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OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 9th 04, 08:56 PM
k
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Default OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS

I have never been on a skiing holiday and I am planning to go 23 March to
Kitzbuhel. I have been to the Snowdome near Birmingham for the day and
xscape, and seem to be picking it up quite quickly. Rough parallel level.

I have heard far ranging stories about skiing off piste from the good (Great
fun, fresh clean powder snow, great to ski in) to the bad, (stories of
people skiing into rocks, and things they couldnt see under the snow).

I was thinking about giving it a go toward the end of the week, if I am
feeling more confident. Is there such a thing as begginers Off Piste?
Established off piste routes? or am I aiming too high?

I would appreciate the groups wisdom.

Thx
--
Kyle


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  #2  
Old March 9th 04, 10:14 PM
S. Gione
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Default OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS

Just a caution: If you need to ask this question, you probably should stay
on-piste.

"Rough parallel" may not be enough to take-on icy bumps among trees or deep
powder where you won't even be able to see your skis.


"k" wrote in message ...
I have never been on a skiing holiday and I am planning to go 23 March to
Kitzbuhel. I have been to the Snowdome near Birmingham for the day and
xscape, and seem to be picking it up quite quickly. Rough parallel level.

I have heard far ranging stories about skiing off piste from the good

(Great
fun, fresh clean powder snow, great to ski in) to the bad, (stories of
people skiing into rocks, and things they couldnt see under the snow).

I was thinking about giving it a go toward the end of the week, if I am
feeling more confident. Is there such a thing as begginers Off Piste?
Established off piste routes? or am I aiming too high?

I would appreciate the groups wisdom.

Thx
--
Kyle




  #3  
Old March 9th 04, 10:22 PM
Iain Miller
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Default OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS


"k" wrote in message ...
I have never been on a skiing holiday and I am planning to go 23 March to
Kitzbuhel. I have been to the Snowdome near Birmingham for the day and
xscape, and seem to be picking it up quite quickly. Rough parallel level.

I have heard far ranging stories about skiing off piste from the good

(Great
fun, fresh clean powder snow, great to ski in) to the bad, (stories of
people skiing into rocks, and things they couldnt see under the snow).

I was thinking about giving it a go toward the end of the week, if I am
feeling more confident. Is there such a thing as begginers Off Piste?
Established off piste routes? or am I aiming too high?

I would appreciate the groups wisdom.


Aiming way too high IMHO....

Get some good tuition and concentrate on getting the basics right &
ingrained as habit. Tempting as it might be to go flying off around the
place on your own, like most things, if you do the groundwork properly you
will ultimately progress far faster and go much further than if you have to
"unlearn" all kinds of bad habits along the way.

Also bear in mind that you can get hurt skiing - you are less likely to do
so the better your basic technique is because you will have much more
control. Besides which, there's way too much fun to be had on-piste for the
time being to worry about going off-piste.

Also, as a beginner, when you get your skis/boots in the resort, of you can
find an experienced skier to help you select them it will pay
dividends....skiing is much easier with boots that fit properly, arn't too
loose or don't hurt and when you are on the right skis for your ability that
have been properly serviced. It is absolutely worth paying more to rent
better equipment - but you don't need the top end, just good stuff in good
order.

....and before you go, get as fit as you can - especially in the leg area.
Cycling, an exercise bike or an Eliptical trainer are all great for this.

HTH

I.

I.


  #4  
Old March 10th 04, 08:34 AM
Ace
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Default OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS

On Tue, 9 Mar 2004 20:56:30 +0000 (UTC), "k" wrote:

I have never been on a skiing holiday and I am planning to go 23 March to
Kitzbuhel. I have been to the Snowdome near Birmingham for the day and
xscape, and seem to be picking it up quite quickly. Rough parallel level.

I have heard far ranging stories about skiing off piste from the good (Great
fun, fresh clean powder snow, great to ski in) to the bad, (stories of
people skiing into rocks, and things they couldnt see under the snow).

I was thinking about giving it a go toward the end of the week, if I am
feeling more confident. Is there such a thing as begginers Off Piste?
Established off piste routes? or am I aiming too high?


You may be. What I'd suggest is to see how you get on in your lessons
on real snow - you _are_ taking lessons aren't you? - and perhaps
start kiing some of the more obvious cuts off the edge of pistes. This
may give you the opportunity to see what it's like in uneven
conditions and you may find that your technique is lacking for
exploring further afield.

Once you have got a bot more confident, I'd suggest you only start to
venture further afield with more experienced off-piste skiers. Perhaps
you should join the ski club and ski with a rep for a while - we (most
of us, I think) like to go off-piste as much as appropriate for the
group, so it may be a way to get a bit more under your belt. Or get a
mountain guide, of course, but at your level that would probably be a
waste of money.

Actually, I think the best thing is probably to take your course of
lessons and specifically ask the instructor to take you off-piste and
give his opinion on what the next step would be.

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.
  #5  
Old March 10th 04, 08:36 AM
Jeremy Mortimer
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Default OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS

"k" wrote in :

I have never been on a skiing holiday and I am planning to go 23 March
to Kitzbuhel. I have been to the Snowdome near Birmingham for the day
and xscape, and seem to be picking it up quite quickly. Rough parallel
level.

I have heard far ranging stories about skiing off piste from the good
(Great fun, fresh clean powder snow, great to ski in) to the bad,
(stories of people skiing into rocks, and things they couldnt see
under the snow).

I was thinking about giving it a go toward the end of the week, if I
am feeling more confident. Is there such a thing as begginers Off
Piste? Established off piste routes? or am I aiming too high?

I would appreciate the groups wisdom.

Thx


You may be being a little ambitious here. There are indeed technically
easy off-piste descents (I don't know about Kitzbuhel, but they exist
elsewhere) but there is much more to off-piste skiing than the ski
technique itself. For example, five people in a single group were killed
by an avalanche a couple of years ago on the Tour de Charvet, one of the
easiest classic off-piste runs in Val d'Isere.

That said, technique in natural snow is the first thing you need, and you
can practice this just by going a few metres off the groomed piste.
You'll probably find it more difficult and varied than you expect, and it
should provide you with plenty of challenge and entertainment for a week.

For real off-piste skiing you will need to be able to ski in all types of
snow (it's not always powder, and even powder is difficult until you know
how); you need to be competent at evaluating avalanche risk and equipped
and trained to deal with avalanche accidents; you need to be capable of
navigating in the mountain environment. You will also need companions
with these skills - you do not do this on your own. All of these skills,
and others you may need in special circumstances (glacier safety,
technique on very steep slopes) take time and practice to develop.

If you are going to take lessons (and you probably should) ask your
instructor about off-piste skiing. They will probably encourage you to go
with a guided party when your technique is good enough, which is a great
way to get a taste. And in the meantime read around; books on skiing
technique often have a chapter on off-piste skiing, try googling this
newsgroup, read about avalanche awareness and general mountain safety.

You are right to be interested. Off-piste skiing is the real thing - once
you can leave the pistes you may not want to go back. You see a lot of
people skiing off-piste who are clearly not properly equipped or
experienced; occasionally they die as a result. Don't be one of them.
Take your time and learn to do it properly - it's worth it!

Jeremy


  #6  
Old March 10th 04, 12:07 PM
Jim Hutton
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Default OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS

On Tue, 9 Mar 2004 20:56:30 +0000 (UTC), "k" wrote:

I have never been on a skiing holiday and I am planning to go 23 March to
Kitzbuhel. I have been to the Snowdome near Birmingham for the day and
xscape, and seem to be picking it up quite quickly. Rough parallel level.

I have heard far ranging stories about skiing off piste from the good (Great
fun, fresh clean powder snow, great to ski in) to the bad, (stories of
people skiing into rocks, and things they couldnt see under the snow).

I was thinking about giving it a go toward the end of the week, if I am
feeling more confident. Is there such a thing as begginers Off Piste?
Established off piste routes? or am I aiming too high?

I would appreciate the groups wisdom.

Thx


Austrian ski instructors are the best in the world IMHO. Sign up for
a solid week's class lessons and you will never regret it.

As well as learning to ski you will be taught mountain sense, good
manners, and how to drink ....

I went off-piste with an instructor on my second week's skiing in
Austria - marvellous, best experience of my skiing life.

DO NOT GO ALONE !!!!! or even with more experienced chums - they
won't have the local know-how to be safe.

Jim Hutton

  #7  
Old March 10th 04, 12:13 PM
Ace
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Default OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 12:07:58 +0000, Jim Hutton
wrote:

Austrian ski instructors are the best in the world IMHO.


How long ago did you form that opinion? In recent years I've heard
horror stories about some Austrian instructors still trying to teach
by numbers. e.g. 'adopt the ice position for this run'.

IMNSHO the best place for native english speakers to learn is Soldeu,
Andorra, where there's a huge number of British (and ossie, kiwi,
etc.) instructors working to a very high standard.

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.
  #8  
Old March 10th 04, 01:23 PM
Ian Spare
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Default OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS

Ace wrote:
On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 12:07:58 +0000, Jim Hutton
wrote:


Austrian ski instructors are the best in the world IMHO.



How long ago did you form that opinion? In recent years I've heard
horror stories about some Austrian instructors still trying to teach
by numbers. e.g. 'adopt the ice position for this run'.


And you shared that opinion recently to some critical comment :-)

Austrian instructors are excellent. There's a segment of the UK market
who seem to be looking for some sort of shortcut to actually learning to
ski, for example, buying the newest ski every year or subscribing to
some bizzare methodology that involves some Californian sounding
mumbo-jumbo nonsense. What's the alternative ? Skiing around with your
legs bolted together waving your arms about ? :-) It's a pleasure to
watch Herman Maier skiing by numbers, I thought his run at St Anton a
few weeks ago was fantastic, just perfect skiing by numbers :-)

Ian
  #9  
Old March 10th 04, 01:53 PM
Nigel (Remove NOSPAM)
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Default OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS

Yes agreed, I was there in St Anton watching that run by Maier & it
really was something special to watch. Even Bode Millar who won the
slalom the following day has adopted the Austrian Farmers skiing Style
:-) Not surprising as he seems to spend most of his free time in Austria
  #10  
Old March 10th 04, 02:07 PM
David Brown :o\)
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Default OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS

IMNSHO the best place for native english speakers to learn is Soldeu,
Andorra, where there's a huge number of British (and ossie, kiwi,
etc.) instructors working to a very high standard


Sorry for taking this thread from original subject.
I couldn't agree more about Soldeu Ski instructors. I had and English
instructor who taugh in Soldeu in the winter and in newzealand in our
summer. I was in group lessons in the top group and my skiing came on leaps
and bounds and his local knowledge was great.
Everyone who remained in the group and didn't drop a level (about 50%) were
pushed to their limits, the best skiing I've ever done.
However, I will not say the same about PdlC's boarding lessons. A freind of
mine took beginners lessons that were IMHO a total waste of money. I know
there are those in the boarding world that agree with the point them down
the hill and let them shash themselves to pieces way of teaching, but I
think learning side slipping - fallling leaf - garlands - turns, and
controlling the board at every stage is the only way to learn safely.
My freind realised he was learning a lot more with me in the afternoons and
I'm only an intermediate boarder. He dropped out of his lessons on the
third day and we later found out that so did nine others in the group,
leaving just one. She also dropped out on the last day and taking into
account she was basically getting private leasons for the price of group
lessons, that must say something.


 




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