 Poster: A snowHead
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| Blackblade wrote: |
I think it was the casual, and clearly not intended maliciously, suggestion that 70+ year olds can't behave just like 20 somethings if they want to and have the energy and fitness to do so. I'm not (yet) in that age bracket but knowing some excellent older skiers (and admiring their skills) I thought I'd point out that it's a bit of casual ageism. I'm not in the slightest 'triggered' by it ... just thought I'd mention it.
PS. I love the Hotdog Hans videos |
I do hope that the OP, Alan and his wife, give the same kind of attitude to those they encounter as Hotdog Hans does!
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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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@ski3, Thanks
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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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@ski3, Not sure that they are as knee replacement friendly as the sit on ones.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I was in L2a for my 3rd week skiing..( I am 77 so enjoy a free lift pass )a few weeks ago and saw people riding snow bikes and outside some shops for hire
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I learnt how to use the Brenter C6 that are for rent in Notre Dame de Bellecombe. Really easy and quite comfy. I've not been skiing for 15 years because of foot, ankle and knees ache. This is almost perfect for me. The only annoying thing with the C6 I rent was that the ride height was too low (way lower than the C6 seen on the YT videos posted on the first page) thus my knees were too high (trunk-thigh angle <90°). I was also puzzled because the rear skid cracked below the rear binding when I fell, I don't think this was normal... Those beasts shold cope with taking bumps...
About the rental shop : they told me retail price was 1190€ back then. They sell them as is for 400€. They charged me 100€ for the broken skid even though I opted for the insurance. The rental cost for the C6 (appart from the broken skid) was 72€ for 2,5 days (foot skids included).
After I took my lessons I went to Les Saisies, a little bit higher than NBC (l'Espace Diamant). I did not see any else using a skibike during that week. However Les Saisies is still "friendly". Most of the skilift do ban the skibike. I don't really understand why... I reckon that non-telescopic skilift do kick your ass when starting, especially if you're overweight. NBC do not ban skibikes, but at Les Saisies only one new telescopic skilift allows them. Then you can take each chairlift. But to my mind it's very easy, although getting quite uncomfortable on longer ones.
However I must confess I'm not at all confident using chairlifts. The teacher quickly told me how to have a triple security :
- enter on one end of the chairlift (for example the right one)
- have your leash around your right wrist
- hang the bike frame with the right hand, slightly apart from you on the right
- sit on the chairlift, take the bike frame near your knees ?
- with the left hand, get the guardrail down
- put the bike's handlebar on the guardrail
This is where things get complicated for me. Do I have to put the handlebar on the guardrail from the outside or the inside of the guardrail ? I usually do it from the inside as I guess it is more secure. But this needs to fiddle a lot with the bike and its habdlbar, cope with the other riders who seat with you and actuate the guardrail and resting their skis on it, not being really comfy because of the frame and handlebar pressing on my chest/belly. It takes a few seconds for me to close the guard and fit the handlebar on it. This usually triggers some alarms on the chairlift (even though it never slows down) or malicious attitude from the riders or chairlift operators, which is quite stressfull. Moreover, doing so makes the skibike protrude generously at the right of the chairflit. This is not a problem for counterclockwise charilifts. However on clockwise chairlifts the rear skid of the bike is sometimes only 10-20cm away from the pillars 
I would be very pleased to know how you guys do take chairlifts ? How I do is very secure (absolutely no chance of letting it fall when the guard is down), but slow and stressfull and uncomfortable.
I know of resorts using chairlift during the summer time to lift mountain bikes. This would be a dream for me to have this things fitted on wintertime chairlift, this would free me from the burden of "fitting my snowbike properly asap".
To my mind these are perfect for letting people with joint issues access the ski resorts. Of course it can go offroad and go very fast (maybe not as fast as classical skis). But they are so easy to handle, it's also easy to slow down. If you learn how to use it, it shouldn't more more dangerous than ski. Are really fast skiiers less dangerous than fast snowbikers ?
I'm also looking for an online Snowbike/Skibike community to chat about skiing technics and tips, hardware and resorts. I'd like to find a friendly resort closer to my home !
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