 Poster: A snowHead
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Two instructors this season have questioned my willingness to go quickly on skis (last week I was told I had a low emotional threshold for speed, which was a bit crushing!). I think what they mean is that I have the technique to go quicker than I do without loosing control, but back off when I start to go very quickly. How to resolve this? Are there any ways of changing that kind of deep-seated mindset? Has anyone else made step-changes in their confidence levels for skiing quickly?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rob@rar, Is now the time in your life to expand out of your comfort speed zone?. I that what you want?.
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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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rob@rar, speed is relative. I'm a snail next to Bode Miller but my wife says I now go like a Bat out of Hell (comparing to my Bambi-esque first week). I always stay within comfort zone, just that good instruction has given me a large zone 
I think your instructors simply need to provide more encouragement.
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brian
brian
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rob@rar, I got faster skiing with faster, better, older kids when I was younger. Maybe you need to find someone faster to ski around with ?
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| rob@rar, Is now the time in your life to expand out of your comfort speed zone?. I that what you want?. |
What they seemed to be saying is that I'm reluctant to reach the limit of my comfort zone (if you assume that my comfort zone is my technical control rather than my happiness with travelling at speed).
I agree with TallTone that speed is relative, but I think this is a general principle that applies to most skiers, at all levels. Is it fear of speed that holds us back, or lack of control? What my instructors said to me in recent weeks has pointed to it being fear of speed for me.
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| brian wrote: |
| rob@rar, I got faster skiing with faster, better, older kids when I was younger. Maybe you need to find someone faster to ski around with ? |
That's a good point - I skied with some quick people in Tignes last month and it upped my speed a bit, but that was one of the week's when my instructor questioned my confidence with speed.
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or find a slower instructor.. . 
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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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I'm a wimp and am not particularly concerned that I don't ski fast enough. But one thing I have noticed is that I tend to ski a bit faster when dissasociated a bit more from my environment, wearing goggles seem to make me go faster and wearing a helmet possibly would. Maybe body armour would help?
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This from someone with 4 weeks skiing - so discard it at will, but as a relative beginner my lack of speed is due to my lack of faith in my stopping/remedial ability when going faster. I guess if you have faith in your stopping/ability to remedy at that 'nearly lost it' moment, you will have the confidence to go faster.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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rob@rar, Why do you want to ski faster? Do you need to ski faster in order to master a particular technique? I would much rather be in control and ski slower.
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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 skied with martin bell in Breckenridge - now there's a bloke who skis fast !!! he was at the bottom and we were still putitng our hands in our pole straps !!!
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halfhand, I like going quick when conditions allow, or at least I thought I did! The point that was made to me was that I have the control to go more quickly than I do. Both instructors were trying to get better performance out of me and independently they said that I could/should ski quicker without loosing control, both asking if I was aware of backing off when things got a bit quick. I think this kind of encouragement is made to a number of skiers at all levels of performance when they only lack confidence to go a bit more quickly, rather than lacking technique to control their speed and line.
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You know it makes sense.
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I have the same issue off piste, I think it's a mental thing, mine isn't helped by shattering my femur whilst in a tuck and cutting the corner of a track....
I guess all I'm doing is when I feel comfortable off piste, ie on a relatively wide shallow slope I'm trying to ski faster than I would normally, and taking it from there...
regards,
Greg
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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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| backhojo wrote: |
| i skied with martin bell in Breckenridge - now there's a bloke who skis fast !!! he was at the bottom and we were still putitng our hands in our pole straps !!! |
 I once shared a chairlift with Jean-Luc Crétier, winner of the Men's Downhill at the Nagano Olympics. I thought I'd try and keep up with him for a bit as he skied away from the chair. I was quite pleased to be skiing fairly close to him after a couple of hundred meters until I realised that although I was skiing at my limit he was bending over doing the clips up on his boots!
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brian
brian
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rob@rar, I reckon building up incrementally is the way to go rather than a step change. You must have tons of fast wide pistes in Les Arcs, why not go let yourself go a little quicker over initially a short section and gradually build up the size of the "fast" section ?
btw, losing is spelled "losing" ! Other than "Courcheval" (aaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhhh) it's my top pedantry hate. There, I feel better now, back in my comfort zone. Carry on. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If you dont fall you are not trying hard enough! Buy some body armour a helmet grow some cahonas  and go for it! Speed is fun, But you have to be withing what makes you comfortable ask youself what you want to achieve and is speed needed to achive that? The only problem is mountains seem smaller when you go quicker!
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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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brian, thanks, that's one of my blind spots, although I get Courchevel right every time 
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Are you a man or a mouse?
Just point your skis downhill and let rip.
Find a public speedtrap with a digital scoreboard. This will quantify exactly how slow you are.
Then spend a day ragging up and down the speedtrap. Run by run, you will get faster and braver.
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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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| Whitegold wrote: |
Find a public speedtrap with a digital scoreboard. This will quantify exactly how slow you are.
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Flying K or GS?
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rob@rar, do you wear a helmet?
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| CEM wrote: |
| rob@rar, do you wear a helmet? |
Yes, most of the time.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| Whitegold wrote: |
Find a public speedtrap with a digital scoreboard. This will quantify exactly how slow you are.
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Flying K or GS? |
Just a short, steep one of a hundred meters or so will do it.
You should be able to get well over 100kmh.
They seem to be more commonplace in Switzerland than France.
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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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On the other hand, if you're happy with the speed you're doing, why go faster? Skiing's about enjoying yourself, not trying to break the world landspeed record. If you do actually want to go faster, then I'd go with the advice to build up your speed tolerance gradually by going faster on easy patches. (I had a similar thing in France with the instructor constantly telling me that my technique was fine, which was all very lovely but didn't address the main issue at all which was that I had no confidence. The thing that got me past that was having another instructor who thought skiing was about having fun, and not trying to contantly push the boundaries. Surprise, surprise, my speed picked up no end as I bounced merrily along behind him without having to worry about whatever was coming up next on the piste. I was also dropped down into a lower group where I was by far the best skier, which did my confidence no end of good as well.)
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| Quote: |
Then spend a day ragging up and down the speedtrap. Run by run, you will get faster and braver.
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That would be similar to my advice, whenever I learn anything new, I pick a shortish run I'm comfortable on and just keep doing it over and over until it feels easy.. then move on and try to recreate the 'easy' feeling on less familiar territory.
I remember thinking I was going quite fast and doing rather well in my 2nd week skiing when I was overtaken by an instructor with a bunch of 'knee-highs'.... skiing backwards and chatting on his mobile phone....
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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rob@rar, maybe find a downhill course with a steep finish and a good run out and practice "letting" go from further and further up the hill. It worked for me! 
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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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rob@rar, Pay your money hire the skis and give the KL a blast, everything you ever do after that is slow, believe me.
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You know it makes sense.
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rob@rar, I ski a fair bit slower on a normal piste than I do on a race course. Even if there are other race lanes alongside the one I am using, I feel much more confident that other racers will act predictably than I do the rest of the 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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I'm a fairly quick skier (relative to my ability- not necessarily a good combo). IMost of the time I prefer to be in control as oppsed to skiing on the edge. My firends I ski with tend to ski on the edge most of the time. I tend to have a day just letting go just to let them know I can, but not sure that's how I want to ski all the time. Slightly different if you are doing race training.)
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Poster: A snowHead
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rob@rar, I went to the office in Arc 2000, hired 225cm's, DH Suit, booked a slot, bit of tuition and off I went. 131KPH. YeeHaa. It was years ago, don't know what the deal is now.
The very top was closed, but to go from there you've got to be mental anyway. DH boards and DH suit is a lot safer than KL gear, at least the skis will turn and you'll stop if you fall.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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GrahamN, interesting. I was hoping it was an Emma thing, given where her emotional threshold is, but it was also said to me last week (fortunately not when snowploughing ), so it's got me wondering. It's definitely a subconscious thing with me as I'm not aware of scrubbing off speed, and I don't think it's a technique thing either. So maybe it is natural caution of age (although I ski much faster now than I did when I was young and stupid). I do up my bindings a point or two when GSing, but no body armour as yet other than padding in my catsuit or slalom vest. Maybe a spine protector or similar would help with the demons in my head who seem to take over from time to time?
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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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rob@rar, The thing that was the scariest on the KL was not the speed, it was the accelleration. 130 came up in about 5 seconds.  It's like someone pushing very hard on your back, then you start to get tunnel vision and I started to notice the tiniest bit of snow out of place, then the ski tips started to lift and sway gently from side to side. Then I needed to change underwear.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| other than padding in my catsuit or slalom vest |
and I thought that was just to impress the gappies .
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| Spyderman wrote: |
| It's like someone pushing very hard on your back, then you start to get tunnel vision and I started to notice the tiniest bit of snow out of place, then the ski tips started to lift and sway gently from side to side. Then I needed to change underwear. |
Sounds, um, exciting!
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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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rob@rar, I also find that I am much less aware of speed when skiing in my catsuit, even with shorts & softshell top over it, than I am in a normal suit.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| Spyderman wrote: |
| It's like someone pushing very hard on your back, then you start to get tunnel vision and I started to notice the tiniest bit of snow out of place, then the ski tips started to lift and sway gently from side to side. Then I needed to change underwear. |
Sounds, um, exciting! |
Go on, you know you want to.
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FAQ
and it has been commented that my times in general are not what you'd expect if you just watched me free skiing... 
). Hopefully this seaon I'll try it. What skis did you use?