 Poster: A snowHead
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yes GREEN. I'm not young, I never skied until middle age, I have a dodgy meniscus in one knee, I'm not any sort of speed freak anyway. But I like zen skiing down gentle slopes, with the missus.
So Font Romeu, a few hours drive for us, loads of green slopes. BUT the final descents to the start are long with no upturn at the bottom and seem beyond green to me (not that I can find any hard info), by the time I'm half way down my knee is suffering, I'm going from from side to side and stopping, snowplough just doesn't keep me under control.
1 who decides what colour to attribute? Can one complain to anyone?
2 what if any are the rules
3 Is there any way to find out the actual slope?
4 any positive suggestions?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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1-3 Forget it.
4. Get more lessons.
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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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Often the difficulty of a given run is as much driven by the snow conditions (and how many others are using it) as anything else.
In Val d’Isere last season I felt that a lot of the blue runs were more challenging that I expected of a blue run. Bizarrely we went down one black which was lovely and I felt much easier than a lot of the reds we had gone on, partly due to the snow being is much nicer condition. My guess is that is was only a black due to it being quite a narrow run.
As to suggestions - get more lessons, (sure you are) but as your technique improves there will be less strain on your knee.
Other thoughts are you using a brace? If not that may help, I darent ski without my braces now.
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What they said. In North America they describe the "grades" in *relative* not absolute terms. It's to give you an idea of what to expect, but precisely what there is depends on lots of factors many of which are out of their control. Ask for advice if you're unsure of the conditions.
With experience you'll find there's not a lot of difference between grades, perhaps with the exception of steep bump fields. Practice on none intimidating stuff until the intimidating stuff isn't.
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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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slope grading is normally carried out by the resort, there isn't really a recognised standard for each category. So they tend to be
relative to other slopes in the area/resort. A downside is that you could use the grading system to market your resort to specific groups ie a larger percentage of blue and green may make the resort attractive to families, new skiers as target markets.
NckyJ's comments are valid, as this happens everywhere. The solution is probably experience/tuition. The more you ski the greater your experience. And try to avoid peak periods school holidays etc.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Yes, get more lessons. But also work to strengthen your leg muscles (to support the knee and keep everything in place). More and more important as you get older. I'm 71 - you can take my word for it!!
Only very good skiers with very strong legs can use snowplough to control their speed on steep slopes (for example, piste patrollers bringing a casualty down on a sledge - a wonder to behold. But not for us mere mortals.
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Resorts like to appeal to as many types of skier they can, so they will make sure they have a number of runs of each type, even if it means fudging some. Having said that, conditions can make a massive difference as to how they are in reality.
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AS others have said, the grading is based on the other runs in the resort, rather than a universal scale. The same applies for mountain bike trail centres. They all want some greens and some blacks, the amount they have usually depends on which end of the scale they’re trying to attract. Conditions make a huge difference too.
Get more lessons, learn how to ski and you’ll get much more out of it and most likely reduce the strain you put on the knee.
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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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After maybe 10 weeks over 30 years (some years did boarding instead) I was eventually taught about slowing the final part of the carved turn by sticking my hip into the hill (I'm sure advanced people here are wincing at that description). Suddenly at long last I had found out how to scrub speed off and so could link turns without accelerating downhill - similarly, I could stop without putting all the pressure on my downhill leg. That bit of technique is probably worth 2-3 months in the gym on my thigh muscles.
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My most recent trips have been to Les Arcs and Val D'isere.
There are almost no greens in Les Arcs but loads of blues that are perfect for beginners - some with almost no gradient on them at all!
Val D'isere on the other hand had an abundance of greens - some of which were more challenging than several of the red runs in Les Arcs!!
As others have said it is all about perspective and often more to do with them trying to attract more of a certain type of skier.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
BUT the final descents to the start are long with no upturn at the bottom and seem beyond green to me
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The final descent is the one that's often graded 'optimistically'. Most resorts like to have a Green / Blue run back to the base as it gives beginners confidence they'll be able to get back down at the end of the day.
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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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| olderscot wrote: |
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BUT the final descents to the start are long with no upturn at the bottom and seem beyond green to me
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The final descent is the one that's often graded 'optimistically'. Most resorts like to have a Green / Blue run back to the base as it gives beginners confidence they'll be able to get back down at the end of the day. |
Always seems a strange approach to me. I'd suspect it's far more likely to put people off returning to a resort, especially if they've broken themselves attempting a run they believed was benign enough for their abilities.
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Ridiculous in my opinion - given the nature of skiing and potential injuries when we push ourselves too far, it would seem far more sensible to be honest about these things and specify that you can download on lifts!
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You know it makes sense.
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I also think the grading is some kind of average eg a gentle blue with a sudden steeper bit in the middle is a blue overall. That sort of thing can throw you off when you are learning.
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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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i always think they grade resort runs as being easier than they are as to make it look like beginners will be able to ski home. i would fancy being a beginner doing santons in val D'isere after 4pm.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| welshskier wrote: |
| Resorts like to appeal to as many types of skier they can, so they will make sure they have a number of runs of each type, even if it means fudging some. Having said that, conditions can make a massive difference as to how they are in reality. |
This... I forget which resort I was learning in a few years back... maybe Serre Cheval, anyway chatting to my instructor, he mentioned one of the runs back home had been re-classified from a red to a blue on the piste map so it didn't put perspective punters off from booking the resort in the first place 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@mk28, They upgraded Santons to a red this season. That said, none of the other resort runs in Val d' are a welcoming prospect for beginners either.
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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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| tonyswift wrote: |
My most recent trips have been to Les Arcs and Val D'isere.
There are almost no greens in Les Arcs but loads of blues that are perfect for beginners - some with almost no gradient on them at all!
Val D'isere on the other hand had an abundance of greens - some of which were more challenging than several of the red runs in Les Arcs!!
As others have said it is all about perspective and often more to do with them trying to attract more of a certain type of skier. |
we went skiing to Val d'Isere with our nervous beginner friend (who had been there for three years on the trot), and we skied one of the greens with him from just below the top of the olympique gondola, and we were surprised how difficult it was for a green. I guess the resorts have to designate a certain number of pistes green to attract the beginners, like him.
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@Sack the Juggler, That would probably be 'Verte' - that was the one I meant. One of our friends with only a week's experience and no lessons ventured on that during a zero-vis day in January. That was not a fun experience for him!!!
@Ingemar_Skidmark, Yes, even as a red, Santons is a very unpleasant way to finish the day - I would much rather do La Face - not sure that's the way beginners should be going though!!
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