 Poster: A snowHead
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Someone on another thread mentioned finding a 'run with surprises' like a black with a surface of marbles that they once skied. At all times it will be down to the run, the snow conditions, the weather, your own experience with the sport when you did it and possibly the company you were with when you chose to do it  and are probably runs that you have skied comfortably at other times, but are there any runs that made you think "I can't have been sane to have gone for it in the first place". I have certainly done a couple of runs that will stick in my memory for a long time as 'lady luck was on my side that day'. My often reported trip down col de l'Auzdin (VT) in the white out fog, and possibly the day earlier in my ski career when we nearly got blown off of a wind slick Lac Blanc also in VT. Both of which I have also skied and had fun on at other times!
I wondered do all skiers have their own worst runs so far, and would you like to share?
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 2-04-14 12:47; edited 2 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Late season in Davos about 2002 or 2003, taking one of the reds down to Schifer all was well until we hit a section in the trees which was completely devoid of snow - nothing left but solid clear ice moguls. Hells teeth it was hard going, but the 3 of us got down. It was at the bottom of that when I was waiting for the others that I lost my footing on the board and went down like a sack of spuds, and stoved in a 2" section of the helmet I was wearing...
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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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Not a marked run but I was once led along a narrow arête heading towards a nice little couloir. At one point the arête was so narrow that both the tips and tails of my skis were hanging in mid-air, with very steep slopes either side, and we had to side-slip down as the ridge itself was too steep for a traverse line. A fall at that point would have been very serious. Have to say I was genuinely frightened for a few minutes. I can't think of a marked run where that level of fear would be justified.
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The warm-up run on day 1 of rob@rar's coaching in Meribel.
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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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andy,  Yeah, that was a big one!
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This maybe,
there was a window between 9.45 and 10.15 where the sun hit the slope unfreezing the snow. We missed it by a few minutes and by then the snow had refrozen.
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davidof, 
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Last Winter in the Shropshire Hills I had a couple of descents which were very unpleasant & difficult due to the snow conditions. Not quite as steep as davidof's, but seemed like a good idea at the time..
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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.
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My first ever french black, Mariel goetschel in VT. Got to the bottom and thanked whatever god it was that helped me, now I virtually straight line it. However, le face in val d'Isere still gets me everytime and I thank every god there is that helps me get down. I know I will never do that one with anything but fear and respect never mind straight line it.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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.
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The Swiss Wall, about 25 years ago, thanks to an intrepid friend. It was the first black I ever did, and I thought they were all like that.
(I never doubted I'd get down, just whether it would be on skis or in a sledge.)
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A black run at Fernie in Jan. Ordinarily this would have been a cinch. But that day it was pouring rain (there were lakes at the bottom in the village square that were being pumped out) . Up top was nice snow. Down bottom was rained on totally, but this stretch of black was in the mid zone. It had obviously had around 15 cm of snow overnight, but this then got rained on in the day and it was like slightly soft cement. It was chopped and heavily moguled and like most runs here, never ever groomed. it was like skiing chopped concrete and the only run I have ever skied when I have got to the bottom grateful to still have both knees.
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You know it makes sense.
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I foolishly followed a young Austrian couple a week last Saturday after chatting to them on the chairlift. The weather was warm and sunny and the snow was wet and heavy. Ended up on a black run with very little snow cover and at one point literally had to lift one ski as the strip of snow was only ski width to get to a larger patch of snow where we could turn. The piste was actually closed but not roped off (doh, hadn't spotted the closed sign). The following day it snowed heavily so I went back and skied it properly (or at least as properly as someone of my abilities is able to!)...
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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No doubt tame compared to everybody else, but this was mine, my second ever black run last year:
http://vimeo.com/58299186
(the video just shows the top bit because I accidentally turned the camera off - I did make it down with a bit of bouncing  )
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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about 1991 - 5th week on skis, cousin of my mate decided it was a good idea to take us down a couloir from GM down towards the Argentiere glacier. Turned out to be thin snow cover and I remember side-stepping down a patch of ice not much wider than the length of my skis above a nice long run out onto rocks.
We decided we could do without his "guiding" after that.
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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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Le Tunnel in Alpe d'Huez, no contest. Except that getting to the bottom wasn't the problem - the descent was remarkably quick, pity I wasn't on my skis at the time. 
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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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Pierre a ric at home time.
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| davidof wrote: |
Actually I've thought of something worse, the blue, or green run to la Daille at 5pm on a January day. |
The most scared I've been on skis was on the green into les deux alpes shortly after pano bar kicking out time during a week that loads of British university ski clubs were in town. Didn't make that mistake twice.
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swiftoid, tis a horrow show pretty much any time. Never mind when full of peed up students.
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| davidof wrote: |
Actually I've thought of something worse, the blue, or green run to la Daille at 5pm on a January day. |
Santons - the world's worst ski run.
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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.
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| under a new name wrote: |
| Pierre a ric at home time. |
Nearly:
Christmas just gone, came down from the top of GM with a friend on his board, along the edge of the Argentierre glacier and back onto the track to Lognan (first proper OP run since breaking my leg).
Sensibly declined the Hotel Variante, as I was still building up the leg and it was aching at the end of the day.
Then a short distance down the track stupidly agreed to follow him on a shortcut to the Pierre a Ric that he had been using all last season.
Couple of nice turns and then basically ran into a bush, said bush (that would have been buried in the snow depths of the previous year, but was at least 2 metres high) then proceeded to be a bush for the next mile or ten. About 90mins later as we continued to commando through the shrubbery (throwing skis ahead and then wading/scrambling through) the wife rang me from the carpark to bollock me (but gave me a pass when she heard my voice).
I guess I always knew we'ld get down, eventually, but it was getting dark (if not cold with the exertion) and I did worry about the damage our wives were going to do to us.
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I can only think of one run I haven't finished (unless being in the body bag) counts
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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.
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| finestgreen wrote: |
No doubt tame compared to everybody else, but this was mine, my second ever black run last year:
http://vimeo.com/58299186
(the video just shows the top bit because I accidentally turned the camera off - I did make it down with a bit of bouncing ) |
Looks like one of the paths I was on in jan! I take it you went left?
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| Levi215 wrote: |
| finestgreen wrote: |
No doubt tame compared to everybody else, but this was mine, my second ever black run last year:
http://vimeo.com/58299186
(the video just shows the top bit because I accidentally turned the camera off - I did make it down with a bit of bouncing ) |
Looks like one of the paths I was on in jan! I take it you went left? |
Yeah, straight(ish) downhill after the video finished
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You know it makes sense.
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Looks superb!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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altis, I can see where things are going wrong...the skis are supposed to be clipped onto the ski boots! I've found I'm much quicker that way 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thornyhill, That is just the sort of slope that I worry about encountering in a strange resort with no other options.
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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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| Megamum wrote: |
| Thornyhill, That is just the sort of slope that I worry about encountering in a strange resort with no other options. |
But there's all those bumps to catch your fall! What could go wrong?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| finestgreen wrote: |
| But there's all those bumps to catch your fall! What could go wrong? |
Exactly right. It might be tiring, and will get tedious picking your way down two or three turns at a time, but no particular risk other than not enjoying it too much.
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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.
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But I'll be OK in the future - a bumps clinic at Hemel is imminent. 
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So you don't think I'd crash and burn? I 'get' the theory of them, and can even see the logic that if you hit them right you can find a slope on each on that is no worse than a green or blue, but I think I'd worry about losing control, picking up too much speed and hitting the next one too fast to control myself and probably unseating myself by hitting it too hard.
Pedantica, I think I'll give 'the tunnel' a miss if I ever get to that resort. It's been good when folks have put where their 'memorable for all the wrong reasons' runs have been - I've had an interesting few minutes looking them up and viewing online videos on UTube. The Swiss wall sounds worth avoiding too!!!
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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.
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Megamum, the trick is to fall over after every three bumps, thereby not building up any speed.
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FAQ
