J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by steverandomno

I fully support the SCGB in their fight here. This should never have made it to court and is in absolutely no one's interests. The ESF are shooting at their own feet when it comes to British ski tourists.

I've skied briefly with the SCGB in Whistler during the past couple of seasons. If they were engaging in teaching, then the ESF would have an understandable reason to protect their interests and those of their members/employees. However, no teaching happens. No one who has ever enjoyed SCGB's hosted group skiing could ever claim it to be remotely similar to teaching. The groups are hosted by volunteers who have clearly had group safety training.

Hosted organized group skiing serve several practical, safety, and social purposes for all types of skier, especially if you are skiing without a partner or your partner happens to be taking a lesson (who knows, perhaps with an ESF school?). The host often recommends various programs offered by the ski schools and has the contacts to send them a lot of business.

In Canada and the US, ski hosting by TO's and organizations like SCGB is embraced as a business development opportunity. In fact, many ski hills operate an almost identical free hosting service on a drop in basis. One assumes they don't do this solely out of the goodness of their hearts.

ESF seem to be objecting to the concept of semi-formally organized social group skiing. That is essentially what the SCGB offers.

Now that's a pretty similar concept to every group ski trip that I've ever done. Somebody, occasionally with expenses paid and knowledge of the resort, will organize a get together at a resort and may co-ordinate accommodation, booking of lessons, passes, ski hire and transfers. They will often show people around the resort.

In fact that's essentially how the Ski Club of Great Britain started. From the club's website:

Back in 1903, when ski lifts and safety bindings were unknown, 12 men sat down to dinner at a fashionable restaurant in London (Cafe Royal) and decided to form a ski club - the Ski Club of Great Britain. Their aim was to encourage other people to learn to ski, help members improve and take more enjoyment from their skiing while bringing together people interested in the sport.

Many of those thousands of new skiers visited French resorts and took lessons with ESF schools.

Winterization fees when picking up a car in winter, are outrageous. This happened to me a few years ago and in the end I got the fee refunded. If you book a car during winter months, then it should be included, or explicitly stated up front. It's not as if you have a realistic option of declining the fee, so basically those charging it are effectively shaking you down for a few extra dollars.

Worse than that are those rental companies that allow their franchisee's to rent you a car during unavoidable winter conditions, but without winter tires. Many won't even offer you the option. Very few of the people who are involved in the rental of these vehicles would drive in the same conditions without winter tires themselves.

Winter tires are a must when driving in conditions that might involve icy roads. I would rather drive a large 2 wheel drive car on winter tires than the latest AWD technology on regular or all season tires. Make sure you demand them when renting your next car.

Remember kids - Camembert screws you up! Just say no!

I don't think there's a silver bullet. The only real solution is to try and find some terrain with more natural visual cues. I always try and ski in or near trees when it gets really bad.

Your fitness is likely to be the biggest variable. Also, flexibility is important and gets worse when you approach middle age. Especially if you sit behind a desk all day.

CanadianSkier,

That's a great photo. Whilst skiing during the preparations for the World Cup at Lake Louise, a Lynx crossed right in front of me, which had me looking for entries with (l) as well as (dnf) in the results table :)

Dave Mac wrote:Ok here is the video. When you are teaching someone to carry out four different actions at the same time, the trick is to try and encapsulate a method which does not try to separate and then bring together the elements.

This was posted by a good friend who was British Speed Ski champion ~ he too still searches for the best description.

https://www.skicanada.org/tips-up-balance-on-skis/?utm_source=SnowOnline+subscribers&utm_campaign=473a2b3639-Tips_Up_Oct_910_9_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b2f88be4ac-473a2b3639-101196109

Great video. This was once explained to me by a level 3 instructor as visualizing an open window perpendicular to the fall line and as you begin the turn, try to visualize putting your upper body 'through the window'. It worked for me, especially on challenging terrain.

Hi Cirrus,

It's always very difficult to tell when you don't have all of the details, but my guess is that it's a combination of a couple of things:
-something is putting you in the 'back seat'.
-you may be transferring your weight from one ski to the other too quickly and late (timing and co-ordination)


On the first point...
You mentioned that you bought new boots. The more precise fit may be making it harder for you to keep your weight and hips forward. You should aim to keep constant pressure on the front of your boots. I had similar difficulties a couple of seasons ago and I'm also a heavy skier. One of the things I find gets more difficult is that flexibility becomes a challenge with every passing year. It is important to have flexibility in all of the muscles of your legs and your hips.

Try focusing on gym exercises to improve hip flexibility and stretch and strengthen you leg muscles. Do plenty of lunges and squats, but also try some yoga and you might be surprised with the results.

On the second point, here is a couple of questions..
Would you describe your turns more as z's or s's ?
Do you find difficulty maintaining a constant slow speed on steep icy terrain?
Do you find moguls especially challenging?

You may be throwing on the breaks and transferring all of your weight from one ski to the next far too late and quickly. At the beginning of the turn, try transferring the weight from your downhill to your 'new' outside/downhill ski earlier and more smoothly. This should result in smoother more s shaped turns.


Another possibility that will not help with any of the above is that you are 'rotating' (turning to face left and right with each turn) too much.


The other factor is altitude. What altitude were you skiing last year compared to before? For most people coming from the UK, altitude is a big factor. In general, the higher the altitude the fitter you need to help mitigate it's effects, but there are many factors that vary from one person and time to the next.