"I am a very good skier" - Discuss

I was very interested by Ollie123's recent post and one that Trencher posted back at the beginning of the month not to mention several that Pavel has posted over time.

The question of “How good am I?” seems to be almost impossible to quantify.

For example when I ski with my friends I’m probably at best “competent” but then several have been Olympic or World Cup Skiers and I managed a punt down the hill from time to time too ;)

My wife used to be the assistant head of Ski School at a major UK Ski centre and one day a chap came to the counter to hire skis and when asked to declare his skill level on a scale from 1 to 7 he said “Well if you only go as high as seven then I suppose I will have to drop to that” – Accordingly every instructor and tech in the place went to see this God perform his stuff :P and naturally he was probably a good 4 or an average 5 ..

So how does one balance the natural need to preserve modesty whilst at the same time give an honest appraisal of ability? This is doubled or quadrupled when instead of us all standing at the top of a Black Run and polling off and watching who dances down and who bails big time we only have the benefit of words …

Certainly I’m not going to tell Ollie that he’s not a very good skier ‘cos he very likely is. The difficulty is that when we have so few clues to use to build an imaginary picture of another person’s ability we do tend to pick up on every word however carefully chosen … So my reaction (and probably to my eternal shame – Sorry Ollie) was “If this guy doesn’t know what skis he’s got and wants boots to match then I’m *guessing* that he's probably a 1 to 2 week a year intermediate” But how fair is that? Probably not very. Maybe the guy is a legend but just doesn’t pay any attention to the marketing hype behind the products he uses … He just does his stuff and that’s really what it’s all about

Here are two more examples which highlight the problem:

1. A *very* well known figure in UK / Olympic ski coaching used to take 1 week courses to evaluate potential athletes and he told me that he used to watch his course members walk across the car park in ski boots on day one and could tell with 95% accuracy who would pass and who would fail there and then – Is that fair? Can anyone tell a great skier by how they walk across a car park? I don’t know, but I suspect I could make a guess.
2. Our family was skiing in Stanton two years ago and whilst my wife, younger son and I wanted to have a lazy afternoon our oldest son wanted to go and explore the mountain. So I visited the local ski school and enquired if they had a guide who could show my son the hill? They naturally asked how good he was and I was immediately faced with how to convey his ability? (remembering the level 7 guy from the UK ski slope) If I say “Oh he’s a fantastic skier blah, blah, blah” then the ski school think “yeah mister, they all say that!” whilst if I say he’s just a competent, confident skier you can bet he’ll end up with a first year “intermediate” instructor who struggles to get parallel on an easy red … So I chose to just grin and say “Oh, he’s skied a bit but I don’t think he’ll be too much trouble to you.” When the rather bored looking 20 something instructor showed up and started going through his welcome spiel he asked about ability and our boy just looked at his feet and said “Oh who knows?” the instructor looked at my wife and me and we just grinned … When they got back 4hrs later the instructors first words were “You could’ve told me he could ski like that!” and here’s the nub of the problem – Just how do you say that without sounding like your head won’t fit in the gondola?

So if it’s hard in resort how do we expect users of this forra (?) to establish a realistic reflection of their ability?

That’s your homework for this weekend :wink:

Jan

(Oh and thanks to all for their congrats on Pav’s gloves!)

Fantastic post!!


Its the age-old thing isn't it?

I don't think anyone ever gives a true appraisal of their own ability,either for fear of sounding big-headed or the polar opposite of not wanting people to know that they are actually not that good (in which there shoiuld be no shame or stigma.)

Listen in the apres bar. And then laugh. I have in the past made a mental note of some of these "superstars" and their outfits/equipment. If I happen to see them on the hill the next day I take a good look at their style, body-position, control, speed etc.

It can be very revealing and, of course, entertaining.

My sailing and skiing fall into the same category - All the gear and no idea :shock:

Rubbish Keith - see what I mean?!

You're a very tidy skier.

skidaddle wrote:Rubbish Keith - see what I mean?!

You're a very tidy skier.

Awhh. You're making me blush :oops:

I have absolutely no doubt of how NOT good I am, but that just makes it all the more fun to learn...there's only one way to go when you're at the bottom! :D

As a total beginner I can't say I've come across many who thought they were great, if anything most of the people I met were more likely to be overly critical of themselves. There was one guy however, even as a total beginner thought he was better than everyone else for some reason, have to say it made me very happy to beat his time in the ski school ski race (as did a 14 yr old girl-the instructor didn’t call us kamikazees for nothing!) :evil:

It's always the case though, that if you are actually good at something, you don't NEED to tell other people. I find that a lot where I work, the scientists who make all the noise about how fantastic their research is, are generally overcompensating, it’s the quiet ones who get the work done!

There's nothing wrong with admitting you are good at something, but those that declare it without being asked, or claim to be off the scale (as the guy in the Ski centre), are unlikely to be the best judges of themselves!!

Super post Jan and some good points raised from yourself and Skidaddle.
I personally think most not all people over egg their ability.Some think themselves as expert because they can ski off piste and ski blacks, But imo if you cannot ski in any weather condition on any piste with the proper technique then your not an expert.It would be fair to say that most can tear arse down the mountain on most piste`s but can they actually ski?
Technique is the most important thing imo were we can only improve.

So i will be the first to admit although i have been skiing on and off for 20yrs + that i class myself an intermediate and nothing more.



AJ Adele

Interesting topic. Firstly, may I applaud Jan for admitting that he possibly made the mistake of assuming Ollie was not as good as he said he was, without knowing a thing about his ability. Others did the same thing, and in fact I think a few posters on here started to get at Ollie a bit. Anyway, moving on, I think the term "advanced" or "expert" can only be used for instructors, professionals, and people who can ski down anything in any conditions.

Personally, I would class myself as an intermediate. Within that bracket, people can be early or good intermediates, but who decideds that, and on what are they basing it?

I ski 3 times a season now, all being well, but I still learn something new every time I go, and I improve each visit as well. Its only when someone you have been skiing with for some time comments on how well you are doing or how much more stylish you look that you start to really think about your own ability. Personally, for me to be able to get around and ski area without any rick to myself or anyone else makes me competent. However, I have also taken a likening to exploring not just on the piste after my last couple of trips, but that doesnt make me advanced because I have had a few cracks at some off piste. I think it either makes me brave, mad or just a little more competent than before.

As long as we enjoy ourselves and are happy to accept advice, thats the main thing. Compared to many, I am but an relative newbie on a pair of skis with my 10 or so weeks.