advice please on falling safely esp. on steep runs?

Nordkette is a lovely resort only 2km from Innsbruck. Amazing views, superb snow (yesterday, until a chill wind started to harden it), big half pipe for boarders / freestylers. It is playground for locals, avoided by tourists as it is rather small (though long), and rather steep.

A gondol goes to the summit, a couple of gullies down with slopes up to 70%, and I bottled out as it's such a long way to slide if you fall, and I am a relative beginner. But I want to try, probably not before next year now as I need to work up to it.

Then I did a diamond slope (which I began to think are meant to be steeper than blacks, though the Austrian plans show them in red dotted lines). And fell, well that was ok as there was a mogul field to the side and it was easy to stop, so I stood up and skied down the rest gingerly.

Then fell again on a black. The large beer had been a bad idea... And I slid headfirst on my tummy. And slid. And slid. And slid. Skis still on, so I knew it would be ok if I could get feet first. But how? Try to turn sideways and you slide even faster.

And what if skis come off? I was afraid to dig them in when moving headfirst as I really did not want to leave one or both of them on the piste (even though gf was following so could have collected them). I had PLENTY of thinking time on the way down And plenty of snow in my anorak pockets by the time I did manage to 'swim' towards a clump of snow to stop myself

The top of Nordkette is demanding for a learner and marked on the plan with red diamond+black border. However, many local skiers and boarders find it OK provided it the snow is good and not icy, yesterday gf even offered to ski it once alone to check snow conditions for me before I tried. But before I try it, I feel I should know how to fall safely, but more especially how to recover from a fall when you are sliding down a piste which is steep and LONG.

Any tips plese

Hey

Sounds like you have pushing your boundaries whilst out skiing. I don't think there is really any safe way to fall as I often find you fall so quickly there is no time to react.

As for stopping yourself once you have fallen the best thing for you to do is pread yourself out into a star shape and do your best and digging in the edges of your skiis (or if you lost your skis your boots). I'm afraid to say if you lose your skis there is very little you can do.....

Innsbrucker, well done for trying some challenging slopes. I think I'm reading that you got a bit of a shock with a long slide, and you are right that it's important to know how to arrest your sliding after you have fallen. With steeper slopes there is a risk to other slope users if you are unable to stop.

As your skis stayed on, I suggest:

Turning over to get your feet below you, and your head facing up the slope. Ignore digging in your skis to start with, as this may flip you over. Aim to push your body away from the snow, go up on your elbows and knees. It's your clothing that makes you accelerate as you are adding to the sliding surface. Once you slow a little you can use your ski edges bit by bit to brake your descent.

If your skis have come off, then take the same action above, but try and do a press-up. Dig your boot toes into the snow.

You may need to keep on trying these tactics, doing nothing is no longer an option once you access steeper terrain.

I recently found out that I can fall faster than I can ski down a slope. I could have sworn somebody shouted to me "Dig your skis in!" while I was doing a head first impression of an upside down speeding turtle, but my BF said he couldn't remember hearing it. When I dug them in as best I could it didn't feel as though it was making much difference although I did come to a stop not too long afterwards, ending up feet facing down the mountain and and jammed in a frog position with one ski pointing one way and the other, well, the other.

I did wonder afterwards what would have happened if I hadn't stopped as I was heading for a long patch where there were lots of rocks and trees and very little snow.

Not sure if this helps at all but I can tell you how to get out of being jammed in a frog position with skis pointing in opposite directions.

I may try that spreading if I fall again, thanks Brimster. Not sure why I did not try it. Maybe I was afraid of my legs, with skis still on, getting tangled and injured.

Yes, somtimes you have to push a little bit. I am actually quite risk averse, with only 3 years skiing, moderate fitness, and over 50. And yesterday I had tired legs from a jogging. That is why I listened to intuition and abandoned my hope of doing the hardest pistes that day. One of the two pistes at the top of Nordkette, a near vertical gully, is out of the question for me (and not much used by locals), the other is possible but such a long way down. OTH coping with a couple of the normal diamond slopes showed me that an ice-free black is normally within my safety limits (though there is loads of room for improvement), and I was suprised to fall.

However, no skier is toally immune from falling. Obviously people who are qualified for these ultra-steep runs (or for extreme skiing off piste) will somtimes have to handle a fall. It is good to be prepared as far as possible.

EmmaEvs, thanks, I thought of that. But as said, was worried the skis would come off. Obviously yours did not not! Maybe in that situation they don't come off so easily as I feared.

Thanks bandit, that sounds like very sound advice. Getting on elbows and knees would probably have helped. Turning to get feet first, I tried a bit and felt high risk, I would have tried harder if heading for a disaster, but as the slope was clear it felt safer not to struggle too much.

Innsbrucker wrote:EmmaEvs, thanks, I thought of that. But as said, was worried the skis would come off. Obviously yours did not not! Maybe in that situation they don't come off so easily as I feared.

I should point out though that I was skiing on piste, and it sounds like you guys go for something a little more tasty! I may have just been lucky that they didn't come off.