Your first black run!

A snowHead

As someone who does not think she will ever do a black run......upright anyway Shocked

, how was
your 1st experince on one?

Bikergirl Cool

A snowHead

Expectation: near vertical, life threatening, heart-stopping terror.

Reality: A bit like a red run.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

What paulio said.

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Which begs the question 'how was my first experience on a red run'.

Expectation: near vertical, life threatening, heart-stopping terror.

Reality: A bit like a blue run.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I still tend to avoid black runs. My theory is they're black for a very good reason. However, the blacks in Passo Tonale would definitely have been red in France and there were a couple in Kitzbuhel I actually liked which lulled me into attempting run 38, the steepest in the resort, which I hated.

I only attempted one in Courmayeur last season, I was feeling more wussy than usual which was actually OK.

In fairness, I think a French black is probably to be avoided at all costs but Italian and Austrian blacks seem to be a bit of a mixed bag. I usually send someone else down first to report back to me what they're like.

I'm going to La Thuile in Italy this season and the piste map cunningly has the elevation change and distance for each piste on it, so I can work out in advance if I think a run is going to be too steep for me to enjoy it. Very clever!

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Bikergirl, A bit like the first red run - much steeper than I'd done before, seemed to be made of pure ice, and I got down it only with a lot of side-slipping and very wide turns, with stops of 5-10 seconds after each turn to build up enough courage to get going again.

As your technique improves, so does your confidence, and vice versa. Good equipment also helps - trying to hold an edge on a black while skiing on crappy hire skis which were serviced at the end of last season isn't a great experience. Work up to it - there are many reds I've been on in poor conditions (icy, mogulled or rutted) which have been much harder than some blacks in perfect conditions, so get yourself to the level where you can do reds in just about any conditions, and then on a perfect day have a go on a short section of a black and see how it feels. The buzz of getting down it can lead you straight back to do it again, but from further up the slope...

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

paulio, and there was me thinking queen bodecia was happily single and lived the quiet life Shocked

paulio, because in general French piste grading seems a bit harsher than elsewhere in Europe. I remember not liking the red runs in Val D'Isere much for example, although I haven't been to France for nearly 10 years so it's a bit of a dim and distant memory. I'm not likely to be going skiing in France again for the foreseeable future.

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thefatcontroller, my life is definitely not quiet! Very Happy

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

queen bodecia, Obviously wink

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thefatcontroller, two out-loud lols from you in one day. Keep it up Smile

First blue run.....my, these ski things are a bit unwieldy, and they slide quite a lot, whoops, thump. Evil or Very Mad

First red run.....my, these ski things are a bit unwieldy, and it get's quite hairy how quickly you pick up speed when you turn a corner, whoops , thump Evil or Very Mad

First black run.... sod the skis, this is bloody steep, aaaarghhh! whoosh, streaming eyes. I did a black run. Cool

Do you remember your first double diamond ?????

You know it makes sense.

Some blacks really are easy. Easier than many reds. Black into the bowl at Les Gets for example has a steepish entry compared to the nearby reds, but once you're 10m in to the run, it's basically a red run. Black into Val Gardena (I think), seemed to be graded black more to "reserve" an area for slightly more advanced skiers. Lauberhorn run is graded black but I'd say 80% of it is Blue, with a few Red bits and only 1 bit of real Black (and most of that was people like me getting in the way, and only needs 2 turns).

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

What is a double diamond?

A snowHead

queen,

In the US/Canada they grade their black runs single diamond and double diamond. Although they tend to name every little chute on the piste maps whereas in EU they don't.

A snowHead

It's a beer

http://www.fulltable.com/vts/a/aa/drink/beer/07.jpg

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Oh right. I seem to remember snobunni explaining this. I'm a Europe-only skier so green, blue, red, black for me.

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Winter,

Sounds good Toofy Grin

DB, Ah now I remember Very Happy

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

first black - I think it was my first week on a board and coming down from the Tignes glacier somewhere after my mates (on skis and experienced) suggested I would be ok Shocked

After all it is free

LOL

1st Red run (by accident as Blue run was closed) Shocked

, had to stop myself from crying in front of everyone when I realised there was no other way down!

Tried sidestepping down, gave up after 10 minutes of moving only a couple of metres, thought "SOD THIS!" took skis off (gave to other half), then
slid down (for what seemed like ages) laughing my head off at both myself and all those others that found themselves on it for the same reason as me, including the ski-school lol!.

Got to the bottom and other half said he didn't want to tell me at the top, but the run was more like a black than red anyway Shocked

Bikergirl

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firstblack i "done" was hari kiri in Mayrhofen. I "done" it mostly on my ar$e !! that was in my first week as a dare. I love the black runs, french ones are def steeper than austria. One of my favorite blacks was in La Joue du loup whereby you HAD to straightline it from half way down to get up the hill at the end. I didnt realise this the first time and had to shamefully walk up the hill to the lift... but thereafter it was excellent fun - especially zooming past the walkers Very Happy

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As for the original question, mine was the East Wall on CairnGorm.

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First black I think was "the wall" in Avoriaz, did most of it with the back of me head (without a helmet).

Bikergirl, do you snowplough or have you progressed to any kind of parallel turns?

You know it makes sense.

1st black on board - can't remember

1st black on skis - doddle but it was really only a red, albeit dark red in places and didn't have any 'oh !"£"$$%%' pitches too it.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

first black run - dou des launches in courchevel, above la tania

pretty much just a red run with one steep part at the end.

great fun!

A snowHead

I don't actually remember my very first black as a specific achievement. I suspect it could have been the Swiss wall, as I mis-read the piste map. rolling eyes

I know that my home run that day was down the Coupe de Monde (which isn't really a black IMO) off Avoriaz down to Prodains, because by that time I reckoned it was no worse than some of the reds I'd been skiing. rolling eyes

A snowHead

My first black was black 38 in kitzbuhel, but not as you would have expected!
My dad, one of our mates and me had taken the hammenkam gondola up and had skied to the bottom of said black38 to get another lift. At this point the cloud came down and the lift was shut, with not runs going down we had a choice, either to wait in the restaurant till the lift had opened again (which we did not know how long it would take) or to walk out :S
I persuaded the two old boys to walk up 38 as it seemed a short root up to an area we could ski to resort from! We managed it in quite a quick time, i would have been faster but i slipped when i was halfway up and skidded all the way to the bottom, but still beat the two old boys! My dad has vowed never to walk more than 50m in ski boots again, and somehow has managed not to till this day!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

But i guess my first "black" was on a school trip to san secario where we skied the womens downhill run, which is not very steep, but at the time felt very steep and icy!

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I'm pretty new on this board - has there been a thread on the whole grading thing before? You know, blues that should be reds but they happen to be the only run to a particular restaurant, blacks which are really reds but the resort needs a few extra black runs (as andy said above).

Anyway, back OT, Bikergirl - if you pick a black which is wide, pisted and has a few flatter spots where you can take a breather and ski it in good conditions (ie nice snow and sunny) then it can be easier than a narrow scratchy blue run when it's snowing. I picked such a run the first time I did a proper black and only had a couple of oh sh&&*! moments. I remember feeling great after putting in a few good turns (in amongst the wimpy skiddy ones) and when I got to the bottom and looked back up the hill.

eta

Olympique in Les Contamines

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Remember my first black quite vividly - only two years ago. Bosses in Les Arcs (adjacent to the Derby), it can be easy or 'tricky' dependant upon conditions. There is one quite steep bit (lower of the two steeps) which can get very mogulled to the point where it's a series of ledges, with a fair drop to the next. Add a good lashing of morning ice and it can be a beginner's (certainly was mine) nightmare. Conversely, normally when it gets that bad, they'll bash it, as they did shortly after I went down it. It was then an absolute baby.... for a while.

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I don't remember my first ever 'fishal Black, but I do remember going back onto Blacks after not skiing for 10+ years.

Ecurueils (sp) above Plan Peisey. It was the first day of the trip, it was snowing hard, my googles were not demisting, and I was knackered. I managed to fall near the top, but just could not get my ski back on. I ended up sliding down quite some distance, to a flatter section, where I could get my ski back on.

IIRC I fell more on that one day, than all my other skiing combined. So much so, I 'won' resilient skiier of the week. Embarassed

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Cascades in Val Thorens. For those that don't know it, it's a dinky little bump run wink

During a lesson Shock

That was the first time I got to the bottom of a black run.

The first one that I skied was perhaps Combe de Caron (same resort) a few days later. The terror seemed to have passed me by after that first experience.

(Still haven't skied down Cascades despite many repeat descents. Hopefully this EoSB!)

After all it is free

I was having a lesson in Zermatt and had to meet the instructor at Furg. We got the lift up, the weather was terrible, no visibility and high winds and the gondola could barely stay straight. there was no one in it and they had to put extra blast in it to steady it. As soon as we got off it they closed it and all the other lifts so the only way down was a black from Furg to Furi. To be fair it was a very easy black, I think it's only a black as it gets very crowded and icy at the end of the day so it felt a bit like cheating.

Our Instructor was Scottish, as are my partner and I, and we were the only people out skiing, half way down the black we met another Scottish couple who lived in Zermatt so there we were, 5 Scottish people, half way up a mountain in blizzard, it was quite amusing Smile

I don't remember my "first" experience of any darker colors because I usually pick them myself when I feel I was ready. Smile

The best candidate is a short connector that you can see all the way. Second best is again a short one with a flatten bottom for run out if you can't QUITE control the speed as you like. ALWAYS do it ONLY on a day that's got some soft snow.

The worst candidate is when you "plan" your route and then found the piste you intended to come down on are closed! You're at a disadvantage because you're mentally trying to avoid this in the first place! (I swore I would never do early season again. That's when a lot of runs are either closed due to insufficient snow cover...)

Not as bad but not too good are the ones that look ok for a short stretch at the top then drop off like a wall! By the time you got to the drop off, it's like "Oh $hit!" but it's too late to turn back! Evil or Very Mad

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abc - good tips - plus it always helps if you can have a good look at the run from the comfort of a chairlift on the way up. Smile

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Your first black run!

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