 Poster: A snowHead
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Right we're all packed and ready for the off first thing tomorrow. Going as far as Colmar tomorrow and then in Switzerland for a week at the usual small resort (probably for the last time) - going to do lots of practice ready for the real deal in Val Thorens at Easter.
Hope all the Half termers have a great time and great snow where ever you all end up and I'll be back with a round up of whether I got in that Black and whether BMF_Skier was spotted on a toboggan in about 10 days or so TTFN 
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 23-02-09 22:57; edited 1 time 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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Megamum, have a great break
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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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Have a great time, and don't swing those shoulders in a primate-like way 
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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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Megamum, Have fun, and make sure you don't damage anything you will need at Easter 
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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 & the rest of the group hope you have lots of fun. happy sliding!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Megamum, Take blacks like a climbing pitch. Ski to an island of safety, where you can slow down on easier ground. Then pick out your next steeper run and go for it after picking out where you can slow safely. Repeat. Think to self... 'why the hell was I worried'?
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Have a great time 
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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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Megamum, enjoy
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Resort X won't recognise you this year!!!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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FenlandSkier, Megamum X 
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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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The seconds are ticking down. Just go ski as if there were no tomorrow. Have a great time and let us know how great it was when you come back.
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You know it makes sense.
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Well, we are back!
Thanks for all the good wishes on the leaving side of things folks.
The trip was a bit of a mixed bag.
In common with I guess all the 1/2 termers we found the snow was every where - an excessively cold Friday found snow/ice pockets right out as far as Metz. A straightfroward journey viz Luxemburg for added interest!! took us into the hotel at Colmar for a break and we left at around 0530 for what should have been a 2-3 hr journey into central Switzerland. Unfortunately we hadn't reckonned on a journey into a blizzard in the dark. The safest place seemed to be sitting behind a socking great big articulated lorry, but progress was severely curtailed. A situation further compounded by then meeting two sets of of snowploughs on the motorways further on into Switzerland. In the finish we didn't arrive in resort until around 1000. However, once there the snow was in fabulous condition and we skied on the first saturday as intended. I had never seen the pistes in such good nick and [b]BMF_Skier[b] suggested that if I intended to something more advanced there would probably not be a better day to do it, so to get ski legs back I popped the blue that had given me problems last year and then we went back to the bar for a beer and a 'bully shot'. Then, and it has to be said probably somewhat against my better judgement, I stuck my trust in [b]BMF_Skier's[b] assessment of my abilities and had a shot at this:
I don't know how many of you will understand, but it was the first turn that took the leap of faith, once started the rest followed (although once started I didn't stop ). It probably wasn't pretty, but it felt solid and in control and was my first official 'black' under my belt. I did it under perfect snow conditions, and didn't repeat the experience on subsequent days as the piste was never as good again, although I did knock off the top of another black later on in the week with a little side slipping and then some more fairly solid feeling turns.
The snow lightly sifted down all that first Saturday, but by the evening it had settled into snow solidly and we woke to overcast conditions with the snow still coming down. With the kids in tow on the Sunday skiing was limited to those lifts that they could manage, but we had fun and still the snow came down. Monday saw us wake to what counts as my first 'official' light fluffy powder. It was snowing that solidly that the bashers couldn’t make any headway and every piste was covered in tens of inches of the stuff. It had a dry icing sugar consistency to it, it wasn't damp (wouldn't have made a decent snowball), you could grab armfuls and it weighed nothing. I was surprised to find that it actually took some skiing – I couldn’t approach it in the same way as bashed snow, it moved away from the skis rather than supporting them, but it was tremendous fun to play in, I could have done with those Pure Spice skis that I tried in April last year, but in the finish I made my own skis work in it. At least I assumed they were working, as I spent most of the day sunk in up to my ankles and beyond in it. LOL
Tuesday they got it bashed a bit, but it wasn’t solid by any stretch of the imagination, That day we ran most of the limited number pistes on the mountain had a good go on the reds and I continued to be convinced that T bars have to be the most difficult lifts going – I didn’t ride by myself all week, but even sharing wasn’t easy, the worst bit is getting off – it wouldn’t be so difficult to get off if the bar was straight, but as most of you will know it as a curve to the outside edge that you have to lift yourself round – I’m sure that there has to be a knack to it, but I’m equally sure I didn’t find it all week. LOL
Tuesday night saw problems [b]BMF_Skier[b] had the boomerang flu rebound on him, and never recovered to ski again all week, so I proved to myself that I could cope on the mountain with the kids if I needed to (which was useful to know, in preparation for other trips should I find myself in a similar situation). I also discovered the perfect solitude of me on the mountain without another skier in sight as it was carnival week in the local area and the resort wasn’t busy, and the joys of coffee and warm almond Gipfel in the mountain bar in the mornings when the kids were in ski school. So without [b]BMF_Skier[b] to push me above my comfort zone I worked on technique and hopefully have improved. Short video in the link - [b]BMF_Skier[b] dragged himself off his sick bed to see the kids race and so I collared him to video me whilst he was out. However, its still only on the baby piste on race day which was absolutely packed as this was the only one he could reach to film on foot. The video appears to show me going slower than I thought (as per normal), and I have a slight altercation with my arms at one point, but hopefully it shows a quieter upper body.
[img]https://snowheads.com/the_zone/showphoto.php/data/500/thumbs/Skiing_2009.wmv[/img]
We did have a lesson on Monday, but I will let [b]BMF_Skier[b] tell you about that.
The illness got steadily worse and it soon became apparent that I would need to do the journey home as the sole driver. So for anyone that is wondering, yes! you can drive from central Switzerland to Calais in 9.5 hours single handedly. The problem was that in order to put me driving during the day we had to leave early on the Saturday, so we sent the kids to ski and very slowly packed the car and left at around 1300. P&O stung us for extra costs to shift our ferry time by a couple of hours and following a wait in Calais for the next available ferry (why on earth don’t they build a comfortable waiting area as at Dover?) I got us to Essex by around 0430on the Sunday morning.
So there you go that was our ½ term holiday – a mixed bag, but I have bagged the first black and reds are now quite doable on all but the worst snow conditions and I have skied 'powder'. I have also been faster on skis than I’ve ever been before and now think that heavier skis would help to prevent movement and chatter on my left ski side as I don’t ski as strongly on that side when straight lining stuff (this is something I need to fix actually as I can’t afford new skis!!)LOL.
Think I might find somewhere different to go another year as I’ve finally skied out the place too!!
Back to work tomorrow 
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Mon 23-02-09 23:16; 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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Poster: A snowHead
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Sounds like a result then... so blacks aren't the massive bogeyman
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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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Megamum, great video
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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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Sounds good overall.
And yes, all of us who are still learning (which is probably most of us) will understand the point you make about the first turn requiring a "leap of faith".
That is true whenever you are pushing the edges of your comfort zone. Once started, you usually find you don't have the time to be scared of it any more, you're just concentrating on doing it.
In that video, you were skiing very neatly, and your skis were certainly doing the right things, but I felt your posture looked tense, maybe a bit nervous still.
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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, oh, well done! I knew you'd do a black run
So there you go - you know you can do it now!
And yes, the "leap of faith" is the hard bit, isn't it... I used to dither around at the top until all my nerve went, but now I just launch myself into the run & it's fine 
Oh, poor BMF_Skier, hope he's feeling a bit better now. Rotten thing to happen on holiday... But then, as you say, it's good to know that you can deal with stuff yourself if you need to, & ski happily by yourself as well (it is surprisingly nice, isn't it!)
Roll on VT!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Megamum, An entertaining read - and very well done. It's a great feeling that first black, or come to that, first any colour, isn't it?! ...and I rather like skiing on my own too, though wouldn't necessarily want to do it every day. Hope BMF_Skier is on the mend.
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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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Megamum, good turns on that video, a huge step forward from the last time I saw some video of you. You've ditched the "gorilla turns" so well done. You need to work on getting more centred above your feet (don't we all!), so maybe focus on flexing your ankles forward a bit more to feel a little bit of pressure on your shins from the tongue of your ski boots (especially at the end of your turn). On that grade of slope you're probably "over-turning" - rushing the turn, to get out of the fall line - which is making it a little bit harder for you to flow down the slope as gracefully as you're able to with good control like that. Take your time in the turns, there's no need to rush as you have all the control you need.
Also, wot FtS said about skinny birds
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FAQ
Sounds like a poor excuse to get out of the toboggan run to me! 
