 Poster: A snowHead
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All you folk moaning about the lack of skiing in the summer  ... you don't need snow to hit the slopes. Grass skiing may have gone to seed in the UK, but it’s still flourishing elsewhere! It’s even taken root in Iran.
So don’t be a weed and vegetate during the off-season ! Drop in at one of the numerous events around Europe and see how the real fanatics do it…
A piece in the news section on the Natives site.... the website link they've included doesn't work for some reason, but it's:
www.grasski.org [update: Natives have sorted the problem]
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 1-06-04 9:19; edited 1 time 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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PG,
Just curious - do many grass ski for sheer fun, rather than competitivley?
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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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Not many. More than you would think though - some resorts looking to diversify have introduced the freewheel go-cart ("deval'cart") activity on the grassier slopes, opening a couple of lifts - grass skiing has been introduced as a parallel activity in a few. However the trouble is the instructors are all club-based, so mostly the sport is organised through these, hence a certain emphasis on competition.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks, PG.
I guess there is also a risk that non-race grass areas might have hidden holes - so adding a fall risk?
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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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True, although designated slopes are clear of hasards such as holes/stones, free skiing on grass is definitely only for very good intermediates upwards.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Nick Zotov wrote: |
Thanks, PG.
I guess there is also a risk that non-race grass areas might have hidden holes - so adding a fall risk? |
Good point, I bet they do, judging by my experience walking down some slopes in the summer that's a real risk.
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Bear in mind the skis are from 70cms up to 1m in length, if you're skiing correctly your centre of gravity is located over the middle of the ski. You don't just drop into a hole... unless it's so big that you should have seen it coming anyway! The slopes used have short/cropped grass, otherwise they're no fun to ski on in the first place, it tends to slow you down, and you can't let rip any more than you could in nil visibility conditions - too dangerous.
A few holes when you know they are there are no problem - you just jump them.
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...no difference to crevasses then.
I'm trying to recall the places I grass-skied back in 1970s: Hampstead Heath (Parliament Hill), a hill outside Brighton, Butser Hill (nr. Petersfield in Hampshire) - which was probably the premier location at that time, and one or two other places I've forgotten. The Ski Club of GB was heavily involved, as was a company called Grillson (?sp) which made grass skis in Surrey as I recall. The preferred brand at that time was Rollka. I seem to recall a permanent grass skiing centre in South Wales (somewhere in Gwent?). It'll all be recorded somewhere.
I think people used to grass ski down the side of the Hillend (Now Midlothian) Ski Centre outside Edinburgh
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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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The Welsh finally took up rallying instead... the dry slopes eventually did for the sport in the UK. Not just that, it's no coincidence that the countries where the sport is still doing well are those where it has been supported by the national federations - Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic... in France it's just pottering along. The original Rollka design was pretty slow - its proprietor (Kaiser) refashioned the model in 1976, raising the upper rail and the ski as a whole before selling the brand to the Italians, Giramondi. The latest Austrian skis are the fastest yet. I'll try and get some video sequences on line sometime this summer... hopefully off to Gommiswald in Switzerland on June 18th (where's that ise?) then Bad Entbach in Germany in August.... haven't a clue where that is either.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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As for Bad Entbach, I've no idea. There's a Bad Endbach up in Hessen (north of Frankfurt), it may be a typo for there. It'd be a good area for grass skiing, up in the Tanus where we used to live once in fact. There's some limited skiing round there in the winter.
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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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PG, couldn't they put a motor in them grass skis to get you back up the hill?
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That was a Natives aberration - they made that bit up, wasn't in the 'press release' I sent them. Wherever there's training or a race there's always at least one drag lift working! That said, on more than one occasion muggins here has been the chauffeur for a group that wanted to ski outside of normal lift hours on a slope with road access top and bottom...
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You know it makes sense.
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That sounds more sensible PG. Meantime, Rosie would like this guy's phone number.
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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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That's Aurélien Boetsch, French slalom champ on grass, still only 18 when that photo was taken last August... take a trip to Provence early August (5th & 6th) and Rosie can watch him ski at Le Sauze. I'll introduce her!
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Poster: A snowHead
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I think she will need to practice how to say his name first....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I do the tannoy at some meets. A lot of the top grass racers are from Alsace, or the Vosges. When the eastern Europeans turn up, you should try announcing the likes of Bonczak, Kuntzmann, Steinwidder, Büdenbender, Srb, Gyurksic!
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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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PG, I'm surprise the Naughty Word Nanny let some of those names through. 
Rather you than me.
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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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I read this discussion and I have to write some informations about grasski manufacturers, for the better understanding the situation on the market.
In the world there are two main producers of the grasski(sorry for the japanese skis - I mean european market) Klaus Spinka(see www.grasski.biz) and Christian Balek(see www.grasski.com).
Last season(I mean 2005) our company started cooperation with the Klaus Spinka and we prepare the first type of the real race grasski which is possible to buy by almost everyone. Christian Balek and people around his business would like to start selling skis like ours - so next season might be big jump in the development of the grasski. Of course we prepare some improvements too(the skis will be faster than this season for the similar price like 2005 models).
Anyway we had similar market share in this time than the second producer(but it just start ) - I calculate with all grasskis countries in the world.
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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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horicky, welcome to snowHeads.
I am not sure what you are saying here? I was talking to the FIS grass skiing committee Chairman Jiri Russwurm a couple of years ago in Nove Mesto, and his hope was that a company would eventually supply a product for the 'mass market', one which was simpler in design and could be marketed commercially outside the highly specialised racing scene. Is this what your company is doing?
Are these skis for the leisure skiing market only? What type of design? Caterpillar tread? Price? Do you have a website? What is the name of the company?
We use Balek skis ourselves at the moment (for racing)...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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The East Grinstead Cross-country Endurance Team are ahead by half a ski:
***Action photo***
----------------
Horicky. Welcome to grassHeads! Ski it, don't smoke it (only kidding).
Thanks for the interesting hyperlinks. As posted they don't work because of the brackets. Here they are: www.grasski.com and www.grasski.biz
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When I tried it some years ago at Hillend, I found that the skis had an uncomfortable bracken-seeking design? Stopping wasn't exactly intuitive either...
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David Murdoch, I remember a young and cocky ESF-qualified, ex Villard de Lans ski academy Mont Ventoux resort director trying them on the for the first time a few years back. He thought he knew better than anyone else, and decided he could do a skid stop. Absolutely hilarious. That was his first and last time on grass skis...
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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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Jeez, that must have had some pretty instant consequences.
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I skied the Welsh 'resort' back in the late 90s.
It was very rudimentary. I was the only person there that day.
Run by a farmer out in the sticks of rural Wales.
Skied on a caterpilar track type of ski on well manicured slopes serviced by a continuous tow rope.
All in all a very different day, but a very enjoyable day.
If I could have any influence on future development it would be great to get a design that incorporated the caterpillar track stability along with the free-flowing wheeled variety that x-country skiers use for summer training. Add in chunkier wheels that could cope with rougher terrain and I would certainly get a set. The slopes around my place are perfect for all-year grass skiing.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Mike Pow, these might interest you - Carval Grass skates.
They appear to be very robust - I've seen them used and also witnessed a couple of snow skiers trying them for the first time. They adapted pretty easily.
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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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Excellent. Thanks PG. Will get on to this guy to find out costs.
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Isn't grass skiing:
a) contrived
b) rubbish
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You know it makes sense.
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flicksta, an opinion based on your experience of the sport, of course? Contrived, like... roller skating? Mountain boarding? Rubbish, like sliding down hills in the fresh air in the summer time instead of the winter for a change? Do enlighten us.
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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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flicksta, the last time I clipped my boots into a pair of grass skis was when my friends were busy smoking it elsewhere - i.e. about 1977.
It does work, and if you're happy with a 'nutcracker' in your pocket to clip onto a rope tow you can get a worthwhile run. Of course, some venues have been known to haul grass-skiers up for a green run from a Poma, t-bar, or chairlift maybe. I guess the serious venues used for competition run a couple of lifts, but the sport has never really caught on recreationally in a big way. It offers a pure carved turn - as PG implies, you can't skid at all - so it's vaguely like good snow skiing, but slower and noisier. The attention paid to maintaining the hardware is quite interesting and amusing - lots of debate about lubricants etc.
The boom years for grass-skiing in the UK were in the 1970s, with a well-organised circuit, race events ... and even a touring event that (from memory) took place in Cumbria.
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Poster: A snowHead
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It just seems a bit desperate somehow, like putting wheels on a boat.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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One of our recent new snowHeads has this:
http://www.grasski.biz/
... as his website.
EDIT: just goes to show how alert I am - welcome to snowHeads horicky 
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Fri 28-10-05 20:01; edited 2 times 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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FAQ
There's a couple of other Swiss dates, looks to me that they're all around Sankt Gallen which is not far from Zurich. Nothing this end (the nice end) of Switzerland 
