 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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youngeratheart, I know this is a really predictable SHs reply, but when I feel
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worried, angry, and dissappointed
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my answer is to go and get some lessons. Really, more challenging conditions do show up one's weaknesses. We hit some difficult conditions today and I felt very tentative. I knew what to do, and I did it, and it worked, but it wasn't easy.
You are very light. I can't comment on those specific skis, but maybe you could go a bit shorter? On the whole, though, it's probably lessons rather than different skis which will make the difference.
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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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short turn radius usually means you easier to turn but if the ski is beyond your skill level it will make problems.
I don't think alot of people buy or rent a ski that suits them "now". They buy or rent to the next level and usually suffer. Best get something that works now and you can find the limits of and master then buy or rent one that is the next level.
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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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a bit of a combination of quite likely not optimum ski, not great conditions, and the killer - the confidence
i think 99% or more of us on here have faced exactly teh conditiosn you describe - it is the confidence thing that can turn us from a confident skier to one who thinks they cant turn their ski on even the flattest slope. usually the latter occurs when it's consistently been white out conditions, but can just as easily happen in flat light. it happens when you feel you are holding everyone up, because you tend to rush or force yoru turns and that's the worst thing, as one of 2 things happens - you either end up over-skidding the back of your ski , or you end up over-edging the back of teh ski. Both of them throw your balance all over the place backwards and fowards, and accordingly your ski feels totally alien to your boot (possibly your description of yoru ski feeling "heavy").
What can i say other than it happen to all of us, even the confident skiers, once in a while. I have even seen it happen to one of the best skiers i have ever skiid with, to the point where she just gave up, sat on the slope and cried - and this frmo someone use dto skiing hard reds and blacks without a thought.
You must NOT worry about holding anyone up ! This is your holiday  Dont care what you look like, try and do what pam-w says - try to remember the simple drills you have been told. Go one turn to teh next , one turn to teh next, then 2 turns then 3 turns.
There is a HUGE parallel with golf. Skis and gofl clubs are designed to turn easily and hit the ball straight and long. It is only when the human being stops them doing what they were specifically designed to so that they dont. And in gofl, like skiing, the mind is an extremely powerful factor in what our muscles do.
Think happy thoughts, look at the mountains, even if it is a whiteout, just think how happy you are to be there rather than in the office, and before you knwo it you'll be back with the others at eth bottom with a smile on yoru face
Enjoy
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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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and talking about lessons, it's about time i took typing lessons
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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youngeratheart, I agree with the comments about lessons, to me the mark of a truly good skier is one whose skill and confidence remains consistent in all conditions. However, having said that I find that different skis really do affect me also. The year I went to Courmayeur I had Salomon Streetracer rental skis and I didn't get on with them at all. The previous season in Kitzbühel I was far less able-bodied yet I coped so much better due to confidence in the skis (they were Rossignol Zenith). A couple of demo sessions at UK fridges really opened my eyes as to how different skis could feel. Which led to me buying my own skis rather than taking pot luck with rental skis again. I don't have enough technical knowledge to know whether it's about stiffness, turn radius, edge angles or whatever, I just know what I like and what I don't like. Sounds like you might be the same! Good luck!
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youngeratheart, neither ski is particularly current. It may well be that the ones you just had were not well maintained. This can make an immense difference, particularly if the edges aren't correctly sharpened and angled.
Case in point: a friend once complained after having her skis serviced that they just weren't working "right". I hopped on them for a run and it was immediately obvious that the shop had done something relatively catastrophic to them.
Straight back to the shop, much embarrassment, fixed for the next morning and a free pair of rentals to get thought the day on.
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I hopped on them for a run and it was immediately obvious that the shop had done something relatively catastrophic to them.
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I suspect few of us have the "feel" to do that - I always feel I am not much cop at telling the difference between skis. I have 3 pairs - well 4, actually. I can ski on them all, but I'd have a job to describe the difference between them very clearly.
I've been feeling the last few days, on some very hard snow, that I really must sharpen my edges. But for most of us "intermediate" skiers, doing "intermediate skiing", what we have to do on the skis (in terms of fundamentals such as not letting the weight drop back, not letting the uphill hand drop back, etc etc) to get us through when things are difficult, are pretty constant between different sorts of skis (or if they're not, I don't have the skill to tell the difference).
Most of us, except the very experienced or the "naturals", need lessons from time to time, to recalibrate our basic techniques, and teach us a few new ones. A good private lesson, or two, during the week can make a huge difference.
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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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Thankyou all,
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you either end up over-skidding the back of your ski , or you end up over-edging the back of teh ski. Both of them throw your balance all over the place backwards and fowards, and accordingly your ski feels totally alien to your boot (possibly your description of yoru ski feeling "heavy").
What can i say other than it happen to all of us, even the confident skiers, once in a while. I have even seen it happen to one of the best skiers i have ever skiid with, to the point where she just gave up, sat on the slope and cried - and this frmo someone use dto skiing hard reds and blacks without a thought.
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This in particular sounds exactly how my day went. I only ski blacks when the conditions are good but I had never freaked out on blues and reds before.
sev112, dont worry about the typing I am dyslexic anyway, looks fine to me.
One of the Chalet staff said they were not good edges but personally I think he was just consoling me.
I had a late flight on sat so I skiied in the sunshine on the softer pistes untill it went slush and stangely my thoughts had got to next year thinking I should book the cheapest resort I can find and doing a weeks intensive lessons. The heart says go back to Morgins, loving it there and the guiding is so good.
Thanks again
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pam w, maybe that came across the wrong way. Not suggesting that lessons aren't always a good idea but...
My friend generally claims that she couldn't tell one ski from another except that they're sometimes different colours...
This time she just coulnd't ski on them, and it was definitely a tune issue. Just a thought.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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under a new name, I'm sure that someone better than I could ski on mine and give me some useful tips about how to improve them (we do our own, but after my "best" ones went into the local shop last year, I wasn't actually particularly thrilled with the result). What had the shop done so wrong to your friend's skis?
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skiied in the sunshine on the softer pistes untill it went slush
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mmm. skied some very nice slush today, along with just about everything else. Nicest surface in the past few days with almost an entire run of that "sugar" snow. Super, and my not very sharp edges didn't matter.
youngeratheart, there are some great ski clinics around, but a "week of intensive lessons" might be a bit much. Half a day of lessons is more than enough, and a few days off to practice what you are learning is good, too.
Could you get up to some of the sessions at Hemel? It's a long way from West Sussex, though (I did it once from home, but it's too far for regular sessions, sadly, as they are very good).
One advantage of hiring skis is being able to change them - did you try anything else?
But don't underestimate the huge impact of conditions - there has been some difficult snow around, no doubt about that.
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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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Do you have your own boots or do you hire them? Sometimes badly fitting boots can cause skiing to go pearshaped. My sis last year couldnt figure out why her skiing was so bad in comparison to previously and to rest of group, ended up one day on ground in tears too scared to continue...turned out new boots (purchased in states) were too big mixup over sizes and moulded inner had tricked her into thinkin they fitted. Took clever guy in skishop in Tahoe to figure it out later in season.
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pam w, I don't actually know, (I don't know enough about machine based servicing to guess too closely) but it looked liked they'd started to grind the bases (they had a very interesting hexagonal pattern on them) and them stopped work.
So the skis wouldn't run and the edges were knackered. Really most unpleasant.
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You know it makes sense.
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snowmam, Hi yes I was in new boots however they are a size and a half smaller than my old ones and I had a custom footbed made in the resort. They were comfortable befor I put the footbeds in but they were so highly recommended I decided to go for it. I am very happy with them. So I really hope thats not it in my case also I was doing fine till it got icey.
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FAQ
. Thankfully there was only one really icey day.
