OFF PISTE FOR BEGGINERS

Well, I've done 6 weeks on the snow (including quite a lot of lessons in
Soldeu, Andorra), and would say that I'm happy with anything on the piste (ok,
moguled icy blacks are not my idea of fun, but...).

I was thinking that this coming Saturday's week in La Plagne would be a good
time to try some off piste.

I've been going back over this newsgroups archives and it seems like La Plagne
is a really good place to try off piste?

Well, even though I happen to have done a mini winter skills course this year
with these people:

http://www.glenmorelodge.org.uk/

and I recently got back from a weeks cross-country in Norway, I'm obviously
still going to seek provisional training.

I see that there are a couple of schools in La Plagne, ESF, Oxygène, Evolution
2, any recommendations from the group?

(Think I may have to have a Telemark lesson too, turns out cross country
downhill is not quite as fun as alpine...).


cheers,


Alun.

Nigel (Remove NOSPAM) wrote:
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

I'd videoed it and ending up watching it with some non-skiing colleagues
who were getting really into the whole thing and they were also
knocked out by that run. They'd seen enough of the previous runs to
appreciate the absolute precision and timing of his run, they picked up
just how he was positioned for everything on the course. Our local guy,
Didier Cuche, was pretty good as well, excellent performance with the
remains of the gate flapping round him I thought :-)


I cant understand why anyone would want to go skiing and have lessons by
someone from there own country or by some antipodean. Kind of takes the

I'm pretty sure all the various nationalities of instructor can be
excellent (or not of course). I just have a problem with this suggestion
there's something fundamentally wrong with entire of Austrian instruction.

fun out of mixing with the locals :-) I remember my first lesson in 1978
(only lesson 1 hour with some local farmer in Soll corrected 1/2 dozen
posture problems then it was "Follow me Benz Zee Neez" and hack down
the mountain as fast a possible followed by 6 hours in his mountain
farmhouse drinking copious amounts of home made Schnapps Fantastic !

That's great, I could stand some of that. I feel guilty sipping much
more than a mineral water with the Austrian trainer I ski with :-)

Alun Evans wrote:
Well, I've done 6 weeks on the snow (including quite a lot of lessons in
Soldeu, Andorra), and would say that I'm happy with anything on the piste (ok,
moguled icy blacks are not my idea of fun, but...).

I was thinking that this coming Saturday's week in La Plagne would be a good
time to try some off piste.

I've been going back over this newsgroups archives and it seems like La Plagne
is a really good place to try off piste?

I did quite a bit of offpiste there with the ESF in April 2000.
I can't say I learnt anything or would recommend that particular
experience because the instructor[1] was playing follow-my-leader
all over his favourite fresh snow routes, (yes, it really was April)
and I just tumbled my way down all the slopes behind the rest of
the group. I spent more time doing faceplants than on any other ski
trip including the ones when I was a complete beginner!

However, yes it's probably a good place to learn, I'm mainly posting
to suggest you look for a real(TM) instructor who occasionally
teaches the odd bit of technique. The level of tuition makes a real
difference to my enjoyment of a holiday, often more than the resort
and snow conditions.

-Sarah

[1] In case you're wondering, the class was intermediate 3 and
the description was "perfecting your turns", which is how I chose
it. We did combine with the advanced class though cos there weren't
enough bodies to justify running them separately.

Thanks for the response all judging by the general concensus, ill be
steering clear of Off-Piste, at least this year anyhow.

--
Kyle

Thanks for the response all judging by the general concensus, ill be
steering clear of Off-Piste, at least this year anyhow.

You could always try some powder next to the pistes, just don't be tempted
to stray too far and lean back a little more.

You could always try some powder next to the pistes, just don't be tempted
to stray too far and lean back a little more.

Yes, perhaps later in the week when I am feeling more confident. Ill let you
know how it goes either way!

--
Kyle

Interesting side discussion here. Can anyone actually recomend ski schools
in Kitzbuhel, and an idea of prices?

--
Kyle

On Thu, 11 Mar 2004 09:49:29 +0000 (UTC), "David Brown \)"
wrote:

Thanks for the response all judging by the general concensus, ill be
steering clear of Off-Piste, at least this year anyhow.

You could always try some powder next to the pistes, just don't be tempted
to stray too far and lean back a little more.

No offence David, but telling a beginner to lean back more in powder
will just have them floundering about with their skis pointing in
different directions.

k, if you do get some powder, it's important to remain well balanced
on your skis, trying to keep your body weight above (at 90 deg to) the
centre of the skis. David's 'lean back' advice is based on being able
to lift the tips of the skis slightly while retaining this balance. If
you try and lean back you'll almost certainly not be balanced and in
powder this can have disastrous effects.

--
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.

In message , "David Brown )"
writes
You could always try some powder next to the pistes, just don't be
tempted to stray too far and lean back a little more.

I was told this to start with and think it is nonsense. Leaning back
just hurts your legs. Centre of the ski is where the weight should be,
and also distributed equally between the skis.
--
Pete Devlin (To email - press reply, remove Garbage Sifter)
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
Lossiemouth RUFC http://www.lossiemouth-rufc.co.uk
Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.

No offence David, but telling a beginner to lean back more in powder
will just have them floundering about with their skis pointing in
different directions.

k, if you do get some powder, it's important to remain well balanced
on your skis, trying to keep your body weight above (at 90 deg to) the
centre of the skis. David's 'lean back' advice is based on being able
to lift the tips of the skis slightly while retaining this balance. If
you try and lean back you'll almost certainly not be balanced and in
powder this can have disastrous effects.

Very true, my 'a little' comment really sort of meant don't lean forward
when jumping your turns.