| Is the best skiing found during bad weather? |
| Yes, I love skiing when noone else does. |
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47% |
[ 32 ] |
| I will ski in bad weather, but only because I only get six days a year. |
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42% |
[ 29 ] |
| Are you mad? In bad weather I curl up in front of a roaring log fire and wait it out. |
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4% |
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| I have more sense, and better things to be doing when the weather is bad. |
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5% |
[ 4 ] |
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| Voted : 57 |
| Total Votes : 68 |
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 Poster: A snowHead
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Opinions?
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 2-12-04 13:24; edited 2 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The snow feels nice but you can't see what you're doing, which is a bit scarey...
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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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North Pole will be your favourite resort, right?
Don't forget the loose snow could be 24" deep, visibility reduced to zero and you could be standing next to a cliff without knowing your orientation.
What about missing the last chairlift and going the mountain in complete darkess? You still want your favourite blizzard condition to go with it?
In low altitude mountain top like in Scotland the snow travels horizontally in blizzard condition too.
No my cup of tea. What's wrong with sunshine condition as posted in the web?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Agreed, but only when you get below the tree line.
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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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I just don't do it!! Am lucky enough to get away a number of times in the year and if its a white out, I just say tomorrow may be better!!
Enjoy the scenery and sunshine, roll on January 23rd, I am praying for good weather.
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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 live here and there's no way I'd pass up a chance to ski in stormy weather, it's fantastic. The punters go home, the slopes are empty. Even the most average slope is transformed by the fresh snow. And the moment when the storm clears is totally sublime.
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I quite like skiing in blizzard conditions because it give you "hero snow" conditions on the piste, and usually it means that the piste is near-deserted. Flat light can be a problem at first, but after a while you start to use the force, and it gets to be fun again. It's definitely best to stay below the tree line, as it gives you a sense of perspective. The main problem is the ride back up on the chair lift, which can get a little cold at times, especially when you end up being covered in a layer of snow by the time that you reach the top.
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Just so long as the wind isn't so strong that the snow falls upwards, I tend to agree. Skiing below the tree line (or skiing through GS gates as I discovered a couple of weeks ago) helps a great deal with visibility, and as ise said, even the most boring piste in the world suddenly develops enormous 'grin factor' when covered in fresh snow. Get a decent pair of goggles and enough neck-warmers and stuff to seal yourslef against the elements and suddenly the weather no longer seems to matter.
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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 agree, decent goggles are worth their weight in gold in bad conditions. Last year a friend lent me his Oakley Wisdoms with trick lens, slightly pinkish tint, absolutely transformed the visibility. Would recommend them to anyone, although the trick lens takes the price to about £150.
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Good for war stories, but give me blue skies 90% of the time (just as long as it's not too warm).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The problem with powder skiing under blue skies is that it gets tracked out really early, and for us mere mortals who don't live in the resort, skiing in bad weather is our only chance to get fresh tracks.
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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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Not always, but occasionally best IMHO. Three additional ingredients help
1) Good clothing so that you are isolated from the cold/wind.
2) Good goggles so that you can see.
3) Landscape, trees or something to indicate where the sky stops and the ground begins 
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Tried it in Les Arcs about 10 years ago - bleeding freezing it was, what with all that snow. Had to ski a couple of miles back to resort - not much fun.
Got caught out at the top of Meribel about 5 years ago - took the gondola back down with a sip of Jack Daniels. We could hear voices on the piste but couldn't see a thing.
I'm with laundryman.
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You know it makes sense.
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It's when the blizzard makes sure the pistes are almost empty then the clouds start to break up a little.
Suddenly, in an instant, U get perfect visibility! U look down and see the piste open up below U as the shadow of the cloud speeds away accross the side of the valley.
But, in effect, it's not so much the cloud but the hole in the cloud that's moving, U look behind U and the shadow's approaching fast. So, U take off, through perfect, deep, untracked snow ON piste, racing to stay within that window of sunshine until, inevitably the 'void' catches up with U and U return to 'using the force' and never being completely sure which way is down... till the next break 
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Tue 30-11-04 22:44; edited 1 time in total
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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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It does seem to be polarising opinion, perhaps I should have run a poll?
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Poster: A snowHead
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u brain, it's the deep snow on piste that makes it special. Six inches to a foot of light powder on a well prepared base make for fantastic effortless powder skiing.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Agreed, and with the piste markers for that little touch of reassurance that U aren't about to sail over a cliff!
Even better, when U find a gradient which suits your ability/ fitness / tiredness / motivation level, U can just ski it over and over, leaving fresh tracks every time!
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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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I guess it depends what you mean by a blizzard. If you are on open slopes with a heavy wind, the snow can be murderously mixed with piles of heavy wind whipped snow alternating with freshly scoured ice, none of which you can see. If you are below the tree line with fresh unpacked undisturbed powder and little wind, this can I agree be bliss, only I usually manage to screw it up somehow 
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T Bar, the first set of conditions have to be endured, the second are savoured. Often you have to endure the first to get to the second.
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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.
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Kramer,
You are probably right, but I remember one freezing windy day with only tows open when you had to endure an 'ice cream headache' to get up the tow. WHich gave you the 'pleasure' of having to get in a low tuck position to overcome the wind resistance to get back down the hill. I have to confess that after a few runs I took advantage of a pass refund due to inclement weather. I can't agree that all bad weather gives rise to enjoyable skiing. 
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T Bar, I agree, some days skiing in bad weather is just miserable, but some days it can be great. You never know until you get up the hill and have a go. The other great thing about skiing in bad weather is that it makes the hot chocolate/mulled wine at the end of the day taste even better. 
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Last January in La Plagne it was extremely cold and snowed gently but non-stop for several days. About 1m of new snow total. Hood up and googles weather. But not much wind. That was OK but I wouldn't enjoy a true blizzard.
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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: |
but some days it can be great. You never know until you get up the hill and have a go.
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Equally true, one of the best days last season Heavy snow in the Grand Massif, some wind, but able to find some sheltered slopes, virtually deserted. Unfortunately had to drive back to Geneva airport to catch the plane. So no Gluwein for T Bar
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Great Skiing = Steady snowfall + Little Wind + Tree Lined Runs + Fast Chairlift.
Piste is often earily silent apart from the sound of your skis on fresh powder, marvellous
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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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| Ken Lingwood wrote: |
| It certainly pays to hang around, I also find it good fun skiing in a white out, if a little knackering as you're forever doing short radius turns. |
What I find the most knackering are the occasions due to the visibility you don't let the skis run enough and end up coasting to a halt then pushing through fresh snow,
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ise, and the best place to be in a whiteout is the Leisse in Tignes..just long and steep enough to be fun, with a nice slow (cold) chairlift for a rest on the way back up..'Again Daddy, Again'............
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You know it makes sense.
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There is something exhilarating about skiing in a blizzard, but perhaps it is the excitement of knowing what's in store when the clouds break. I'm not sure I'd ski past a nice mountain restaurant in a blizzard though - I would pop in for a hot choccie ( with Amaretto from the hip flask ) and wait for the sun !
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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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Best days are when you've gone up in poor conditions and then it all clears suddenly and you've practically got the whole mtn to yourself.
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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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Blizzard skiing - I love it!!! Agree with Kramer and Rob Rar all the way - love the "using the Force" style of skiing where you don't know where the bumps are until you feel them - fantastic. Also agree that perfectly ordinary slopes can give you "the grin factor" in blizzard conditions - what a great description!!
I suppose it's what you start with. The week I learned to ski we had really exciting snowy conditions almost all week. You feel like it's you against nature. Our instructor was getting icicles on his moustache it was that bad!! The sheer exhilaration of making it down the mountain was fantastic - so much so that I always wanted to go back up to feel it again!!
Give me deep, powdery, blizzardy snow any day rather than the icy, hard, unforgiving dangerous stuff.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Great pictures, Ise. The third one has just made me hand in my notice ...
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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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Of course - no sun means the snow doesn't change. Don't you love when you can't find/see you tracks !
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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White-outs are a good challenge: when you don't know if your next turn will take you uphill or down (or over an edge!) till you've done it. White-outs make me giddy. You can fall over after you've stopped (not knowing you've stopped). You just have to keep turning so the centrifugal force is strong enough to keep you focussed.
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Bright blue sunny powder days are great, but there is always the thought that the snow is going to get tracked out, and that it won't be as good the next day, and that it might be the beginning of the end of the season (I'm not normally this neurotic, only when it comes to snow!), when you're skiing in bad weather there is the thought that you're not using the snow up, and that it's going to be even better conditions the next day.
Also the very act of skiing in poor light "using the force", makes you concentrate on good technique, meaning that when visibility returns your skiing will be far better. It does take a leap of faith to keep your speed up in bad light, but once you make it, things get a whole lot easier.
Finally, if you ski when it is snowing, and fall over, it doesn't matter! Everything is so fluffy and soft, the only thing that you have to worry about is finding your skis. As for skiing off a cliff, I wouldn't go off piste in a blizzard, I would stick to where I know. 
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Yes, I didn't mean a cliff (!) just slight drop-offs. And sometimes you lose sight of the piste markers and get off-piste without meaning to!
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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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It appears to me that very few snowheads have skied on spring snow, or corn snow as it's referred to in Austria. The best ski surface of all. So when skiing later in the year be sure to search it out. Worth hiking for, worth getting up early for and as it is exactly what the name implys invariably the days are cold, crisp and bright, then warming up as the sun works it magic. You lot, who like skiing in blizzards are perverse.
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David@traxvax, say what you think, don't hold back at all.
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FAQ
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