 Poster: A snowHead
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Compared to some of the tales, my scariest moment is decidedly pedestrian but here goes..
After just 4 days on snow (including a whole 4 hours' tuition), the rest of the group I was with kindly took me touring from Morzine to Avoriaz and on to Les Linderets. Wonderful. Then a long chair ride to La Pointe des Mossettes on the Swiss border - great views of the mogul field and a fantastic view from the top. They threatened me with the famous Swiss Wall (the "Brown Run") but they were just kidding...phew! The beginning of the piste back to lunch in Lindarets was very narrow for someone with my experience and pretty steep with a huge drop-off immediately to the right. It looked like suicide to me but the crazy boarders seemed so keen to leap off the edge that some of them almost took me with them! Once we had negotiated that bit, the piste crossed another one at right-angles and it was like trying to cross the M25 on a Friday atfernoon! How I didn't kill myself and someone else, I'll never know!!
I survived to ski a 2nd trip - to Arc 2000 last year. The piste 'le Lac' was a bit steep / narrow when I stumbled across it as it was getting dark at the end of a long day's skiing but otherwise I was fine. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Everyone wil have loads of scary stories.
Mine is when I saw a Norwegian telemarker fall into a crevasse on the Envers du plan. He was taking a run up to get over this ice bridge and up the other side when he skied too close to the edge, it gave way and went over the lip. We could see him lying in a star shape trying to stop fallen further. The new fresh snow held him up and he was only about 10 feet or so down and had not slipped through the crevasse. We had to ski pass him because we could not afford to stand still on the ice-bridge and then had to walk back to try and help him from firmer ground. By this time his guide had secured a rope and hauled him out. The people on the ridge went another way after witnessing this. After the ordeal the telemarker was all laughing and jokes and no harm done
This was a wake-up call for me whe I realised a silly mistake like that could have all sorts of consequences.
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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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Red Leon, that run scared me on week 2 as well. My only recourse was to keep turning into the hill and coming to an abrupt halt. I'm OK now I've learned how to deal better with narrow tracks. Other than that it was pretty scary approaching a crest at near terminal velocity, not knowing what was on the other side. You know the sort of speed - faster than you've ever been, eyes streaming, still being passed by 10 year old French kids. In the end I decided on an elective wipe out, which is apparently called an "arret Briancon" as I recall. No harm done, and over the crest was...a 5 feet drop.
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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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Both of mine happened at Sauze within 10 minutes... back in my skiing days... firstly I was skiing through a narrow gap and passing a snake of young kids when suddenly two of them crossed skis and turned right into my path... I could have chosen to ski into them (at a fair pace) or turn immediately right... there was about a foot of space and then a low wooden fence rail at shin height and I just had time to think, "this is going to snap my shins" before I hit it hard. In the event, my boots just caught the fence first and I got slammed into the snow at speed, but survived... winded, but uninjured. The kids' ski instructor came over, I thought to help... but he just flung abuse at me for endangering his kids!
The second event was shortly after that when the adrenaline kicked in and I was tanking down a blue run... every time I was about to turn or slow down, someone set off from a group or cut across me and I was getting faster and faster. Then I got to a level where the piste turned to almost sheet ice and I was going faster than I'd ever been before, had fences and pylons around me, my thighs were screaming by now as I'd been virtually flat out, the piste became rutted AND icy and the end of the run was fast approaching with a lift queue looking rather concerned about my imminent arrival... Eventually in a "sh*t or bust" manouevre, I threw all my weight onto the edges of both skis, turning away from the lift queue and towards a custy bit of snow between pistes and just when I thought my thigh muscles were going to snap from the exertation of holding the chattering edges over the frozen ruts, I managed to get the speed down to a point where I could collapse gracefully into a quivering heap in the crusty off-piste bit... I got a small, nervous round of applause from a relieved looking lift queue as I lay there steaming in the snow...
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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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BUMP
As it's quiet on the boards at the mo and a lot of new  have joined I thought I'd re invent this one.
There's some really scary stuff on here already but feel free to add your moment for posterity
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Ordering a round of beers for everyone sat around at lunchtime at the event that must not be named, and realising that I had hardly any money.
Closely followed by the moment when I realised exactly whose jacket I had thrown up over. She may be small and gobby, but Dave Burt tells me that she packs a mighty punch!
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Oh, and getting one of Michelle's "hard stares" can be pretty scary as well. 
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Kramer, I can think of several that may now feel a need to post in this section 
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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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Verbier Jan 06
Ski off the back of Mont Fort, traverse immediately left and into reasonably narrow couloir. Drop in, seven/eight turns then traverse left again and hike up steep face for approx 200m vertical. You are then in a big bowl with a glacier at the bottom. You can see the snow bridges/crevasses along the bottom but also the tracks through them.
We assessed the conditions and thought it a moderate risk of avalanche, i.e. a possibility. Party of five, all experienced off-piste skiers/instructors/guides. All the other four have several seasons behind them, I have approx 40 weeks.
We discuss the plan, stay light on your feet, ski cut the face, look for an exit if the face goes, cut below the rock band 200m below and straight across the glacier sticking to the tracks to avoid the crevasses. First guy goes, everything looks and sounds OK, four or five turns, nice and smooth, good progress, then some clear scraping noises and we know the lower surface of the pitch is icy. He skis it well and second guy goes. Same again, grim noises lower down. Third and fourth guys go with similar results. They are all stopped 300m below me, and my best friend waves his pole to signal me to advance.
That moment there, just before I set off, is the most scared I have ever been on skis.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Kramer wrote: |
Ordering a round of beers for everyone sat around at lunchtime at the event that must not be named, and realising that I had hardly any money.
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hahaha  brilliant.. i can imagine the fear, especially if you had bigged it up a bit about getting the beers with some 'no no ill get these i insist'
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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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CANV CANVINGTON, it was quite amusing, and with multiple witnesses as well. That'll teach me to try and be Charlie Big Potatoes.
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1) Standing at the top of the ski jump in Wengen trying to pluck up courage to go - I did - eventually
2) having fallen and lost my skis, sliding down a steep, hard spring snow slope towards a small cliff, and not being able to slow down until the last minute
3) doing a downhill race
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You know it makes sense.
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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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easiski, I take it we're talking about the old Wengen jump up by the old cablecar station ?
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Poster: A snowHead
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GrahamN,
Do I recognise this gully..?? Off the back of Attaluce...??
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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JT, can never remember the names of anything there, but it's about the third one down of the series of couloirs to skiers right of the piste coming back down from Salati. I think it's about the first one that doesn't need a rope on the entry.
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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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This winter traversing between some rock bands on a snowboard. About 3 or 4 inches of beautiful fresh snow everywhere else. Hit a very slick windpolished slab beneath and lose it - with only one edge no way of recovering it. Quite scary heading toward the inevitable drop trying to prepare for a very bad landing (glad at this point to be wearing a back protector and helmet). Drop about 10 feet and land very comfortably in 3 foot drift, dig myself out and ride out now very happy.
I'd have fancied my chances arresting on skis but obviously as the Doug Coombs incident showed this isn't always possible.
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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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going up the t-bar of the tiger/glenshee, i heard a shout from above, was sorta day dreaming at the time. i noticed my friend/fellow instructor infront of me sorta move quick to his right, i managed to move but not enough . a skier was sliding down the icy uptrack on his back, totally out of control, he caught the tips of my blades, nocked me of the t-bar but nothing major. i was more interested in the guy on his back still going down gthe uptrack. myself and my friend must of had the same idea and set of in pursuit of this guy. he came to rest in a snow fence (to put it mildly). my friend went off for ski patrol and i gave first aid to him at the scene. pretty bad damage to his hand, he asked if his hand was ok, so me being the caring guy i am told him no mate its wrecked....lol. turned out he was from the same town as me, what a coincindence. he had got of the tbar at the top, his girlfriend had lost a ski near top of tbar so he decided to walk down the uptrack and retrieve it, what an idiot, dont think he would have tried that again. if i had not maged to move when i noticed what was happeneing he would have hit me full on my lower legs. he would of been stopped but i think both my legs would have broke. happy days
graeme
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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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Worst moment was falling down a tree hole in whistler. Thought tree skiing was great, but did not know that these small 5 to 10 foot trees were just the tops of 25 foot trees, all of a sudden snow collapsed and down i went. Got hauled out eventually by my mate using his old long skis, the only thing that would reach me. Lots of shouting don't take your skis off.....was not fun.
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