Are YOU a "Crafty" skier??

A snowHead

Some of you may recall the Sunday Times book "We learned to ski" of around 1970's vintage.

A charming but surprisingly useful chapter concerned "Snowcraft" - identifying and using the terrain to pick the best conditions/situations. For example, not skiing down the tree shaded path because it might be icier than the sunny piste.

So, the question remains, "Are you a crafty skier?"

A snowHead

It's something I consider, yes. A large part of skiing gracefully is reading the conditions and making your turns at the right point, choosing your path to give yourself the most control.

For instance, I'll often choose a black rather than a blue at the end of the day becase there'll be less people on it heading for home, and blacks are often in better conditoin than blues as they have less traffic - the obvious exception being when pistes should be graded lower but as left unpisted and become heavily mogulled

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nbt, Day to day, definitely. The last coaching I took though, advised picking out all the crud, ice, bumps etc and skiing it. Some days better than others wink

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I would say yes - I ski the sun in the morning, and the shade in the afternoon.
And in flat light, I head for the trees at the side of a run, or anything that will help with definition.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Yes I am, but in reference to the line

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I think all good skiers have some kind of it

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D G Orf, You are just being picky! Here's me trying to recall their examples after a goodly long time. I shall have a look at the book at the weekend.

Chris Brookes, I think I might have to politely disagree, although of course, it depends, on your definition of 'good'. I did a few seasons as a rep/"guide" and "led" a fair few 'good' skiers who wouldn't have recognised snowcraft if it jumped up and bit them.

After all it is free

I can be a crafty skier. Sometimes I go for a quick ski at MK and don't tell Mrs Slikedges I've been. Little Angel

David Murdoch, Sometimes you meet very experienced skiers who when you ski with them only seem to know one turn type/radius. It's usually short to medium and they just do that down the mountain regardless of pitch, cant, snow or shade. Takes skill of course but no ski craft there!

David Murdoch, rep or guide.....huge difference wink

I havent done the 'rep' thing so wouldnt know about every skier but my comment was on people i have skied with (a fair few) who i found all had some form of savvy about them. We must ski in different circles Laughing

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Anyone who has ever ski guided or instructed becomes a 'crafty skier' because you don't want to expend too much energy, you need to know where all the best stops are, how to select the terrain that suits your group or clients. Especially true in bad weather!

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David@traxvax, Oh very true, I recall skiing with a SCGB rep in white out conditions with arround 30 to 50 cm of fresh snow on the ground, the rep who was fairly new to the area decided we were all going to ski what's normally a very nice area in good conditions, I told them it was going to be a nightmare but as per the norm the rep thought they knew best Twisted Evil

By the time we all got to the bottom I was one of just two people in the group who hadn't fallen over Laughing

After that little incident the rep decided to listen to well meant advice wink

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D G Orf, was it in Wengen, by any chance? Laughing

Wear The Fox Hat, might have been, in the punchbowl below Eigergletscher perhaps Shocked

You know it makes sense.

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

Chris Brookes, yes, huge difference! You'll note I used "guide" in inverted commas as I think it's a somewhat inappropriate word for simply leading groups of chalet guests around an area. The french word "accompagnateur" is better IMO but harder to type (and is French and probably not spelled that way). Maybe I should just have left it at Rep a la SCGB.

Most good skiers I ski with socially know what they're up to, pretty much. But not everyone...some just follow wherever they're led. Honest, I have one friend who's a good skier, but wouldn't know where to go if abandoned in any of the resorts that she's skied in a lot. She just skis along paying attention to the fun, the scenery, the skiing, etc. and not really very much to direction, location or anything dull like that.

David@traxvax, oh, absolutely for sure. And you want to always be able to find a little stash of fine snow even when it's been clear sunshine for 6 weeks...

One becomes very crafty indeed. wink

D G Orf, 30-50cm fresh? You sure the rep wasn't just pleasing his or her self? Twisted Evil

A snowHead

David Murdoch, Does your female friend tend to visit small resorts to save getting lost then.. Laughing

D G Orf, least the Wengen SCGB had people to ski with. The SCGB reps in Murren doesnt get much of a crowd now a days.

A snowHead

David Murdoch, there was 30-50cm of fresh powder everywhere (well almost) that day, unfortunately the Rep picked the second worst place in the imediate area to go play, the worst being the Lauberhorn, once we got down to the tree line things were great but there were easier ways of getting down than the one we used, it took us about 40mins to get down when in good weather we could have done it in between 5 and 10 mins, still it did show who could cope and who couldn't Laughing

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

I suppose I claim I am in my signature Very Happy

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

The Crafty Skier:
Lets the fixed grip chairlift hit their companion's shins first
skis just off piste to avoid collisons on crowded runs
waits to see where the December snow falls, before booking their holidays[/list]

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D G Orf, Not very clever! How did the rep fare him/herself? Deep snow, whiteout, will generally sort out who can and who can't.

Chris Brookes, no, literally, she just goes where she's told both at resort choice level and what run to ski next level. So generally PDS, Vd'I, heliskiing, Utah (that's going to be a bit of a challenge!)

I suppose I could make some comment about the relative uniqueness of a girl always doing what she's told but I'd need a sofa to hide behind and there isn't one in the office. Under the desk is too obvious and I'd get found. Little Angel

maggi,

you are not alone...

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Peter S, "Lets the fixed grip chairlift hit their companion's shins first" he he he

That'll be the ski rep/guide/'guide'/instructor* shuffle then?

*Delete as applicable

After all it is free

David Murdoch,

David Murdoch, the rep made it, she was the only other person to manage it, still no damage to anyone as the snow was so deep

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My favourite trick is timing it to get the last lift up. Then have a Hot Wine or Beer at the top while everyone heads for home. This worked perfectly in Soll last March as the run I selected had just been groomed by 5 piste bashers in convoy up the hill.

Absolutely perfect 1000m of perfectly groomed vertical with no one to bump into Very Happy

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

An early lunch is a good idea. Avoid the lift queues for the popular restaurants, get served quickly and have 90 minutes or so of relatively clear pistes. Be miles away from anywhere by the time the restaurants empty.

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johnboy, Doesn't work like that in France. On the dot of 5.00pm, the bar closes and the pisteur "guides" you down the mountain, waving his arms about shouting "Allez, allez" Shocked

Ski to the sides of the pistes to get better snow and avoid the groups of classes in the middle.

Sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon - follow the shade.

Have a backpack to put all the sundry bits and pieces in rather than having stuffed pockets.

Always in in a compatible ability group to avod all the " pfaffing about " by the slower/unfit members of the group or a group that is too big or stopping all the time. That requires to be ideally sorted on the first day.

You know it makes sense.

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

hibernia, it had last year too - except some of the pistes were a bit muddy/icy in March.

A snowHead

I'm with Fox on this. When the weather closes in, get below treeline.

It's orgasmic snow and everyone else goes home Very Happy

A snowHead

slikedges, ah, yes, I'm afraid I only know one turn too; the essential one. "ETO!"

But seriously, I know what you mean, one turn fits all. Except it doesn't. How do they avoid getting bored?

marc gledhill, Wear The Fox Hat, There is something quite marvellous about skiing trees/treelined runs when it's "puking" snow and everyone else has taken an early bath.

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

David Murdoch, dunno, there's a lot of fun to be had using the terrain to ski as effortlessly and efficiently or as quickly and aggressively as is appropriate. Just watching them can be enough to induce Wear The Fox Hat's zen-like state.

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slikedges, "using the terrain". For sure.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I once followed the rest of my group and cut the last few corners of a boardercross. I wouldn't say it was crafty though, cause the instructor noticed us Shocked

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maggi, you need to find the resto that the pisteurs don't patrol (on your own head be it). I have fond memories of 1. the resto owner informing us that we'd just missed the last cable car down and that the snowline reached about 50% down the hill. 2. Immediately ordering another bottle, 3. following my mate's sparks as his edges bit heartily into the slate that should have been covered in snow.

Pretty fireworks!

Hey Ho.

(Disclaimer. Do not attempt any manoeuvres described in this post at home. Serious damage to life, person, credibility, creditr rating or wallet may ensue.)

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David Murdoch, rented skis?

After all it is free

Much good sense already spoken. Just a little tale: last year I took a very experienced group down LG (Vallons de la Meije). It was ages after the last snow, but we managed to find a bit of fresh to do 3 or 4 turns in, which chuffed me no end. A little further on the best skier of the group (almost Grade 2 level skier) said "look, can't we go and ski that slope?" pointing to a virgin bit of snow. "No," I said " it;s all shiny, which means that it's crusty, and there are no tracks when the whole of the rest of the area is tracked out which must tell us something". "Oh, says the guy - I never thought of that". Not so crafty skier. Shocked

easiski,

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Are YOU a "Crafty" skier??

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