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The continuing journey, new video added CFe May 2014

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Pedantica, Very Happy thank you very much Very Happy
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Megamum, you don't look worried in that video! snowHead Hope your hand's OK - sounds painful.
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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?
Yes, first half(ish), looking good.

Smooth controlled turns, unhurried. Nicely linked.

On the steeper part later, you are panicking and throwing the skis round so less smooth. What looks like patchy snow is forcing you into Picking you place to turn rather than sticking to your rythm, so it looks less smooth. Hard work skidding to control speed because some of the turns are not finished.(Speed control by coming further across the hill, not just scraping on alternate skis)

Weight looks well balanced. Arm position and pole planting. Well Done.
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pam w, Very Happy

My knuckles look they have done 10 rounds with M. Ali!! Currently strapped and 400mg of Ibuprofen are helping. I don't think they would do more in A&E and I can't risk a plaster cast this week - busiest week in the last 52 and I've got both hands knackered Twisted Evil I'll just continue to immobilise it and wait for it to get better. If I have cracked bones (and the pain suggests I might have done) 4-6 careful weeks should fix things. If it's only tendons and ligaments that have taken a beating it might OK sooner than that, I've still got practically full movement in the hand with the exception of stretching it quite straight and can more or less type, so I'll recover with time. There is no doubt about it although I've hurt myself skiing, over the years I've done far more mischief to myself on horses and I don't have a problem with them. Def. something to think about.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Awful skiing, fantastic music.

No, hang on, the other way round.

I wouldn't let that little bit of stemming bother you as much as it does. Nice stable way of starting a turn when you're not sure you want to commit 100% to skis perfectly parallel. Can't see anything much wrong with that, personally. Nice round turns nearly all of the time. Thumbs up.
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lampbus, thank you Very Happy . the snow on that last part had, indeed, got the stage where the mounds were big enough that you needed to ski around them rather than over them. I agree completely with your comments - I knew the technique wasn't as good there, but there is no learning done unless I acknowledge that the warts as well as the good bits. I thought that it looked as though I started to push the tails out too much and I think I probably needed to get the fronts of the skis to engage first again - weight should have perhaps been further forward - I bet my body wasn't perpendicular to the hill. I thought I seemed a little better over the last 8 or so turns I seemed to get into a slightly better rhythm and that seemed to help.
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Mr Pieholeo, Laughing Very Happy It might be stable, but it makes me look like a damn novice and with the number of weeks I've now got I shouldn't be!! I can and I will lose it! Toofy Grin Thanks for the 'thumbs up' Very Happy
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Megamum wrote:
...Watch that small stem come and go. I think I've worked out when it appears - it's when I'm 'thinking'....

Orrr, it could be when you initiate your turns with your shoulders??
You're a bit small in the vid, so I might be seeing things.

You've made really good progress, but so has FC so you're gonna have to work your booty harder Laughing
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Megamum wrote:
... I think I probably needed to get the fronts of the skis to engage first again - weight should have perhaps been further forward - I bet my body wasn't perpendicular to the hill...


The clip of you skiing towards the camera is telling. Take a look at the slo-mo if you can and what do you see?
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ALQ, Now that is worth consideration. Initiating turns from my shoulders is a problem I've battled with. I'll give it some thought when I ski next. Very Happy FWIW I'll never have fC's confidence, but it is my intention to give him a run for his money when it comes to doing thing technically correct and making the skiing 'look good' Toofy Grin I'm going to work hard on it this summer.
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ALQ, not only am I not leaning away from hill I'm actually leaning into it motorbike fashion Embarassed IIRC I think that run was one where I was thinking about up and down movements (I was receiving a bit a nag for not doing any) - they didn't come off either!! Laughing
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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.
Laughing
Watch your turns in slo-mo...you'll know what to work on in terms of posture and movements.
Arms up improves balance.
Looking forward to seeing you catch up to FC wink
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:

Looking forward to seeing you catch up to FC



A bit of healthy competition does no harm wink - I'll never get as much time on snow as he does, I'll just have to try and be more disciplined when I am there - it's got to be doable hasn't it? I'll take a long hard look at the turns too - I need to go through my various video players and find one that will deliver some slo-mo footage. Thanks Very Happy I suppose the big question is 'am I an intermidiot yet?' Laughing
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Megamum wrote:
...I'll just have to try and be more disciplined when I am there - it's got to be doable hasn't it?...


Absa-bloody-lutely doable!!
Quality time on snow is what you need (and practice) to set good technique (if that's what you're after)....starting with your posture Madeye-Smiley
The good thing about FC's vids is that he/we can see and check his improvement over time; i think that could be good for you too this summer.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
AHAaaa Talk of the Devil Twisted Evil
Megamum Another thumbs up Cool .......... I tell you what......You've made better progress with the dread stem than I have Shocked
I'm like....how did she do that Puzzled Puzzled You've been having sneaky One to Ones with you know who aint ya lol wink

I'm gutted about your hands, My right hand is buggered (ripped ligament) and now I cant raise my right arm at all since a teenage boarder took me out last week in 3V's. So I can relate. I've got one word to say ARNICA ARNICA ARNICA cream, lotion, balm whatever, rub it in regularly umpteen times a day. I guarantee it will speed up healing and help with tenderness of strains sprains and bruises.

Re: The skiing tech. fwiw
1: Keep your hands up & forward. "hands up, baby hands up"....Be strict with them naughty hands.
2: Gradually lessen the "moment" between turns. Go straight from one turn into the next.
3: Get some yellow pants wink
4: More Ankle flex. Pull the feet back under your body. Be strict with them naughty feets.

All in all I'm impressed

Well done Razz
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Much smoother Megamum.

Well done Smile
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Megamum, Listen to FC!
(I never thought I'd ever say that Laughing)

franzClammer wrote:

3: Get some yellow pants wink

only if you want to go faster n get seriously gnarly!!

franzClammer wrote:

4: More Ankle flex. Pull the feet back under your body. Be strict with them naughty feets....

^ THIS!!
99.98% of folks I see at HH lack this BIG TIME (check it out yourself when on the lift).
Dunno why instructors don;t sort this out.
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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?
ALQ,
Quote:

Dunno why instructors don;t sort this out
At least two instructors who work at Hemel do sort this out.

Or at least they try to... Embarassed
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Pedantica, Then I think those two instructors are too kind n gentle with their clients wink
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
ALQ, ha!!!! I presume that winking smiley indicates you're joking. rolling eyes wink
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Quote:

More Ankle flex. Pull the feet back under your body


I've been thinking about this since reading and I've been standing here bobbing up and down from my ankles Laughing and I'm still not overly sure on what this means/achieves. You both seem quite adamant that the phrase is 'Pull the feet back under the body'. This sounds subtly different from 'keep the weight forwards' as I think you would have put that rather than referring to the ankles if 'weight forwards' was the sole issue. However, I'm struggling visualise in my mind what 'pulling the feet back under the body' achieves if not keeping the weight forwards. Is it to do with standing with my weight over the sweet spot on the skis i.e what the the skia training device tries to encourage?

NB: I don't know if I qualify for yellow pants just yet, but I've got an orange set.........................a white set........................a red set...........................and a bight pink pair.......................... Madeye-Smiley
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Megamum, Knees ahead of toes to maintain pressure on the front of boots and therefore front of skis.
At your level, as much as you can...really get knees, hips, arms forward til you feel the front of the skis really dig into the snow on every turn (find the feeling of grippy turns).
Presently, your knees are directly above your ankles...check your vid of you heading towards the camera or any one of FC's old vids wink

No offence, but you're still at black pants!!!
..white pants after good short radius turns
..red pants after carving turns
..orange pants after zip-lining moguls
..bright pink pants after powder
..yellow pants after instructors ask you for advice on skiing and pulling Italian hotties.


Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Wed 5-03-14 0:50; edited 1 time in total
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Megamum, If anything I've said is confusing you, plz IGNORE me and seek professional help ... at your nearest snowdome NehNeh
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ALQ, That's OK, that makes sense and is indeed what I am aiming at. My professional snowdome help has managed to get me to feel that and I love the feeling of the fronts of the skis engaging in the snow and of me steering around the turns. I can, and have made it happen and it is what I am looking for on every turn. In fact in the first video although I am in the distance I do actually have it happening on every turn on one of the runs - I could also feel separation occurring and the skis doing the side to side thing as the body stayed central. It was only a simple green/blue type run, but it really felt good. I guess, at least, you didn't didn't say that my knees were mostly behind! the ankles!!

NB. I'll put the white pants on the top of the heap - I don't think it will be long before I get there. I'm pleased with the progress I have made particularly with confidence (a key issue for me) and with technique. Whilst some folks say that tech. leads to confidence, I know me and it def. works the other way around! I skied with SH friends in Austria and they said that the couldn't believe the positive change in my confidence.
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Quote:

At least two instructors who work at Hemel do sort this out

and one who works in Les Deux Alpes tries very hard! Charlotte kept on at me about ankles and came up with some good drills. She also thought my boots were probably too stiff - Megamum, can you stand in your ski boots with your knees over your bindings?

Also, your basic ankle flex (ie with bare feet) might be a problem. My natural flex isn't great, so I have some stretches I do each day when cleaning my teeth.
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pam w, yes, I don't seem to have any problems when the skis aren't moving. If you have a good exercise to pass on I'd be interested Very Happy
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Megamum, a good one, which I found quite difficult and need to persist with, is doing gentle round turns - easy run - and making little "pulses" forward with the knees, all the way round. Kind of bounces. Harder than it sounds, to make it effective and get a feel for the difference on the front of the skis!
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
pam w, sorry, I said 'exercise' which is 'ski speak' I actually meant a stretch for cleaning the teeth as you had mentioned.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Megamum, Definitely some big improvements from last year Toofy Grin When I skied with you it was apparent that you were relaxing more and enjoying the journey. You need a sunny empty piste to let 'em rip and start to enjoy going faster... remember that feeling you had Cool
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Megamum, oh, sorry. the muscle you need to target is the soleus. http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/flexibilityandstretching/ss/calfstretch_2.htm

The straight leg calf stretch targets the gastrocnemius (?sp). I do 30 seconds on each leg, each muscle, during the two minutes my electric toothbrush takes - it buzzes after each 30 secs which is useful.
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pam w, I think we have similar toothbrushes Laughing I will look up the stretches - many thanks for the link.

ScarpaTheAvalanchePoodle, Very Happy yes, I was actually having fun!! Very Happy Though it is a whole lot more fun when you can actually clearly see through googles without snow all over them Laughing
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Too right. Reminds me, my 7 year old goggles need the lens replacing. Getting difficult to see through the fog and scuffs.
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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?
As noted above, very nice, flowing skiing. I see every turn being very consistent, which means they've become a strong habit. The next evolution for you is about making it yet easier, using less effort to start the turn, allowing the skis to do the work, and always be turning. rob@rar has given you a number of ideas that have helped you, and that's great. I'm going to divert a bit from one of them, though. I'd like to have you consider playing with your first movement being the downhill/new inside foot/ski. So, as you begin your turn downhill, flatten the downhill/new inside ski first. You might even thing of flattening the tip of the downhill ski first. Flatten it by pressing it into the hill and having your downhill/new inside leg be perpendicular to the hill at that moment.

What might the result of this movement be? I expect it to get rid of that slight stem (which sometimes becomes a step), allow the turn to start more slowly and without the pivot movement to force the skis into gravity, and create more flow.

Play with it and see?

I also would like to see you continue turning until you're ready to start the new turn. Be turning uphill or be turning downhill around the point of transition. Avoid going "straight" or "across". Continue the previous turn up the hill to slow your speed or begin the new turn into gravity to increase your speed. Always be turning.
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ssh wrote:
...I expect it to get rid of that slight stem (which sometimes becomes a step)...


That certainly helped with my stem (together with getting more forward).
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Thanks, ALQ. I have begun avoiding a focus on body parts ("getting forward") and shifted to more of a "do this to the skis" description. For example, suggesting pressing the tips flat first will likely lead to a move of pressure forward on the ski, but will avoid some of the strange contortions that often occur as skiers attempt to "get forward."

That said, if you're pressuring the tips, keep doing what you're doing! Early edge engagement and hook-up is a great focus for solid skiing.
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ssh ... and that's why you're an instructor Laughing
I just shout "get forward!!"
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ssh, thank you for that Toofy Grin I will have to think about how to achieve that without losing the impetus of rob@rar's tip which is to engage the outside ski as early as possible in the turn. Perhaps I can have a play with both ideas when I visit the snow dome at the end of the month. The stem used to be much worse, I have been concentrating on the outside ski for some time now and I think it has really helped. As has this concept of steering the foot around the turn which has led to a revelation that I can now make and FEEL the tips engaging and pulling the ski around the bend (when it happens it feels well........'awesome' is a good word) it actually feels as though the skis are doing what theyare designed to do. OK I can't make it happen on steep or inconsistent snow yet, but I can dial it up to order on easier slopes and it feels as though I am finally 'really skiing!', I know that might sound odd to those that have already seen the light, but I finally know what I want to achieve at the moment. Sod the carving I want this feeling of power that the front of the ski hauling the rest of it around gives me Toofy Grin
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Megamum, you're looking for the right feeling! My suggestion is that flattening that new inside/downhill ski will allow you to slice with that new outside/uphill ski even earlier in the turn. In fact, I would suggest that it will allow the pressure to move to that new outside/uphill ski with less deliberate effort on your part. In general, I recommend moving into the new turn (this means moving downhill) rather than moving "onto" that new outside/uphill ski. The latter requires a movement away from the smooth movement into the next turn and down the hill.

In other words, why should you move uphill in order to go downhill?

That said, this is simply a movement for you to use at play! Play with the different ways of moving, and see if you can feel what happens when you flatten that downhill ski first. You may be surprised!

ALQ, Laughing

However, one might answer, "How?" And then you're in trouble, since there are a bunch of ways to "get forward," many of which won't actually pressure the tips of the skis! For example, I often see skiers who are, "getting forward" by thrusting out their hands and bending at the waist while sticking out their bum and standing on their heels! No pressure on the tips with that movement, but by God they think they're "forward!"
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ssh, Then I shout (with more bass), "Git yo ar*e forward NOW!!!!!"
You should try it...then post the vid wink
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ALQ, ha! Before or after the ambulance ride? Toofy Grin
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