 Poster: A snowHead
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Sail before steam = Skis before boards 
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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 reason steam traditionally gives way to sail (NOT the other way round) is that steam is more easily manoevrable and, in particular, has braking power.
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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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Under a new name - not me: I didn't then deposit myself in a heap, I was skiing relatively slowly and I was in control. I was just skiing faster than the skier in front of me. I "overhauled" them rather than "screamed past" them (my terms, not quoting anyone).
The skier I was passing was also in control (running pretty straight, probably doing the very, very gentle "S" described by Crosbie down the centre of the run, maybe taking up 25% either side of the mid-line (it is neither terribly wide nor very narrow). They didn't turn hard across my line so much as started to veer across the track, taking up the left where they had been in the middle, but that made the difference between my having plenty of room to ski past them and swerving to have clear room to pass them (having clear room meant that I did run six inches up and along a small bank but I would still not have hit them if I had carried on in a straight line).
The point about English is well made - I was in Canada (Fernie, on the shallow cat track running through the trees at the bottom of Falling Star) so English is pretty universal. The circumstances probably satisfied all of the criteria set out by under a new name that I could judge: high likelihood that skier below understands what is said (English is the local language and the European visitors I have met there speak English), skier in front of me was in control. I was not overhauling them so rapidly that I think they failed to hear the whole phrase, but I can't rule that out. I accept you cannot tell whether the skier in front has understood what you mean or whether they care - you could only judge those criteria if you knew the skier you were passing.
The interesting thing is that people have criticised both "clicking" and shouting something to the skier that you are about to pass and I know from that experience that you can pass a skier who is under control, when you yourself are under control, where the passing speed is not great, but a shout doesn't help, as the passed skier doesn't react as you would expect. So shouting a warning is not necessarily a solution or the best thing to do. The reason I made my post was that I wondered if others would disagree with what I thought would be sensible, and you have.
However, to re-pose and modify Crosbie's question - if you are in control, not going at excessive speed, on a flattish cat track, and you overhaul another skier, who is also in control, who is skiing the middle of the run in a very shallow "S" but there is room and time to pass them, and bearing in mind that you have to take care of yourself and are the person best placed to make judgments and "control" or "manage" the situation, what is the best behaviour. Do you (a) make no noise and hope they have heard you; (b) make some sort of noise but not say anything specific (cough, whistle, shout "hellloooo"); (c) make a specific noise by clicking your poles (as a skier); (d) shout (or call - I am not talking about screaming at people) specifically that you are about to pass, and on what side; (e) not pass people in that circumstance; (f) something else (in which case, what)?
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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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OK so here's a question for all the 'right of way' experts on here - I know that the uphill skier must give way to the downhill skier, and that the skier entering a piste should give way to the skier on the piste..however what happens when you have the classic 'blue cat track' crossing a red piste. So you're skiing down the blue which means you are on a piste, not entering one...the speed bandit is piling down the red and by definition will be uphill - so should they be giving way or should you?
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Back to the original question, this brings back memories for me. A couple of years ago I was in this situation, zig-zagging down the red Marmottes (Courchevel) when someone crossed rapidly from the right hand side on a crossing run, which I don't think really registered in my mind. I ended up facing the crossing skier, and he glanced off my right shoulder, attempting to take it with him. There was a large hole where my shoulder should have been. While I was waiting to get it wrenched back into place I was interviewed by the gendarmes to try and establish fault, or whether I wanted to pursue a complaint. I wasn't sure, and they didn't indicate, whether either of us had a right of way. I put it down to experience. They often put netting up in these situations as a warning and I can see the reason why. I don't think there was any netting in place at the time. Even though I've gone back there more recently I'm still not 100% sure whose fault it was. If he had been going slower he would have seen me. If I was aware of skiers joining the piste I would have slowed down.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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rayscoops, When you're talking about a hockey stick stop on a board, do you mean raising the board as in an Ollie such that it's only the rear tip that's scraping in the ground? In other words, a slowing manoeuvre that's possible (with skill) within only the width of the board?
I usually have an asymmetric board with a diagonal blunt tail (and would also be worried about snapping my board) so that's my excuse for never attempting this trick.
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FAQ
) as the down hill skier 