J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Brucie

This is all getting silly and off topic!!!

Bandit - In answer to your question. Ski-ing is different because it is a sport not a criminal activity. To constutute a crime requires MENS REA -

'actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea'

which means that "the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty".

Why have we developed into a whining society where there is no such thing as an accident!! :evil:

I know all about it - I'm Scottish after all!!!!!!!!!!

I dont know what advice to give on the instructing issue.
Like other posters have said, I think that a proper start(ie ski school) will be worth the expense in the long run.

The slopes all over the world are littered with self taught skiers who, due to a lack of basic technique, find it very difficult to pass intermediate level.

Anyway, dont get hung up on it. Have a great Holiday!! :lol:

I am really just wondering why your beginner friends want to learn to ski in one of the more advanced areas of the alps?
There are countless other more suitable places to learn, and there is also the ski in ski out issue.
And if they are, as you put it, 'plain tight', why go to the most expensive place!!! :shock:

Why are you going to Chamonix?

Good advice from Trencher. Also on the boot issue - try to imagine the top of your boots as a clock face. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet which should help a forward press. Now as you turn roll your ankles from 11 o clock through 12 o clock to 1 and reverse, depending on the turn direction.
This should help keep your knees over the toe pieces and your weight forward.
Hope it works!!! :lol:

Sorry Tony, you are quite correct. Where would we be without the straight man!!

The video illustrates a subtle change in ski-ing technique which has developed from racing in the past few years.
Prior to this change the shoulders were used in a counter rotational manner to assist upper and lower body separation(shoulders to ze valley!!).
The change to which I refer is that throughout phase 2 of the turn( the apex) the outside shoulder comes around with the outside or uphill ski.(It has been described to me as a slow punching movement).
By looking to plant the pole ahead, this movement should remain smooth and rhythmical and the pole plant willprevent over rotation.
God, that sounds really technical, but it does work!!

Text Book Terry!!!

Correct skidmarks. Pole planting is essential for Timing and co-ordination through the phases of the turn.
As with any sport - learning to ski properly at the outset will make it easier to adapt to conditions as you improve to advanced or expert level.
This is what racers do!!
If you have the opportunity to stop a video of racers in full flow, you will see that in the vast majority of cases their positioning is excellent with regards to angulation, rotation and weighting/unweighting of the skis.