I don't think this is a British phenomena as others here have also pointed out. I know a group I was away with (mixed nationalities), some were really just snow ploughers who went out everyday to scare themselves, not much fun in that. Others were shoulder turning windscreen wiper skiers, they obviously needed lessons which I suggested but they seemed happy enough to scare themselves everyday.
On the point raised that people are happy to watch DVDs and post to forums on technique rather than get lessons, I don't think this is the case, these people are interested in improving so will probably get lessons also. Anyway lessons aren't even that expensive and they bring your skiing/boarding to a new level. I got a freestyle half pipe lesson in Les Deux Alpes from Luca Baraldi http://www.lungostyle.com, it was very useful and great fun as he is crazy!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
rob@rar wrote:
Alexandra wrote:
CEM wrote:
Alexandra, i do see your point of view as a gross over generalisation though
As was intended... It provoked the debate!
Why thank you coming along to help us all. I sure we wouldn't be capable of having a debate about the value of instruction without you looking after us in a matriarchal type fashion.
Do you feel that I was criticising you personally? Or are you just in a foul mood and thought you'd take it out on a "woman on the internet?"
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?
Alexandra, You can placate him with a bit of Chantilly cream then he's a pussycat.
Peter Ross, ah, but with most other nationalities the plebs stay on their home hills.
Going back to the OP, if a lift stops at Breck, odds are it was Brits loading, and (more seldom) Texans. In Stowe or Lake Louise or Tremblant, there aren't that many Texans.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Alexandra, I take plenty of lesson so I don't think you were criticising me. But I do dislike trolling, unpleasant generalisations and being patronised. Hence my comments to you.
If I think I am skiing well..then I am happy. I have it in mind what I want to achieve and can do it sometimes...
it is when I can't seem to get it going that I am less happy...
I kind of know what is missing, I feel, if I am being really picky, other days I can live with it..
What does it take away from the day..... ? it probably takes the day down a notch or two.... but I'll think I can pull it together the next day.
Do I think the right lesson will help..? probably, ..can I get there anyway... ? Yes...I think so !! It is not hitting that stride often enough that gets to me not some magical new technique...
Not that I am closed to that option either...
Off to watch WS now..
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
comprex,
ha ha ha... we have been here before.... wait until you start loading Yanks on the T-bar at Horseshoe...if they haven't ripped it down yet..... AND some of those guys CAN ski....
After all it is free
After all it is free
JT,
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.
DB, yep (note to self, repeat after me, "I will get around to a TR before long"), and the other two were with him in St A.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
JT, did you notice that the issue I tried to bring up then has completely escaped attention in this thread also?
If skiers are constantly getting lessons and gaining experience; if there is always more call for beginner lessons than for intermediate lessons,
how in the blazes are total numbers of skier visits staying so constant from year to year?
Why is this -not- a growth industry?
Why doesn't ski lesson teaching experience expertise cycles correlated to prosperity, like a 'baby boom' except in expertise instead of age?
How many are dying off the experienced end?
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
comprex, i am sure i saw a statistic somewhere that said in the States 80% of first time skiers never return for a second holiday....
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.
skimottaret, The figure is 88% for those that went to La Plagne
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:
the braying masses evident in almost any resort
You need to get out of the Tarentaise dear.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
JT wrote:
Do I think the right lesson will help..? probably, ..can I get there anyway... ? Yes...I think so !! It is not hitting that stride often enough that gets to me not some magical new technique...
Or maybe a couple of hours out of your week could accelerate that so you don't spend the week agonising about not skiing as you know you can? Small tweaks often make a big difference....
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
skimottaret, semantic point: if the statement actually read 'second visit' that would mean that 80% of first time skiers never have a third /day/ let alone a second week.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Interesting thread.
I'm really not sure if us Brits are as bad as the OP suggests - maybe we are, maybe we're not. However, I think a little thought should be spared for the guys/girls out there, like me, with little talent but who are desperately trying to improve.
Alexandra, I'm sure if you saw me ski I'd probably fall into your "ski like a pleb" category - but I, like a lot of people, am trying my damndest to improve. It might not show, as you fly past us, en-route to your double black diamond mogul run - but you haven't seen the many hours of practice and lessons that many people put in.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Excuse my ignorance, but could someone please define trolling to someone who is still newish to this forum business
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?
midgetbiker wrote:
Excuse my ignorance, but could someone please define trolling to someone who is still newish to this forum business
Makes me wonder - does Alexandra see her self as a troll or a pleb?
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
guvnor said Why? Because we won two world wars and one world cup, doo dah, doo dah
F.O. That's not true. We, the British nation, Scottish Irish welsh & English & were the winnings sides involved in 2 world wars, of those nations only the English won a world Cup, deservedly or other wise and we will never ever ever hear the end of it ever.
IMHO Football is the opium of the masses
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Thu 2-04-09 19:14; edited 1 time in total
Well if you go to resorts predictably full of "braying masses" you have only yourself to blame. Why go there, and then moan? And I still (having spent all afternoon and a huge sum of money shopping in Albertville ) have seen no evidence that there are loads of Brits who are unhappy with their skiing ability but refuse to take lessons. The "braying masses" you describe boasting in bars are clearly perfectly happy with the way they ski.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
steerpike,
Stuffed Iceland though.
I'm an England fan
After all it is free
After all it is free
T Bar wrote:
steerpike,
Stuffed Iceland though.
I'm an England fan
Yes and I abhour patriots "patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel" and there are good and bad skiers of all nationalitys but if you can ski in the Scottish mountains you can ski any where.
"Beware the bitch that bore the beast is in heat again Bertolt Brecht"
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.
steerpike,
Don't mind patriotism untill it turns into a xenophobic nationalism.
Didn't manage to ski at all in Scotland this season as the decent conditions never seemed tocoincide with my rather rare free weekends.
Had a fantastic time up at Aonach Mor at the end of last season though.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
YES Aonach Mor had some good snow last year I drove up ther from Aberdeen heaps of times for half a days boarding but don't like tows, Boarding up hill not my favourite. Glenshee had some good powder this year for a short while
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads on Thu 2-04-09 20:07; edited 1 time in total
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
[quote="Guvnor"]Wguvnor said Why? Because we won two world wars and one world cup, doo dah, doo dah
F.O. That's not true. We, the British nation, Scottish Irish welsh & English & were the winnings sides involved in 2 world wars, of those nations only the English won a world Cup, deservedly or other wise and we will never ever ever hear the end of it ever.
IMHO Football is the opium of the masses
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.
Guvnor wrote:
Why? Because we won two world wars and one world cup, doo dah, doo dah
F.O. That's not true. We, the British nation, Scottish Irish welsh & English & were the winnings sides involved in 2 world wars, of those nations only the English won a world Cup, deservedly or other wise and we will never ever ever hear the end of it ever.
IMHO Football is the opium of the masses
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
well from my own experience.. i'd say i could do with a few more lessons, but.. i always think it's a waste of my days away.
but aren't most people like that
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Lizzard wrote:
2. Teenagers tend to be reckless and inconsiderate.
I resent this!
Alexandra, what is this bloody shoulder 'swishing' you keep referring to? I can't picture it
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Alexandra, Ooooh looks like you touched a nerve or two. But on to the point of the discussion I believe you find these type of skiers every where but it maybe that you are more likely to notice the ones from you own country. When I was in Taos they all seemed to be from Texas and Oklahoma (if you could understand what they said) not that I am from such places, and in New Zealand there are lots of New Zealanders and Ozzies like this. I think that part of the attitude is, why pay for a lesson when my mates can show me how to do it!!! The fact that their mates can't ski to save themselves does not appear to matter. We used to see lots of the lean back, lock the feet together and wiggle the skis technique here in NZ but thankfully they are dying out as I have nearly fallen off the chairlift laughing at groups of these. Strangely enough it was mainly a male phenomenon.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I don't think poor skiing and shoulder swinging is in the least a british phenomenon. there are many skiers from all countries that do this, however it's those skiers who then ski either fast on beginners slopes, or insist on taking steeper runs who need censure - they are a danger to other skiers more than to themselves. However their lives must be very dull if the only excitement and adreneline rush they get is doing this!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
easiski,
I can sort of understand the 'bombing' everything culture...uinderstand it, not condone it...as that was me in my early days..and that was the basis of my referral to 5 yrs wasted earlier...but hopefully I grew out of it and am positively sedate now on piste. And the latter has been more apparent in the last few years since I got swiped and alsio saw the carnage on a 4' oclock run. I mean, 4 accidents where the skier didin't look like geting up is a bit much, IMV...
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?
steerpike wrote:
F.O. That's not true. We, the British nation, Scottish Irish welsh & English
Why? Because we won two world wars and one world cup, doo dah, doo dah
barry, Britain has not beaten the Germans in footy and England has not won a war against them so technically Guvnor is wrong no matter who the 'we' is that he refers to, and I am sure the 'F. O.' was reference to the Foreign Office by means of verification of such facts
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
rayscoops,
Possibly referring to the face that Norn Irn although part of the UK of GB & NI is not 'British'. And Ireland certainly is not, although part of the British isles.
I didn't really understand what 'shoulder swinging' meant until I watched our Courmayeur holiday DVD and recognised this trait in one of the chaps that skis with us. It is actually quite amusing to watch...
Also quite informative watching everyone ski and seeing how different our techniques are and the fact that I take twice as long as everyone else to get down the same slope. I just don't think I'd feel comfortable skiing as fast as the others...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Can someone link to a video of said 'shoulder swinging'?
After all it is free
After all it is free
Fergus wrote:
Can someone link to a video of said 'shoulder swinging'?
Try this, although not the worst examples you'll see.
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.
And just what country is it that most skiers ski at a high skill level? Sure aint America!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
FastMan wrote:
And just what country is it that most skiers ski at a high skill level? Sure aint America!
Sweden/Norway? Or maybe just those they let out of the country are fairly handy (& make for good avy control )