 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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From a standstill position, throw yourself down a few times. Ideally on snow rather than on the ground - soft snow, hard snow, etc. See how it feels. Then do it while skiing - at least to one side, that shouldn't hurt much.
Getting used to the sensation of falling and on the impact will make you less fearful. We're afraid of the unknown most of all. I've got a friend who's an excellent skier but bottles up frequently as he's too afraid of falling - whereas I just go for it and accept the odd fall (which doesn't after all happen too often).
Also, a few controlled falls will help your body learn how to cope with a fall, slow down subsequent movement, etc.
(But do try not to stop your fall with an outstretched arm...it can break it. Accept the fall, try to fall "softly" and maybe to roll if possible).
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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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| Quote: |
Has this happened to anyone else before?
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v1cky24, rest assured it's happened to loads of people - probably most of us. I think the best answer is to work carefully on basic technique so that you can feel increasingly in control all the time - most of us (especially girlies maybe) have to feel in control before we can go fast. the daft lads who go fast despite being rubbish skiers scare me.......
conditions make a huge difference too - nice visibility, nice soft and well groomed snow, is one thing. Bad vis and difficult snow can really sap your confidence.
Also, going fast isn't the be-all and end-all. I've been skiing with my brother in law this morning - he's not skied for a couple of years, and is quite nervous. We had a lovely slow, gentle, morning with beautiful conditions. I really enjoyed it - and used the opportunity to practice the kind of exercises (skiing on one leg etc) which help to expand my skills and ability to cope with speed/bad conditions.
Also, when you ski a bit slower, you spend a much smaller proportion of your day on lifts!!
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Just make a conscious decision to just sod it and gun it down a decent slope. As long as you don't fall on that one, you'll build back up to going quick again. At least that's what I do, but then I don't often go for it enough to fall over, I'm happy cruising about not pushing it.
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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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v1cky24, I do understand where you are coming from. I always ski well within my limits in terms of choice of piste and speed, purely because the idea of falling over does not appeal. It doesn't matter how soft the snow, these old bones just don't bend so well!
What pam w say is true, it's really not about going fast for me. It's about enjoying myself, at my own pace and within my own limits. I do sometimes feel pressured by some of my ski buddies to attempt what looks to me like a nasty black, but I stick to my guns.
At your level, I would think it better to concentrate on gaining confidence and control on slopes you feel happier with, before moving on to more challenging slopes.
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I seemed to keep tripping myself up. The instructor didn't give much feedback other than I was 'catching an edge' which doesn't mean too much to me. I didn't fall over on the last few days but I'm sure that was because of me being a wuss.
I don't think it helped having OH and his 2 friends stood at the bottom shouting at me to come down either.
pam w, I think you're right about the control thing too.
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Full respect for anyone who wants to avoid falling entirely, and / or to ski leisurely, enjoying their time on the mountain.
The OP however asked how to go faster and get his balls back. (I say "his" given the phrasing, though the username suggests a lady). I think that striving to always be in control is a valid path to that goal but not the fastest. (You'll get there, but you'll need to improve a lot). Being at ease with falling (and generally with losing control*) is a quicker way to reduce fear.
*Please note I'm not advocating skiing out of control on busy pistes. In fact, being comfortable with falling can avoid some collisions.
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v1cky24, Of course pam w, is right about the control thing, for me its 100% about control, speed if I have any is just a by product.
I'm at the point of having just gained some confidence, but it wouldn't take long to knock it out of me. However, I grew up on horses and falling off was part of the deal. I think there is a lot to be said about what riders are told - that is to get back in the saddle and go again if you possibly can. You sound as though this is what you did, as I did when I took a hefty tumble in VT last year. If its any help I was quite wary for a couple of days and if you did this at the end of your holiday you may not have had much more time left than that to recover. However, my confidence did recover and I ended up sking runs as difficult as I had prior to that incident. Maybe you should try a couple of sessions in the controlled environment of the snow domes to find the fun in it again. I find they generally feel quite 'safe' places to be. Maybe come to a SH session at HH if you can and spend an hour having fun with one of the SH's instruction groups you might find that the diversion of trying some fun drills and thinking about solely delivering on the drill doesn't allow your mind to wander onto the 'fear' side of things. I wouldn't worry about the speed I think any of degree of speed you might feel you need will creep back once the confidence kicks in again.
The other thing that be worth thinking about is I notice that it was your 2nd trip. I found my 2nd trip, like the 2nd day of any holiday was the worst I ever did skiing. I think because we are bulled up with 1st time sucess (or even 1st day success), we let out guard down and think we can still do it and come unstuck. I am sure next time you will be OK esp. if you can get the odd ski day by yourself at a snow dome to recover some personal confidence without the boys yelling at you 
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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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| horizon wrote: |
The OP however asked how to go faster and get his balls back. (I say "his" given the phrasing, though the username suggests a lady). |
Haha.
Sorry - it's a phrase that was used several times by my husband to me on holiday. I guess it's stuck.
Just to clarify.. I am a lady. 
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v1cky24,
Lots of sensible advice in teh responses here - but not many people can make their body do what they think they were told to do by eth instructor to "remain in control" when there is a whole load of adrenaline and other fear chemicals rushing around your body.
Have been tehre several tiems - its amazing that you can get to being quite a good skier , and yet still have these. And its usually not a fear of falling that i suffer fronm - i think in teh last 3 or 4 trips i haven't fallen on piste ( an occasional face plant in soft snow excepted) ; but for some reason yoru technique seems to stop working and suddelnly you feel less in control. That is what i get every few trips or so..
I tend to find that what has caused this is usually me trying to force the ski, so that it doesnt work/turn/bite as it is designed to - i am getting in the way of teh ski, if you like
I've found a way that works for me :
1) i recognise that these feelings come every so often
2) i remember taht i have got through them several times before and gone on to be a better skier
3) as a result i dont panic or worry too much about it
4) i recoginse that when these feelings happen it usually makes me sit back into a defensive posture, which makes things worse as you cant trun/carve very well
5) so (and this works for me but maybe not everyone) - i point my skis down the fall-line, reach down the hill with my hands , get my weight forward, set the ski on edge and let the ski turn for me.
A few turns and my confidence comes back.
Usually get a little bit of this symptom later on in eth day when tired, (that nasty "one more run" syndrome!) .
Positive thinking 
Best of luck
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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v1cky24, when you do get your balls back please throw them hard at the OH and his mates won't you?
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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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I agree which what Megamum and pam w are saying.
I am definitely in the 'I need to be in control' camp before pushing myself to try something harder. Basically, I like to learn something, practice until I think I have 'got it', before trying something new. The same is true with speed. I stick to a comfortable speed for me, and after many runs at that speed, only then would I think about maybe pushing up a gear, on a quiet, not too intimidating piste. I have some friends who learned to ski the same time as me, and on their second week of skiing they were skiing blacks and knee deep powder off piste. They were not always in control, they fell a lot, and they tend to ski faster than me, so on paper they might seem like the better skier. On my second week skiing I stuck to blues and reds and practiced my technique. After 2 weeks, my skiing skills were definitely more polished (relatively speaking of course, I am no where near an accomplished skier) than my friend's, who still cannot ski full parallel turns without 'stepping' the inside ski round.
The second week ski holiday, I would say that this was my worst week (not that I have done many). After my first week I was comfortable on most reds although I know my technique could be better. After a year of little skiing, I went on my second holiday, expecting to pick up where I left off. In reality, it took me a couple of days to find my ski legs again, and the reds looked intimidating. I think I fell over much more than on my first week, as I would attempt a run thinking I could handle it, but being so rusty meant I made lots of mistakes. On my third week, things picked up again, as I didnt have as high expectations of myself.
It also sounds like you didn't have the most helpful of instructors. I would suggest that a good instructor would definitely know how to break through the fear.
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You know it makes sense.
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pam w, It's funny how you've picked up on the one leg thing. At HH rob@rar got me doing turns on one leg (lifting the outside one on the turn). After practising I was so chuffed when it clicked and made, what I thought was a good fist of the exercise. I find that I now gaining immense satisfaction out of doing the skiing technically as well as I can. I got on the 170's at Chil factore the other week and found their radius, got them on edge, found myself thinking about balance over the centre of the skis (we'd done that with Spyderman the other month) and ended up doing what (to me at least) 'felt' some very sound skiing (though god knows whether an onlooker would have agreed). I found that far more satisfying than just wanting to zoom around as quick as I could. v1cky24, Tell those men that speed is like size, its not a factor of how big/fast things are its what you do with it/how wisely you use it that counts.
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Thu 7-01-10 17:24; 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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| Quote: |
Tell those men that speed is like size, its not a factor of how big/fast things are its what you with it/how wisely you use it that counts.
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 How true!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Remember your limitations and consider the conditions. I can always ski way better early in the day before tiredness sets in during the afternoon. Try to go faster when light conditions are good and of course before the pistes are too busy. Once you have had a good couple of runs you will rediscover your confidence.
Also I found that decent skis help a lot. On my first volkl skis I often found I too caught an edge, and fell more than I expected, particularly if the pistes were not groomed corduroy. Since I got my rossi bandits, I can't remember falling in the last 3 ski trips.
Finally for a confidence boost a shorter private lesson with a good instructor was brilliant for my wife after she lost her nerve a couple of years ago. A morning one to one with a sympathetic and encouraging teacher had amazing results and my wife was quickly back on form.
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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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The reason I don't like to fall any more is because I can't get up again! Not as young and fit as I used to be!! I also think that you become far more cautious when you get older and have children.. Mine certainly put me to shame and can get down any slope faster/better than I can now!
Karen
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I've not had a major crash skiing - although my most painful fall to date was on a very greeny blue when I wasn't paying enough attention and caught an edge which hurt. It didn't affect my confidence as I knew what I'd done wrong, mentally debating whether to try a relatively quick run to try and reach the front de neige, or just practice some short turns and take another run while actually moving wasn't sensible. I also know that when paying attention I can feel an edge start to "catch" and can unweight the ski so I don't trip over it - something I couldn't do before. If I am not too tense through my legs, I can feel the slightly greater tension on the ski that is starting to catch before it actually does if that makes any sense.
I do know where you are coming from in confidence though. When I started skiing (in summer) I was terrified of going "fast" and being out of control, to the point that I defined "too fast" as somewhere around walking pace. It was hard work skiing, as I was determined to turn almost up hill to prove that I could stop. I only managed to snap out of that mode when there was a thunderstorm when I was pretty well at the top of the glacier. I was more scared of the thunderstorm than I was of going a reasonable speed and I didn't crash or die in the process, so I broke my fear that way. Another thing that helped me have the confidence to get down my first black was the fear of missing the last lift home and being left with either a hotel bill or a massive taxi fare. Suddenly I could turn instead of sideslipping at about 0.5 mph.
I think that means that a combination of working on trying to feel the skis on the snow and how they were behaving on a nice smooth easy (for me) piste and having an external stimulus (external to instructor/partner) to focus the mind helped me lose my fear of speed. Just wish there was a solution to the irrational fear of edges, even where the edge leads to a marked piste I could ski on without major difficulty!
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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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Mine certainly put me to shame and can get down any slope faster/better than I can now!
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I'm still better than 2 out of 3 of mine.  Except on bumps. Those young knees!
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carettam,
Yes and all those people at FIS agree - look how many international skiing competitions are judged on style these days
(oh ok a few snowboarding and freestyle comps ....)
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v1cky24, pam w is directing you down the right road. Going back to square one and building your skills will restore your confidence. Confidence in your foundation skills will bring back your skiing speed without even focusing on it. If speed is your focus, you'll always be teetering on the precipice of your comfort boundary, and under stress. Rather, focus on such things as refining your steering, turn shape and balance skills on terrain you find comfortable. As those skills get expanded and embedded you can head up to more challenging terrain, take your skills with you, and experience similar levels of confidence. You'll be able to choose faster lines and edging applications, comfortable in the knowledge that you have the ability to quickly tone down that speed, or change your path of travel, anytime you desire.
Find a quality instructor who focuses on skill building, not on just dragging you around to terrain that's over your head.
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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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Thanks for all of the advice, I appreciate it.
The instructor was generally very helpful and showed us many different drills, he didn't seem to have an answer as to why I kept falling over though which was frustrating. I guess he couldn't be looking at me all of the time.
The most frustrating part was that I couldn't understand why I was tripping over.
I have a fear of that scraping sound that your skis make when they go over icy/packed patches too. That made me panic as well (and hence back to sideslipping).
Now - next question. How do I get some more cash so I can have another trip and practise more?
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deleted - joke didn't work
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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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v1cky24, "catching an edge" simply means that the ski has dug into the snow and as a result has either been deflected (thrown) or has stopped suddenly, whilst you continue to move. If you are "catching edges" the question is which ski is catching and at what point in your turn is it doing so?
If you are tripping yourself up that sounds more like you are not turning/steering/rotating whatever you like to call it your inside ski - which is kinda important Think about walking and deciding to turn - if you don't move the inside foot out of the way you are unlikely to get very far. A common reason for not turning the inside ski is that you're still standing on it, does that ring any bells?
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You know it makes sense.
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| v1cky24 wrote: |
According the instructor I was nailing the turns and doing everything right? I don't know.  clearly something was going wrong. It just felt like I was tripping up somehow, I don't think the skis were crossing though. |
Again, I'm no expert, but have been skiing for a while and I'd second lots of the advice given above.
My own views:
- sounds obvious, but lots of it is about confidence/relaxation/stress - the more I worry the more tense I am the less able my body is to deal with mishaps such as caught edges, if the body is more "relaxed" then it seems to handle things much better on my behalf
- get my legs used to things like being on one ski (see ref to exercise above) then when an edge catches the body is more able/happy to deal with the situation by going to one legged ski mode while brain engages and gets the other leg back to where it should be, resolving situation without a fall (albeit with a significant wobble most of the time)
- vary my skiing, sometimes try to push a bit more speed (not reckless, just learn limits when on terrain that I am comfortable with) other times concentrate on different things such as short turns, different/difficult terrain, sometimes just potter and enjoy the scenery, it all ends up building confidence
- while relaxed, do concentrate, as otherwise I have a wonderful habit of falling over when going quite slowly and sort of doing a carved turn but not concentrating on it
- as others have said, year 2 seems to be a bad time for many, a bit like the infamous second album syndrome, just look forward to year 3 and beyond!
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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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v1cky24, making a blind guess, you were probably not unweighting one ski sufficiently when turning, meaning that one ski was going in one direction, the other in another, and you in a third! This could fundamentally be because you were nervous about not having both feet on the ground, for security/stability/whatever. There are loads of drills that can sort this, so don't worry.
The scrapy icey sound also gives my OH the willies, to the point of paralysis sometimes (especially if she thinks it's an out-of-control boarder that's causing it) but this is really just a diversion. As FastMan says, if you get your foundation skills sorted, you won't even think about it.
(Before the pros shoot me down about equal weighting, she's a 2-week skier so I'm guessing not at parallel carving yet).
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Poster: A snowHead
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v1cky24, I was teasing about Horizon's joke. Didn't actually see what he put
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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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SteveM, I'm wondering if the concentration was an issue? The falls seemed to happen on the easier graded runs and mostly towards the end of the day. Fatigue could have been an issue possibly.
andyph, I'm skiing parallel now and practised many drills skiing and lifting inside leg through turns, getting skis more on edge through turns, pole planting etc I was skiing moguls by the third day (note - none of my falls were on the black mogul runs I mention - they were all on blue/green groomed runs).
horizon, haha - I may consider it if my no's don't come up tomorrow.
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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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v1cky24, if your instructor was confident that your style was essentially "good" and you didn't have these problems on your first week - in fact you sound to me as though you are actually relatively confident and not afraid to try more challenging conditions - well done you! 
Have you considered having your boots looked at? Have you been in rentals or are they your own boots? If you've been in rentals, how about considering biting the bullet and investing in a pair of your own? At your level you don't need to be going for a ridiculously tight fit - but rather a comfort one. If you're in boots which are not fitting or the canting just isn't right for you then it's very easy to catch an edge. If you're in your own boots - how/when did you get them fitted? Can you take them back and get them tweaked?
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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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v1cky24, ah then maybe all you are doing is getting a bit "lazy" towards the end of the day and allowing the fronts of the skis to "wander". Not pressuring the skis enough and not keeping them sufficiently under "foot directional" control can easily lead to the situation you describe on blue and green runs.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Alexandra, I had wondered if it was my boots. I bought my own pair and had them fitted to my feet (painful for a few days but no problems after that)
I used to be a really confident, try anything type of person until I fell over. Now I will force myself to go down the harder runs but can't relax enough to ski them properly if you like. I end up stopping and side slipping rather than attcking the slope and getting on with it.
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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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v1cky24, Apparently so - although I'm not prepared to let that happen hence I'm squeezing them in to stilettos for as long as is humanely possible!
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Alexandra, Congrats!
One more reason for me not to reproduce... haha
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FAQ
I'm sure it didn't help at all. Tell them to sod off, and have some lessons on your own, preferably with a better instructor - the one you just had sounds fairly rubbish.
will be able to give details if you need them at this stage.
