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National attitudes to ski iinstruction

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
As one browses the interwebs, or indeed skis in different places, it becomes pretty apparent that there are strong national differences in the way that skiing is taught. My own sweeping generalisations are give below!

American:

Microscopic attention to detail. Each turn broken down into multiple phases of intiation, edge engagement, weight transfer etc. Opinion on forums about 50:50 split between recommending more tuition, or a 1° increase in (left) boot canting coupled with a change in base bevel from 0.1 to 0.3 °.

British:

Absence of racing heritage leads to lack of targets, i.e. "the best skier is the one who is having the most fun" etc. Most skiers give up lessons after day three and consider themselves as experts since they can "ski the whole mountain". Maximum skiing ability automatically obtained by venturing offpiste next to a blue run. Either that, or skiing since the age of three with Mummy and Daddy on the annual holiday to France. Recommended equipment is a pair of 100 mm powder skis.

France:

Absence of racing heritage means you are a failure. Instruction can be boiled down to: "Follow me!" for the beginners. For advanced classes: "You must press on the skis 'arder!" Equipment irrelevant, or at least confined to Rossignol.

Any thoughts? : )
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
a lot of rubbish! like anything anywhere you get good and bad and anyone can find examples of both.
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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?
Absolute bollux - a powder ski is wider than 100mm




May be some historic merit in the stereotypes.
Wholeheartedly agree with the "best fun" thing - for most people skiing isn't a competitive sport so the point of instruction is to enable that "best fun" not to be an end in itself. If you're already having "very good fun" then stepping out to have lessons can be a barrier.
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
JamesHJ, "British: Absence of racing heritage" ??

Our forebears more or less invented downhill ski racing... http://www.chamonixweekends.com/kandahar.htm ... and you can still observe members of the Kandahar showing off their traditional lycra onesies in their natural habitat in Mürren every January for the Inferno.
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