 Poster: A snowHead
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This thread kicked off on 9 November 2014.
The photographic evidence suggested that - in 5 years - BASI's instructor-trainers had converted from almost-total avoidance of helmets to almost-total use of them in preparation for the Interski demonstration event in Ushuaia (later this year) in Argentina.
The top photo shows the BASI trainers at Hintertux in 2009. The bottom photo shows the Interski demo team in training last October at Zermatt.
What made Britain's most elite ski instructors convert to helmets?
I'm getting murmurings that helmet promotion may be an active element of BASI sponsorship for Ushuia - maybe a helmet sponsor is being actively sought. Previous postings on this thread suggest that some trainers who tend not to wear a helmet (in their normal work) may put them on 'for special occasions'.
If any senior instructors would like to express additional views or observations on this ... they're welcome to do so!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 10-02-15 17:26; 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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| rob@rar wrote: |
| BASI Trainers as a group have not made a big switch. Individual instructors might have decided to use helmets, for at least some of the time. I assume you think it's OK for them to reach their own judgements about what protective equipment they use? |
Yes absolutely. The question is essentially whether commercial considerations are at play in terms of BASI perhaps presenting helmets at Ushuaia as an integral/essential element of ski kit. Will the BASI Interski team "reach their own judgements" (to adopt your phrase) on this?
Another way of expressing the same question would be "In the absence of a helmet sponsor, would fewer BASI-Interski demonstrators wear helmets?"
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Tue 10-02-15 17:27; edited 1 time in total
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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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Blind leading the Blind 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Maybe the difference between the two photo's is more down to insurance requirements ?
If the insurers insist that helmets must be worn when they are training as the BASI demo team then they have to wear them.
Maybe you might see this as a conspiracy between the insurers and helmet manufacturers but I see it as an organisation trying to limit the risk of paying out and also to minimise that amount if they do have to pay out.
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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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I am more concerned that they have gone from a fetching two-tone style of jacket and sallopette to a god-awful matching two-piece. At least someone took offence and chopped off one of their legs at the knee-cap (well... they did to those poor bugs in the front row).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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There's a far more pressing question: why the hell are the all wearing the same clothes? What's that about, then? Last time I skied with some of the demo team members they were wearing a section of Scott, Salomon, Patagonia. Now they're all in Avalanche. Bloody splitters, the lot of them. Seduced by the frivolity of "looking like a team" or "presenting a professional image". Surely the official voice of UK skiers has something to say about this?
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@speed098, the current uniform is a bit loud, but infinitely better than the last two outfits (plain black; vomit swirls). A nice lime green uniform would be a big improvement, although All In One Orange is where it's at right now 
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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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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@speed098, I quite like Satsuma Orange with a dash of Royal Blue. I think it should be compulsory and I'm going to start badgering the official voice of British skiing to make it so.
Sadly this photo doesn't do justice to the Orangeness of it as I think I bamboozled the camera's sense of colour...
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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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Wow, they must be fast jackets 
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You know it makes sense.
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@rob@rar,
Yes but then you need orange helmet, boots, poles and skis. 
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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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| speed098 wrote: |
@rob@rar,
Yes but then you need orange helmet, boots, poles and skis. |
I'm on a mission...
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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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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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[David Goldsmith posting as Karl Marx]
@rob@rar, I guess this thread will be active up and until the time that the BASI Interski demo team appears at Ushuaia, Argentina, in September 2015.
Given the evidence logged over the past 6 pages... of extremely variable helmet use (or demonstrated helmet use) by BASI trainers ... it seems that the described narrative has been more than reasonable. BASI seems set on having a team which ski in helmets either exclusively or near-exclusively. So ... why all the hostility to a perfectly valid exercise in journalistic enquiry?
| rob@rar wrote: |
| @Fattes13, @stevomcd, pointless arguing with somebody who thinks that you can discover real life through atypical images and media puff pieces while sitting in their pyjamas and furiously Googling. What's the worst kind of conspiracy theorist? Someone who actually believes their own nonsense. |
That was your comment on page 3 of this thread ... http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=113734&start=80#2607979 ... and not very sensible, don't you think?
Earlier you said ...
| rob@rar wrote: |
| BASI Trainers as a group have not made a big switch. Individual instructors might have decided to use helmets, for at least some of the time. I assume you think it's OK for them to reach their own judgements about what protective equipment they use? |
That remains the key issue - will individual members of the BASI Interski demo team have a free call on this? Or will all members of the team be obliged to wear helmets, because of a sponsorship deal?
I persist with this type of stuff, because of the persistent attempts of opinion-leading organisations (such as BASI or the SCGB) to get people to wear helmets ... or to plead with the public that the trend is to wear helmets. With ski insurers 'liaising' with the helmet industry to make helmet-wearing mandatory, we need independent representative bodies to remain independent in their judgement and actions.
You are pitching to be the Alpine Director of BASI in a forthcoming election - what's your position on the BASI team at Ushuaia? In your view, should the individual members of that team be free NOT to wear a helmet, if they don't normally ski in a helmet?
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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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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
| ..Check back to the two photos at the top of this page. |
If they insist on a uniform, they really ought to do it properly and match the colours up ... looks a bit scruffy IMO.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Or to put the anti goldsmith spin on things.
"As the majority of our instructors already wear a helmet out of choice we looked to secure a commercial arrangement to reduce their ongoing costs, this arrangement does mean that all instructors will now need to comply with our ongoing clothing and brand policy and those in the minority who do not wear a helmet 100% of the time already will now do so this has impacted a very small number of individuals who are happy to comply given the added protection helmets provide and the fact that the commercial arrangement is favourable to us and the individuals concerned.
NB i don't wear a helmet currently when skiing out of personal choice, but i do wear a uniform of sorts as prescribed by people i work with and for. If i don't want to wear what they request i don't get to work for them.
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| Quote: |
It seems that the above point, and the thread in general, has been answered by James Bennett - a member of the BASI Interski demonstration team. He commented on 7 August ...
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So why bump the thread?
ps Welcome back David. I trust you had a good summer break 
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
It seems that the above point, and the thread in general, has been answered by James Bennett - a member of the BASI Interski demonstration team. He commented on 7 August ...
"The demo team has looked for a helmet sponsor and found one in Neon. So we all will have one on!"
This somewhat confirms the general impression that commercial imperatives are overriding personal preferences/beliefs. |
Not how I read it:
We used/wanted helmets (before having any commercial obligation), so then looked for a sponsor and found one.
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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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Yep - Mr G needs to learn to read and comprehend what he is reading rather than adding his own " journalistic" (?) comments.
" The demo team has looked for a helmet sponsor" sounds to me as if the Demo. team has indeed looked for / searched for/ sourced/ engaged / co-opted/ partnered with a helmet sponsor BECAUSE IT WANTED TO.
Obviously, as a sponsorship, this will mean that the helmets will all match, and no- one can say " I can't afford one this month after mine was bashed on that rock / pool table/ chairlift bar last week"
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The team did such a high - impact demo, it was obvious they needed the helmets. I ended up loving the different colours. Like M&Ms. Neon colours back on the slopes? My 1980's persona loves that.
see what you think:-
Our B A S I Boys and Girls did us proud.
"Great Britain" ! Basi at Interski conference in Ushuaia Argentina
I'll give it a 5 out of 5 for "Wow" factor. Shapes appear and flow then transform. All high-speed action and race-level skiing.
Click here :-
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/72813572#to00:23:25
Start at 23:25 to see B A S I
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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FAQ
( was a long time ago in a ski resort not too far away 
).
