 Poster: A snowHead
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To paraphrase (because I can't remember word for word) a quote in a freesheet in the Tahoe area in which a number of local pros offerred tips on how to become a better skier:
Find someone better than you and ski with them. Don't ski with people your own level. Don't take lessons because lessons mean you need to think and thinking sucks.
Shane McConkey
A similar piece of advice from JT Holmes echoed Kramer's sage ski tps " Just point 'em."
Heated debate anyone?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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| Quote: |
| Find someone better than you and ski with them. |
That gets tiring and embarrassing before too long.
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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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Perfectly valid for a visual learner.
Utter rubbish to generalise for all learners.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| laundryman wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Find someone better than you and ski with them. |
That gets tiring and embarrassing before too long. |
as in 'Come on Dad why have you stopped, again'. 
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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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fatbob, lesson don't suck. The cost of lessons suck.
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Dysons suck.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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| fatbob wrote: |
| Find someone better than you and ski with them. Don't ski with people your own level. |
That's what I woz told on the Warren Shmitt course, thgis year, too.
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Its good to practice by skiing with beter skiiers, & learn by having lessons 
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You know it makes sense.
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I've learnt to downhill ski and telemark by practice, watching other skiers, reading a couple of books (Paul Parkers Freeheel sking and Mike and Allens tele tips book for the tele) and occasional tips from other tele skiers. I've done OK by that method.
I started xc skiing and roller skiing a couple of years ago. I get coaching at the club and I've been on a couple of courses held at the same time as races as I was there anyway so it seemed daft not to do the course after travelling 1/2 the length of the UK. Coaching is good at picking up faults, watching yourself on video is even better - then you can actually see the fault. Still the biggest gains I think I've made have actually been getting out and practising (roller) skiing. We'll see how much improvement I've made come the racing season, especially the races at Huntly as they are on standard skis so there are no kit differences. We'll see if I can do the 655m flat sprint in under 2 minutes and the 1135m hill sprint in under 4 mins, if I can it will be a good measure of how much my technique has improved from the coaching.
Most importantly though wether you take lessons or not - have fun  .
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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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| Quote: |
Perfectly valid for a visual learner.
Utter rubbish to generalise for all learners.
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Absolutely. I know a young man who skis really well, and has done it almost entirely by "copying". He keeps trying new things, and if they don't work he watches again, and tries again, and succeeds. On the other hand, you see skiers following instructors around every day, instructors in super position, skiers behind doing something totally different, and apparently completely unaware of it. Proprioception - is that the right word? Good instructors have a variety of ways of getting us to "feel" the difference between what we are doing and what we need to do, and most of us need that kind of expert help.
Whatever your learning style, you also need to actually WANT to learn. That young man is highly motivated to ski everything. But lots of people are happy to ski around doing the same stuff, same mistakes, year after year. If they are enjoying themselves, and not endangering others, fine.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
Find someone better than you and ski with them
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still looking
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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 like the odd lesson to pick up any faults, but I have a driven passion to ski more and more terrain that I previously couldn't. In an average day of 6 hours skiing approx 4 of them will be spent in pushing my limits in one way or another. That's just what I enjoy doing and it seems to work for me. pam w, has it sussed - "Whatever your learning style, you also need to actually WANT to learn."
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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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graeme, good on ye, mate! Comin' to the EOSB? 
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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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ssh, sorry not this year, but am over your side of the pond jan 15th next season, winterpark. maybe you could give me some advice..re guide/backcountry ski touring
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| fatbob wrote: |
Find someone better than you and ski with them. Don't ski with people your own level. Don't take lessons because lessons mean you need to think and thinking sucks.
Shane McConkey |
That's probably much, much easier to say when your dad is described as "the father of extreme skiing" and was the director of the Whistler ski school...
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it's true that you need to practise what you learn in lessons to get better and there's only so much an instructor can teach you before you just have to figure out hoew it works for you but in fairness theres no better way to get to know a new resort than through the guy who lives there!! instructors always know the best places to eat, cheapest places to drink, best places to party and the best slopes!! invaluble!!!
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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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PhillipStanton, I would imagine...
You can't learn to ski technically well without external criticism, advice and an understanding of technique. Otherwise you are inventing your own sport - perhaps we can call it "proto-skiing", or "maybe-skiing", ...or (ducks) "snowboarding"?
That begs the question of whether you need an "instructor" however. I know I'm crap at teaching. Sophie however is quite good. (Neither of us has any qualifications). We try not to be drawn into advising friends.
I guess a better thread title would be "Some Lessons Suck". Cos they do. But 'm afraid the sage comments from the uber-mensches rank alongside "Can't swim? Dive in! You'll learn quickly enough..."
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welcome to my horrible typing mistakes!! for a native english speaker i'm pretty terrible at it....
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Lessons can be good or a waste of money. Once you can ski a bit, it may be up to you how good a lesson is. My wife introduced me to skiing and didn't want to spend all week in ski school. She did, however, feel that she could do with a lesson at the start of a week skiing, in order to brush up her technique. After doing this with her a couple of times, I came to the conclusion that it was a waste of money. The instructor would see how we skied and improve that a bit with no real progress. Then my wife fell and hurt her leg and I went to the booked lesson on my own. Teach me to carve, I said and he did. Real progress, real learning but only because I asked for it. So, don't just go along. You know what you can't do, carving, moguls ar whatever, ask to be taught that.
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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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I used to coach sabre. We spent a lot of time in drilling the basic guard positions, as in a match when you only have milliseconds to react the movements have to come almost automatically while your brain works on the tactics.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Scarpa wrote: |
| I used to coach sabre. |
A police dog?
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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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louweezy, don't worry, you're not the only one!  Welcome!
Ull, sounds like that particular instructor was not adept at picking up what needed working on; that's not to say that all instructors are the same. However, it's a good point, and perhaps once we are past the staying-upright, snowplough turn and parallel turn stages (I am still looking to get past the third!) it helps to go to a lesson with a particular aim in mind.
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Poster: A snowHead
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it's always great to ski with people better than you because it really pushes you to improve but i think a lot of skiing is in your head and all about being confident in your own ability. if i'm skiing with people a lot better than me and i can't keep up it's very frustrating and can ruin my day. i keep falling and feel like i'm holding them back and getting angry at myself. a bad day on the piste can knock your confidence no end and take a while to get back.
i find i'm much better off with a couple of people around my level. at least that way you're not pushing yourself so far out of your comfort zone that you're really struggling and you'll have fun!! is that not what it's all about at the end of the day?!?!
i've had five different instructors in my time skiing and all of them were great with totally different teaching styles. i switched groups a couple of times this year to find the one that suited me best and i had an absolute ball. i think if you're going out expecting miracles from an instructor you're going to be disappointed but if you go with an open mind and just get stuck in you'll have a great holiday and the positive mindset means you'll improve loads without even realising!!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
i think if you're going out expecting miracles from an instructor you're going to be disappointed
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I found a "magic combination" (for me, that is): Two lessons with a day in between, on the same topic.
The first lesson got me started doing the right thing. The next day to pratice. Then a follow up leson to fine tune it. It worked like a miracle.
This works best when the second lesson is a private one. So I have the undivided attention of the instructor to pick out any mistakes.
If you don't know the instructor well. You can take one group lesson to check him (or her?) out. Then if you like it, book for a private the day after.
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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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Scarpa, In an average 6 hours skiing day, 4 of them will not be spent pushing limits, they'll be spent queueing, riding lifts, or hiking up things.!! Unless of course you are really a very slow skier ? Try wearing one of those GPS things that tell you what your day has consisted of if you don't believe me !!
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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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If you can ski, following someone better will take you to places and different snow conditions that you would never try on your own.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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beeryletcher, I believe ya - I was just quoting the ratio of hours though, not the actual time spent on the runs. Anyway - you may not know my limits in not falling off drag lifts 
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Here's what I did: Watch WC DH racers. Copy on unprepared DH courses. 
It's a very exciting way to learn. It's not for everyone though.
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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: |
not how it shouldn't as in winter
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So true.
On a typical Level4 lesson, once I train my clients eyes, we then sit on the chairlift trying to spot the skier who is in good balance fore-aft.........
Maybe 1 in 20? 
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veeeight, I would go further (but it may be the geography). I reckon in winter about 80% on peeps on any given slope at any given time, are skiing badly, or at best not very correctly. In summer this is completely reversed, and it's amazing!
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FAQ
I know I would never have tried them if it was my choice 
