I just have it streaming on one of my monitors, it’s like having a window with a great view.
Now and again the Cross country skiers whizz by or start off from this point and I feel jealous.
I'm going there in about 3 weeks’ time and I'm thinking that perhaps I should have a go.
They make it look easy of course, but the last time I tried it I found it really difficult.
Are there any fans of this sport out there who can give me a few tips?
How much will it cost to rent the kit?
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@DrLawn, if you mean skating, certainly in Chamonix rentals are pretty cheap.
Take a lesson. It. Is. All. About. Technique. All of it. And it’s counter intuitive. No way to efficiently self teach.
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?
@under a new name, I'm glad you said that ...
The last time I had a go was in Canada and we were shown and explained how to do it.
I thought this will be easy ...but it certainly was not.
I think if I get a dull day when I go to Crans I'll try and get a lesson ...
Then I'll come and wave at you via this webcam.
@DrLawn, I presume you're talking about skating? Traditional is a lot easier to do badly. You can't skate badly. You just fall over in a sweaty messy heap ?60 seconds later.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
under a new name, I think it was traditional stuff ...
following tracks and having to put half a ski out to semi snow plough.
The downlill bits were terrifing and the up uphill bits were sloging it out in a shuffle up the tracks.
I remenber ending up a lot on my bottom and I can't remember any skating.
I would have made an easy meal for any bears about.
I'm just watching the webcam now, and there is a guy doing it a bit different to everyone else I've seen.
he is sort of running up the tracks where as everybody else was skating.
(He must have gone to the same school as me)
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@DrLawn, you sure he wasn't just running?
After all it is free
After all it is free
Quote:
he is sort of running up the tracks where as everybody else was skating
The skaters skate uphill, obviously but good classic XC skiers do not shuffle or plod uphill. They do what my French instructor called "petits pas sportifs" Need to get weight well forward so you actually glide a bit (c'est un sport de glisse" he shouted if we reverted to plodding) so you get good forward inertia, otherwise the skis slide backwards in the tracks, especially if it's a bit icy. I had several weeks lessons, altogether and found it FAR harder than snowboarding, which I learnt about the same time. Not just in cardio-vascular terms, but technique. Snowboards have socking great metal edges and you are firmly stuck into the bindings. XC skis are teeny things with plastic edges and you are only attached at the toe. I learnt in Les Saisies where the tracks are emphatically not flat - there are gradients even on the "easy" tracks and, as you found out, they are scary. Where they are steep the tracks disappear and you have to do a proper snowplough. You soon find out how crap you are at snowploughing, which you thought you mastered years ago. So my tip is lessons. And don't expect to master it quickly.
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.
hi @pam w,
Most of the cross country skiers that I've seen pass the webcam have been making it look so easy.
Except one old boy who had a bit of a fall just as he was setting off.
He seemed quite old and creaky and I had a lot of sympathy for him, as I thought .. "Thats me going there".
I know when I tried it before I found it hard to manage with the skis just attached to a swinging toe.
I guess this is something I cant master at the Hemel Fridge?
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
No chance at Hemel Fridge - it would be terrifying. And not just for you.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@pam w, I actually saw a very decent XC skier at Hemel the other day skiing the main slope very very gingerly but safely !! First time in 13 years though
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.
@DrLawn, most people try classic for a quick outing when on holiday.
Skating is a whole different ball game and not really something you should be doing if on a weeks ski holiday unless you're willing to put the time and effort into it, and by that, I mean at least 60-90mins a day for your 5-6 days and lessons for at least the first couple of days.
If you do that by day three, you should start to feel you're getting somewhere, though I still can't quite fathom out why @pam w, had several weeks of lessons?
I'm a reasonably competent skater now, but I've put a lot of time and often immense effort into it, and I was coming to it with maybe above-average fitness levels so I was able to use brute strength at times as opposed to technique, which I didn't have.
I often choose to skate as opposed to going up the hill to ski but I'm very fortunate in being able to have that choice.
Yesterday was yet another first in my four or five years of skating, I went out as temps were showing minus 12.5 in the van and on arrival at the XC area the piste was looking sublime, it was only when I started out I realised something was seriously wrong as I was having to put an immense effort in to get to glide, cut a long story short it was just too cold for the skis to glide, which the shop confirmed and I'll shortly be collecting my skis in an hour or so when temps have risen to circa -4, at least from the current -10.
It's a Sunday so they'll be more than a handful of good locals out there, most of whom have been skating since they were at school, and many use Strava so it's good that I can compare my times to theirs, and then you can also break that down by age-group and that's when I start to get in the top 10% which I'm always quite chuffed with.
It's also the toughest cardio sport I do by a long way, my metrics/data from yesterday propose that I should be careful as I'm not allowing the body to recover, but that's probably also to do with two silly nights and that plays havoc with HRV status and the like.
The lush XC piste yesterday, you know when you get excited about this you know you've got the bug
I still do drills trying to work out the difference between V1 / V2 / V2 alternate
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@Weathercam,
That looks like a fabulous day there, its so dull over here in the UK today.
I think I'll have to leave it for another time then. I was looking forward to trying to skate it ..
I love skating on flat pistes with regular skis. But I don't think devoting a day to it and have a lesson is the best use out of this meagre 6 days. Its going to have to wait till I get borred with skiing. @pam w, & @skimottaret, I missed out on Hemmel Fridge this week it was too busy to be able to book on.
I had to go to try the other resort ... Mount Milton K.
It aint the same, even though its twice as wide and a bit longer ... there is something missing.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:
though I still can't quite fathom out why @pam w, had several weeks of lessons?
The better your technique, the less need for "brute force" and that applies to classic just as it does to skating. It's like downhill skiing - some people have no lessons, some have a week then are happy to get around on their own, others like to have a lot of lessons and to go to places like Hemel in between times. I found the balance difficult (was learning to snowboard at the same time and found that a lot easier). I didn't have consecutive weeks of lessons; they were spread over quite a few years! Les Saisies is a top cross-country destination and there are a lot of very impressive skiers. When you watch some elderly gentleman doing beautiful step turns on classic skis, down the kind of gradients/bends where the tracks disappear or loping effortlessly uphill, you become aware of the holes in your own technique. Some natural athletes such as yourself can no doubt to it all by instinct, but mere mortals need some help if we are to do any more than just walk around on skis, relying a lot on poles and sticking to the easiest pistes. For a "quick outing on holiday" I'd choose snow shoes every time. Anyone who can manage the Hemel slope on cross country skis is impressively good and certainly FAR better than me.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
completely noob question but can you skate using classic boots ? I have classics
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@skimottaret, a big no to that one, skating boots are much stiffer.
I've just finished 12km of drills, six times one km out and back as snow was still too cold, and my friendly XC pisteur came along and confirmed that saying with the cold overnight -12 the snow is just too abrasive to glide well, though with my overnight waxing it was way better than yesterday.
She also said when it's this cold then classic is much much better to do as the skis glide in the grooves.
And in the hour or so that I was out there was a complete beginner learning to skate with an ESF instructor by the time I finished we had a chat as he could see I was doing drills and I commented how good his pupil was doing and he agreed, so some people have the natural ability to just to get on.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
One of the ski groups I did a week with included a woman who had demoted herself from a skating group, as she'd not coped with it. To be honest, she didn't cope very well with the classic, either - she was just one of those people who found it hard to follow instructions about where to put her weight, etc etc. She was a laugh though - all the lessons I did were in entirely French groups, and small ones (typically 4 of us) so they were very good for my French too.
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?
@Weathercam, thanks good to know, may have a go at some point
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
So my tip is lessons. And don't expect to master it quickly.
