J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

munich_johnny wrote:Hey Offshore - that WAS the last snow there!!!

25th Jan it was - I remember it well.

That's not correct,John.
In January, Niederau snow depth was 79cm.
In February, the snow depth was 84cm snow.

In March, we had some smatterings, but it didn't matter, because the skiing stayed good until the Thursday of the third week.

I know you do get there at weekends, but I was there for 2 weeks in January, and most of March.

You could try this nutty idea:

Tony_H wrote:Flippin eck, another thread turning into a Niederau roll call :roll:

Nobody would bother if you didn't keep mentioning it, Tony! :P

I have a merino, base and upper. Both very thin & light. That's all, under my jacket. No long johns, just the sallos.

Merino is an incredible material, 100% wool, total pass through absorbency, warm, not scratchy as some some skins have suggested!

It is costly up front, but then I have worn the same two tops for 300 days a year, for a couple of years, so I guess that means they are hard wearing.

Mine are Merrell, Vibram soles, Goretex uppers, Comfortable, good grip, have been hard wearing. Rock walking, some fell running.

Also have a pair of North Face fabric uppers for easy hill walks, but the uppers are pretty well shot now. It is a shame, because the soles, also Vibram are like brand new, fantastic grip. Now good for gardening, beach walking and steep rock climbing on a dry day!
I once owned a pair of FEBs. These were a radical departure from earlier mountain boots, and were the first to use Vibram soles and Goretex liners. (FEB ~ Frederick Ellis Brigham, the founder in 1933, and the father of Bob and Ellis Brigham.)

Yes, the terrain that can be covered with the snowplough will be restricted. However, that will be true for just about every beginner, until a) they start to get use to some gentle speed, and b) they can remain in control.

My prime key issue would be safety and control. Once the pupil can operate control, they can move on to a parallel technique.

The key issue remains in retaining control, but they are now using a different technique, and can move on to more challenging terrain. They can do so with more confidence than otherwise ~ simply because someone has showed them a way to stay in control.

Now they will have confidence in their teacher ~ it worked before, so now I will trust you to show me more.

Skiing at all stages is not just about a chosen technique ~ it is as much about psychology and belief.

I once spent some time with a J2skier who was on her first visit to the mountains after a serious knee op. We just gently came down a T-bar run, plough turns, gradually narrowing the plough, until she was comfortably back with a controlled parallel turn.

What I din't tell her, until we had completed several runs, was that I was also narrowing the run. She called me a name, and then smiled! Later that day, she skied down the mountain.

Psychology, innit!!!!

Top man, Trencher!

I am afraid that I do not agree with you Pavel. I too have taught people straight into parallel turns, ~ and that was on long and straight skis! But the circumstances were perfect, great soft snow, exactly the right slope, and one on one. The advent of modern shape and shorter skis does change the game by a fair bit.

Even now, my view is the odds are still in favour of starting with snow plough. This is for reason of control. Once the beginner feels they can always be in control, they can move to the next stage.

I started teaching at the tail end of the period when stem christie was still taught, prior to moving to a parallel turn. This was to enable the learning of rear edge contol, a device that was needed to move on ~ purely because of ski length and shape.

The Austrian and French systems then changed to learning downward unweighting, also called Grundschwung, and Avalamont. This moved quickly from snowplough, (which needs no unweighting) to a parallel turn. The system lasted only two years.

After that, the system went direct from snowplough to parallel ~ technique plus the use of terrain ~ the problem with this was that as soon as the people tried to ski out of class, they did not understand terrain, and got into trouble.

It really was not until the advance of ski shapes and length that teaching could move forwards. That still does not do away with the need to establish early control mechanism.

It is not every resort that would have a good graded and gradual range of slopes.

The personal weight difference between different class members can vary by 2.5/1 ~ that will result in different speeds on the same slope.

Here is an 11 month tinytot, look at the second phase, where the child aligns his own skis ~ into a slight plough.


Here is an 11 month being towed ~ and naturally forms a snowplough~ no thoughts of ski shape:


Having said all of that, the person that learned the quickest at my hands went straight to parallel, did everything he was told, first time, I brought him down the mountain after 4 hours. He was autistic.