Skiing "Levels"

A snowHead

Hurtle,

That one is a fair example. The skier in the exercise is in a reasonable ski postion. I can't tell from the still whether it's an edging exercise or side slipping, both are pretty darned similar.

Imagine our know it all.

Instructor: into a low posture, skis across the slope

(bends over at waist and does wide snowplough)

Instructor: Okay, perhaps just a shade more upright with the torso.

(Bends backwards so his head is over the tails of his skis

I: Skis a little more parallel

(four feet apart, but parallel)

I: Now hold my sticks and try to keep hold of them while I pull

Stude: (Yanks both sticks out of instuctor's hands before the exercise starts) AHA!! One nill to me!

I: This is more of a gentle exercise, Skiing is really quite gentle at times.

Stude: Sorry! it's just that what with the gym and my martial arts training, I find it hard to tone down to 'normal' (does that hing with the fingers that is so annoying) performance

I: Okay... well just hold the sticks and try to remain in balance as I apply force... okay ?

Student: ready when you are.

I: skis a little more together maybe ?

(three foo six)

I: Possibly bend the knees a little... more

Stude: I think you'll find they're bent as far as is reasonable. There's a bit of a parallax effect, so they may not look bent to you, but I can assure you they are. These trousers tend to hide the movement a bit, need them for the knee brace. Only need it for racong really, but this artificial stuff can be tricky you know, don't want any mishaps, I've got a race next week.

What follows looks like a cross between the last stages of a bull fight and an attempt to land a blue marlin. The student tenses every muscle in his body and sweats and strains with totally straight legs. He resists force by twisting his upper body so that his arms are wrapped round his torso as he faces backwards and bends over so his head is above the tails of his skis which are now in a badly misaligned snowplough.

The only reason the instructor can't simply tow the blighter off the slope is that the tyro is so full of pies that sheer inertia has dug him into the surface.

Instructor: (giving up in disgust) Well perhaps we'll return to that later.

Stude: HA! Knew you wouldn't shift me. I learned edging on skis with no edges y'know. Leather boots and knee britches, made our own pistes by side slipping...no hot water in the chalets... had to raid beehives for wax... only one lift on the whole mountain and if it broke you were up there all night... fifty foot drop with wolves waiting for you... powder over your head. Ah yes, things were a lot different in 1989.

A snowHead

thirty06,

I really can't decide whether I'd love or hate having a lesson from you.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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thirty06,

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Im just wondering what...."your a life long skier" has to do with ability?

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kevindonkleywood, wink

mmmm can see your point on that some Five year olds are life long skiers Laughing

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

thirty06,

After all it is free

Yorkshire ski scale;

1. Shite
2. Still shite
3. N' but just al' reet.
4. Al' reet.
5. Laiker.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Hurtle, we decided to pull the personal performance plans as a standard thing for performance clinics but happy to do a plan for regulars.. but first you need to answer these ?' and email back to rob or i

Skier’s Goals - Next twelve months:

Skier’s Goals - Longer term:

Skiers Self assessment level using IOS rating scale:

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

skimottaret, nah, I'm happy blundering on regardless, really. Toofy Grin

Edit: it probably doesn't matter anyway, since if Rob's posts at 9.46 and 9.47 are anything to go by, I'll be dead by 16 November. Skullie

brian

Made a few changes after reading all the really good comments, any better?

http://www.insideoutskiing.com/level.html

You know it makes sense.

skimottaret, I see you ignored mine Sad

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

skimottaret, still doesn't make me any better than a 6 Sad

A snowHead

skimottaret, Very good, guess I must be at 11 on my board and skis Laughing

. Seriously, I think you have done a good job with this. Now you must give a follow up at the end of the season and tell us if it did really work well and be honest! rolling eyes

A snowHead

What about us old gits that are slowly going down the scale to age and infirmity Puzzled

There must be some kind of decreasing scale that would work.
Here are the first few levels.

1 Athletes / Full Cert Instructors & Coaches - I am a fluid skier with a unique style.

Once you made a living from skiing or ski most days, exploring different styles and forms of snowsport. You may have have competed in free style, National championships or FIS level Alpine racing competitions. You knees hurt especially on the icy days but you can still look good in all conditions.

2 Experts - I still ski lots during the season and am competent in most areas.

Forgotten how many weeks you have skied. All terrains and speed were done competently. You are humble and know that each year you will be slightly slower than the last. Equipment doesn’t make a big difference to your performance its more a matter of what the body can manage and you don’t believe the marketing info anyway.

3 Early Expert – I am a life long skier and wish I could ski more often.

You can ski all terrain comfortably but are perhaps limited in speed and confidence in some areas. No longer able be as dynamic as previously, avoid steeper fall line moguls but can still make higher speed GS freeride turns in powder/ variable snow conditions and generally master a solid technique. No longer interested in race training, steep couloirs, instructor exam technical requirements, freeride performance and higher speeds on piste. If you teach you are just doing in to keep youself in beer money..

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Hurtle, ig you're doing that and your arms are hurting, simply push the sticks instead of pulling and then do a jump turn on top of the bullying brute.

Fortunately for you lot, I'm only assisting so far, but I only exagerate a little.

The tyro who rates himself expert and won't be told, does turn up here and there. The mental equation is:

time served = ski ability

If you ask them to do a gliding plough, they don't, or can't. Ask again and you get a load of bluster about how they're too experienced and going back to basics is asking too much and they really just want to work on their GS technique.

The current thinking is that you have to eliminate all negative language from teaching so as to give students confidence and not set up negative thoughts. This is good, but sometimes it reinforces a belief that everything is just great when really the skier needs to right back to square one and relearn how to stand up.

I got my awakening after ten or so years on skis when I thought my technique needed, perhaps a little more style. I enrolled on a three day course, two days on, one day off, one day on. the aim was braod, but the word 'plateau' was used.

It was a small class and the instructor got us all to ski past him doing some turns.

He waited until we'd all grouped up and then said

"So, what do I-a theenk of-a your skiing..."

"...I wish I 'ad-a brought my gun! It was 'orrible. But, you ski with me three days and I make-a you ski nice!"

He did. The group was of varying experience. Me started 1975 with rigid snowlpough and leaning to turn through skidded parallels to dodgy carving. Two who had one week's lessons and were just approaching parallel and one other who had maybe two weeks and was a bit timid. Possibly there was another, but I forget.

If your instructor tells you

"I can not teach you any more"

Consider where the emphasis lies.

As to the original list, looks good enough. There is an assumption about the path of progression and I think there will always be exceptions. I have skied with an american who had never had a lesson, but turned up in France with her own kit. It seems that in the East of the USA it is normal to pop up the the hill for a day and to pick it up from friends. She could handle pretty much any gradient and surface, but needed some help to make the whole thing less of an effort.

I have skied with a Norwegian who did downhill skiing at school in order to get out of cross country and hadn't really liked it, so gave up when sport was no longer compulsory at sixteen.

Another case was a German who had skied since childhood with her family, but only on the family hand me downs. This was someone who really could claim the leather boots and cable thing. She was in her first week of snowploughing when we came to a choice of down the (fairly smooth, but crisp) black or follow the green. She wanted to save time and proved that with a good stance and confidence you can snowplough pretty much anything.

The last intersting case is my stepson. He is profoundly autistic and for the life of me I can't get him to hold a snowplough. He can side slip and turn round obstacles. If I present him with little plastic markers for slalom gates he can, on occassion, demonstrate a carved turn that I yearn to emulate other times he just goes straight past the lot. It seems that what he really wants to do is run straight down in a wide, back seat stance that lifts the tips of the skis, for all I know he may have it right.

I myself have been all of the terrible skiers I describe. I hope that now that I have finally learned to BEND MY FLIPPING KNEES!!! I can proceed a bit of the way toward the top of the ratings described before said knees wear out.

Put me down as level 10, then take away the number I first though of.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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A lot of these gradings I have seen seem to assume people perfect skiing on piste before trying anything off-piste i.e. level 8, to me someone who skis all the pisted runs "with a good degree of technique and style" should be able to ski off-piste or bumps pretty well as well?

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

skimottaret, I'd agree with all those who say it's the best scale they've seen and the new version is better than the first. With so many facets to skiing, you'll never find a scale where you can slot every skier into one band without some qualification.
IE. I'm probably a 7... I'd say going on 8, but I'd never associate my skiing with being "advanced" and few people would use the word "style" to describe it. If it's steep thats fine, if it's icy thats just more interesting, bumpy I'll get down, but if it's moguled... I'm stuffed!

It's the best attempt I've seen though.

adrian

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

thirty06,

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

skimottaret, great scale but I am going backwards down the scale as I get older HELP, used to do backflips down the black moguls now my knees and head say NO NO

Help!!

Skiing "Levels"

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