 Poster: A snowHead
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SaraJ, To be properly alive. To appreciate the mountains and the elements by learning the skills and humility to move amongst them. To have great times off-piste and touring in the company of my friends. The week I spent with your Redpoint Challenge week some years ago was a big step on the way, thankfully my skiing is a lot more controlled these days.. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It's the closest thing I can imagine to having the freedom of flight without 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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When I ski I have the ability to completely switch off from work and really enjoy the surroundings. i think solely about getting from the top of the run to the bottom whilst taking in the, mostly, beautiful scenery around me. I love seeing the crisp white line of the mountain against the blue sky and it give me a sense of relaxation that I do not get anywhere else on holiday.
I have managed to encourage new people to join us skiing most years and Not one of them (maybe I have been lucky, maybe I have asked well) has not come again. For us it is about the skiing. we have a fab, full day skiing, a nice couple of drinks when we come off the piste, a nice evening meal with good wine and great chat and am then ready for the next day on the slopes.
I would gladly give up any summer holiday for a holiday on the slopes!
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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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SaraJ,
Why do you ski...
The smell of napalm in the morning.
Sorry, lost it for a moment.
The smell of wax in the morning.
And trying to keep up with my 10 year old.
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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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For me it's as much the mountains as the skiing. I am happy walking in the hills but prefer skiing.
Don't get me wrong sometimes you have a great run. You ski it as well as you can. You have that silky effortless feeling you sometimes get. It is something that is unique to our activity. At those points it's the skiing. Other days you ski crap but you still enjoy where you are.
I think, especially as you get older and life and work become more humdrum, skiing in the mountains makes you feel alive in a way I think nothing else can. A crisp cold day in the mountains, a bit of fresh snow, the company of like-minded friends. Who can ask for more! Pity its still only September.
I think someone has already said it but you can get the feeling described if you are a novice or an expert. It just comes more often the better you get.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Does it sound daft if I say that I just like the whole scenario? I am a sucker for a bit of snow, I like the scenery with the snow on, I like doing the easy stuff when I can maybe think 'I'm skiing', I like the company when I get to ski with SH's, the friends I have made, the fact I am participating in what I always saw as 'unachievable', I like sitting in mountain restaurants eating good food in marvellous scenery and just the being there, (TBH I can get a lot of previous from a summer holiday too - I am also a sucker for a rocky beach). I don't like the fog, low vis, the journey getting there, the packing (both ends), not being able to do it, being criticised because I can't do it, the rain.
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Mostly because it's hard to find genepi over here.
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Megamum,
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Does it sound daft
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No
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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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Why do I ski?
I ski for the fleeting, precious moments; that perfect turn arced into the glistening, untouched powder that rests gently yet precariously on a gargantuan mount of timeless rock miles above the sea... Feeling the wind rush past my cheeks as I float and fly effortlessly, a meter off the ground supported solely by a morass of air and chilled water!!
who are we kidding... it's for the hoes 
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| Big Paua wrote: |
And I believe (with absolutely no evidence) that the beginner on their second day putting four snow plough turns in one after the other is running the same sort of adrenaline thrill level as some gnarly dude dropping cliffs in the back country and that has to be some sort of democracy in action. |
Completely agree with this sentiment - i'm a bit of a newbie to this skiing lark (i'm 40 and started skiing 2 years ago), but i still feel that adrenaline buzz as a meander slowly down the slopes.
I remember on my first trip, I felt like I was flying down a blue run with the wind whistling past my ears, before getting to the point where I felt I was going too fast and out of control so I bailed out and crashed in a heap. It was only when watched a video of this afterwards that I realised that I was actually going no faster than walking pace! Very embarrassing!!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If anything the adrenaline's more pronounced as a beginner. I haven't had that 'trembling and crying' sensation for quite a while now. Clearly remember standing at the top of a green in Serre Chevalier, literally sobbing with fear, knees knocking together.
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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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Agreed! In Val Thorens, some of the steep sections on the blues filled me with complete dread at the start of week, but that makes it even more satisfying when I was cruising down them by the end of the week  I'm still at the point that I can't get my head round how anyone can actually ski a black run. I know just standing at the top of one would make me poop myself! One day, one day....
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Handy Turnip, It'll come
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You know it makes sense.
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Handy Turnip,
Handy tip when you get on a pitch you think is too steep don't stand around at the top getting scared. Just give it go. When I know someone's nervous I tell them to turn when I do and look at my skis. Often starting this before the pitch. When they get to bottom you get them to turn round and look what they have done. It gives them that buzz. Next time becomes easier.
A black run is not as far away as you might think now.
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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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Cheers guys much appreciated thanks for the advice, Mark - I think I do tend to over think it too much! I'm a bag of nerves and tense up until i finally conquer a run, then the next time I ski it, it suddenly feels easy and I just ski it completely freely. It's like I'm suddenly free of that psychological baggage!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Handy Turnip, First blue run I did took over two hours. By the end of the week it took twelve minutes. The following year it took two. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Also on the steep, well anywhere, look for the snow! Try not to turn where it's been scrapped and got icy. Look for the fluffy bits of snow and turn on it. Try and look for the next 2 places to turn or more if you can. This gets you looking ahead down the slope. It also makes you focus on the turn and not the steepness. What looks a tough slope can be made very easy by choosing your route. Pointing a ski pole at the next bit of nice snow is a method I sometimes use to make me focus on the principle.
Enjoy.
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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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Because it's the closest feeling to true flying I'll ever get. There are perfect moments when my skis react not to movements and actions, but thoughts. It is serene. It is magnificent.
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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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Also whilst the colour of the piste is a guide its often not a good one. In good snow conditions on the right run a wide black may be easier in many respects than even a blue, particularly if its narrow, in bad, icy conditions!
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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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Also whilst the colour of the piste is a guide its often not a good one. In good snow conditions on the right run a wide black may be easier in many respects than even a blue, particularly if its narrow, in bad, icy conditions!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| CaravanSkier wrote: |
| Also whilst the colour of the piste is a guide its often not a good one. In good snow conditions on the right run a wide black may be easier in many respects than even a blue, particularly if its narrow, in bad, icy conditions! |
And they vary resort to resort. I've been on Reds in some places that are far hairier than Blacks in others.
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thedrewski, Agreed!
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| Mark1863 wrote: |
For me it's as much the mountains as the skiing. I am happy walking in the hills but prefer skiing.
Don't get me wrong sometimes you have a great run. You ski it as well as you can. You have that silky effortless feeling you sometimes get. It is something that is unique to our activity. At those points it's the skiing. Other days you ski crap but you still enjoy where you are.
I think, especially as you get older and life and work become more humdrum, skiing in the mountains makes you feel alive in a way I think nothing else can. A crisp cold day in the mountains, a bit of fresh snow, the company of like-minded friends. Who can ask for more! Pity its still only September.
I think someone has already said it but you can get the feeling described if you are a novice or an expert. It just comes more often the better you get. |
+1 Couldn't have said it better 
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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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| Big Paua wrote: |
Good question!
And I believe (with absolutely no evidence) that the beginner on their second day putting four snow plough turns in one after the other is running the same sort of adrenaline thrill level as some gnarly dude dropping cliffs in the back country and that has to be some sort of democracy in action. |
I really like this thought.
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Speed combined with a touch of fear when you are pushing the envelope, the mountains (I have this theory that you are either an 'air, 'earth' or 'water' person when it comes to recreation. I have tried many forms of sport or recreational activity in all these fora and I think skiing is the thing that most closely ties them all together.), the quality of the light and the fact that I am good at it. Not World Cup class or anything like that but I can hold my own and that makes it all the more enjoyable. The air.
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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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| Flaine skier wrote: |
| I ski because it would be silly not to... |
I like this answer the best
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You know it makes sense.
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Ooooooh, I also forgot the ability to be better than a whole lot of my non-skiing mates at something. No matter how good you are as a sportsperson, I will always be better than you for at least your first 3 or 4 hours on snow
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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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... because skiing is like Golf and Sex. i.e. You don't have to be any good at it but you can still have fun, and experience doesn't always lead to improvement.
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Poster: A snowHead
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A week of thinking of nothing but skiing, eating, drinking. No thoughts of work. And I am crap at it (skiing, that is, not work....well, that too, maybe)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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don't recall golf being fun 
edit: crazy golf can be a rofl though
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I ski to give me something to talk about in the chalet.
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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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Because it's beautiful.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Because it's beautiful.
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FAQ
