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Just returned from week in Megeve
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead

Well, just unpacked and settled home again after triffic trip.
Despite the lateness of the season and Megeve's reputation for touch'n'go conditions, the snow cover was excellent and the morning skiing was absolutely fine. It all got a bit porridge-like about noon - even quite high up - but not enough to deter the determined skiers in the group (which excluded me as I had something of an off-week for some reason Puzzled Puzzled ).

Highlight for me was seeing my 5-y-o daughter take her first lesson and skiing with her down the nursery slopes. I'm sure she'll be bombing away from her old man in no time at all! She was given her beginners 'polar bear' award and appears to be hooked. Delighted by that as it means the next ski holidays can be real family-all-together holidays. Filmed her first solo run!
http://youtube.com/v/FjknTAuPHsI

Costs were a bit eye-watering! Shocked Dodgy exchange rate combined with ferocious price hikes meant shared meals and window-shopping only.

Better start saving earlier for 2010!

Actually, regarding my own frustration on the skis - in part I blamed the skis. I'm 6ft and was given 174cm skis by the hire shop. I usually get handed 165cm. The 174s just felt really tough to manoeuvre but I was assured they were fine for my height so didn't swap them. Could the extra length have made a difference or was it more likely "just one of those weeks"? Didn't spoil the holiday and I still had a blast, but I know I've skii'd better!
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

Nice film, glad you enjoyed yourselves and appear to be injury free. Very Happy
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snow report
 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?

HH, Safety First this year!
I did notice that the majority of people wore helmets. That wasn't the case even two years ago. And I've learned my lesson from painful experience!
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.

Ssshh, don't mention the H word!! Laughing
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

So Soleil DOr Crew wrote:


Actually, regarding my own frustration on the skis - in part I blamed the skis. I'm 6ft and was given 174cm skis by the hire shop. I usually get handed 165cm. The 174s just felt really tough to manoeuvre but I was assured they were fine for my height so didn't swap them. Could the extra length have made a difference or was it more likely "just one of those weeks"? Didn't spoil the holiday and I still had a blast, but I know I've skii'd better!


The length certainly would make a difference, but what length is right for you will depend on other factors in the ski design.

If the ski was of similar stiffness as the ones you have previously had, and the turn radius of that ski in the same length would have been similar, then the longer ones will certainly appear harder to turn.

Your weight is more important than your height in determining the required length.
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You'll need to Register first of course.

Quote:

I'm 6ft and was given 174cm skis by the hire shop.

We had a run in with a cheeky ski hire guy here this morning. We had lent our beginner friend my OH's skis, and he was going to pay for OH to try some Rossignol World Cup skis. Our friend is tall, but quite skinny, and an almost complete beginner and I thought a rather elderly pair of Rossignol Zenith skis at 162 would be just right. Hire shop guy thought otherwise and wanted him to hae 174s. I pointed out that Jeremy wasn't a heavyweight and was a beginner but the guy said that the weight had absolutely no relevance, only the height mattered and he'd damn well stay a beginner on our skis! (I didn't translate that comment!). Anyway, we just ignored him, even when he grumbled about the state of the waxing (they'd been waxed but not scraped.....) and he rather grumpily fitted the hired boots to the skis we'd taken in. They were fine, and the instructor (a guy we know quite well) seemed to have no problems with them in his subsequent lesson, though he has previously told people on short skis that they are not suitable for learning!

I often find myself overruling presumably quite knowledgeable French ski technicians and insisting that beginner (and usually elderly) friends rent shorter skis than they recommend. Sometimes you just have to stick to your guns. These guys are all so young, and no doubt fantastic skiers, and they don't always know what's best for their clients, I reckon.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

alex_heney, This was the first time I've really paid attention to what skis I was given - as they seemed SO long! Maybe I just need to read up a bit on exactly it is different types of ski can offer. My rule of thumb has been the basic "longer skis = more speed, shorter skis = quicker turns." My weight hadn't changed much since last year but my condition certainly had! Last year I was fitter and more toned. This year I was, um, less so! That probably made a difference, too. Embarassed

HH, Oh dear! Does the H-word trigger a violent snowHead debate?!
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!

So Soleil DOr Crew, It will not be long before you can't keep up with the kids. Mine are 5 and 8 and raced through the trees this season and I struggled to keep up and had to have the father to 5 year old chat of "too fast too close to edge" which of course she ignored, so was taken down the steep red to remind her..... which worked
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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.

So Soleil DOr Crew, Still out in Megeve (typing this from 4th floor Soleil D'Or), it's got a little warmer this week. Did you comment to any chalet staff about hire skis as I am sure they would have helped you get something you considered more suitable.
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads

Dunk, I had a brief word with Will and his opinion was the 174s would be absolutely fine. I was in Angela's class and she was equally sure they were fine for my build. I'm only saying they may have been a factor in my numptiness on the slopes (which included skiing straight off the platform on the Ideal chairlift and into the snow drift below! Embarassed Embarassed)

How are things looking this week?
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snow conditions
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I was given 170's in Megeve and am 5'11 and found them to be fine (though only my second week of skiing so I'm not entirely sure of how something longer/shorter would have felt). I wouldn't recommend that anyone go tp Megeve though (so that I can enjoy the already empty runs and powder to myself).
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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.

Quote:

longer skis = more speed

not necessarily. My OH is trying out some Rossignol world cup slalom skis, at 155cms. They are VASTLY faster than his usual 162 Zeniths. He left me for standing down a flat boring and sticky track this morning (I was on 162 Rossignol Attraxion Vs which are usually OK).
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 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

What a lovely film of your daughter. My son has just turned 5 so I have high hopes for next season!
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snow conditions
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.

dbaskls, thank you!
It was the pink boots and skis in the hire shop that clinched it for her - she'd been happy to stay with the chalet nannies before spotting them! That clip is her first solo run with mum and dad. She had an hour with an instructor the previous day for her very first time on skis. He told us just to treat the whole thing as fun and a game and not as "something I have to learn".
Hopefully your son will enjoy it just as much! We've given our littl'un the option to give skiing a go before but never pushed it. If it's her decision I'm sure she'll enjoy it more in future.
And as chrisb says, I've probably only got two seasons before she leaves me splutterig in her wake! Embarassed Very Happy
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