 Poster: A snowHead
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Reading threads here and there I get the impression that most forms of uphill mountain transport are not suited to the snowboarder. I had quite a few problems with the simple tow rope.
The situation in general seems to be:
Poma - hell on earth
T-bar - Not quite so bad
Chairlift - not much control in the run out
Gondola, egg, pod thing - probably easier than for a skier
Are there nice quiet places to practise?
Any handy pointers for a beginner?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Given all the negative factors... how about not starting? 
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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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The traditional British way of sending a tea tray uphill is on a dumb waiter.
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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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Ian Hopkinson, you frapper le clou sur la tête!
Rule number one: go when it's quiet. Out of season, or during lunch.
Poma - use beginner drag and wear bright pink and blue one-piece. No one will notice your crap boarding as they make rude comments about your outfit.
T-bar - stick to France (no t-bars)
Chairlift - (see poma) avoid going up with skiers if at all possible. Skiers, as recent statistics show, have no sense of humour when it comes to lifts.
Gondola - excellent for getting whole of bubble to yourself as no slots left for skiers once you have put your boards in.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I agree that drag lifts get a lot of bad press, much of it exaggerated. This makes them intimidating and prevents people relaxing - thereby causing the problems that they were worried about.
However, that doesn't alter the fact that they can be painful on the inner thigh of the leading leg (t-bars seem to be worse than buttons in that respect I think)
I got used to drags when spending a week in July on the glacier at Les Deux Alpes. The drag went up beside the snowpark but actually started a long way below the park. Therefore, the accepted practice for those in the park was to form a "queue" at an unofficial mid station on a flat section.
When an empty T came along, you would hop forward (generally still strapped in with both feet) and time your jump to catch the T which was a passing overhead. In one smooth movement you would hopefully pull the T down, place it between your legs and ensure that your board was pointing the right way. You then pray that anyone that decides to jump onto the other half of the T does not knock you off in the process.
That was all very well, but the final section went beside the half pipe and was quite steep. Due to the summer temperatures the snow cover below the cables was lower than normal. Some of the Ts seemed to have shorter cords than others and if you were unlucky, you'd find yourself having to protect the family jewels as the ground and your board parted company....
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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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t-bars and poma's
Have your free hand outstretched kind of behind you. Like you are ready to ride a rodeo bull. Use it as a balance lever.
Ride on an edge. and plan your turns - eg swerves around bad bits of snow, rock, dead people, well ahead. As its like turning but in slloooowwww motion. So you have to intiate earlier
Wedge your back foot against the front of the back binding or even in it, if you can avoid stomping on the straps. It gives some leverage
Watch how others do it. Where they ride on the lift track, how far out they are. where there feet are.
It can be done. I can now tolerate a poma or T-bar. In fact, spent a day just riding one at Glencoe on the last day of the season.
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So, my weight should be biased to my back foot and really I'm trying to achieve the feeling of 'normal' boarding facing, right angles to me direction of travel. The t-bar/poma is going to be pulling on the 'inside' thigh of my uphill leg (rather than the back of my thighs as it was designed to do!)...
I love this theoretical snowsport stuff
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Ian Hopkinson wrote: |
| So, my weight should be biased to my back foot |
Your weight should be fairly even, but as you are travelling uphill, that usually falls slightly more on the back foot. Don't try and lean back though 
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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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It's all physics. If they'd got us out the classroom and on to the slopes, like the French do, I'd have done better at physics.
Yes, 'try' to achieve normal boarding.... but everything is super sensetive. Just be read for the unexpected to happen.
And, yes its going to be battering the inside of your uphill thigh. Grin and think of the powder you will access at the top - or engage in ten minutes of philosphical self-disuptation on the wisdom of 'no pain, no gain'
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SussexSnow, as a boarder of three hours experience "normal boarding" means charging off in an unexpected direction, with the clear understand that in something like 30 seconds I will have fallen on my ar$e!
The 10 minute t-bar on the glacier at Saas Fee had me (and Mrs H) cursing fluently - and we were on skis!
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You know it makes sense.
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OK. recommendations for Top Tows to Avoid.
1. Carpark T-bar at Hemsedal. Short but 1 in3 steep. A beginner I was with took over an hour to get up.
2. Signal at Courcheval. Tame but long, so late in the afternoon after ripping up and down the splendid pistes that accompany I ended up thumping a deadening thigh and screaming as I tried to stay on
Any other suggestions
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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 used to sweat at the thought of poma lifts.
After 4 years decided to deal with it and went and had a lesson at Milton Keynes specifically to deal with it.
Problem now resolved!
Good luck.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The other choice is go to glacier in the summer, there's always drag lifts. A bit of practice before hitting the steep slopes in the winter.
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FAQ
much to everyone's amusement and frustration.
