J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by tin pot

Hi all,

My son(5) took to skiing quite well so I'd like to find somewhere he can do some practice.

Pro opinion was to give up trying to teach him the snow plough so he parallel skis, if a little wildly. There was a short kids area in Les Arc 1800 that was perfect, in that I could be there to catch him when neccesary.

Is there anything like that near north Kent?

Cheers.

It's amazing how many people believe they can live their lives segregated from babies, children, teenagers and the elderly. Ha, ha.

Have a good trip. Our youngest is two, I would say the only thing to bear in mind is how much extra effort on top of normal parenting the cold brings - getting them in and out of clothing all the time - and getting them to bed a lot earlier than normal.

Make sure you have spare mitts, and fit them well.

Mekka wrote:If you can get to Chill Factor during the week it's a lot quieter. The slope's at it's best when they open. The queues are shortest then too. I've never had to queue early on weekdays.

They have an offer of a 2hr lift pass for £15 weeknights 9-11pm until the end of January.

It is the longset slope in England but it can get repetitive. I Luke to go once or twice before a skiing holiday to get my ski legs. It is good for practicing certain things too.

I'd probably be doing it Friday evening, so I'll check those dates. Is ski hire included? I couldn't see hire prices on their site...

Cheers.

Thanks Tony/Dave.

I'm in Manchester end of next week and I see they've got a snow dome 'Chill Factore', so I'm tempted to get some more practice in now :) Any experience with them? Are the queues bad?

Tony_H wrote:What Dave's trying to say is, go right round the turn and if necessary go back uphill slightly if you think you're going out of control.

Yeah, that's what I meant by checking my speed at the end of a turn. I also liked using this 'speed check' as I cross the piste to keep the speed at a comfortable level - but I guess it's not the most gracious way to ski! But I guess I'll get more fluid as my confidence increases.

Dave Mac wrote:You seem to be doing very well.
To add to what Trencher has put forward for recovery, when you are skiing, keep thinking about keeping your chest over your toes, and also keep your hands forward, and slightly wide. This is a slightly exagerated description, but if you try to keep the top half forward, you are likely to achieve a balance.
Be careful when you come to a change in terrain, ie where the slope goes steeper. Where this happens, compensate by leaning forward more.
Try to keep pressure forwards into your boots. (forward onto the tongue)

Hmm, that is very interesting. I did really struggle when the gradient got significantly steeper, counter intuitive to lean forward more when you're worried about speed :)

On a side note, it's also amazing how easy it is when you're well balanced and turning easily!

Thanks for the encouragement, and and advice all. I'm wondering where/when I can get some more practice in already :D

Tony_H wrote:

tin pot wrote:

Tip 1: Don't hire skis in advance.

Unless it's high season, there is plenty of stock.
You may get a 'discount' online, but you get them from your accommodation anyway, and anything you might be saving is lost when you decide not to ski one, or all of you.

Hi Tinpot. Glad you got on ok. Just a query, but I don't understand this bit. I know you're trying to give advice to other newbies, but this just doesn't make sense to me. You get a discount online, but you're saying not to do this if you decide not to ski?

Also, I have never been to an accommodation where you get the skis there. I am sure there may be some that do, but it must be unusual so maybe you had a different experience from the normal? I've always found that you have to go into a shop in the resort to rent skis.

Perhaps you could clear that up for the interested newbies? Thanks, and keep at it matey!

Sure Tony.

We were there for ten days so I hired skis for the three of us online in advance, for nine days. We used them each only about four or five days, depending on how we felt and who was going to be using them. With small kids it's just not possible to be skiing every day, certainly not for all three of us, or even know which day you are going to get the chance.

As for getting skis there, I meant that when we arrived both places said they could get 20% off the local ski hire place. If I had hired when we needed them I would've saved a lot of money.

Hi all,

Just got back from our first ski holiday and really enjoyed it. I had basically three one hour lessons, and got the thumbs up from the instructor - I can't remember all the phrases and names so bear with me.

I think I'm parallel skiing, parallel turns, and parallel skidding(?). Checking the speed at the end of turns, looking down the mountain, using the full width of the piste (and keeping out of other people's way!).

Problems are that I tend to use my hips primarily rather than my feet for turning, so I'm working on that.

The other issue is that when my technique fails and my weight rocks back, is their any humanly possible way to get forward again? At the moment I come to a stop any way I can and start again.

Before I go to an instructor again I realise I need time on the piste to bed down what I've learned, but any direction would be appreciated.