Wise Words spotted by Konrad Bartelski

A snowHead

See below

A snowHead

Circa 1950

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

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Then as now Monty
#stopthebrutalgrooming

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He actually signed himself "Montogomery of Alamein" in a letter about skiing. Good grief.

After all it is free

@dogwatch, isn’t that his name?

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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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.

You know it makes sense.

I wonder whether the guys who ski the Streif consider their medals to be worthless badges?

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.

A snowHead

A snowHead

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.

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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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.

After all it is free

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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,

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OK thanks guys, have not done French alps in 10yrs or so. Now i need to see one of these 😉

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

See 3.13 for a certain snowhead

http://youtube.com/v/7Nxox_4JvRE

A snowHead

@Dave of the Marmottes, OMG! Fantastic. Has he seen it? Very Happy

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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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,

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Intermediate - thanks for that link. What a life. There's hope for me yet.

After all it is free

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...............

@arcsinice, is it just me, or has your post above puzzled anyone else? Puzzled

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Wise Words spotted by Konrad Bartelski

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