 Poster: A snowHead
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@johnE, It wouldn’t seem that unusual in their own apartment, but in a hotel...?
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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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| under a new name wrote: |
@bar shaker, I've heard that story countless times, probably first time in 1988 when one of my chalet girls claimed it had happened to her. So either it's an oft repeated urban myth (disappointing) or it's a fairly frequent "accident"*
* See what I did there? |
You bit too soon 
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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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Maybe but not weird (a great memory infact) but would be perceived dodgy and against all rules of the sensible nanny state world we live in today. .
Kitzbuhel - circa 1985 - ski school, and the weather was really bad. The ski instructor had got sick of us wannabe 13/14yr old racers (on ridiculously long and skinny Atomic ARC's) moaning about being restricted to skiing 'in formation' and made the sensible decision to stop off for lunch in his favourite stuberl . . .
Lunch became an elongated affair as he yakked and chain smoked rollies with his leather skinned mates in the corner and it looked like skiing was cancelled for the day as the snow was hammering down / total white out conditions. Being young keen and reckless we were all itching to continue (god know why as goggle tech was rubbish in those days, or at least mine were) and the moaning continued . . .he then appeared at our table with 2 small glasses of schnapps each and commanded us to down them immediately . . .which we did (we did as we were told beck then). We were then instructed to get outside, walk around the back of the hut and buckle up.
With all of our virgin heads spinning on the alchohol, what looked like an ominous field of fresh powder seemed like an easy challenge (although none of us had really been off-piste before) so we dutifully dropped in as requested. Each of us slowly realised the severity of the slope and the fact that we weren't really adept at leaning back enough to raise the tips of our skinny skis above the deep snow line let alone attempt to turn. . .at speed and one by one we all crashed like flies, legs & arms flaying about and skis and poles missing in the arctic looking abyss . . .
No-one got injured . . .we were all laughing afterwards. How many counts of illegal / irresponsible behaviour would that ski instructor be up for these days? Prison perhaps? We all thought he was a god!
Lesson learned and I stand by it to this day - never rush lunch when skiing . . .especially in a white out. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| ster wrote: |
Whilst at a snowdome (does this count?) saw a "skier" struggling to get their boots into their bindings at the bottom of the slope. As I slid past they asked if I could help. I took a look and advised that they should turn their skis around so the more pointy end was in front of them not behind them then they would find that they would have an easier job clicking in.
God help them if they ever got to the top of the slope. |
My client were a little smarter. She asked me which boot is left and which is right, BEFORE she started to try them on her kid.
(I also got the same question from my girl friend on our first "let's try skiing" day)
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Not actually on the slopes but one of my students managed to put on 2 left ski boots and had no idea that he had achieved it. He was also selected for special 1 : 1 lessons......can think why.
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Skiing while an Earthquake was happening in Chile
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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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Halfway down a piste, girlfriend was dying to go, no cover nearby but visibility was poor and misty so I suggested she went to the edge of the piste where she couldn't be spotted.
Then suddenly heard much laughter and catcalls, she had gone under a chairlift which we hadn't seen or heard, when suddenly the mist cleared just as she was doing her business, she was not a happy bunny
On another occasion the wife got caught in a strong gust of wind which inflated her jacket like a parachute, she literally took off for about 10 metres and was buried in a deep mound of snow. She was not moving so a group of us bushwacked through the deep snow to rescue her, only to find her laughing her head off and wanting to repeat the experience!!
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Saw this on Sunday - the latest style of impact shorts.....
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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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I encountered a woman wearing a full Burka skiing down from the Varet bubble in Les Arcs 2 seasons ago. She looked fairly impressive when it caught the wind.
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@admin, 
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You know it makes sense.
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@adithorp, 
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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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@adithorp, pleased you're thinking about me but
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Poster: A snowHead
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Just answering the original Q.
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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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| Quote: |
Well, it was the women's world cup run
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assuming the piste wasn't closed for competition, I'm not sure why that was strange?
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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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| jedster wrote: |
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Well, it was the women's world cup run
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assuming the piste wasn't closed for competition, I'm not sure why that was strange? |
Wouldn't you expect people to be shifting a bit on a WC run? And maybe NOT take a beginner class down a black (probably, at least a hard red)?
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| Quote: |
Wouldn't you expect people to be shifting a bit on a WC run?
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It's only a WC run when it is closed and prepared. Otherwise it is just a piste like any other
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Yes, but not a beginners one, and you'd expect people to be skiing fast on it.
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@martinm, did the instructor shout at you for just skiing too fast. Or for skiing too fast too close to his group?
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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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@martinm,
Fast is fine as long as you leave appropriate space between you and other skiers. The faster you go - the more space you need to leave.
If a ski instructor called you out (given that he will have plenty of experience of skiing faster than you) then it is very likely that you should respect his judgement that you were too close for the speed you were travelling.
I ski fast at times but I don't think that being on a black run reduces my responsibility to be courteous and safe.
Sometimes I have made mistakes and get close enough to worry a nervous skier. I feel bad about that. If I was called on it by ski instructor my starting point would be to reassess my decisions.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| jedster wrote: |
...
I ski fast at times but I don't think that being on a black run reduces my responsibility to be courteous and safe.
.. If I was called on it by ski instructor my starting point would be to reassess my decisions. |
(that was an excellent Pouilly-Fumé, expensive, but not at all bad)
Well in North America at least if you're on an expert run it's reasonable to expect people to be travelling at "expert" speeds. Carefully and with consideration, but none the less, that's the deal with expert runs.
Ski instructors... they're not the ski patrol, and although they may seem impressive to beginners, they're driving instructors not F1 drivers.
If I was yelled at by an instructor I'd assess what I'd done, precisely, but instructors are no different from anyone else.
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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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As I outlined earlier in this thread some instructors are clearly hair trigger pricks. Unfortunately if they are local pricks you are highly unlikely to prevail in any argument with them. This leads to the inconsiderate I'll just ski my snake onto this run without looking with no consideration that it'll string out for 50m because I am instructor= god.
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@Dave of the Marmottes, reference my interaction with an Italian ski instructor in Livigno. He was stopped with his student in the middle of the piste so I displayed my displeasure by spraying them with a big wave of snow (I do believe this is the correct action to take?!). Only problem was that his student was "quite pretty" and he wasn't best pleased about me mugging him off in front of her, so he chased me down.
Ski instructor: You skied too close to me and my client
Me: I didn't ski too close to you. I was a long way from you. I sprayed you with snow because you were stopped in the middle of a piste behind a blind spot and it was dangerous
Ski instructor: Yes you are right and I am sorry, but I am an instructor so you are wrong
Solid logic.
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You know it makes sense.
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Interesting. I guess it depends on your perspective. From my (mostly North American) angle, they're employees and therefore need to be very careful about how they behave. I think if you're going to spray people you don't approve of with snow then you're asking for trouble: the ski patrol is responsible for all that stuff, not customers.
However the fact that someone's an instructor/ guide/ resort staff makes them more not less vulnerable in my view. Just take names and numbers and make a formal complaint.
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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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@philwig, That might work in N America although I suspect even in corporate resorts there will be closing ranks. In a Euro resort the word of a tourist against a long term local who may or may not take his genepi/ schnapps with head fuzz - good luck with that.
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Poster: A snowHead
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My favourite was when a good friend, decent skier, a bit hungover got to the bottom of Grands Montets from the chalet and said she couldn’t understand why her ski boots were so uncomfortable that morning. She had them on the wrong feet! I can’t imagine how...clipped up and everything!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Teenage me sticking both gloved hands in air and having the gloves’ metal zippers vibrate furiously whilst on Mount Parnasos in Greece - errrr, during an electrical storm. Fantastically eerie feeling now matched with enormous relief at not having won a Darwin Award that year.
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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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A guy I need his late 20’s/ early 30’s a couple of years ago skiing along (badly) with a huge speaker on his back playing music, loads of people just stopped and shook their heads and laughed! He was oblivious!
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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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Also in Val D’Isere back in the 90’s - a EDF ski instructor stood at the top of the lift on the glacier with ski school party of kids behind in a large group asking everyone who came off the lift if they’d seen one of his party, apparently he hadn’t seen the child for ages and realised it was missing when he’d done a random headcount. Never did find out whether the kid turned up, 
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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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@Markymark29, EDF? Indidn’t know the leccy board had their own ski school? 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Clearly wasn't a ski instructor; just a bloke looking after the dam?
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| Quote: |
Well in North America at least if you're on an expert run it's reasonable to expect people to be travelling at "expert" speeds.
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I think it is utter guff to talk about black runs as "expert" terrain. What proportion of people who ski them could reasonably be described as experts?
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I love the word "guff"
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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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| jedster wrote: |
| Quote: |
Well in North America at least if you're on an expert run it's reasonable to expect people to be travelling at "expert" speeds.
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I think it is utter guff to talk about black runs as "expert" terrain. What proportion of people who ski them could reasonably be described as experts? |
Expert speeds on a double black might be quite slow because it might be a sketchy ass chute or have cliff bands to negotiate.
Skiing black groomers is just skiing groomers until they are icy or injected or whatever. It's a tiny part of "expert" skiing.
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Mate of mine put on his ski jacket and skied all day with no problems except when he got back to the chalet he mentioned that his jacket was a bit tighter than usual. On taking his jacket off he realised the problem, the coat hanger was still attached
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