 Poster: A snowHead
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Im going away at the end of jan for my first ski holiday. So far ive had 4 lessons at the snowdome in tamworth UK, and have been at least once a week since the start of dec for practice.
Im just wondering how the slope at tamworth compares to "real" slopes ie would its steepness etc put it on a par with a blue run or will i end up being stuck on the green runs.
Im going to sestriere in Italy.
also as a side question.. what is meant by Mid layers? is that like t shirts over my thermals but under my coat?
Many Thanks
Pete
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Welcome to Snowheads.
I read a review of the snowdome which suggested that the slope was akin to "a French blue" (no jokes about cheese please) and having been to a handful of French resorts this is more or less the case. However, as subsequent replies will testify, there is so much variety in the grading of slopes (e.g. Les Deux Alpes versus La Plagne for example) that comparing run gradient is never straightforward and I couldn't comment on how this compares with Sestriere but I suspect that you'll have nothing to worry about.
http://skiing.about.com/od/skigear/ss/layers_2.htm
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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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thanks for the quick response...
i seam to remeber reading somewhere that french grading is usually a bit lower than others ie a french blue might be a red somewhere else.. is that correct or did i imagain it whilst dreaming about the slopes 
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beasty1711, welcome to 
Every country (or every fan of the country) will tell you that their runs are harder than somewhere else. Generally, that's not true.
There is no global, or even regional, standard for runs. Each resort/area grades the runs themselves. So a green in one resort might be like a blue in another, etc. The idea appears to be mainly for marketing - if a resort wants to appear more family friendly, they might have more greens and blues than reds and blacks, or if they want to appeal to more extreme skiers, they may have more blacks.
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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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ok cool..
thanks for all the info 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Oh, and one more thing, I'd advise you to start on green runs - most people I know, when they go to a new resort, will start off with a green or a blue (even if they are advanced skiers) to give them a better idea of the run grading in that resort.
If you get someone who says "I ski blacks all the time" who then decides that their first run is a black run, they could be in for a very nasty surprise in some places!
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The grade is usually decided by the gradient of the slope. Greens are very mild and blacks are a lot steeper.
But it only has to be a certain gradient for part of the run to dictate its grade. A black could start off quite easy but have a certain part which is steep enough to justify it's black status. So even if you find it easy at the top, if there is no part of getting off it you will end up skiing a steep part at some point.
At the end of the day the blues are usually crowded roads and tracks. Sometimes it's actually easier to ski the red back down and avoid the masses of bad skiers trying to get back to the bars.
My advice is to book into ski school for the week. You'll enjoy it much more if you can ski all the red runs, or even the blacks.
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beasty1711, It is not just the gradient, other things are taken into consideration when grading a run, if the slope is not very wide then this can make it more difficult- making the it more of a red than a blue, also if a slope is prone to bad conditions or busy then the grade can also be increased.
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masses of bad skiers
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= Beginners, we,ve all been there.
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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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beasty1711, welcome to snowHeads
About the mid layers - it's best not to wear a t-shirt, because cotton gets damp when you perspire and doesn't dry quickly, so you'll get cold. You really want a layer made of technical fabric, like fleece, over your thermals. The weight of the fleece depends on the temperature and the warmth of your jacket. It's horrible being cold, especially on chair lifts, but easy to remove a layer if you get too hot, so better to start off with more rather than less.
Have fun on your first ski holiday, but beware, it's very addictive
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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im off to sestriere in Italy..
someone else mentioned about booking into ski school.. but ive kinda assumed that i would end up getting frustrated with going through the "this is a snow plough" type lessons again on nusery slopes..
too late for the warning on being addictive.. i'm already there
Pete
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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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they normally have different levels of classes so if you've done a little then tell them and they should put in a class above the 'stepping sideways' type routine..
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beasty1711, don't worry too much about the risk of going "back to nursery". My experience is that ski school classes tend to sort you into groups depending on your ability and in my case they graded me absolutely correctly. I had previously only ever taken private lessons but, having now done ski school, would highly recommend it as I found I learnt a lot (if not quite as much as you would in private lessons). As long as the groups aren't too big, you get to learn quite a bit, make new friends and they introduce you to a lot of the slopes that you might not otherwise have tried/found. Go for it
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You know it makes sense.
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To add my tuppence, i believe that the grading of slopes is relevant only to that resort.
What i mean by that is that the green runs are those that are easiest in that resort/on that hill, but they could be completley differnet from the easiest runs in any other resort.
Re ski school, going into classes does not mean skiing wiht total beginners, they should do a split on the first morning and you would be put with people of simmilar expereince.
What ever you decide, have a great time!
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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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aaagh!
i dont know what to do for the best now 
the missues said she wanted to do ski school.. i was more keen on just trying it for a day (with the rest of the group that im going with and usually only ski greens/ blues and have been going for 5yrs) and then maybe getting into a shcool is i didnt feel happy
but i guess it does make sense to do the whole school thing
i should be able to get onto one out there though shouldnt i?
im flying out from UK on 28th Jan for 1 week
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Poster: A snowHead
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OK, what type of ski school options does the resort offer? Have a look on their website.
Can you maybe book in for a week of group morning lessons, and agree a meeting point with your friends at lunch time and all ski together in the afternoons?
This works really well for groups of different abillties. You get to learn and improve in a safe comfortable environemnt, and then show your friends how well you have done in the afternoons ripping around with them. Any maybe even taking them to some slopes your instructor took you down that they havent found yet!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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beasty1711, get into ski school. Then when you've been going for 5 years, you won't still be skiing green/blues!!!
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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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| Ski Bat wrote: |
My advice is to book into ski school for the week. You'll enjoy it much more if you can ski all the red runs, or even the blacks.
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I'll second, third and fourth that. Ski school is essential. Everyone I know who has been without ski school has ended up either hating it, or developing bad habits that had to be unlearned, including mrs magriggs.
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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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b]Ski Bat[/b], I agree, blues can be more difficult than blacks as the colour of the run relates to steepness. Blues can be narrow and very moguled as many people ski them, in comparison blacks are often wide with better snow. The hardest runs for me are blues on roads where the centre is ice and the snow is puched up the sides creating a narrow valley effect. These are difficult to ski as they require tight turns but also constant change in snow conditions during each turn.[
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Gradient, width, height, remoteness, obstacles, moguls, snow quality, snow variability, snow depth, traffic levels, grass or rocks, shaded or sunny, exposed or gladed, proximity to cliffedge, direction of slope.
All these factors go into the pot when grading the color of a skirun.
Then the resorts ignore most of the data, and give it a color that best suits their desired target market 
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Whitegold, You hit the nail on the head there.
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Peter Ross, he was just copying me!
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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: |
Then the resorts ignore most of the data, and give it a color that best suits their desired target market
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Which means that many runs back to the resort, or runs linking resorts, are under-graded ie they're shown as greens or blues when really they ought to be blues or reds, or even blacks when hard packed or icy!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Just a thought, but would it not be relatively simple to colour code pistes in sections? i.e a gentle start would be green, maybe a steeper blue bit leading to a short red section and finishing on blue. This would enable less confident skiers to plot a safe course round the hill with no 'surprises' and give the thrill seekers a good idea of which slopes to avoid. Printing would be no more difficult or expensive than at present, and the same folks that decide the overall colour today could just as easily grade the pistes (which they must know reasonably well to do the job).
Has this ever been suggested before (or even tried?) or did I just invent something
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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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Wear The Fox Hat, I think you need to get some intellectual property protection for your comments to prevent this plagiarism! Sorry I didn't read your comments first time around.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
Then the resorts ignore most of the data, and give it a color that best suits their desired target market
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Runs can be graded to suit - ie if a green/blue is required back to the resort there will be a a green/blue run ignoring, for example the steep middle pitch or steep start just because the resort needs a run of that colour back to the resort. The preceived grade of a run can also vary depending on the conditions. I'm back from the dolomites and conditions were hard packed and as the snow was thin all the runs were being regularly pisted so no moguls were allowed to develop. I skiied most of the open blacks around the Sella Massif area and in the conditions didn't think any of them rated more than a red and some of the easier reds I think might have been rated blues at other resorts I've been to. But thats just my opinion. My mate who I was skiing with overheard some other Brits commenting that the runs were hard and some blues would have been graded red and some of the reds reds black in France. So its all subjective they had exactly the opposite opinion to me! Maybe I would have taken a diferent view if conditions had been different - for example if the blacks had been left to develop big moguls.
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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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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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AxsMan, I've been heading along the same thought pattern. People have mentioned to me in the skiing safety threads about the fact that you should be able to read the piste maps. I've been wondering if these are something that I haven't encountered yet, or whether they are just referring to the little schematic that I get on my lift pass, which yes, is very tiny. Are Piste maps something different.
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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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In December, the lower slopes tend to be green, but by the end of January they are often blue, especially early in the morning. By the end of February they're black, especially in the late afternoon, but may be red in places. The higher slopes tend to be, as Barrymore might say, all white.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Megamum, Yes Piste maps are (mostly) a piece of tissue paper showing a drawing of the mountain (strangely never oriented with north at the top?) with barely legible straight black lines (lifts) connecting equally hard to see green (in France) blue, red and black wiggly lines representing pistes. The maps are designed to be 1) too small to read, 2) water soluble, 3) folded so that the folds cut across all the main routes. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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skanky, Ok so what we need is real-time interactive pistemaps, downloadable to your phone or PDA, hopefully incorporating satnav to place yourself precisely on the map and hence tell whether you are about to attempt to ski down a blue, across a red or (as I have done more than once) up a lift
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| AxsMan wrote: |
| skanky, Ok so what we need is real-time interactive pistemaps, downloadable to your phone or PDA, hopefully incorporating satnav to place yourself precisely on the map and hence tell whether you are about to attempt to ski down a blue, across a red or (as I have done more than once) up a lift |
you may laugh but that wouldnt be that hard to do.. would just need someone to get GPS grid ref's at certain points....... hmmm a cunning idea is formulating
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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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AxsMan, I believe that technology is coming. Perhaps it could be beamed onto a superimposed HUD on your goggles. Then if you complete a run within a certain time, more off piste itineraries become available?
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I've often though that a GPS device would
A) be a good way of keeping track of and/or finding lost kids
B) a money making venture for resorts as you could be given a daily printout of your mileage/vertical drop/Average speed etc
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FAQ
