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Skis v MTB

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
On a weekend trip last month I looked down a bit of rock called "the slab" in a marked forest track near Dumfries and thought - I'd ski that (ok, some decent snow cover required) but no way would I ride down it....

Now I think I'm a better skier that MTBer so I'm not the best test so for you dual skilled expert- at-both and generally speaking, all other things being equal, would you always ski something that you wouldn't bike down?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I've sometimes looked at a nice big football pitch and thought.... 'yeah... i'd swim that'

2 differetn sports, 2 different skill sets, 2 different sets of equipment.... the only bit really in common is a gradual learning process and a mountain!
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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?
I'll ski much steeper things than I'll ride (although I've ridden The Slab @ Dalbeattie), but I'll cycle much narrower trails than I'd ski down.
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Ski down it, or go in to a tucked schuss with the intention of putting in a wicked turn at the end? Can't really side-slip a bike. It's aim, go for it. Or take chicken run.

Got Dalbeattie and K-tree (think there's a slab there too?) pencilled in for later this year. Then I'll be able to tell you if i'd ski it.

Got MTB trails here that I'd never (be able to) ski.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
flangesax wrote:
I've sometimes looked at a nice big football pitch and thought.... 'yeah... i'd swim that'
Was you the sub then?

flangesax wrote:
2 differetn sports, 2 different skill sets, 2 different sets of equipment.... the only bit really in common is a gradual learning process and a mountain!
and using the same lifts, going down and wiping out, grin on face at the end of a good run (or skids marks). Skills wise i'd say balance, flexible legs, relaxing and a go for it attitude, taking air is easy for both, landing is not. Maybe one day we should ski the Dachstein in the morning, mtb the Planai in the the afternoon?
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I've walked down the Pierre a Ric at Grand Montets in summer - its terrifying enough on foot let alone bike. A decade or so ago I mountain biked at various US East |COast resorts generally rated as pretty flat and in no way was I going near any fall line runs. That said my aggressive biking career came to an end after a serious accident and some of the "manufactured" trails I've seen since also put the willies up me.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Many things at Cannock I wouldn't consider riding a bike off e.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/68009943@N00/5592014620/ no worries on a board. But then again I'm rubbish at riding a bike whereas I can make a passable stab at riding a board.
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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!
I'll ski stuff that I wouldn't want to walk/climb up/down. I've also happily kayaked off a waterfall that I was far too terrified to jump off (even though in that particular case it was probably more dangerous in the kayak). I get weird fears about heights though.
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Unlike Swirly, I'm rubbish at riding a board, but can make a passable stab at riding a bike. Still sure there's lines I'd prefer to board down. I want to go somewhere that I know really well from biking and put theories to the test. I did try a few routes in the Portes du Soleil last year, but it was only my third week on a board, so it didn't go so well.....

Also, in relation to fatbob's comment, I will happily ride a bike down plenty of stuff I wouldn't really want to walk down.
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Just be aware that ski slopes in the summer can have drainage channels which long grass can hide (I only realized on my first run down Embarassed ).
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nbt wrote:
I'll ski much steeper things than I'll ride .... ...... but I'll cycle much narrower trails than I'd ski down.


+1
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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.
DB wrote:
Just be aware that ski slopes in the summer can have drainage channels which long grass can hide (I only realized on my first run down Embarassed ).
Discovered that only yesterday when flying down the so-called rookie trail, would have been safer on the pro trail, at least no hidden drainage ditches.
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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
Both different skill sets and individual comfort zones in a given sport? There are mountain bikers who think skiers are nuts for skiing the Nevis Range World Cup Downhill, I'm perfectly happy to ski it - though some of the narrows in the trees where you can't put down turns and you simply have to ride the berms to stay out of the trees, take the kickers/table tops and carry the speed till an opening appears means it's no doddle on skis either, but I can't imagine myself taking a bike down there and reaching the bottom alive!





How it should be done on a bike!


http://youtube.com/v/G9ARlglIUTE
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Shocked that looks absolutely petrifying, but I think it would be fine on skis, though it's hard to judge the gradient. How fast is he going?
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
As a former instructor I look at some gullys and think yep I could do that if it was full of water and then remember I haven't been out in a Kayak for some 30 years now Toofy Grin
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Winterhighland,
That Greg Minnaar is just a bit mad. I'd be scared to death just coming down that on a bike, but at that speed Shocked

After saying that He didn't come off, so therefore He was in control. Whats almost as amazing as Greg's ability as a rider, is that the bike is still in one piece at the bottom.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Fortwilliam - pretty terrifying - but rideable by mere mortals in the same way that a downhill ski course would be skiable - just add a few minutes! Those pro bikers are every bit as mad as the skiers. All on the ragged edge of control and taking lines that most would never dream of or be capable of. Skills are different but attitude is the same. You need to want to scare yourself a little bit - or a whole lot! When everything is going right (in the zone?) then skiing and MTB feel just the same - pure magic!

BTW, In Kirroughtree there is a short, near verticle slab about 8ft that is ok as it has a nice transition. But then there is 'the shute'!near the top of the black loop before the road. I'd ski it no problem but wouldnt ride it - because i perceive the consequences of falling off the bike to be greater.
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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?
I think you inherently have more control of your speed and direction on skis. When riding serious steeps on a mountain bike you have to commit 100% and there is simply no option of stopping or even slowing down significantly - even on a gradient that you could comfortably ski down in full control. Snow and skis basically offer a lot more grip than a bike
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Kel, that's probably about 10% slower than race speed. Good vid, though.

Getting back to the OP, I've been giving this a bit more thought.

I've been riding bikes since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. My favourite kind of riding will generally involve trees. Gradient isn't necessarily important, and neither is speed (though a certain amount of both are needed, and generally the more the better,) but it's got to be tight and technical. It was the realisation that something similar is possible on snow that made me take up boarding.

My boarding is nowhere near the standard of my mountain biking, but if it ever is, I hope I'll be able to enjoy steeper and tighter lines than are even possible on a bike. As an example, the world cup mtb course at Champery has taken a lot of human interference to make it possible to ride just one route from the top of the woods to the bottom (even then, it's a course that they don't feel able to open to the public, and one I'd never even consider riding in the wet.) However, I'd like to think I could find a huge variety of lines down on a board. That said, I wouldn't be likely to chose the mtb course. Probably too fast on the straights, making it impossible to make it round the corners; I'd be looking for more turns. Horses for courses.....
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Hang on a minute, I've thought about it a bit more. If we're talking about straight lines, I'd probably ride much steeper gradients on a bike than are possible on boards or skis, as long as there's a decent transition. It's all about centre of gravity in relation to the points of contact with the ground, after all. As long as the surface is smooth, of course.

On reflection, this is a silly thread. I'm going to go and talk about electric showers, or mass murderers' hairstyles, or something....
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Hang on another minute. Riding vertical surfaces is perfectly possible on either in the park. Let's forget I ever said anything.
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harrisontherabbit, I'd go over the bars (and have in practice many times) on a bike long before I'd go over the tips of my skis on a super steep gradient. No question.
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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!
uktrailmonster, surely only if your front wheel hit something, or your weight distribution was way off. You'd be just as likely to crash if the tips of your skis hit a rock or the upside of a compression, wouldn't you? It's just that they tend not to, what with all that white fluffy stuff.
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harrisontherabbit, Well even on a relatively (by skiing standards) shallow slope you have to be hanging right off the back of your bike to stay balanced - obviously less so on a pure DH bike with a super slack head angle and massive forks. But on skis you can lean as far forward as you like without any chance of going over.

The bottom line is that I can ski down gradients that I would not go anywhere near on my mtb. I think the same is true at a professional level. You really don't see guys mountain biking down the equivalent of Alaskan spines.
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harrisontherabbit wrote:
uktrailmonster, surely only if your front wheel hit something, or your weight distribution was way off. You'd be just as likely to crash if the tips of your skis hit a rock or the upside of a compression, wouldn't you? It's just that they tend not to, what with all that white fluffy stuff.

Unless the ground is super smooth like in a velodrome, the first dip or bump is going to send you over the bar!

A 160cm long ski will always have an advantage over a 120cm wheel base bike in the for-aft balance. Couple with the much lower height over the ski vs height over the wheel, no contest!
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Whether its been said or not, i don't know, it should have been but there was too much to read. The only advantage a bike has over skis in difficult terrain is the ability to control speed whilst going on a straight line. In any other situation other than a super narrow section, skis will always be able take on gnarlier lines than bikes.
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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.
What about drop offs? Is it easier to drop on ski or bike? (or I should say "land")
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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
I'm more comfortable dropping things on skis but i think i have actually dropped bigger on a bike come to think of it. Certainly the biggest drops on skis are significantly bigger than the biggest on bikes.

This is a pretty good example of about as close as you can get to big mountain skiing on a bike


http://youtube.com/v/yoAy2NqNq5g

Bearing in mind that those guys are at the top of the game and some of that stuff that is pretty nuts on a bike, really wouldn't be that hard on skis
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
pam w, Normal people manage to get down that course in around 10-15 minutes. Minnaar and the other downhill racers do it in around 4-5 minutes. What amazed me is that he managed a full running commentary and was only out of breath after the motorway (the long peddley bit at the end).
kewhoward, You didn't ride the "slab" MTFU Madeye-Smiley , it's only a hill, and amazingly grippy. Why would you peddle that far and not do the main feature Puzzled
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
dropped a few things on my bikes over the years Cool







Mountain biking far more injuries than snow....
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
No contest you can always do bigger drops, and steeper slopes on skis.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I've just remembered two other things that bikes do better than skis, tight transition take offs and rhythm sets.
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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?
Ski what I couldn't/wouldn't ride. But then the consequences of a fall are generally a lot less when skiing.
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norris, Like the last one, chicksands. My local
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
The slabs easy..just point and go..its the short qualifier before the slab that I had problems with.

I've skied stuff i'd not do on a bike, maybe becausee i don't have the bike skills or because, in steep and narrow I can still turn the skies on snow whereas you'd never get the bike to do without loosing the front wheel. PLus i seem to knacker rear wheels far more then i do skis.
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ricfrench,

Quote:

kewhoward, You didn't ride the "slab" MTFU



Had to look up MTFU to see what it meant. Clearly you think I'm on the wrong forum - as a 50 plus recreational skier and someone who hadn't tried mountain biking before I have no business trying to engage with elite athletes such as yourself.

I thought it was an interesting topic - as have a few people who have replied.

Save the insults please.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Another sense of humour failier. Never mind.
At 43 I'm no spring chicken, but I'll have a go. Sometimes it hurts, more often than not it doesn't.
You never know until you try it, you may very well surprise your self, and possibly quite enjoy the adrenaline buzz.
BTW stop taking things so seriously, smilies are used when things are written in a Tongue in cheek manner.
'kin 'ell
Shocked
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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!
Quote:

Another sense of humour failier. Never mind.

Another spellcheck / education failure. Never mind. I blame it on overuse of texting acronyms.

But thanks for the advice anyway . I'll bear it in mind when I next contemplate my inability to MTFU.
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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.
kewhoward wrote:
Quote:

Another sense of humour failier. Never mind.

Another spellcheck / education failure. Never mind. I blame it on overuse of texting acronyms.

But thanks for the advice anyway . I'll bear it in mind when I next contemplate my inability to MTFU.


lol
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kewhoward, I blame fat fingers on an iPhone wink
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