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Wise Words spotted by Konrad Bartelski

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
See below
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

Circa 1950
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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?
Confused -- where does Konrad come into the story ??
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@albob, he says the words were spotted by Konrad
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Then as now Monty
#stopthebrutalgrooming
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albob wrote:
Confused -- where does Konrad come into the story ??


It was on his Facebook page.
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
He actually signed himself "Montogomery of Alamein" in a letter about skiing. Good grief.
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@dogwatch, isn’t that his name?
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No, it's a formal title. His name was Bernard Montgomery.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Montgomery

Montgomery was notorious for his lack of tact and diplomacy. Even his "patron," the Chief of the Imperial General Staff Lord Alanbrooke, frequently mentions it in his war diaries: "he is liable to commit untold errors in lack of tact" and "I had to haul him over the coals for his usual lack of tact and egotistical outlook which prevented him from appreciating other people's feelings".[189] One incident that illustrated this occurred during the North African campaign when Montgomery bet Walter Bedell Smith that he could capture Sfax by the middle of April 1943. Smith jokingly replied that if Montgomery could do it he would give him a Flying Fortress complete with crew. Smith promptly forgot all about it, but Montgomery did not, and when Sfax was taken on 10 April he sent a message to Smith "claiming his winnings". Smith tried to laugh it off, but Montgomery was having none of it and insisted on his aircraft. It got as high as Eisenhower who, with his renowned skill in diplomacy, ensured Montgomery did get his Flying Fortress, though at a great cost in ill feeling.[190][191] Even Alanbrooke thought it "crass stupidity".[192]

In August 1945, whilst Alanbrooke, Sir Andrew Cunningham and Sir Charles Portal were discussing their possible successors as "Chiefs Of Staff", they concluded that Montgomery would be very efficient as CIGS from the Army's point of view but that he was also very unpopular with a large proportion of the Army. Despite this, Cunningham and Portal were strongly in favour of Montgomery succeeding Alanbrooke after his retirement.[193] Prime Minister Winston Churchill, by all accounts a faithful friend, is quoted as saying of Montgomery, "In defeat, unbeatable; in victory, unbearable."[194]
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@dogwatch, no, what I mean is, in 1950, that’s what would routinely be used.
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Meh, Nostalgia is a seductive liar, treat him as such.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Wise Words? Piffle more like.

What he's really saying is that skiing shouldn't be accessible to the general population and as for the decline in standards I bet there are more 'good' skiers who can ski extreme conditions nowadays then there were in his days.

Blaming the ski instructors for this is laughable. Commercialism definitely has it's part to play in making pistes more accessible, better groomed and easier to ski on but that's not a bad thing.
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olderscot wrote:
Wise Words? Piffle more like.

What he's really saying is that skiing shouldn't be accessible to the general population


My thoughts exactly- old gits like me would be shut out in such circumstances.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I wonder whether the guys who ski the Streif consider their medals to be worthless badges?
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Monty was a controversial figure even in his day. His great victory at El Alamein was a turning point in the war as until then we had only been going backwards. His caution at Falaise following D Day was jumped on by the Americans as it resulted in the safe retreat of many Germans, however to have closed the gap would have meant his army approaching the advancing American army head on to close that gap, and so saved many a British Tommy from death. His war ended on a note of failure with the battle of Arnhem. I suspect his understanding of the value of medals five years after a war in which 50-80 million died was very different to ours.
What I do find interesting is I think of off piste skiing and touring as an advancement in the sport, but really it’s going back to it origins.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:

What I do find interesting is I think of off piste skiing and touring as an advancement in the sport, but really it’s going back to it origins.


But that's what pisteing is - opening up the mountains to more users. That's been going on since the Victorian era when they were sticking railways and funiculars in so people could go up and back down without having a dozen porters to carry all the requisite roast pheasant and portwine casks or getting eaten by wolves.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Not very wise words, I think. Perhaps a view aimed at keeping skiing exclusive and inaccessible to the 'great unwashed'?
Sounds like Monty was a good man in a war but a liability in peacetime (the same could be said of Churchill, with the sad exception of the Gallipoli campaign).

I'd be interested in Monty's views on the 'Next Season is going to be More Expensive' thread.
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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?
He was clearly of the Hemmingway school of manhood. Don't think his views would be much of a surprise.

Plus there is obviously a hefty slice of the retrogrouch about him even in 1950 - wonder what he'd have made of heated seats, canopies over chairlifts, shaped skis and the Folie.
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Quote:

wonder what he'd have made of heated seats, canopies over chairlifts, shaped skis and the Folie.



I suspect he'd have set a troop, if not a whole squadron, of tanks on them. snowHead
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Silly old fool!
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The last few posts struck a chord with me. Monty was ever pretty contemptuous of the great unwashed - my dad, one of the GUs in the war, said the troops heartily disliked - even despised - Monty. A bit like some of gaffer from the age of sail lamenting the way that newcomers could get afloat without having spent years perfecting their noon sights and could use their iron tops'l to get home before the pubs shut.
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I don't remember his name, but Montgomery's bodyguard during the second world war subsequently became a veteran ski racer who lived in the Alps in his camper van in his 90s, and had some success in the veterans' race circuit.
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intermediate wrote:
Quote:

wonder what he'd have made of heated seats, canopies over chairlifts, shaped skis and the Folie.



I suspect he'd have set a troop, if not a whole squadron, of tanks on them. snowHead


What is "the Folie" ??
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essex wrote:


What is "the Folie" ??


It is soft. wink
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@essex, really? FOLIE DEUUUUUUUUUUUCE! ...and someone will probably then refer to you as a motherf**ker.
It's their way.
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@essex,
Quote:

What is "the Folie" ??

See links...


&auth=27fd654d78d220a9c8307043dedb14db9511d3bd" target="_blank">https://qpr2l7.imagenii.com/static1.tignesnet.com/image_uploader/photos/aa/large/la-folie-douce-val-d-isere-exterior-88.jpg?f=q(v=.Cool&auth=27fd654d78d220a9c8307043dedb14db9511d3bd

https://www.lafoliedouce.com/en/folie-douce-spots/val-d-isere-tignes-en.html
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
essex wrote:
What is "the Folie" ??


A chain of what are kind of outdoor nightclubs in the French Alps. Except people go there during the afternoon. Lots of people's idea of a good time but not mine.
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OK thanks guys, have not done French alps in 10yrs or so. Now i need to see one of these 😉
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
john2 wrote:
I don't remember his name, but Montgomery's bodyguard during the second world war subsequently became a veteran ski racer who lived in the Alps in his camper van in his 90s, and had some success in the veterans' race circuit.

That would have been Jim Woolgar, he didn't make it into his 90s though, he died at 85.

I know another Masters racer who worked for Montgomery in the 50s, I don't know if they skied together.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
See 3.13 for a certain snowhead


http://youtube.com/v/7Nxox_4JvRE
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@Dave of the Marmottes, OMG! Fantastic. Has he seen it? Very Happy Very Happy
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Richard_Sideways wrote:
.....really? FOLIE DEUUUUUUUUUUUCE! ....


Douce

Folie Douce ....... translates a little like "tender madness".
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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?
Hurtle wrote:
@Dave of the Marmottes, OMG! Fantastic. Has he seen it? Very Happy Very Happy


I suspect he commissioned it.
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@rjs, [quote]
john2 wrote:


I don't remember his name, but Montgomery's bodyguard during the second world war subsequently became a veteran ski racer who lived in the Alps in his camper van in his 90s, and had some success in the veterans' race circuit.

That would have been Jim Woolgar, he didn't make it into his 90s though, he died at 85.

I know another Masters racer who worked for Montgomery in the 50s, I don't know if they skied together.

A link to Jim Woolgar's obituary below. To say he had an eventful and fascinating life is a gross understatement. If my maths is correct, he didn't take up skiing until age 65. Aged 78, he became overall world champion in his class, beating competitors 20 years younger. I suppose compared with parachuting in behind enemy lines on D Day, skiing was a walk in the park. I doff my ski helmet!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1339105/James-Woolgar.html
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@intermediate, In Masters racing, a class is only a 5 year age group.
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@rjs,
Quote:

@intermediate, In Masters racing, a class is only a 5 year age group.


Proves you can't trust everything the Telegraph prints.
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Intermediate - thanks for that link. What a life. There's hope for me yet.
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Montgomery of (on) Alamein..............? Oh, I remember that place. They sold fur coats and the like until the mid 1980's when they retired and moved to their weekend get-a-way house on that big lake...............
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@arcsinice, is it just me, or has your post above puzzled anyone else? Puzzled
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intermediate wrote:
@arcsinice, is it just me, or has your post above puzzled anyone else? Puzzled


Ittsa joke, get it? A joke....... Ein Schatz..............



JOKE

jōk
noun
1.
a thing that someone says to cause amusement or laughter, especially a story with a funny punchline.
"she was in a mood to tell jokes"
synonyms: funny story, jest, witticism, quip;
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