J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Innsbrucker

She doesn´t claim to be an expert, has never taught before, and I very much doubt if she understands the mechanics of skiing, though she learnt young and seems very secure on skis - I was impressed by the way she can take my weight through turns, skiing together as if I were riding pillion on a bike. That is one of the ways I have seen parents here teaching very small children, and it was good for giving me the feel of sking, even if it looks a bit ridiculous. Her philosophy is ´don´t think too much´. Once in a while she likes to ski fast down a piste on her modern carving skis in short turns, legs together, in an old-fashioned, elegant, effortless style she probably learnt at school and never felt like changing.

Thanks again, and thanks Jan for that long post, the point about being perpendicular to the slope is something I would never have thought of, I will read it again tomorrow to check I have understood. Since posting this morning a friend here has offered to lend me shorter skis and introduce me to instructors.

Thanks for the advice. I´m back to London tomorrow but will come to Austria again within a month and try following the advice. As a freelance writer / researcher I am very lucky to be able to travel when I like, but also short of cash at present.

Maybe looking for more suitable skis on ebay makes sense?

Hi
There is so much interesting advice on this site, perhaps someone can advise me as a beginner who is having a lot of problems. I have been close to giving up, but do make some progress.

Since I have a girlfriend in Innsbruck, and someone gave me some skis, it made sense to try to learn, though I´m nearly 50. But after 7 sessions (5 this week) lasting 1-3 hours each, progress is very slow.

My skis are probably old fashoned. They are Elan ´Procarve´, a bit narrow compared with modern skis, same height as me (180cm).
Their condition and edges look OK to me.

The problem is simple: under pressure from my girlfriend who has been teaching me (though not a ski teacher), I do overcome fear and attempt turns which seem scary. On very shallow slopes I can even link turns, and sometimes get the skis parallel between turns. Anything steeper and speed is impossible to control. When turning right I can slow down a bit at the end of the turn, digging in with a wedge/snowplough with all my strength (my legs are fairly strong, but not very flexible). When turning left, braking is all but impossible. Dozens of times I have had to fall on purpose to avoid hurtling over the side of the piste or into a tree, though the pistes were not narrow. Sometimes I even try skiing back uphill at the end of the turn to slow down but that does not take off enough speed (I just lose balance). My girlfriend, who can see that the risk of me shooting off the edge of the piste is real, just shouts, ´Snowplough, Snowplough.´ Then when I am lying on the ground, she comes over and says ´It has to work. If you don´t stop it is only because you tell yourself you can´t´. (Maybe she is right: it is true I shout ´I can´t stop!´)

Sometimes I try sideslipping to slow down, but have not acquired the sense of balance for it, and usually twist the skis too far and fall. Sideslipping is also much less effective as way of slowing down when turning left than turning right. Which is odd because I am right handed so the valley ski is on what should be my strongest side.

I know the fact the skis are long may mean it will take me a bit longer to learn than it needs to. I can live with that. But still, progress seems very slow, and incredibly tiring (mentally as much as physically).

Any thoughts would be welcome!

Thanks,

John

PS I might add that relatively easy slopes here have been very busy around New Year, there are many children out, including some very small children, so I have to limit what I try to avoid risk. And almost every day an A&E doctor from Innsbruck is on the TV talking about how the hospital is like a war zone with a drastic increase in skiing accidents - it is not clear why, one doctor referred to increased use of artificial snow. I wonder whether the new budget flights from UK are bringing more inexperienced skiiers.