James wrote:
Wow! I've been away for a short time and note more than several responses to my grizzly comments on Messrs Fellows and Clark. It seems that most of you are of a similar attitude to myself. That's a relief.

As far as the commentary from Meribel was concerned they did say they were in the commentary box (Presumably at the Chaudanne) and that they had been up at the top of the course that morning with all the racers. To me this suggests that they were actually there - unless they have a very, very fast helicopter or don't tell the truth.

I note your comments about Murray Walker commentating on F1 Andy; but he hasn't been commentating for quite some years now. The other big factor is that Murray did not profess to know the right line through a corner, which gear to be in, what gear ratio the team should have installed in the car, when the best time was to have either a tyre change or a fuel stop etc. Nor did he ever suggest that, "...To my mind...," or, "...For my liking...," the driver was doing such and such a thing wrong. Messrs Fellows and Clark have a propensity for making inappropriate comments on the techniques of the world's best ski racers skiing on their limit in trying to win the race. Murray certainly did make mistakes and was, for the most part, loved for it, but he wasn't making smart aleck comments on the driver's control of the car.

You are a lucky lady Sue; being able to listen to commentaries in languages other than English. You seem to be saying we in England have got caught in a, "Buy one get one free," syndrome with our Eurosport commentators - not good. I have to say I am inclined to agree with your proposition that English Eurosport employ a recently retired racer to commentate rather than the two people we have at the moment. I am not holding my breath!!

Clearly Pruman has not read the complete thread otherwise he would not have said, "...and if you have ever tried doing a running commentary live you'll know it's a difficult thing to do so I'd love to see all the armchair heroes above have a go..." Had he done so he would have noted my comment earlier: "I am sure that commentating on a race is not a walk in the park, but I am not sure what impression these two are trying create." Now I am beginning to think that quite a few of, what have been termed, the armchair heroes could take a passable swing at commentating. Where do we apply Pruman any idea?

Thanks for the comments everyone. It's encouraging to know that I am not alone.

Perhaps Messrs Fellows and Clark should ski the race as fore-runners and show us all how it should be skied properly...... I am sure if they pressed their case with determination with the FIS they could be talked into it. At least Graham Bell managed to do this AND commentate on the way down.

All I would really like is to have a commentary commensurate with the quality of the ski racing I am watching. Is this too much to ask?
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Quote:

Clearly Pruman has not read the complete thread
Correct, I have a life.

So, I agree, have NF and JC ski Birds Of Prey at full chat while discussing green and red light issues. Would you extend that to Matt Chilton? And what about Ed Leigh? Chuck him down the skier cross course? How would he get on in the half pipe these days?
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A picture from last Sunday showing Mr Fellowes in the Meribel studio being visited by Emma Carrick-Anderson & her son.

url=http://www.snowmediazone.com/the_zone/snowheads-personal-galleries/p32949-11073428-10153072325771480-275305197426059003-n.html][/url]
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Well I seem to have rattled your cage Pruman, but I am not sure why. Funny, but I have life too. I spend at least a month of it skiing in the Three Valleys most years. Ski cross does not get my attention, Alpine skiing (Downhill, Super G, GS and Slalom) does, hence my comments/observations relate to the world Cup. Would I extend my offer to Matt Chilton and El Leigh? I don't know really. My observations are focussed on what I have seen and heard from NF and JC and their comments on the worlds best ski racers. From what I have seen of ski cross I think I will give it a miss thanks. It looks way too scary for an old man like me and, frankly, I wouldn't have done it when I was younger either, it looks way too dangerous. There is clearly a lot of courage and skill involved in ski cross and the half pipe. Do the above commentators make similar inappropriate comments on the competitors performances as NF and JC? If they do then fire away at them.

Thanks for the above picture Stewart Woodland. That kind of confirms that the commentary was indeed from the Chaudanne at the bottom of the mountain. This kind of closes that question down. If the photograph is indeed Nick Fellowes he looks nearly as old as me which is a bit of a worry.

Pretty please, British Eurosport: Can we have reasonable competent commentary from a recently retired racer who can commentate from a current knowledge base?
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Quote:

If the photograph is indeed Nick Fellowes he looks nearly as old as me which is a bit of a worry.


+1. Old people absolutely shouldn't be allowed commentate. Or ski blacks.
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Howard James wrote:
If the photograph is indeed Nick Fellowes


Who do you think it is Puzzled
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Quote:

Do the above commentators make similar inappropriate comments on the competitors performances as NF and JC?

Yes, I think the worst two incidents of bad commentary I can remember have been courtesy of the BBC. The first was Chilton and Bell giggling away uncontrollably at the hapless efforts of a competitor in an Olympic GS (might have been Torino games) and the second was the Jenny Jones bronze medal commentary when Aimee fuller and the other guy were allowed to go too loopy in the box. I know for a fact that wrists were slapped over that as it was considered unprofessional. If you watch and listen carefully you can sense the exact moment Ed Leigh realises it had got out of hand. I don't hear NF and JC being "inappropriate".

Quote:

I spend at least a month of it skiing in the Three Valleys most years.

Amazing for a man of your advancing years. Does that narrow experience somehow make you an expert on ski racing commentary? Not sure I get the relevance.
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Morning Pruman. You will know better than ever I do what you have heard on previous commentaries by whoever was commentating. From what you say above I would most certainly say that giggling at someone's performance does, at first blush, seem to be the height of rudeness at the very least. I can only comment on what I have seen and heard. Yup, I do think that NF and JC make lots of inappropriate comments on the performances of the world's best ski racers, but I've never heard them giggling yet, so there is hope.

You responded that you hadn't read there entire thread because you had a life - my response was to that comment that I have too. You are dead right about one thing; I have only skied two resorts Val d'isere and The Three Valleys and I have skied The Valley Blanche so I am no great expert. It would be fair to say that, over the years, I have skied all the The Three Valleys can throw at me both on and off piste. My first holiday was in Val Claret and then Meribel. I went back to Val d'isere after several holidays in Meribel just to see if it was as disconnected as I remembered it - it was. There are some great runs in Val D'isere but they are, or were, so far apart. I am sure lots of people love Val d'sere and I don't blame them, it has a lot to offer. Each to his own I guess. I am certainly no expert on ski racing commentary, but you don't have to be to see the pictures and hear what is being said. I am not an expert on any kind of commentary, but I do hear a lot of it on the sports I watch.

Ah moseyp the first bit of your comment I can probably agree with. As for the second part - no. I still ski off piste and black pistes fairly quickly and safely. If you are looking for a further contentious point then I think Rat-Tracks should be banned, then only people who can actually ski competently would be descending the steeper bits of mountain; but that's another story.

As for the photograph Stewart, I have to be honest; I wouldn't know Nick Fellows if I fell over him. I would now though so thanks for that.
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@Howard James, agree totally about the dreadful commentary. I got to the stage where if I heard "Ho, ho, ho", "From the get-go" or, (new word for these finals), "Crackerjack" Puzzled I'd run screaming from the room.

But we've had this conversation before ...

(Please God, we don't have to have it next year Twisted Evil )
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Yup Maggi. All I can dip is completely agree with you.
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@Howard James, do I understand correctly that, over many years, you've only skied the Three Valleys and Val D'Isere. If my understanding is correct, that's remarkable, extraordinary even!
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@maggi, I just read some of that other thread you linked to so thanks for that. It's the exact same people making the same OTT complaints.

Some priceless pompous wildly naïve and clueless stuff on there though @Howard James like

Quote:
Dave Ryding may well be the best UK skier - in slalom and he is turning in good performances in the World Cup; good, but not fantastic though. That's one person in one discipline. It strikes me that the British approach to identifying and training world class skiers must be fundamentally floored otherwise we would be able to provide a team capable of good performances across all the alpine disciplines. I accept skiing is not a cheap sport, but if you want to achieve something badly enough you find a way. I speak from my gymnastics experience (See above). Why is it that, if you are indeed such a fantastic coach John, you are not training the British skiers to a successful competitive level? Please, please don't tell me they don't pay you enough, that would be really sad. As I have said I would love to see some ace British skiers in the Alpine events there most surely be some potential out there that is not being identified/picked up. That suggests to me that there judgement criteria may be faulty. Having also watched several Europa Cup downhills, Super G and G events in Meribel it strikes me that pure courage should be high on the list of requirements. Find a young man with great courage and teach him to ski.........maybe.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Yup Lota, I have indeed only skied Val D'Isere and The Three Valleys plus the Vallee Blanche. The reason - within 15 minutes of leaving Meribel/Mottaret you can seriously scare yourself, if that is your desire, or start a day of cruising and anything in-between. As far as I am aware there is not a mountain anywhere else that comes close to the variety and opportunities on offer from the top of La Sauliere - but that's a personal opinion. When you find somewhere that meets all your needs there is no requirement to go and find somewhere else. Check out the World Skiing Atlas.

Ah Pruman so you have now descended to the level of comment commensurate with your personality I guess. How very sad. Your abuse says far more about you than it does about me. My comments on commentary were meant to be constructive if you read them properly. If you think I am clueless; I will ski with you anytime as long as it's January and it's The Three Valleys.

As far as British skiing is concerned - no I am not one of the chosen, but I know what I don't see; some ace world class British alpine racers (The last males were, I think, the Bell brothers. There was of course Emma Carrick-Anderson and Chemmy Alcott representing the ladies). You may say I am naive, and I quite possibly am. I have no knowledge of the present selection procedures, processes and training regimes, but there must be something wrong if the system in place does not produce top class racers.

As far as courage is concerned, I would have thought skiing down a mountain at up to 80 mph requires a shed full of courage and confidence in ones own ability to ski. I well remember going into a mountain restaurant at the top of a downhill just before the race started. No-one was talking. The racers were sat with their trainers, but the silence and/or whispered conversations said more than any words that I might write could. Yup, ski racing includes; fitness, stamina, technique, aggression, balance, timing, reflex speed, etc etc the list is indeed long; but something must also be wrong with the present system if it does not produce top class racers. If it is all about money then perhaps someone should ask what the British branch of Alpine skiing has to offer a sponsor? No, I don't know the answer!

Why, if John Clark is such a good coach, is he not coaching the British racers? Only John Clark or the present officers of British Alpine Skiing organisation can answer this I guess.

The list of racers on the Team GB Alpine Skiing site is short Edward Drake, David Ryding, Finlay Mickle and Roger Cruickshank. Personally I wish them every success. If you think my comments above are wrong read their CV's as set out on the site.
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Howard James wrote:
Yup Lota, I have indeed only skied Val D'Isere and The Three Valleys plus the Vallee Blanche. The reason - within 15 minutes of leaving Meribel/Mottaret you can seriously scare yourself, if that is your desire, or start a day of cruising and anything in-between. As far as I am aware there is not a mountain anywhere else that comes close to the variety and opportunities on offer from the top of La Sauliere - but that's a personal opinion. When you find somewhere that meets all your needs there is no requirement to go and find somewhere else. Check out the World Skiing Atlas.


As I said earlier: extraordinary. Each to their own and I'm not knocking the Three Vallees (indeed, La Masse above Les Menuires remains one of my favourite mountains) but the thrill of discovering and exploring a new area is, I think, one of the greatest joys of skiing. There's so much more to a wintersports holiday than the French 'ski factories' - lunch up an Italian mountain; stepping from the train in Switzerland and straight onto a cable car; Austrian gemutlichkeiht; being the only native English speaker in resort; steaming down the Kandahar downhill in Garmisch; out-of-this world customer service in the US; deep powder and the warmest welcome in Canada! The list is endless. Very Happy
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Quote:

The list of racers on the Team GB Alpine Skiing site is short Edward Drake, David Ryding, Finlay Mickle and Roger Cruickshank. Personally I wish them every success. If you think my comments above are wrong read their CV's as set out on the site.


@Howard James, that little list is so out of date and just demonstrates how far out of touch you are. Only one of those, Dave Ryding, is current.
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@Howard James, Roger Cruickshank's last race was in 2010, Mickel's in 2009 - I guess you'll be shouting for Tim Henman at Wimbledon? Here, here is the latest squad FYI: http://www.teambss.org.uk/ski-snowboard-squads/alpine/delancey-british-senior-alpine-ski-squad/
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Well Pruman, in fairness it just shows how out of date the Team GB Alpine Skiing site is. Doesn't it? Personally I watch the World Cup skiing and as far as I am aware, we have no-one who has finished in the top ten for some considerable time. Please correct me if I am wrong with the names and races where they finished in the top ten - Alpine events only. I am not talking about the best skiers in the UK I can work that one out myself. What I would dearly like to see is a world class British racer in Downhill, Super G, GS or Slalom. As far as I am aware you are right; the only current racer in the list on the site is Dave Ryding in Slalom. Hey ho.

Ah Lota, you most certainly are entitled to your approach. If you like the excitement of new resorts that's fine and I am sure that nothing I could say would change your mind. Going to Mottaret is a bit like going to our other home in the mountains for a month or so, free of any baggage limits or extra costs and hassle as we drive out. We love the familiarity of the place, we know the mountains inside out, know where to go when the weather changes and we have a lot of very special French friends out there. The skiing from Meribel and Mottaret really is very good, both on and off piste. The downside is that there is not much night life in Mottaret, but Meribel is a different story. For us; we are 2 minutes from our skis and then 3 minutes from uphill transport tele-cabine or chairlift and that'll do for me. We just love skiing - period. I am sure you are right about the welcome you get from the places you mention, but we get a wonderful warm welcome from all of our French friends and that's good enough for us.
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Pruman, I've been there seen that. I repeat, as far I am aware, not one of the individuals in the British Senior Alpine Squad has finished in the top 10 at any World Cup Alpine event in recent years. The simple question is: Why is that? The list you have pointed at is the current squad unless their website is not up to date either.

Oh and by the way; sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. As I said, it says more about you than it does about me.


Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads on Tue 31-03-15 14:28; edited 1 time in total
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