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#1
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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