fear of speed when learning parallel sking

You'll get stuck in your cave if you're not careful

Tony_H wrote:You'll get stuck in your cave if you're not careful

I certainly will if I don't cut down on the amount I've been eating lately

I'm going to put something down about it on the 'fit to ski' thread because at the moment I'm too fat to get my ski trousers on, let alone fit enough to ski

Ally

No slalom for you then. Unles they use wider gates.

Tony_H wrote:No slalom for you then. Unles they use wider gates.

As long as I can get out of my cave door, and fit in my seat on the train I will be okay
I can always buy some new 'extra large' salopettes

Snowbandit,
We don't seem to have snow forecast for here, thanks for the warning. Maybe it's only in the mountains.

I think we should get back on piste now, before Admin sells my kids into slavery (again). It cost me quite a lot to buy them back last time

Ally

Yes Ally, good idea. You have a habit of wibbling on every single thread these days.

So, back on thread......did I mention the point about turning up the mountain to bring speed under control?

Well, having been advised since starting the thread to get more modern skis, I have. Was lucky, someone near me advertised 2003 Crossmax 9 Pilot 170s for a nominal 'take it away' price. They could have got a fair bit more on ebay, but offering them this way was a nice thing to do, and I am grateful The one thing I have done to earn this good luck is spend way too much time looking for skis on ebay etc.

Yes I have done about 150 hours in odd afternoons, this is my third year. Spreading the ski time out helps, as I would be exhausted by a week of full ski days. Maybe will get a lesson or two.

Lessons from good skiing friends I know are not the same, though they do help. At the start it is nice to have someone who takes a lot of responsibility for safety. GF still does to some extent, I only saw her fall once, recently when she was checking whether the powder on the side of the piste was within my ability. Answer, 'no.'

Innsbrucker wrote:Well, having been advised since starting the thread to get more modern skis, I have. Was lucky, someone near me advertised 2003 Crossmax 9 Pilot 170s for a nominal 'take it away' price. They could have got a fair bit more on ebay, but offering them this way was a nice thing to do, and I am grateful The one thing I have done to earn this good luck is spend way too much time looking for skis on ebay etc.

Yes I have done about 150 hours in odd afternoons, this is my third year. Spreading the ski time out helps, as I would be exhausted by a week of full ski days. Maybe will get a lesson or two.

Lessons from good skiing friends I know are not the same, though they do help. At the start it is nice to have some who takes a lot of responsibility for safety. GF still does, I only saw her fall once, when she was checking whether the powder on the side of the piste was within my ability. Answer, 'no.'

We took a beginner with us this year and she had lessons booked. She had, had a few lessons at the dry ski slope before hand and loved it but when she went to her first lesson she didn't have a good time. Mainly because she was the only English speaking person in the group including the instructor and she said she didn't learn anything and had to do so much walking in her boots that it was really uncomfortable. After the first lesson she decided not to go to the rest, changed her boots, and bought some angel guards. I then tried my best to teach her for the rest of the week. By the end of the week she was able to ski parallel and link turns. She was very confident on the green runs and managed a couple of tough blue runs very well by the end of the holiday.

After her lesson she appeared to be at the point of giving up. But by the end of the holiday she had caught the bug!

That is a great success

I have give-it-up moments. At start of this season I had forgotten even what I knew.

At this stage I would not do a class lesson. That kind of help on basics is surely well within the ability of any good skier to show. In a private lesson, if lucky the teacher could be more analytical than my GF, who is not keen on thinking too much. But there again if the teacher is one of partying young punks from England or Germany, staying in the 5-Euro per night ski-teacher hostel for the season, I worry he may have no deep teaching skills beyond a few standard exercises which I do anyway, and that would be a waste of Euro45 or whatever. Perhaps I am being unfair... My GF was born and brought up in a ski resort, walking to school carrying skis as a small child, so some level of skiing horse-sense is deeply ingrained.

I like to watch good skiers. Sometimes I watch the race-type skiers carving, but I think I learn more by watching the ski teachers leading other students, you see a lot at Seefeld which is a suitable resort for beginners.