 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm sure some SHs must have interesting stories
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Probably not, as those who didn't made it down, are probably still wandering around the mountain with no access to SH.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Weathercam, you've got to hand it to the heli pilots haven't you? He had that chopper balanced just on a part of the skids and that blade was not far at all from the snow - then he just backs off and heads for home like it's a walk in the park. I hope I never need one, but they certainly know their jobs!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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well as nobody else has admitted it as of yet.
1999 - Sunday following world cup downhill day at Kitzbuhel.
2nd week of ski's for me IIRC after a beginner week in Selva in 1998.
Ski's - my wife's 185cm head ladies skis virtually no edges, pretty straight
Boots - My father in law's (they fitted by 1999 standards)
Ski trousers - my own
Ski jacket - FiL's Killy jacket (blue if you are interested)
Underwear and socks, can't recaall but pretty sure I had some on.
The run - The hahnenkamm
Top 2 thirds wasn't 2 bad
last third every time I tried to turn I ended up on my backside a couple of times whilst sliding down on said backside I kicked the ski's on the slope to get ski's out of bindings.
last 4-600 metres I walked down the side of the run
There I said it.
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ansta1, I have walked down the side of the piste before - years ago in Valloire - just lost my nerve
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For me, the ladies downhill in val d'isere in 2009. Comic relief day. The ice was blue. My husband and friend had skied over it and had stopped on a ledge at the bottom. 4 turns max and I was with them. I lost my nerve, I knew if I b*llsed it up I was over the edge of the ledge. I tried to find snow at the edge. Somehow, I ended up skiing backwards in a snow plough which was getting wider and wider. Then ping! And I sat down. Mr NE1 was at the bottom swearing at me as I sat crying on the ice. I eventually gathered my wounded self and made it down to the ledge. I skied the rest of the way on one leg and that was the end of my holiday. Torn gastrocnemius (calf muscle), elbow crutches and a tale to tell.
The next year I did it perfectly (it was not gonna beat me) but I will never go down there again. 
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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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ansta1, since I never understood why people who hardly know how to stand on skis have such desire to go down World cup course, I would appreciate if you could explain why the hell does someone do this? Just to say you skied down WC course even if you end up in hospital? I'm not bashing you or anything, I would honestly like to know why someone does this. And no, you are far from only one doing it. When skiing those courses, I have seen too many such people, and that's why I'm wondering this. And unfortunately, you are just only one I "know" who did this without knowing how to ski (2 weeks on skis is at least for me basically "not knowing how to ski"... no offense).
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Top of a bump run under the Couise 1 chair in Pila. 2nd week skiing I remember standing at the top trying to remember how to ski bumps. It turns out my memory failed me (probably because I hadn't) which provided much amusement to the people on the stopped chair as I did the run on my face.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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jogi, I was with people who had been skiing lots, they said I could handle it, and if I had decent kit I probably would have got down. I didn't so I didn't. Not bravado or showing off. If that was the case I would have gone straight down. I know my limits and am happy to stand up and say, sorry not for me.
To be fair, whilst I hadn't had huge amount of skiing experience I was extremely fit and did compete at an international level at speed skating so was probably at an advantage in some respects. Also I don't think the guys I was with were expecting it to be left in near race prep.
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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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But I am happy to admit with hindsight it was not a good decision to do that run given all the variables.
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jogi, the first time I skied in Flachau (3 seasons ago) we set off without a map. And found a fairly empty piste that we skied down, it was distinctly icy underfoot. We were trying to meet up with a SH local to the area, but were no-where near where we should have been. Following some descriptions our contact caught up with us. In the bar at the bottom of the run - the only way down to it. 'Did you ski that'? pointing to said piste. 'Errr......yes, it was soddin't icy underfoot, but otherwise quite empty..........why the surprise?' 'Well that's where they ran the ladies world cup a few weeks ago - it's water injected to make it icy.............." In fact icy or not it's one of my favourite pistes in the area. Get a fall of snow over the firm base, run the piste basher over it and it's skiable and always empty because of the piste that it is.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Megamum wrote: |
| jogi, the first time I skied in Flachau (3 seasons ago) we set off without a map. And found a fairly empty piste that we skied down, it was distinctly icy underfoot. We were trying to meet up with a SH local to the area, but were no-where near where we should have been. Following some descriptions our contact caught up with us. In the bar at the bottom of the run - the only way down to it. 'Did you ski that'? pointing to said piste. 'Errr......yes, it was soddin't icy underfoot, but otherwise quite empty..........why the surprise?' 'Well that's where they ran the ladies world cup a few weeks ago - it's water injected to make it icy.............." In fact icy or not it's one of my favourite pistes in the area. Get a fall of snow over the firm base, run the piste basher over it and it's skiable and always empty because of the piste that it is. |
6?
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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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NE1, Yup, 6!
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Poster: A snowHead
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NE1, 6?. Megamum, was standing on her head when she typed that 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Harakiri in Mayrhofen, the first time I tried it. I went down the skier's right side of it (the steepest part), fell and slid and slid and slid... Being on a snowboard I didn't want to dig in too hard, for fear of getting whipped over, so I skidded pretty much all the way down the steepish bit - probably 100m or so.
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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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Olympic 2002 Downhill course . Only it was large icy moguls covered with a few inches of pow. Stuffed a ski tip into a bump had an inline fwd release and snapped my knee on itself. Patrol eventually recovered my ski from a nearby gully then foolishly I declined the blood wagon and very gingerly sideslipped out. Much later after I had had an MRI did I discover I'd a tib plateau fracture. Bit of a relief as I thought I'd toasted a ligament.
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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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ansta1, I'm pretty sure you would come all the way down. With a bit of suffering anyone can come down any course, one way or the other. But personally I don't see point suffering there, sliding down the course on limit of breaking your legs on every turn. Skiing should be fun not fight for life. But that's just me. But no matter what, thanks for explanation 
Megamum, yeah but Flachau WC course is flat and really easy, even on day when it's injected, not few weeks later, when real ice is gone, not to mention injection for women races is different then for men races. And for Flachau, I can understand you make mistake and accidentally come to that course. For Hahnekamm you can't go "accidentally" there. It's pretty well marked what that course is
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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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| Megamum wrote: |
| Weathercam, you've got to hand it to the heli pilots haven't you? He had that chopper balanced just on a part of the skids and that blade was not far at all from the snow - then he just backs off and heads for home like it's a walk in the park. I hope I never need one, but they certainly know their jobs!! |
+1 superb control
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Nice red run in Madonna and next thing was it felt like flying through the air then crash landed on my shoulder  No more skiing that week and a fractured shoulder but a police skidoo isn't the best way to get off the mountain when you only have one arm to hold on with!
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Linds, waddya mean 'nice red run'?!! You were off-piste - though admittedly back on it by the time you landed!
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The scene: Living in Munich, it had snowed for most of the week and some friends (very, very good skiers) persuaded me to meet them at Kaltenbach on Saturday as the forecast was perfect and they'd take me off-piste to continue my education.
It was a stunning day, clear blue sky and largely untouched powder everywhere you looked. As we took the first lift to the very top they spotted a great looking pitch (to them) but I wanted to warm up for a couple of piste runs first. They persuaded me otherwise and grudgingly I followed them to the top of what I'd describe as a good black pitch, covered in at least knee-deep powder. I set off and with only one fall, made it down but still muttering about wanting to warm up and 'find my rhythm'.
I was cruising at about walking pace back to the piste when my right ski caught something under the snow and turned sharp right, flipping me onto my face at incredible speed but the real pain was from my right knee (OK there was some hurt pride due to being laughed at by those on the lift). After 15mins sitting in the snow trying not to cry, I said I'd ski down to the restaurant and have a rest for a while. I managed this and sat, wincing as the pain got worse and worse.
I decided that I probably wasn't going to get any more skiing that day, so took the gondola back down to the bottom (even if you've not crocked yourself, I recommend doing this at Kaltenbach, that piste is definitely the most dangerous one I've ever encountered). On exiting the lift there's a considerable set of metal steps which I pretty much fell down, screaming. I somehow managed to stagger to my car, and having thrown my kit violently into the car (I don't remember getting the boots off, I think I may have passed out once or twice) drove home to Munich.
Unfortunately it was Saturday, so the traffic was pretty heavy and it took me over 4 hours in start/stop traffic, requiring me to use the accelerator and brake an inordinately unfair amount, whilst screaming obscentities at full volume due to the now brain-addling pain.
When I reached home I literally fell sideways out of the car screaming in agony with tears streaming down my face. I pulled myself across the driveway to the door of our house whilst our weird neighbour watched but didn't once ask if I was OK or perhaps in need of help. My wife was away for the weekend with friends, so I called a friend who did the most logical thing. 20 minutes later he appeared with a case of weissbier and we numbed the pain with the additional help of my malt whisky collection. Again, that bit gets a bit hazy but lying on a sofa surrounded by bier and whisky definitely helped to numb the pain.
Of course, when my sensible wife returned the following morning, she gave me a b*ll0cking for being such a stupid man and took me to hospital where I had an MRI scan (private healthcare in Germany, no messing). Yup, ruptured ACL. The combined agony and frustration of that drive home is something I'd really rather not endure again.
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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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| jogi wrote: |
| ansta1, since I never understood why people who hardly know how to stand on skis have such desire to go down World cup course, I would appreciate if you could explain why the hell does someone do this? Just to say you skied down WC course even if you end up in hospital? I'm not bashing you or anything, I would honestly like to know why someone does this. And no, you are far from only one doing it. When skiing those courses, I have seen too many such people, and that's why I'm wondering this. And unfortunately, you are just only one I "know" who did this without knowing how to ski (2 weeks on skis is at least for me basically "not knowing how to ski"... no offense). |
Well the first time I skied a World Cup run was half way through my third week skiing, so I wasn't much beyond your "not knowing how to ski". It was the Planai in Schladming, which isn't usually a WC Downhill, but is used for Slalom, GS and super G. And what is more, it had been used for a WC super G and the night slalom just before we arrived, and the bottom (steepest) pitch was still iced up, and without the run-out area (that is a car park normally).
But there were only two ways to ski down to the base, either Red run 1, or Black 3, which was the WC run. And every time we went up the gondola, we were going up over that slope, so after a few days, familiarity with looking at it made me think I could do it. Surprisingly, I only fell once, and after that, I skied it every time I was coming down to the base, and didn't fall again, although I was still finding it pretty hard to ski.
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| boardiac wrote: |
| Harakiri in Mayrhofen, the first time I tried it. I went down the skier's right side of it (the steepest part), fell and slid and slid and slid... Being on a snowboard I didn't want to dig in too hard, for fear of getting whipped over, so I skidded pretty much all the way down the steepish bit - probably 100m or so. |
Yep. I went down that on my face because I lost my bottle
Would like to have another go now though!
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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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a police skidoo isn't the best way to get off the mountain when you only have one arm to hold on with!
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indeed. Normally I'd expect people to be taken off the mountain on a sledge, and well immobilised. (In France they have inflatable splint things which blow up around you and hold you firmly).
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she gave me a b*ll0cking for being such a stupid man
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not a bit surprised. Why the hell didn't you call on the extremely able piste rescue service? Your "friends" sound like knobs.
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Was on my first ski holiday ever there a few weeks ago in Risoul. We were having a great day skiing with me, another beginner and two friends who were giving us a bit of a lesson. Weather got much worse after noon, but we decided to continue on, and we ended up taking a blue which was quite difficult for us due to all the powder, but a good experience. A
bout half-way down, despite falling several times, we decided to take the lift back up to the top. Unfortunately, we didn't realise how bad the weather had gotten and once we were at the top we realised that only a red slope from the top was open open. Now, we weren't completely terrible, but we hadn't been taking any formal lessons during the week…we'd been going out with friends and getting help from them, or spending time on beginner slops trying to copy the technique of others who seemed to be doing well. We probably should have turned around at this stage, but the two stronger skiers pushed us to go on despite our reservations and we gave it a go…
I think I took a dip in confidence as we were going down the red slope, and started falling quite badly (often backwards…which was apparently due to some dodgy skis as opposed to my dodgy skiing). This didn't help my confidence much and I was looking forward to finally getting down…unfortunately we got to an area where we could either do a black or a blue, but the blue had been closed off due to avalanche warnings. I really didn't want to go through the blue area, as that's where bad stories come from, but the two skiiers with us insisted it'd be fine if we went through quickly, as it was a relatively small area. And of course my ski got caught and came off in the avalanche zone… My friend behind me tried to hurry me up (because obviously I was moving as slowly as possible and telling me to hurry up would help…) and the two advances skiiers were looking on from a safe area in horror. Thankfully I got my ski back on and made it out of the danger zone alright…
We then continued down the rest of the mountain, but as we weren't at all used to such deep powder, we kept falling at very very regular intervals. And then following one of my falls, the attachment that keeps the boot in the ski broke and I was left with a pair of useless skis. And thus began a very long walk back to Risoul…so I did technically make it to the bottom I suppose, just not on skis… Was in pain for the rest of the day and it hit my confidence for the next few days, but it could have been much worse, so I'm not too miffed with how it went — taught me a good lesson on not trying things that are too far above my comfort level!
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You know it makes sense.
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LeFou, I hope it taught you a lot more than thar! (welcome to snowHeads)
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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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Yeah…think I'll be taking lessons on my next few weeks skiing (now that I've been given a while, I'm dying to go back…). And thanks!
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