 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
I have previously stayed away from SOPiB, not on the basis that I don't think I can hack the gnarly but more because I'm worried about my general fitness levels for hiking out of or up to the routes the guides choose. I understand that it's a necessity for finding the best things, and I know it's always 'worth it when you get there'... but honestly I don't know what it is but walking in snow, in ski boots, just has the ability to quash my enthusiasm terribly. It's definitely 'type 3' fun for me and until I can get fitter where my lung capacity exceeds that of a hip flask and 5 minutes of walking uphill in snow no longer makes me feel like I'm about to physically die, I am just rather concerned that I (1) won't be having any fun and (2) will be holding up everybody else.
However, admin has assured me that he doesn't much like walking in ski boots either and that SOPiB, especially in one of the gnar-lite groups, can be relatively lift served with minimal walking. I'm currently of the mindset that I'd quite like to give it a shot, because the thing is that whilst I sometimes struggle to motivate myself for challenging off-piste, I do always enjoy it when I get there - far more than pistes.
So I'm not sure how I feel about your proposition. The easy answer to those blessed with natural aptitude for this sort of thing is 'get fit in the next 10 months and go on the SOPiB with no anxieties' but the truth is that even when I could run marathons 10 years ago, I still hated walking up hills; and we all also know that life can and does get in the way of a successful exercise regime far too easily, especially when like me you tend to take your work far too seriously. I do fancy the prospect of relatively easy, lift-served off piste in Gressoney, but with the concern that I might not get out of it as much as I have the potential to achieve in Serre, so it's a bit of thinking point for me still whether I want to keep it easier with a GnaBuG (and therefore potentially a pre-Gnar) or whether to try liberal application of rule 5 and brave it for the SOPiB.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
ok ok...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
@dp, See you in March! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
@dp, if I can do it then I'm sure you can.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Last one down is awesome" - I'm gonna borrow that 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
| ZombieSi wrote: |
"Last one down is awesome" - I'm gonna borrow that |
not withstanding that having a strong skier to back mark is always a valuable asset for any group
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OK, great for@dp, but what about the OP @Masque?
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
The problem with being the slowest skier in a group is that as soon as you arrive at the place where everybody else has stopped they all start off again, so you do not get a rest!
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
Nigel that's funny ! Generally not true I would think if it's your expert kid or friends, they wait, especially off-piste as no one wants to leave anyone behind. And in my experience, off-piste groups led by an instructor, at times it's the instructor who leads the pack and gets a bit ahead of his or her skis and it takes generous, kind compadres skiing with you to hang behind you and bring up the rear-guard, especially in isolated and beautiful mountain locales far from the beaten path. I know I have hung back for others, as have others for me, all terrain and familiarity dependent really.
I know, in Whistler, a female instructor, no less, took off down Whistler Bowl and then headed down via Shale Slope and I was relatively new to powder (still feels new 7 years later!) and fell on the pitch, ski popped and I slid about 30-50 ft below where the ski came to rest. The instructor was about half a mile away, waiting with the group after the pitch as I wondered "How the ---k am I getting out of here !! ?? Skis are too high up and the pitch is too steep to climb back up " Luckily another skier was coming down above, diverted, picked up my ski and brought it to me...now that is nice, common mountain courtesy, I do the same all the time, no kidding BUT it was inbounds in Whistler, bowl yes, off-piste yes, but inbounds, so there was other skier traffic, if not, could be a big problem !
Very funny posts above.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Gordyjh wrote: |
| OK, great for@dp, but what about the OP @Masque? |
Having not skied with him I've not really got enough info to comment but if forced would say the same as I did to dp... He'd have to try very hard to do worse than me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
This is gonna hurt  I'm in fer the Gnarly and the Spring-Off and I'll be looking to organise a private week before in Gressony or very nearby.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| Quote: |
I was relatively new to powder (still feels new 7 years later!) and fell on the pitch, ski popped and I slid about 30-50 ft below where the ski came to rest. The instructor was about half a mile away, waiting with the group after the pitch as I wondered "How the ---k am I getting out of here !! ?? Skis are too high up and the pitch is too steep to climb back up "
|
TBH if you ski off piste you have to be ready (self-sufficient) to deal with this situation. Even if you are skiing with a pro they will be in front and certainly not expecting to climb back up the hill to retrieve a client's ski unless its a really extreme situation (injury etc.).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
| Quote: |
Even if you are skiing with a pro they will be in front and certainly not expecting to climb back up the hill to retrieve a client's ski unless its a really extreme situation (injury etc.).
|
in the mean time, the group is getting cold waiting for that last skier...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
The more I read, the more I realise that my decision to give up on the idea of gnarly off-piste is the right one. Had I started earlier/younger/healthier, it might have been a different matter. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
The high mountains take no prisoners for old and fat doods.
If you have a stroke on the hill, it ruins everyone's day because they lose slope time.
Sounds like it may be "that time" where old folks retire to the mountain restaurant at midstation and watch the skiers in the chutes through binoculars.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
@jedster, I’m with you on that. Sounds a little harsh, but groups (actually, this applies on piste as well e.g. if going around the PdS or any other big area) need to be honest about their abilities and the object of the day. Finding out when your accom is in Morzine that one of your group’s energy levels expire in Morgins as you realise you’ve had a longer than expected lunch is going to ruin someone’s day.
Off piste is, of course, a whole level more critical. “I’ll be fine, sure I will”, doesn’t cut it. Being why most (all?) guides start out easy with unfamiliar clients who don’t have solid “references”.
100m up the couloir minus skis is not the moment to realise your chum (or you) are out of your/their depth...
And, anyway, “no friends on a powder day” 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
. . . or . . .
) is you don’t like it and don’t come back.
