 Poster: A snowHead
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As a person who has sometimes been frustrated with some partsof skiing, as I'm sure we all have been at some stage or another, I thought we could all share the most annoying things that have happened to you on the slopes, whether it be bad equipment, abysmal conditions, woeful accommodation, or dodgy ski lifts, let it all out!
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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 once got stuck in a partly buried bush. Off-piste by myself, skis hooked under a branch and I came to a rest with feet upslope of my head, both skis stuck in the bush. I was unable to reach my bindings and as it was snowing heavily began to think I'd soon be covered by large, wet snowflakes. Still gives me nightmares.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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a clown skier standing in the middle of a blind corner with her skis across the slope. I barely missed her, jumped over her skis, but landing not so great straight onto an icy patch & spent the rest of the with 2 huge bruises on my knees. Genuinely wish I just clattered into her & wiped her out instead.
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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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Once got off the lift and then traversed over to ski down the offpiste. Just as I approached a group who were sitting down they got up quickly and left. On the snow there were beer bottles, cigarette stubs, crisp packets etc. I caught one of them up and asked him if the group had left the rubbish behind (first in German then in English) he wouldn't answer. He probably thought I was Austrian or German as I spoke to him in German first. He then pushed off on his snowboard, shouted a load of abuse at me and then when he was far enough away from me admitted the group had left all the rubbish behind "yeah that was us, what ya gonna do about it you f'kin Nazi ?". It was an English group.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@DB, that's appalling. 
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A clown in jeans wiping out my hubby on a piste and breaking his neck on the first afternoon of a 2 week holiday. To say I was fecked off with spending the next week juggling 4-5 hour round trips to Grenoble hospital to visit hubby, phoning insurers, and sorting out kids and dog would be an understatement.
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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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| rob@rar wrote: |
| I once got stuck in a partly buried bush. Off-piste by myself, skis hooked under a branch and I came to a rest with feet upslope of my head, both skis stuck in the bush. I was unable to reach my bindings and as it was snowing heavily began to think I'd soon be covered by large, wet snowflakes. Still gives me nightmares. |
Ditto both in a bush and in a big pile of snow just off piste in Lech, I'd missed the piste because of bad light near the end of the day, could see a bar, hardly anyone about, but couldn't get out until a friendly boarder came and helped me. I could easily have been there all night
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Became lost in a huge snow blizzard white-out in St Anton off the last running chair lift (I was already up the mountain) as they closed the mountain, couldn't see the piste posts or knew what was up or down ... tried boarding a bit but would feel something grabbing my back-pack and then work out it was me falling backwards in the (now) knee deep powder, sometimes I would only know I was falling by the feel snow in my face as I slowly fell in the snow.
The sound of the beeping of piste bashers or whatever was worrying because I couldn't see them and I didn't know at times whether I was safe at the edge of the piste or in the middle off it.
Took an hour of being lost and sitting in the snow but eventually walked to the main (Galzig ?) lift (using the force) to down load.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Pet hate with kids in tow - button lifts with no warning that they are not suitable for children - watching my youngest (age 7 - 8 I think) on the button in front of me, dangle around and swing in the air shouting with glee as the tow repeatedly whipped him off the ground. At the top he pronounced it the best fun of the day and wanted to do it all over again! We did not!
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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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First and only time I went to St Gervais was because Chamonix was snowed out, think the Mont Blanc pass offered a free day there, fellow I went along with said he knew the resort so I was happy to follow. Great morning in deep snow, early PM got off a lift somewhere and skied down through an open off piste area but soon discovered we'd gone the wrong direction in terms of picking up another lift. Had to hike out uphill in deep snow through forest for maybe an hour, absolutely exhausting even though I was young and fit, if it was today I'd have keeled over. 
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Driving to the lifts only to find you left your gloves/boots/liftpass* (*delete as appropriate) back in the apartment
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You know it makes sense.
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Skiing with mates who are faffers, typical faff locations include:
- prior to entering the ski line (unable to faff while queuing)
- right after getting off the ski lift (couldn't faff while on the lift)
- in the middle of the ski piste (has to do something when we temporarily regroup or stop to check a sign that can't be done in the ski lift queue)
- Before entering the restaurant (unable to faff while seated)
- Before leaving the restaurant (could not think to faff during the meal, after the meal, when we said we're leaving in 5)
- When we stop to grab a coffee/chocolate/bottle of water and once back and ready to go they decide they need to faff (only prompted to faff by our return signaling time to ski again)
I am sure I have left out other faff locations - as you can tell faffers are annoying
Oh yeah and I forgot about people who behave like children and can only remember to go use the bathroom after its time to leave from lunch and we're already outside and stepping back into the skis
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Tue 17-11-20 11:46; edited 1 time in total
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Watching a guy on a snowboard get avalanched then "flushed" down rocky chutes to his death. Really not great!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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People who fall
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| in the middle of a blind corner |
as if they expect me to be skiing safely enough to anticipate the unexpected. So selfish! They should have their accidents where I can see them!
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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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| extremerob wrote: |
Skiing with mates who are faffers, typical faff locations include:
- prior to entering the ski line (unable to faff while queuing)
- right after getting off the ski lift (couldn't faff while on the lift)
- in the middle of the ski piste (has to do something when we temporarily regroup or stop to check a sign that can't be done in the ski lift queue)
- Before entering the restaurant (unable to faff while seated)
- Before leaving the restaurant (could not think to faff during the meal, after the meal, when we said we're leaving in 5)
- When we stop to grab a coffee/chocolate/bottle of water and once back and ready to go they decide they need to faff (only prompted to faff by our return signaling time to ski again)
I am sure I have left out other faff locations - as you can tell faffers are annoying
Oh yeah and I forgot about people who behave like children and can only remember to go use the bathroom after its time to leave from lunch and we're already outside and stepping back into the skis |
Knowing how much it annoys you perhaps they are deliberately faffing. I know I would 
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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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Long lift queues and empty chairs.
Fast skiers passing too close to slower skiers.
People who voluntarily stop (as opposed to falling) in blind spots, yes the responsibility is on the uphill skier but.....
Resorts that groom every run on the mountain, yet still claim to have "very difficult" (black) runs
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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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| Quote: |
Long lift queues and empty chairs
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I think people who get upset by this just need to take a chill pill. So you wait a few extra minutes, so what 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Speaking of bushes, a story I have told before, in my early days of skiing in 1980s, I was on some new skis that the shop had left the bindings too loose, I was offpiste & went to do a kick turn & one ski fell off & I quickly clicked out of the other to find I was stood on 1m high bushes with 30cm of snow on top, I quickly fell through the snow once my skis were off & found myself stuck, up to my chest, can't remember how I got out.
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| Rogerdodger wrote: |
| Watching a guy on a snowboard get avalanched then "flushed" down rocky chutes to his death. Really not great! |
That is awful.
My worst is seeing a good friend lose a ski on an icy offpiste run and then slide down about 200-250 yards, tumbling through two bands of rocks. We thought he was dead. Fortunately he was "just" badly injured...took him a couple of years to be able to ski again.
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People standing on my skis.
Pointy elbowed, entitled sorts.
Long queues and half full chairs (probably #1 if this was in order)!
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Time to stop skiing in Europe and go to n America!
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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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| Quote: |
Pointy elbowed, entitled sorts.
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That's me. Being a good foot shorter than big blokes who go or stand where they want because they can, I need to even up the odds a bit 
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@extremerob, You just described my entire family of in-laws!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@rungsp, winning, that is funny
Apart from self-imposed misfortune....avalanche, sliding towards rocks, sliding 200m on ice, falling into a tree well etc....my most frustrating day was taking kid out of school friday lunch and rushing up to the mountain for a powder day....snow had just stopped, sun was out.....unfortunately I was in a rental car while mine got serviced, petrol gauge lied to me (you have 50km left etc), ran out of fuel in the middle of nowhere....rental company wanted 500 eur to tow it, so had to walk with kid and dog to nearest town, borrow a car, get fuel in the next town etc....arrived at a tracked out resort just as the lifts closed.
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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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Paid for a guided day out. Hiked to a lovely couloir with fresh powder. All very polite at the top. Took it in turns to drop in. Guy in front of me side slipped straight down the middle of it.
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| Hotdogger wrote: |
| @extremerob, You just described my entire family of in-laws! |
i guess the positive thing here is you didn't say ex-in-laws 
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You know it makes sense.
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Fast skiers passing too close to slower skiers.
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I think this is pretty much the only thing about skiing that winds me up - people skiing arrogantly, dangerously and discourteously
The other stuff is tiny beer vs the pleasure of skiing
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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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1- people who work up the lift q to get into the gate then stop to let a lift pass so they can get on the next with their mates!...its 10mins get over it.
2 - improperly set DIN settings in deep snow, had a ski pop off once in some off piste and took me an hour to find it!
3 - the fact that (in my personal Austrian experience) all toilets in ski bars or huttes are downstairs!
4 - people who stop to faff after getting off a lift, i dont mind the faff i often take a picture or pause because my wife is on another lift, but move out the friggin way people!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| enduroaid wrote: |
3 - the fact that (in my personal Austrian experience) all toilets in ski bars or huttes are downstairs!
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I wonder if that has more to do with a number of practical reasons:
- Burst pipes will cause less damage
- Buried pipes less likely to freeze and burst
- They usually aren't heated but the air acts as a buffer to the snow/colder ground and means more energy efficient above - kind of how the old mountain houses were built above the animal area in the old days
- Just a relic of old designs with a hole in the ground/septic tanks etc
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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People (mainly youngsters) ski-ing too fast / out of control / poor or no technique. Carving skis prob take much of the blame...
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Tue 17-11-20 15:46; edited 1 time 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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| halfhand wrote: |
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Long lift queues and empty chairs
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I think people who get upset by this just need to take a chill pill. So you wait a few extra minutes, so what |
Try adding up all those 'few extra minutes' for each person that does it, and tell the people at the back of the queue that they have to wait another 20 minutes because you can't be a***d to fill up the empty places, because it doesn't make any difference to you. Call me old-fashioned, but isn't this what used to be called 'selfish'?
I have one week's skiing a year (in a normal year!) and I want to spend as much time as possible actually skiing, not standing in a queue.
I'd be interested to see the results of a poll on Snowheads on this subject!
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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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| extremerob wrote: |
| enduroaid wrote: |
3 - the fact that (in my personal Austrian experience) all toilets in ski bars or huttes are downstairs!
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I wonder if that has more to do with a number of practical reasons:
- Burst pipes will cause less damage
- Buried pipes less likely to freeze and burst
- They usually aren't heated but the air acts as a buffer to the snow/colder ground and means more energy efficient above - kind of how the old mountain houses were built above the animal area in the old days
- Just a relic of old designs with a hole in the ground/septic tanks etc |
An example in Val Cenis at higher altitude restaurant, strange notice outside door warning of "no person under 10yrs to use unaccompanied" went to have a look as skiing with kids, the facility had a straight down exit pipe roughly the diameter of a whippety 10yr old!
Seemed to disappear down at least 3mtrs into wherever it went. Cubicle and facilities were on the level with building though 
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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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| Quote: |
I think this is pretty much the only thing about skiing that winds me up - people skiing arrogantly, dangerously and discourteously
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This is a bit like driving: you can tell who had a poor instructor and who had a good one (or just ignored it all). I know some people are hopeless and just thick but boy, some can really be a pain. I'm not asking for ballet-elegance here, but maybe it would be worth remembering that we're all on the same mountain and we share it, might as well all have fun and be safe.
Most of my major pet peeves are at lifts though:
- People just stepping on skis
- People insisting that if they push or nearly breathe in your neck, they get faster through the lift (this will be fun this year...)
- The "in the way" people - the ones that are just a slight bit airheaded and somehow find themselves in the middle of something, and are totally oblivious about it -> (I imagine it goes like this: "Oh look, a small passage! Gotta stop here! Oh these pesky people all running into me! )
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Holiday brain/arrogance is the root of many of the people peeves. "I'm on my holiday so can do WTF I like" or "I didn't realise ....(that stopping skis across the entrance gates to the lift would get in the way for others/ standing on a offramp/ standing round a blind corner)".
Those of us that are lucky enough to have done enough skiing have seen (and experienced) all sorts of "accidents" that are nothing of the sort but often boil down to unaware behaviour (including the unaware that skiing rapidly in the backseat means you have little control when you encounter the unexpected)
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all the people complaining about lift line etiquette and filling up seats, you need to stop skiing in Europe. Go to North America and experience the pleasantness of civilised lift queuing. Lifty organising the line plus a dedicated singles line means everyone gets up quicker in an organised fashion. Why the Europeans resorts can't implement this I don know.
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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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My one and only heli-ski day.
Me, my mates and one American bloke the guides used to fill both heli's.
Turns out he couldn't actually board off piste very well.
We were with the lead guide, he was with the sweeper. We stopped after a mile or so to regroup
(posing while waiting - glad it was sunny)
He arrived after what felt like 30 minutes, sat down and asked if the heli could come back and pick him up.
It was a painfully slow descent.
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@boarder2020, A guess at answering your question:- Cost.
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FAQ
. I too only ski once a year but it's really not a big deal. Or go at less busy times 
