J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Jan I Stenmark

Its amazing what a tiny bit of white stuff in another country can do to lift your mood isnt it!!!!

Try explaining that to a non snow sports enthusiast )

Jan

AJ: Magical only just about touches on the feeling :P and what makes it all the stranger is that only 5 days ago it was 25+ in the garden :) Looking out the window and seeing that was the synthesis of everything we moved here for.

When the full summer sun is out it seems impossible to believe that it could EVER snow. Now that it's started we've all switched into "snow" mode and can't wait for the season proper, although I was tempted today to go and ski what is there :) I thought it would be the perfect way to prepare an old pair of skis for Pavel’s “Ski Tuning Course” – I’m guessing it might have been a bit “thin” ;)

Anyway, glad you can enjoy the views online too 8)

Jan

Saw this view this morning and thought of you all!



Ok, not chest deep powder, but it's a start :)

Jan

Dave,

I know I have posted this before, but it worked for us ;)

BA: MUC -> LHR ...

Sure saved space :D But I guess it fails your definition of hand luggage :(



Jan

Simple answer to that: It's the QFL ...

Jan

A fascinating thread and one which really goes to the heart of the question of “Why go skiing at all?”

Although, to be more accurate, I think it’s really about the difference between “How” we go skiing than “Why”.

It seems to me that if you are only able to get to the snow for one or two weeks in the year, you are far more likely to want to cram it absolutely choc-a-bloc with skiing than those of us like ise, myself and others who can ski every day of the season.

Talking purely for myself, I used to be prepared to ski in ANY conditions when on holiday – Now I look out the window and think, shall I, shalln’t I? That, coupled with the chance to do that for everyday of the season naturally means that my motivation is different from the “Holiday” skier and please, that’s NOT a criticism, just an observation ;)

Personally, I seek perfection in every run. I analyse my performance both during and after each run and for me that constitutes “happiness” but who am I to say that that’s what anyone else should do? For me the number of piste miles in Niederau is way in excess of what I need because even one piste is never really the same from hour to hour or day to day or for that matter from week to week and month to month. In the darkest days of December the conditions at midday on one piste are completely different to the same piste at the same time in March. So, from my perspective, I believe Niederau offers me an infinite number of miles on which to attempt to achieve my own, personal, Nirvana.

Ultimately, I believe skiing is an expression of personal freedom. It offers the chance to experience some of the most breathtaking excesses of Mother Nature in her rawest and most beautiful forms. What I don’t think it should be about is striving to comply with someone else’s view of what constitutes happiness, contentment or fulfilment – If, at the end of a day’s skiing, you can sit in front of a crackling log fire with a glass of sustaining fluid, amongst good friends and reflect on the enjoyment you have experienced deep inside, then you can be sure that you will have found the answer to the question and who can ask for more than that!

Jan

Karen,

I've just checked my phone for different service providers and guess what? One was called "3 AT" so maybe you're going to luck out 8)

I'd be very interested to catchup with you over a beer to find out how it works out! Now according to my calculations you should have a windows on Tuesday between 17:03 and 17:13 :)

Have fun,

Jan

Karen,

Ski lifts queues are living, breathing, sentient beings. They do not conform to mechanical rules and “predicting” them is a mugs game.

Here are some of the forces that influence one aspect of their behaviour, namely length:

Type of resort – Resorts that cater primarily for the type of client who will take advantage of ski school will naturally have different peak loads on the lift system than those resorts that cater for “Powder Hounds” who will want to catch the VERY first lift up.

Time of day – If Ski School starts at 10:00 at the base station it’s not hard to guess that by 10:02 the queue will be growing rapidly. Equally, the queue lengths at those lifts above the base station may not be too long. Now consider 12:00, ski school stops on the mountain for lunch and suddenly the lifts are empty and the restaurants are full!

Day of week – Again, if the resort is populated by a high concentration of beginners then on Monday the lifts servicing the Reds and Blacks will be very quiet but by Thursday / Friday the same lifts will be much busier. Weekends will have a quite separate “personality” as in many resorts locals will take advantage of good snow when it’s available and “pass” when conditions are average.

Snow conditions – Not many people like skiing in whiteout conditions / rain / blizzards etc so all the above conditions will be affected by the prevailing weather. On the other hand a big dump of the fluffy stuff overnight and crystal clear blue sky at 08:45 is a sure sign that the lifts will be busy ;)

The Vacuum Effect – Imagine that you’re sitting outside a mountain hostelry from where you can see the lift queue. Isn’t it likely that if you notice that the queue is nearly zero that you’ll jump up, click on some planks and take a quick go around (possibly also avoiding that expensive round you’d found yourself in!). The reverse happens too. If you come around the mountain and there’s a 40 deep queue of school kids pushing and shoving to get the lift and a sunny terrace serving cold beer / wine you may well choose the latter, I know I would.

The Anti-Phase Queuing Technique – This can only really be perfected if you are not limited by external forces i.e. lessons, catering, fatigue, family pressures etc. If you are free of these issues then it’s quite possible to ski without queuing even in the busiest weeks of the year. The secret is to observe that “living beast” the lift queue and pick your moments to ski and your moments to revive yourself accordingly. That may mean getting an early lift and skiing until 10:30 then stopping for an hour and then skiing through the lunch hour and stopping again for a lazy lunch until say 14:30 and then skiing until the lifts shut around 16:30. This will also ensure that you don’t have to queue in the hostelries, which personally I detest much more than a lift queue!

As for a specific answer to your question, I skied around 90 of the possible 104 days here last season and I can’t honestly remember queuing for more than 4-5 mins on any day. The most unlucky may have had a 10-15 minute queue in some of the busiest spots on the busiest days.

Hope this helps,

Jan