 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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easiski, according to some of the soldiers, nothing has changed. They had been doing downhill on the Luc Alphand, and were then trying to ski down through the trees on their downhill skis. They all said they had no proper instruction.
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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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Interesting thread which made me reflect on something. I noticed whilst skiing around Squaw yesterday that they had piste patrollers standing behind slow signs at busy junctions. Seemed to have had the desired effect as no one seemed to take to many liberties...
Not sure if it would work in Europe though; the people I have met whilst here seem to be a little more compliant to the rules (just look at how orderly the lift lines are) than you average European skiier 
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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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| SHello wrote: |
Interesting thread which made me reflect on something. I noticed whilst skiing around Squaw yesterday that they had piste patrollers standing behind slow signs at busy junctions. Seemed to have had the desired effect as no one seemed to take to many liberties...
Not sure if it would work in Europe though; the people I have met whilst here seem to be a little more compliant to the rules (just look at how orderly the lift lines are) than you average European skiier |
This is usually on selected home-runs or convergent areas & I've seen plenty of cases of guys straightlining, putting in a couple of slow squiggly turns past the speed cop then straightlining again. The main reason it works I think is that people genuinely spread all over the mountain rather than concentrating on the pistes.
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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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As a race coach I'm used to skiing fast, and having the kids I ski with skiing fast, but I almost never think that any of them are out of control. I've just spent the weekend in the Montafon valley, which was pretty busy due to it being Austrian/German half term aswell, and I've never been as scared for my own safety as I was this weekend.
I lost count of the number of idiot teenage males I saw flying now the busy piste runs home, round corners, over ridges, across all types of snow, sitting on the backs of their skis and tipping their skis very slightly from side to side. Most of them seemed to be trying to keep up with their friends who were better skiers with the ability to keep a safe distance away from other, slower skiers. I spent most of the time off piste, whatever the snow was like, just to keep away from them.
A 21 year old died after an accident on the run down in St Gallenkirch on Sunday. That was an easy blue 'hairpin road' style run, yet they managed to run into a tree 17 metres of the side of the piste. I don't really want to speculate on how the accident occured, but it sounds like someone must have been going too fast for their ability. When I heard about some resorts bringing in speed limits a few weeks ago I was really against the idea, but after this weekend I think something needs to be done on busy runs - I think more patrollers is the best idea.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I should also mention that waiting at the back of a lift queue seems to have turned into a pretty scary pastime too, having seen several people fly into the back of others and land in a heap on the floor. 
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"I lost count of the number of idiot teenage males I saw flying now the busy piste runs home"
Not just the males either, two loud-mouthed idiot females crashed into the back of a lift queue just in front of me last week. If it had been me or one of my kids they'd hit (and knocked flying) instead of their equally gormless mates, They'd have regretted it. 
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| iblair wrote: |
As a race coach I'm used to skiing fast, and having the kids I ski with skiing fast, but I almost never think that any of them are out of control. I've just spent the weekend in the Montafon valley, which was pretty busy due to it being Austrian/German half term aswell, and I've never been as scared for my own safety as I was this weekend.
I lost count of the number of idiot teenage males I saw flying now the busy piste runs home, round corners, over ridges, across all types of snow, sitting on the backs of their skis and tipping their skis very slightly from side to side. Most of them seemed to be trying to keep up with their friends who were better skiers with the ability to keep a safe distance away from other, slower skiers. I spent most of the time off piste, whatever the snow was like, just to keep away from them.
A 21 year old died after an accident on the run down in St Gallenkirch on Sunday. That was an easy blue 'hairpin road' style run, yet they managed to run into a tree 17 metres of the side of the piste. I don't really want to speculate on how the accident occured, but it sounds like someone must have been going too fast for their ability. When I heard about some resorts bringing in speed limits a few weeks ago I was really against the idea, but after this weekend I think something needs to be done on busy runs - I think more patrollers is the best idea. |
I'd be against speed limits not least because of all the practical difficulties. I do however think reckless skiing on crowded pistes should be addressed. I recall seeing in ADH someone virtually hit a hump near the foot of a slope at one of the main convergent points at the mid station and virtually jump through a ski school class ( whether that class should have been standing on the top of the hump rather than below was another matter) had this airborne skier hot one of the ski school there would have probably been a serious injury. It was reckless and the skier should IMHO have had his lift pass removed. Speed on an open piste is one of the joys of skiing. Speed on narrow crowded link/home runs is inconsiderate and dangerous). I think the points here could have been validly made 10 years ago pre carvers.
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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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| SHello wrote: |
Interesting thread which made me reflect on something. I noticed whilst skiing around Squaw yesterday that they had piste patrollers standing behind slow signs at busy junctions. Seemed to have had the desired effect as no one seemed to take to many liberties...
Not sure if it would work in Europe though; the people I have met whilst here seem to be a little more compliant to the rules (just look at how orderly the lift lines are) than you average European skiier |
At Sunshine village they did that on the home run under the gondola for the last hour or so of the day. There was a patroller on just about every bend slowing people down.
But then this was quite a narrow but shallow run, a level of steepness that any two day skier could cope with, and it was the ONLY way off the mountain unless you came back down in the gondola.
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| Helen Beaumont wrote: |
| easiski, British Army championships in Serre Che are a sight to behold, most of them can't ski!! |
This is off topic I know but your post reminded me of a time in St Anton many years ago. Walking down the street I saw a bloke I had not seen for some years who I used to play rugby with. He must have been in his mid twenties at the time and there he was walking along looking very much like the leader of five blokes that looked almost like kids to me.
I knew that he had joined the navy and it transpired that he was in St Anton for six weeks as captain of the Royal Navy ski team.
The royal Navy ski team! Six weeks in St Anton!
Where did I go wrong!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I tend to agree with easiski and kramer,
the fast skiers that worry me are not generally carving. They are people who can't hold an edge on firm snow and don't like to skid so they just turn as little as possible and then stop at the bottom.
If I'm carving fast GS then I wait for a decent space then go. Generally I don't have to worry about people coming from above and I can control my direction to avoid getting close to slower skiers ahead of me. If I can't then I will scrub off some speed or stop and wait.
The risk I feel is when one of the fast skiers I've described above shoots down the hill and into my blind spot (aiming at my tails as I carve across the hill). He'll be travelling almost as fast as me but much more directly. He probably doesn't realise that it's his job (as the uphill skier) to avoid me and may well lack the skills to do so anyway. Fortunately they are not usually too common where I tend to ski.
J
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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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dan100, yes, I think one could make points about reckless skiing at any point in the sports' history, but my original query was whether it had got worse.
After Saturday in Chamonix, although we were just pootling around with kids on a very quiet Le Tour, I reckon it's just the Italians (and maybe the Spanish). The French were much better behaved.
Although far from perfectly... 
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| Quote: |
The royal Navy ski team! Six weeks in St Anton!
Where did I go wrong!
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In not joining the Navy, presumably.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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easiski, maybe it was just Brits up there? Or maybe just Saturday and Parisian carnage had yet to appear (we didn't get it together to ski Sunday, manky weather - and here was me swearing I wouldn't fall into that particular trap...).
But seriously, the Italians a week ago were WAY less predictable, including one guy that Soph reckoned was about to take me out as he decided that he was fed up with high velocity short swings down one side of a wide piste and wanted to do the same thing down the other side with an entirely unpredictable high speed traverse straight across the piste. lady's front bottom.
It was a little bit of a "full air-brakes, full reverse thrust" moment for me.
Yes, I was behind, but submit, m'lord, that his fault fell under the "shouldn't do anything to upset another skier" rule.
Then again, as I have said elsewhere, it's hardly surprising when you see their driving.
We were amused to see one Polizia Municipali ARGUING with a driver who wanted to drive the WRONG WAY round the resort one way system. This isn't just a one way street, it's 4-5 km of one way, single lane road. The driver in question was having none of the Polizia's nonsense and just kept trying to drive [through him. Astonishing.
Italians, you just have to love their carefree disregard for logic, sense and any sort of organised behaviour, eh?
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Poster: A snowHead
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David Murdoch, I did love riding my old CBR down to Sorento. It's best just to twist the throttle and ride like the Italians do 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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pam w summed up alot of this thread when she said as I get older,when I was young and frivois thats how I skied but now I want everybody to slow down with me add all the other factors that have been highlighted above and bingo something else to moan about on a quite tues evening 
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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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David Murdoch, Well - in point of fact italians are not my favourite peeps on the mountain, but we don't suffer from your problems here. they're just rude, loud and push (the french loath them) - sorry Matteo. They're not, generally nearly as badly behaved skiing down the pistes here as at all other times. Maybe it's an at home thing?
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FAQ
