Moral support needed!

A snowHead

I’ve just returned from a week in Seefeld for New Year—a place I absolutely adore—and it was a spectacular trip.

Well, almost. Everything was perfect… except for my skiing. I left feeling disappointed in myself for my lack of progress. I only managed to tackle the drag lift on Gschwandtkopf twice, and both descents were terrifying.

I’m not a complete novice; I’ve skied on and off a few times and had lessons at the Snow Centre in Hemel. Gschwandtkopf is all blue runs, but they feel so steep when you’re up there. While some of the slopes are mellow, the sheer drops can be gut-wrenching, turning your legs to jelly—which is exactly what happened to me both times. My son measured one particularly steep section on his iPhone app at 40%!

The frustrating part is that I’d nailed the mini drag lifts on the nursery slopes and felt my confidence soar. These slopes felt similar to Hemel—manageable in length and gradient. If I’d had longer runs at that level, I think I would’ve been fine. The minute things get steep your technique goes in to emergency mode! Pizza slice, sitting back, turning with your upper body... all the things you try to avoid.

Now I’m home, feeling deflated but still determined. I love the snow, the mountains, and everything about skiing. Giving up isn’t an option. But where do I go next?

I’m considering resorts with green runs—places like Courchevel—where I can take some of the jeopardy out of the equation. But I love Austria, and choosing the right spot feels like navigating a minefield.

Seefeld is often billed as ideal for absolute beginners, but honestly, I’m not so sure I agree.

PS: I'm learning at 50!! Should i just give up haha

A snowHead

My old man started learning at 65, so definite no on the last point Laughing

I wouldn't focus on how steep anything is, the key for me is how wide is the run to be able to criss cross, or whether there's an outrun that you can use to lose speed.

Also did you have lessons?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Sim75, why go somewhere dear like Courchevel to learn?

What happened at Hemel?

I would do some more fridgin' then find a resort with nice flat runs, how about les Saisies? (there must be an austrian equivalent)

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@Sim75,
The lifts and the skiing are easier and better on Rosshütte.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Definitely looking to practice more @Hemel, where I can go from the top fine. Courchevel was more about progressing to skiing something other than a nursery area slope. Put simply I'd like to try a long lazy moutain run that doesn't have a few 40% drops mid way down Very Happy

And it seems that Austria doesn't categorise in the same way that France does - their Blues are quite a broad church.

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Take more lessons. 1-2-1 if you can in a resort not a dome.

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@Sim75, did you only ski at Gschwandtkopf, or did you try other areas too? I’ve mostly skied at Rosshütte which has some red runs too, but all the blues I can think of are incredibly gentle. I went up there last week and it wasn’t busy. Did you get lessons while you were there?

After all it is free

Why oh why were you not taking lessons when you were there? It is a big step up from a fridge to a proper mountain slope, plus ski instructors will make sure you are on terrain suitable for your ability.

You will have no problem learning to ski at your age. But you will have to learn. So next trip book some lessons.

Learning to ski (properly) after the 30s is almost impossible.

Stamina, power, strength, core strength, balance, and confidence evaporate from the 40s, 50s, and 60s.

There's a reason why all pro sportspeople are retired by 40yo. The body packs up.

Latecomers should takeup snowboarding (not skiing).

Snowboarding is 50% easier than skiing.

You only have 1 plank to control, not two. And no sticks.

Just be careful of damage to the spine and wrists.

Take plenty lessons.

Take (minimum) 2-week vacations, ideally a whole 5-month season, to embed skills in the muscle memory.

Enjoy.

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@Sim75, resorts will grade runs differently from one another, regardless of country. Something considered a black run in one place could be a red elsewhere, however as the Austrians tend not to use green so much it does mean that their blue will cover a broader range of slopes.

Courchevel does have a good number of green runs but, as mentioned above, it's not the cheapest area and also many of them are thoroughfares so get very busy, which I don't think is ideal for learning. For a long lazy mountain run that's also a gentle slope you usually end up on something narrow. I think La Plagne has some reasonable options for progression and a lot of the "CoolSki" routes are good fun, I particularly liked the criss-cross run to Montalbert and Pierre Blanche down to Les Coches...although possibly had some steep sections, I can't remember too well.

Zikomo is right though, lessons would be so valuable in not only teaching but also effectively having someone guide you to areas suitable for your ability.

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I did some snowboarding and longboarding in my 20's - used to bomb down some pretty gnarly hills. Concrete hills! I found it easier learning to board than ski, but that was probably age.

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Also, yes, lessons.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

@Sim75, as @zikomo, and @under a new name, have said - lessons are super important.

Not only for technique, but for your own confidence.

I have seen people who were complete novices leave after a weeks lessons with a huge smile on their face as their progress was so good.......and one was a friend in his 50s !

So, go back, take lessons in the morning and try to apply them after lunch - and dont necessarily expect to keep up with your pals who may have been skiing for decades.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@SnoodyMcFlude, I did ok too. But it was a very bad idea in the long run. Bad habits became so ingrained they were very hard to fix.

Anyone who is less young, fit, fearless and athletic will have a miserable time trying to make this transition without instruction. And even if they manage it, will ski less well than they could (with more effort than required) as a result.

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Do go to Courchevel, but go in a quiet week, maybe stay in 1650 and have some lessons. The piste grooming is so good, many slopes face north and it is possible to save on costs, picnic lunches or from the little take away huts.
Definitely never too late to improve.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

As everyone has said: Lessons. Skiing is a pretty technical sport so it's really difficult to just feel your way into it like you can with a lot of other activities. Even if your balance and proprioception are above average you'll still really struggle to get past the very basics. It doesn't help that it looks so easy when you see someone do it well. Also, lessons are a lot of fun as you get a real sense of progress - exactly what you were missing on your trip. I like group lessons but lots of folks here advocate for 1 on 1 lessons. Either will be a drastic improvement over a few lesson on a short slope at home then pointing yourself down an alp though.

Also, you can easily learn later in life. You probably can't get a place on the Olympic team but you can pick up a super enjoyable hobby and hang out in the mountains.

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@Sim75, don't give up.
Go back to the Hemel'ayas and get some more lessons under your belt.

There is something to be said for starting skiing at the age of four, but a good level of proficiency can be achieved in your 50s 60s or perhaps 70s.

But you have to put the effort in. That means take lessons and get plenty of practice.
Once you are able to use the main slope at Hemel, go as often as you can.

I think many of us who have learnt to ski, forget how difficult it was to learn.
Plus, we are all still learning. I don't think there are many skiers who think, "I've arrived at the level that I want to be."

After all it is free

@Sim75, I've seen this challenge several times over the years when skiing with family/friends/groups. The one thing that constantly helps, and brings a level of confidence is private 1-2-1 tuition, hasn't failed yet!

Seefeld is a pretty straight forward ski area, 'dumbing down' to what on paper looks like an easier couple of runs seem counter intuitive to me, the real answer is to become more confident, hence focused rather than group tuition.

Yes, it's a little pricey, but realistically, it's an investment. My wife (58 years old) is a timid skier and still does one private lesson on each trip, usually on the second day. always brings back a level of confidence and, It means that she enjoys the rest of the week.

Like everybody has said already - lessons!! Lessons every day. And although private lessons are good in many ways, it still leaves you a lot of time to just revert to type (unless you spend a fortune!). Don't write off the possibility of group lessons, which can be mutually supportive and much cheaper. And when you ski outside lessons, stick to the slopes you've done with your instructor (or to those she has recommended you might tackle).

It sounds as though you might suffer a bit from vertigo - that really doesn't help at all. Sympathies!

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What really stepped up my skiing was learning to stop properly. From speed. Safely and maintaining balance. The private instructor took two hours to work on my hockey stop, honing body position each time.
Once I knew I wasn’t going to go plummeting down the mountain, as I could stop ASAP, the fear pretty much went away.

This was 30 years after I started!

I used the same technique teaching my children to bike and ski. Go 2m up a slope, try to stop before the slope finishes. Then 4m, then 6m. Maybe steeper. When they know how to stop, they are not afraid to go.

Good luck.

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My views, probably overlapping much above.

Definitely pick a resort with wide gentle runs. Courchevel 1850 is amazing for that. You cannot tell by piste maps alone as almost every resort engineers an array of colours to entice all punters. Rohrmoos-Untertal and Colfosco are also good.

Get ski fit in the months before trips. No equipment needed, leg burners, the plank, also balance work eg on one leg with eyes closed for longer periods (helps the vertigo too). Cycling including up hills is fantastic.

Invest in private lessons on the mountain. So that it doesn’t dominate a holiday, mornings 1, 3 and 5 did the trick for my daughter needing a boost.

Never ski with pushy, faster skiers.

Down the skiing road, if you feel fit and have progressed well in say 5 further trips well, ski clinic weekends and weeks in the Alps are game changers. I did a few. Many here have done them or run them.

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Many thanks all.

Classic case of trying to run before I can walk!!
I’ve had a few ok-ish lessons, especially at Hemel. Too many people with varying degrees of competency in the groups so advice is a bit hit and miss.

I honestly thought I’d cracked it haha. And on the gentle slopes I could build up speed, practice parallel turns and even hockey stick stops - all seemed fine.

Just completely lost my mojo when things sped up, so yes lessons on the mountain (in hindsight) would have been a very good idea.

The 1, 3, 5 technique feels on point, just need to find a resort that alllows me to move on from the bunny slopes. Interesting on the vertigo point too. I do suffer, yes. Not something I’d actively considered with skiing before as it only seems to be something I get when I stare up at tall buildings! Fine with flying, but steep inclines may well be a trigger.

Good for you! Keep at it Very Happy

A good instructor will work wonders with you. I always found a new level of confidence following around a good instructor. They’ll take you to places you are able to ski and reinforce good technique and build your confidence up. Then it’s mind over matter in the afternoon when you can practice what you’ve learnt safe in the knowledge you’re technically able to ski down the run.

Best of luck with it!

Ps. La plagne has some nice gentle runs.

You know it makes sense.

@Sim75, I'd recommend somewhere like Les Saisies, where lessons (and everything else) is a lot cheaper than Courchevel. You'll get a lot more for your money. Another option might be Alpe d'Huez with some lessons from Masterclass.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

So, as someone older (61) who has been skiing since being 25 but now cacks it at the top of a "steep" blue here's my take because my confidence/ability is now closer to yours then its ever been

I'd say don't bother with a "large" ski resort - you just won't get value out of the lift pass - try ones with around 100-150km of piste and look for lots of cruisy blues not greens (which tend to be roads, narrow and if you are scared of heights the edges can be petrifying especially if they are busy) - La Touissiere and Grand Bornand are good - and in Austria vaguely remember Soll being good - but that was 30 yrs ago lol!

that being said I had some of the best tuition in Courchevel - but at that time I was skiing reds confidently - oh how the mighty have fallen

we went to Les Deux Alps last year and I was severly limited in the runs I was happy on - but the runs on the glacier were good. We also went to Morillion last year because it has a lovely long green run and I love Flaine as it has loads of cruisy blues - but the green was closed due to lack of snow and the route over to Flaine was too icy for me - so snow sure conditions also are key to being confident - its much easier to ski on snow than ice

another resort I've been to twice which is great for low intermediates is Valmeiner/Valloire - the lift pass is reasonable, especially if you book accomodation through the tourist board off-season.

I would look at the price of snowdome lessons compared to resort lessons - I live in MK and find that I learn virtually nothing as the piste just isn't long enough for me to practice and isn't anywhere near as steep as most blues in France - I'd maybe take a quick refresher before your next holiday but I'd concentrate on learning in resort and whilst 1-2-1 lessons are great as a beginner/low intermediate I took 1/2 day group lessons and a few private ones (but again 30+ yrs ago when private lessons were only about £25 Laughing

)

A snowHead

A snowHead

What the OP need isn’t “moral support”. He needs technical help with an instructor!

Or go back to snowboarding.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Sim75, if you want some familiarity, I don't know if you ever had a lesson with Calum at Hemel, but he's working in Seefeld this winter, so could be worth going back and having a request lesson with him? You'll have a native English speaker then too!

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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After all it is free

Don't worry @Sim75, I think almost ever new adult skier goes through the exact same thing. A lot of children aren't phased by a new, steeper slope but as adults your mind just races to the 100 different ways you could end up in a puddle at the bottom of the slope Smile

Given what you'd said I'd suggest heading to Alpe d'Huez for your next trip. There's a perfect green/blue transition bowl right above the resort where you can build confidence and progress gradually to slightly steeper runs each day, not have some huge step up in steepness between one and the other. Though as others have said I'd probably recommend you have lessons in resort, probably 'have skied before' group lessons reading between the lines. You get basic instruction but more importantly don't have to worry about reading the piste map/ended up somewhere too difficult for you. No, you have an instructor who should quickly asses the skill levels in their group and only take you places they are confident you can cope with, pushing you to slightly harder stuff as the week goes on - but still giving you the confidence that they wouldn't have taken you there if they didn't think you were up to it.

...and then go back to Austria the following trip as it is better than France Smile

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Moral support needed!

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