J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Jan I Stenmark

Pav,

Got any tips for the Med or Caribbean say 60 – 65 foot? Catered, maybe some private beaches … ?

Roll on Summer eh? All this white stuff is SO last season ...

Happy sun drenched days,

Yan

Well err, how can I put this whilst still retaining 50% audience participation ...

I am very fortunate to have a wonderful wife who is prepared to forego her own skiing pleasure and drive the 4x4 up the various hills in Wildschönau to allow me to make tracks.

Naturally I wouldn’t dream of going near the pistes as the gang are *very* busy making things perfect for the start of the season, but they don’t own the whole mountain :wink:

Happy first tracks,

Jan

Err Mr Admin, I'm confused, are you saying Newcastle and Scotland are different places? I thought it was all just "Up North" ... Well you learn a thing everyday eh?

Hmmm now I'm thinking I'm gonna be lucky to get away with just being made into a snowman :(

As for the gang comming out - Do it! For the week beginining 15th December the lifts will be open but all the tour operators don't start until the 22nd so we have a free week and judging by today's snow every day'll be a powder day!!! If you're interested PM me and I'll be happy to put you up!

Happy snowballin'

Jan

... now where's that wax Pav? Oh and my powder straps ...

Och Man,

Ah wuz onlee teasin ya man. Can ya nay tak a joke?

But ah huv a shuvle fur ya if ya think clearin snows a laffin matter!!!

hehehe :P

jan

Ok Mr S.Marty Pants,

Can't you read, the forecast from the good people at J2SKI very clearly said 1cm snow for Niederau, now how in the name of all the Snow Gods can you guys mix up 1cm with the 20cms we've had already today?

It's not so much the struggle to get the roads clear it's more that I've just finished tuning my skis from the last dump you guys provided and now I'm gonna have to use those skis all over again ... Do you have no sympathy?? If things carry on like this I just don’t know when I’m gonna get a chance to sit by the fire and warm myself with a Large Gluhwien!

Well I suppose I had better go and check that the quality is acceptable …

Yours thirstily,

Jan

It was winter 1976 and I was in love! I was off school with mumps (no lasting problems thankfully!) and I got to watch the whole Innsbruck Winter Olympics from the sofa. Who was I in love with? Well Rosie Mittermaier of course (she’s fab!) and she won the Gold … (Ah, young love eh?).

Well at that moment I knew I “HAD” to ski so I found some old wood effect floor tiles that had a felt backing. I didn’t fully understand the intricacies of bindings at that point so I tied the tiles to my feet with string and tried to “ski” around the house. Problem was that as I slid forward the string rolled backwards underneath the “ski” and my foot ended up falling off the tile … Not quite the Franz Klammeresque style I had in mind … But some perseverance in the tool box provided enough bits of wood and glue to make a “foot restraining device for use with floor-tile-ski” (patent pending).

By the time I stood on skis for real (later that spring) I was convinced, no, that’s not quite sure enough, I was absolutely certain that I was going to be able to ski. The instructor had us walk around the bottom of the slope to get the feel of these long planks strapped to our feet (I was in my element because I had modified the floor tile at home to connect several together making a ski of about 4ft). The boots were ankle height leather and had BOTH clips – None of those old fashioned laces for me!

So there we were slip-sliding around at the bottom of the slope and I just couldn’t help myself, I had to take a side step or two up the hill so that I could feel the sensation of “skiing” … WOW, it was everything and more I could’ve imagined! Unfortunately the instructor was less excited about my antics and in a rather patronizing voice asked me who I thought I was – “The next national champion?”

Just under four year later I saw that same ski instructor in the crowd as I stood on the rostrum accepting my first national championship medal! How sweet the moment!

Sadly, he passed away not so long ago but not before we had enjoyed may beers chatting about skiing and he did say that he remembered my first lesson and thought maybe I had some previous skiing experience, I didn’t have the heart to tell him the exact nature of my “previous experience!”

So whatever you really want in life if you put your mind to it and persevere who knows where life will lead you?

Happy memories,

Jan

Hi all,

I'm thinking that this may be the ski for me this season but would very much appreciate any feedback you may have.

I'm thinking the 10ft 175 Power Switch ...

Coincidentally, can anyone shed any light on the meaning behind the 10ft and 12ft denominations? I know that the 12ft has a wider waist but do the numbers mean anything or are they just marketing mumbo-jumbo?

Happy quantitative and qualitative evaluations,

Jan

Freezy you win the teachers-pet point :)

The phrase I actually had in mind was:

Failing
To
Prepare
Is
Preparing
To
Fail

But yours kinda works to eh?

But who's gonna quibble ...

Actually Pavel probably as he tried SO hard but then also kinda failed, Oh well, there's always next time ;)

Happy phrasing :)

Jan