What one thing...

MoonMan wrote:

Lisa Horton wrote:
If you could tell a beginning skier just one thing, just one piece of
advice, what would it be?

Lisa

Just have fun!

Now there's some advice I'm having no trouble at all following!

Lisa

BrritSki wrote:

pigo wrote:

Mileage is probably the single most important thing you can get.

True, but only if you're doing the right thing.

Take regular lessons to get things corrected before they become too
ingrained. Some people learn well from books or descriptions like f2f's,
but you need an instructor looking at what you're doing.

Here in Europe I think beginners take too many lessons (mainly because
we go to the Alps for a week's holiday on a package and the whole week
is booked for a lesson every morning), but from what I've seen in the
States it is at the opposite extreme with too many people having 1
lesson (or worse no lessons except what their "friend" tells them) and
then screaming down everywhere in a high speed wedge completely out of
control.

I'm sure you don't fit into this category.... yet

A good point Britt. I took one lesson, I considered it essential to get
a good start. I generally learn best by reading and doing. But I'd
already had the thought that an occasional lesson could be valuable for
the observation and feedback, if nothing else.

Lisa

BrritSki wrote:

Lisa Horton wrote:

Alex Heney wrote:

I didn't quite follow the conventional wisdom in buying my first set of
gear. Not much in the way of help at the local Any Mountain. I THINK I
got stuff that's pretty appropriate, especially the skis which are very
obviously easier for me to turn and control than the rental skis. At
least I got a good enough deal that if I need to replace/upgrade
anything within a year, I'm still not spending foolishly. I think


Sorry, but there is no such thing as skis that are appropriate for a
near complete beginner to buy.

In the early days, you are likely to improve so quickly that you will
need better skis before you have skied enough days on them to break
even with rental costs.

You really would almost certainly have been better to rent for your
first few weeks of skiing.

Such is conventional wisdom, I know. The rental boots weren't
comfortable at all, one pair actively hurt. For $100, I got a pair of
boots that holds my feet more securely and don't hurt at all. Feet not
hurting is worth something to me, as is more and better control. These
will pay for themselves quickly. But the value equation would have been
very different had I paid more than I did, just over 1/4 regular price.

Alex only said skis. Boots ARE the first things you should buy, as soon
as you know you're going to ski regularly.

As I'd read, and as I did Boots were the one thing that I knew I had
to buy locally, because I had to try them on. I regard myself as lucky
to have found the one pair of $100 new boots that fit me, and they
turned out to be from a brand that makes boots appropriate for my foot
shape.


With skis, of course you're right that I don't yet know enough to know
what I really want, much less be able to tell from a description or even
a demo at this point. OTOH, besides the convenience factor, which is
worth little but more than nothing, there's the learning benefit of
skiing on the same ski each time. By using the same ski I remove a
variable, so the same foot motion or weight shift should produce a
similar result each time, of course accounting for variable snow. I
anticipate keeping these skis for only a year or so probably. By then,
I should have a clue and should be able to benefit from trying various
demo skis. For $150, it's a relatively small indulgence.

At any rate, if I ski on this gear 10 times, it's paid for itself
compared to demo gear, and more than paid for itself compared to regular
rental gear. At that rate of payoff, I don't think I was overly spendy.

That doesn't sound like a bad deal. Good point about being on the same
kit all the time and about convenience when you're renting for a day or
two at a timem especially if you're a late riser ! Alex skis mainly in
Europe like me so it tends to be for several days at a time with only
one lot of hassle at the rental store.

Exactly. A couple of good advantages, combined with a very low purchase
price, make it a small indulgence. And after all, I can still demo skis
when I get better, and no doubt will.

And another advantage, although a small one, is that when I do graduate
to my next skis, I'll have a pair of beginner skis to loan/give to
another newbie, or sell, making for an even cheaper total cost of
ownership.

Lisa

erwrwe wrote:

"foot2foot" wrote in news:108mm1jnlpnuk48
@corp.supernews.com:

"Lisa Horton" wrote in message
...
If you could tell a beginning skier just one thing, just one piece of
advice, what would it be?

Lisa

I'm starting to wonder if you're serious, or just playing
some sort of game, or *really* desperate for attention,
but anyway, that one thing would be:

This group is so weird people are beginning to forget what a normal human
being looks like.

Er, I make no claims of being "normal", but I will say that I'm not
trolling, and am not in any way connected to past events here. I'm just
here for the sliding down snow covered hills part.

Lisa

Kneale Brownson wrote:

Lisa Horton wrote in message ...
Kneale Brownson wrote:

After that, it's all about learning how your feet feel without any
sore spots from inappropriate pressure points or rubbing.

That part is real interesting, I'm slightly surprised at how important a
role the feet play, small movements, small weight shifts have an obvious
and pronounced effect.

Lisa

Most good skiing movements begin from the feet. If you want to get
into that aspect, begin by sitting there and wrapping your hands
around an ankle. Then roll that foot back and forth and let your
fingertips feel for what's moving in your leg. Don't move your knee
back and forth, roll your foot onto one edge and then the other. Now
take your hands away and practice rolling a foot onto one edge and
then the other without letting your knee move much. Note that the
knee will move upward, but if you're careful, you can avoid almost all
sideways movement while really rolling a foot.

There are two ways of thinking about rolling a foot onto an edge. One
way is to think about rolling that edge down. For example, you can
think, press my arch (inside of the foot) down. Or you can think
about rolling the opposite side UP! For example, let your arch side
go down because you pulled the little toe side of the foot up. It's a
little nuance difference, but for me, rolling onto my left edges means
rolling my left arch and my right little toe off the snow. What I
find when I approach edging in this manner is that I tend to tension
my leg less (thereby remaining more supple) than if I try to press the
edges into the snow. I also can adjust the amount of edging in a more
subtle manner.


I find your comments interesting. Some years ago, I roller skated at an
expert level for a few years. You may or may not know that the motions
you make to turn in traditional roller skates are very similar to the
motions used to put a ski on edge, or at least they sound similar. When
I skied once, many many years ago, as I remember the technique I was
taught to turn was directly comparable to roller skating.

What I've been finding so far is that the motions of putting a ski on
edge still seem similar to how I remember skating. For me, it's
rolling and putting the weight on the one side (big toe side). I'm
pleased to be starting to be able to feel what's going on down there.

Lisa

It's good to have someone with teaching experience look
at your skiing, but you have to be careful they're not trying
to fit you into a box. If you understand the mechanics of
skiing, you can take what they tell you in light of that.
Then you can take your skiing where *you* want it to go.
Always be sure to ask *why* you should do this or that.
There are instructors that just plain don't want to tell you
why, they just want you to do as they do.

The one thing above all I notice is, many instructors make
it way too complicated, when in fact, it isn't.

I had many instructors at various levels look at my skiing
and advise me, until two made points that made all the
difference in my skiing. I was unaware of how much
weight I was putting on the outside ski, so I was getting
caught up on the inside ski, and I was changing the lead
with the outside ski, like a tele skier.

"Lisa Horton" wrote in message
...


BrritSki wrote:

pigo wrote:

Mileage is probably the single most important thing you can get.

True, but only if you're doing the right thing.

Take regular lessons to get things corrected before they become too
ingrained. Some people learn well from books or descriptions like f2f's,
but you need an instructor looking at what you're doing.

Here in Europe I think beginners take too many lessons (mainly because
we go to the Alps for a week's holiday on a package and the whole week
is booked for a lesson every morning), but from what I've seen in the
States it is at the opposite extreme with too many people having 1
lesson (or worse no lessons except what their "friend" tells them) and
then screaming down everywhere in a high speed wedge completely out of
control.

I'm sure you don't fit into this category.... yet

A good point Britt. I took one lesson, I considered it essential to get
a good start. I generally learn best by reading and doing. But I'd
already had the thought that an occasional lesson could be valuable for
the observation and feedback, if nothing else.

Lisa

foot2foot wrote:

The one thing above all I notice is, many instructors make
it way too complicated, when in fact, it isn't.

Welcome.

Lisa Horton wrote:

A good point Britt.

2 Rs 1 T please, as in Brr it's cold. My name is Roger (see reply-to), I
am not a grrl called Britt

I took one lesson, I considered it essential to get
a good start. I generally learn best by reading and doing. But I'd
already had the thought that an occasional lesson could be valuable for
the observation and feedback, if nothing else.

More than occasional IMHO, but it does depend on your learning style.

I was very lucky in that I learned to ski by working near a ski resort
in Italy many years ago. The company arranged a beginners ski lesson
every Saturday morning for less than a dollar, and then I skied the rest
of the weekend with friends, consolidating what I'd learned. That was
about the right ratio of lesson to practice for me.

I was also lucky to have friends that didn't take me down stuff I wasn't
ready for, not that there was much hairy stuff in Terminillo. The first
red I ever did was early in the day and I was told to just follow Paul
and turn where he did. I coped with no problem so we went to do it
again, but by this time the fog had cleared - only reason I didn't freak
out was knowing that I'd just skied it !

Lisa Horton wrote:

BrritSki wrote:

pigo wrote:

Mileage is probably the single most important thing you can get.

True, but only if you're doing the right thing.

Take regular lessons to get things corrected before they become too
ingrained. Some people learn well from books or descriptions like f2f's,
but you need an instructor looking at what you're doing.

Here in Europe I think beginners take too many lessons (mainly because
we go to the Alps for a week's holiday on a package and the whole week
is booked for a lesson every morning), but from what I've seen in the
States it is at the opposite extreme with too many people having 1
lesson (or worse no lessons except what their "friend" tells them) and
then screaming down everywhere in a high speed wedge completely out of
control.

I'm sure you don't fit into this category.... yet

A good point Britt. I took one lesson, I considered it essential to get
a good start. I generally learn best by reading and doing.

Good for you! I tend to argue with people who try to tell me what to do
(but a little more politely than Horvath) so it's just better to read
than to listen. I did eventually take a lesson, but it ended up so
disastrously that I demanded -- and got -- my money back. I don't know
what the other student did, but he was ****ed too.

But I'd
already had the thought that an occasional lesson could be valuable for
the observation and feedback, if nothing else.

Indeed, and a very nice instructor did that for me last time out of the
goodness of her heart. Yes, I need to get forward more. Who doesn't?

--
Cheers,
Bev
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
"Calling someone an asshole for being rude to a telemarketer
is like accusing someone who's shot a burglar in his home
of being a poor host." -- W.S.Rowell

lal_truckee wrote:
Jeff Davis wrote:

Universal Pictures. Appearantly they're shooting a film
of the 1996 climbing disaster there.

I sure hope they're not doing Krakauer's self serving book that
slandered Boukreev.

IIRC, David Breashears was there when it happend too. He's probably
filming *his* take on it, not Krauauer's. Krackaur may have sparked
interest in the incident with his book, but he doesn't own a copyright
on the story.

That jerk Krakauer had more experience than just
about anyone else on the mountain, excluding guides; and hid in his tent
when it was all going down.

Which might have been the most sensible thing to do. Him being so
experienced and all.

Then he had the nerve to slam Anatoli.

The gist of the criticism is that Boukereev was a paid guide, Krackaur
was not. That may be a distinction without a difference to some.

--
//-Walt
//
// Sigs suck. Oh, the irony.