gatecrasher, I did 58mph once, on a quiet slope at dinner time with no one else in sight... Can you honestly tell me you've never had a go at the same thing?????
tomb, TBH I've really no idea how fast I ski, I don't generally clock myself, but I can honestly say I would be very surprised if I'd hit those sort of speeds on a black run (fair play to you) if anything most people tend go faster on reds & more often blues than on black runs, I'm more of a plodder in present company I guess so maybeFlyingStantoni, is right, maybe it is achievable & maybe my mortgage and age is slowing me down more than I thought!
I echo...your enjoyment and enthusiasm so all good!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Voice of Treason, yes, I'm pretty sure it was, as safe as it can be anyway... We're talking metres from the piste in cold calm conditions on snow that was already heavily skiied out and not at all steep. 10 degrees, maybe 20 max.
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?
gatecrasher wrote:
...if anything most people tend go faster on reds & more often blues than on black runs...
Completely agree.
On a long, carved turn on a steep piste you also have to separate you angular speed (i.e. around the turn arc) from your linear speed (i.e. down the hill).
The problem with non-skiing specific GPS units is that they'll give you the angular speed and not the linear one if you're making big turns. They also get confused by the relatively quick altitude drop that you don't get doing most other activities.
How fast have I gone?
Fast enough to scream my tits off in fear. However fast that is
tomb I think it's great that you have got the skiing bug and that you tried as much as you did. Well done. I was addicted after my first week too but watch out as it's an expensive addiction!
Please just be careful with the breakneck speed thing when you're not on an empty piste. As a parent, my biggest fear is someone crashing into little geetee. It happened last year, when a supposedly experienced skier didn't anticipate her turn (don't know why as she was following me and making regular turns), crashed into her and landed on top of her. Luckily, he wasn't travelling at speed and there was no harm done but if he had been going faster it could have been a completely different story.
Keep skiing, have fun and stay enthusiastic but above all be safe.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Oh, and wear a helmet.....
*slinks off as another can of worms is opened* ....
If you ski fast, make sure you can turn and stop fast too. Nothing more scary than the intermediate testosterone powered piste missile.
To the OP, glad you enjoyed your first week on the mountain and sounds like you prepared well with dry-slope lessons and great call taking an instructor/guide for the whole week.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Maybe your right about the actual speed, I used ski tracks on an iPhone so not sure how accurate this is. It was at the very bottom of a black run before it flattened out so it was literally a straight run.
As far as other people in the slope are concerned, I got no where near those speeds on occupied slopes. We mainly followed our instructor in a long snake at reasonable speeds.
I also wore a helmet all week
After all it is free
After all it is free
chemistry wrote:
tomb,
I am ashamed of you - you have started this sideshow when in fact your priority should have been the TRIP REPORT!!!!
Please correct this appalling oversight immediately, including everything from your experiences of the airport, what the hotel was like, equipment rental process, how you found the ESF lessons, etc. The holiday is over for you know; it's time to accept that and devote your energies to a selfless devotion to improving MY holiday next week
chemistry
PS. Glad you enjoyed yourself and hope you left plenty of snow behind for the rest of us!
I do apologise chemistry,
We flew into geneva airports, which was okay on arrival but appsolutely chaotic on departure. I'd recommend leaving a little earlier rather than later on return flight if this is where your flying from.
Transfere was long, about 4 hours to serre chevalier from the airport.
Hotel was great, we stayed in the skibound hotel in viellnerve which was lovely and served great food 3 times a day. All equipment hire was in hotel, gear seemed decent and well looked after. The location of the hotel was also great, one of the main gondolas to the mountain was across the road.
Skiing was great, we had a fair dump of snow on arrival, then another big dump on Tuesday. So we had a fair ammount of powder to ski in on those days. The rest of the week was sunny and clear. Conditions did get a bit icy, but the runs over near briancon were good on these days.
ESF were great, our instructor 'Lionel' was fantastic, spoke good English and was patient and gave good instruction. We did however have a problem with one of the groups instructors called 'steffan'. He was rude and spent a lot of time on his phone. Guess its luck of the draw there...
Can't think of anything else to report just now... Do you have any questions???
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.
To be fair to original poster, I can quite believe he managed to go "58mph" (how did you clock the speed?), the run looks easy enough, don't have a clue why it's a black? It's wide, open and not that steep.... Doesn't look difficult at all:
Good to hear you had a good week, I remember my first week, was a "I want to do everything week" ...Found the second week a lot more frustrating; the first week you notice massive improvement and then it's a long slow progression from there on in... Easy to learn the absolute basics, but very difficult to master!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
FlyingStantoni wrote:
chemistry wrote:
how you found the ESF lessons
"I went to the ESF meeting point. But that's not important right now..."
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
junglist_matty, Another lesson learnt!
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.
Tomb mate, u didnt mention you'd been at a dry slope before hand, that changes my total opinion, I was just equating you to some idiots I met at Les Arcs last year who were going down blacks on their first ever week on skis and one ended up out of control and nearly going down a tree well.
Glad you got the skiing bug, it gets addictive trust me! If you have the piste ability good for you, but I would seriously look into off piste instruction before you continue, so that you can learn the safety proceedures for avalanche and tree wells
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
I'm glad you enjoyed your first week skiing. I can well believe you gave everything a good go. Those lessons on dry slope would have made sure you had the basics down. If nothing else, they would have taught you balance and control. Lots of people only go one week a year with no practice in between so I can see why you might have done better than more experienced skiers in your group.
I learned a few years ago and had a couple of lessons before I went. I was happily sking neat parallel turns on reds in control by day 3. A few braver friends also learning did ski some blacks, though not with much style. We did a little dabbling with side of piste powder with our instructor. I have also seen this done with school groups of 1 or 2 week skiers, so again, totally reasonable.
Not sure about speeds, seems a bit quick but that may be your app. I know the casse de boeuf run, an 'easy' black, more of a tough red, so again can see how you could confidently ski it. Well done on the moguls, Im still crap at them,but give them a go.
Just make sure to keep up with lessons and you'll be loving skiing forever. It will become an unhealthy obsession (or maybe thats just me).
As to how I ski, I will do a few blues/reds to warm up, doing exercises and drills, then push myself hard til lunch, then ease off in the afternoon with some cruising. May dabble in off piste, but only with avi equipment and instructor. I am a 'first lifts' kinda person, its all about time in the mountains.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
tomb,
No need to apologise. Trip report greatly received and excitement levels restored.
Carry on everybody.
chemistry
PS. Ta!
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
OP,
Let us all know where you will be doing your uncontrolled kamikasi skiing so we can avoid you.
Trouble is there are plenty more like you on the slopes at every resort.
Wise up and learn to ski in control or you will injure yourself or more importantly someone else.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
cc_7up, wise up and read the entire thread, I was never out of control.... Tool-shed!!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Really I'm just showing off But I like a bit of everything, flying down the piste and then smashing the powder. Happy days!
Anyway this was me smashing down La Face in Val d'isere!
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?
tomb wrote:
Just got back from my first week skiing and loved every minute...
Superb. (And I bet after you've been again this season, and then for a sneaky last minute trip in April too, and for a couple of weeks next year you'll still be having fun too!)
Carving seems perfectly possible. In my first week my instructor took me down a red and said "you carved that, who taught you to do that?" Cue bemusement on my face. Not sure I've ever skied as well since...
Pistes scare me. I can't resist going so fast that I'd really hurt myself badly if I wiped out. Fortunately, I haven't had a high speed derailment for 15 years or more.
So I like to ski where the mountain forces me to slow down and think about where to turn. Bumps are good. Trees are better. Powdery chutes are sublime. Steeps of more than 40 degrees are epic.
I don't ski any of that with style. But I'm always in control, very rarely fall and have the time of my life.
tomb,
Glad you enjoyed it, don't take any notice of the grumpy old men.
I had a very useful learning event in my first week of skiing when I skied into someone at what seemed like high speed. I was straight lining a blue run when a guy in ski school traversing across the full width of the slope suddenly changed his rythm and made a quick turn back to the left and into my path, instead of continuing across the piste, fortunately it was just a glancing blow that dropped the other guy on the spot and I finished bouncing and sliding about 50 meters further on having jettisoned about every possible bit of equipment, fortunately again no-one was hurt but the other guy and the instructor were understandably looking to amend that by breaking their knuckles on my face. Apologising profusely I managed to collect my belongings and escape before blood was spilt.
Ever since, I have skied with the assumption that slower skiers that I overtake WILL do something unpredictable and it makes me cringe when I see some skiers using beginners as human slalom poles (mainly in Switzerland)
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
tangowaggon, thanks and ill try not too...
Thing is im a youngish guy and was on my first ski trip, now if i cant bomb down an empty piste at this stage of my life then when am i going to?? There was absolutely no one on the piste with me so the only harm i could of done would of been to myself, but i fully understood the risk i was taking and was happy to do so. Also at no point did i feel dangerously out of control, granted i was pushing the boundaries a bit but didn't see the harm to do it that once. Hopefully that has cleared up the speed issue for you guys having problems understanding why i did such a thing.
With regards to my progress. I spent minimum of 2 hours a week on dry slope since November having lessons, doing balance drills, perfecting parallel turns, trying to introduce carving elements to my turns, working on finishing my turns, working on separation etc etc... I also read a number of books and watched as many video tutorials as i could, again trying to put what i learned into practice on the dry slope. Physically i upped my jogging to over 20 miles a week and introduced more leg and core exercises into my workout routine in preparation.
So when i say i did all those things in my first week i actually did, i have no one here i need to impress and dont see the point in lying. Also i never once said i'd preformed all these aspects of skiing to the highest degree, i was merely adept enough to keep up with a group where most had had several skiing holidays all ready under their belt.
Now with regards to my original question... The group i was skiing with wanted to do a lot more of this high speed skiing, but as i suggested in my OP i didn't enjoy this as much as some of the other aspects of skiing. I much preferred trying to ski my way down a mogul field or through a short piece of forest. All i wanted was some feedback/discussion on how other people felt about this and how other people liked to spend their skiing holidays, being as im new to all this and only have the solitary ski holiday experience.
I hope that was clear enough for some the numpties that seem to inhabit this board
After all it is free
After all it is free
tomb wrote:
Now with regards to my original question... The group i was skiing with wanted to do a lot more of this high speed skiing, but as i suggested in my OP i didn't enjoy this as much as some of the other aspects of skiing. I much preferred trying to ski my way down a mogul field or through a short piece of forest. All i wanted was some feedback/discussion on how other people felt about this and how other people liked to spend their skiing holidays, being as im new to all this and only have the solitary ski holiday experience.
It sounds as if you'd really enjoy skiing in North America. There's much less emphasis on piste skiing over there; generally, the whole mountain is regarded as open for skiing unless it's roped off. Even the groomed runs often have an ungroomed strip running down the side so that you can enjoy the bumps. You're actively encouraged to ski through the trees, and, in the bowls, there's usually powder to play with.
Read it up and see if it's for you.
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.
tomb, great post. Hope you continue to enjoy your skiing to the maximum.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
tomb chuffed that you had a great time, enjoy it all... come on a bash and put a few keyboard jockeys to shame I think your pre trip prep and your in-resort lessons are to be respected, keep it up.
As for the question "How do you Ski ?" I love it all - ice, slush, POW, piste, and especially moguls
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
tomb, I forgot to say with my earlier post that I'm happy you had a good time and worked hard at skiing. Well done on doing all the hard work prior to going, it sounds like paid off! God knows there are plenty who go to the mountains just so they can say they ski but don't really do much skiing at all.
I started off like you (minus the preparatory stuff apart from general fitness) and totally love it. Be careful, soon you'll be planning your life around skiing, an who knows, even a season away! Good luck and hope you keep enjoying it.
PS: For some reason, your forum name reads Tom B to me, rather than tomb. Right?
edit: in answer to your question, I don't ski as well as I'd like to. But I'm working on it.
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.
Quote:
Thing is im a youngish guy and was on my first ski trip, now if i cant bomb down an empty piste at this stage of my life then when am i going to??
I'm 46, been skiing since 21 and still let it rip on an empty piste, hope to be still doing it in another 25 years time
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
tomb wrote:
But we tended to spend most of the time hurtling down a piste at breakneck speeds.
Just wanted to make it clear why I have been slightly critical of Tomb on this thread.
It was the this comment that annoyed me. As someone who stewards 3 kids around the slopes, hurtling and breakneck are not endearing to me.
It now appears the hurtling and breakneck only happened once, on a deserted piste, that's not so bad, we've all done/do that.
No matter I stick to my original post - I prefer to ski off piste these days, especially in the school hols with my kids, away from the hurtling and breakneck boys, some of whom are not fussed about whether the piste if empty or not. Just last week I witnessed a near horror smash when someone skiing in this manner was airborne over a blind summit and came very close to taking out a blind skier picking his way over an icy steep section.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
tomb wrote:
I hope that was clear enough for some the numpties that seem to inhabit this board
It's only because in your first post you basically said (or implied, whatever) "yeah I went skiing for my first ever week and now I'm basically a pro". Which is obviously going to be greeted with some scepticism. But as it turns out you actually have a lot more experience than that, so fair play!
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
tomb wrote:
Thing is im a youngish guy and was on my first ski trip, now if i cant bomb down an empty piste at this stage of my life then when am i going to?? There was absolutely no one on the piste with me so the only harm i could of done would of been to myself, but i fully understood the risk i was taking and was happy to do so. Also at no point did i feel dangerously out of control, granted i was pushing the boundaries a bit but didn't see the harm to do it that once. Hopefully that has cleared up the speed issue for you guys having problems understanding why i did such a thing.
Not wanting to be a fun-sap, but seriously, after 1 week of skiing on real snow in the mountains, riding at the speeds you stated is "in general" dangerous, even for experienced guys it can be dangerous, all it takes is one mistake (regardless of skill level) and this...
b]junglist_matty[/b], Yeah that guy was probably doing around 30mph, the OP was doing nearly double that at times!!!
Quote:
All i wanted was some feedback/discussion on how other people felt about this and how other people liked to spend their skiing holidays, being as im new to all this and only have the solitary ski holiday experience.
tomb, Looking at it from your point of view and thinking back to my first trip... I may have felt and written similar things as you (minus the speed thing) "pre gadgets" and not a whipper snapper! But... Keep doing what your doing in the UK and with many more trips under your belt I suspect if you revisit your post in a few years your gonna think...."what the hell was I on about!?"
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
You guys are a bit quick to condemn, I went back and read the first post and there is no way he is stating he was skiing like a pro. Try to at least read it from the perspective of an excited person back from their holiday and realise there is a lot of scope in the things he was doing. Secondly he also states he wasn't that taken by skiing super-fast down blacks and preferred carving on blues/reds so he doesn't sound like a hazard out to eat children or plant himself in a tree.
Anyway to answer his original question, I spend most of my time resort skiing off-piste but also like ski-touring and ski-mountaineering well away from the crowds.
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?
tomb, it does sound like you're generally (apart from the breakneck hurtling!) doing the right things with the dry slope practice and trying to learn the theory of ski technique which is more than many holiday skiers ever do. How did you come across "The Athletic Skier" by the way - it's not a book which you'd just stumble upon in your local high street bookstore in the UK?
If you're serious about wanting to continue to improve you should find out whether there is a ski club based at your local dry slope. If you're lucky there might even be race training sessions which you could join in if/when the local coaches think your skiing is ready to make that step. Then there will probably be local/regional races you could take part in. There are some seriously good skiers involved in UK dry slope racing - have a look here (although that's a National Championship - local introductory level racing needn't be quite that quick!). Even if slalom racing isn't where you eventually want to be it's a great way of developing the technical skills which are applicable in other areas of skiing too.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Tue 7-02-12 13:49; edited 1 time in total
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
tomb, like others who have posted, I am getting a bit creaky now, to the point where any improvement in my technique is more or less cancelled out by my diminishing physical fitness, so these days I am a blue and red run cruiser, I enjoy being in the mountains, fresh air and (hopefully) sunshine, we ski a lot in the Portes du Soleil so we can ski from one town to another giving us a sense of actually going somewhere. I like to be out early, ski all morning with maybe a stop for vin chaud, take a long lunch starting about 2pm, then ski home about 3 30.
Like you I love the feeling of fast carving on a wide empty blue or red, without bumps, steeps, couloirs and other obstacles to interrupt my rhythm. I will ski blacks, but normally only as a means to get to somewhere in particular, so not often as there is usually an easier route. I've never really cracked the whole off piste thing and I'm too old to start now.
Having said that, I recall back in the 80s ski-ing Valmorel with a bunch of lads whose main aim seemed to be to ski every piste in the resort on the first day. Even then, when I was fitter, poorer and without dependents or employees, it seemed to me a bit pointless. By all means rejoice in speed and technique, but to ignore everything else, it seems to me, is missing something. And to ski basically out of control everywhere, which inexplicably some people do, seems to me as pointless as it is dangerous.
So I think you are absolutely right to find satisfaction in a more measured style of ski-ing, by all means have the ability to ski fast, in control, but stop and smell the flowers sometimes too.
Nice one tomb. Just beware the Daily Mail readers and helmet-botherers on SH.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
In answer to to original question
Mainly spend lots of time contemplating the next line then ski it badly anyway. Engage in active skiing avoidance by poking the snow at length with my pole. If I'm especially lucky I might have some short notice rock, stump or hole avoidance to throw into the mix before rattling over a bunch of death cookies with a accompaniment of bad language and a brick like flop onto a cattrack.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Tomb - I made the mistake of coming on here and talking up my skiing ability a couple of years ago... I soon got put in my place!
Anyway, I am heading to Hinterglemm next Friday to ski for the first time in two years. I prefer to stick to mostly blues and reds, with the occasional black thrown in if my mates want to venture there. I have tried off-piste a couple of times but I can't turn very well - might that be something to do with my rubbish hired skis? Personally I prefer to take in the scenery on nice easy cruising pistes - from what I've read the Ski Circus should suit me down to the ground.
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.
Powder/off piste short hikes for sick lines
Park trying not to injure myself learning tricks on the boxes
Pistes are nice once in a while but the abovementioned park has destroyed my edges so hardpack snow is a nightmare.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Rishie, yeah my name is tom
bobmcstuff, i never once made out i was a pro... its all down to your interpretation of my OP and the eagerness in which you seemingly want to publically chastise people. How this benefits you or others on this board i don’t know? (Perhaps its to reassure your sense of inflated self-importance??)
My intention was to start a jovial discussion on how people like to spend their ski holiday... had i know that you and other were going to dissect my OP to this degree, then i would of written an essay ensuring there was no misunderstanding...
junglist_matty, i understood the risks at the time
gatecrasher, I dont understand what you’re getting at here?? Are you suggesting that im a whippersnapper and as such am unable to understand what i did during my ski holiday? p.s i don’t mean to sounds cranky... i really just don’t understand
Okanagan, I was looking for a decent book on ski techniques when i came across a recommendation for 'the athletic skier'... i found it on amazon for a few £ and decided to buy it. It was the best book i bought and was immensely helpful. I do intent to continue trying to advance my skiing and have already looked into a local ski club
Also do you have any other recommendations for good technical skiing books???
*To the rest of you, thanks for your sincere feedback/support
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
I was addicted after my first week too but watch out as it's an expensive addiction! 
But I like a bit of everything, flying down the piste and then smashing the powder. Happy days!
