J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

sm4sh wrote:ay theres nothen wrong with stoke!!!

It's okay Sm4sh,

Don't pay them any attention. They're just jealous because they don't live in Stoke :D

Tony_H wrote:
One had assumed that based on the number of times you have skied before, you had been doing all of those other things already. Maybe one was wrong to assume?

Tony,
I am no good at remembering lots of things at once. I usually forget one :cry:

Right now, I am concentrating on remembering not to wibble, and that this thread is supposed to be about using drag lifts, not about me and my early onset senile dementia :D

So, as far as drag lifts go, I can think of three advantages they have over chair lifts - viz - they are warmer to use than chair lifts (unless the chairs have those luxury windscreens or heated seats), they can operate in stronger winds, and I rather think they have a lower impact on the environment.

Ally

Tony_H wrote:

AllyG wrote:Thanks again Jenno :D,
I will try and make a mental note to self about this, and add it to the list of; face down the mountain, lean forward with shins against front of boots, plant pole, finish turns, keep arms in steering wheel position, lean down the mountain on steep slopes ... etc. etc.

Ally

along with not falling over, Ally. You really need to stop doing that too.

Tony,
Maybe if I can remember to do all those things (plus a few more which I've temporarily forgotten) I won't fall over any more :D :D :D

Ally

No, I got my stuff from the D2B website itself.

Thanks again Jenno :D,
I will try and make a mental note to self about this, and add it to the list of; face down the mountain, lean forward with shins against front of boots, plant pole, finish turns, keep arms in steering wheel position, lean down the mountain on steep slopes ... etc. etc.

Ally

Sm4sh,
I would guess that Beetleboarder bought his board secondhand somewhere, like on ebay, because otherwise he would have asked the shop about it, but I'm only guessing.

Ally

Thanks Jenno,
If you are paired with someone you don't know, do you discuss this with them first, or just go ahead with it?. And what happens if you can go either way at the top?

Ally

Allie,
I think the lifties usually help the kids, because it is very difficult for them to reach the button. There's usually someone at the bottom of all the drag lifts, to help people.

Each lift seems to have its own peculiarities - one at La Rosiere used to be very fast and lift you off the ground at the beginning (lots of people fell off this one), another one at La Rosiere was very steep, and then there was one at Val Thorens that even experienced skiers (upper intermediates) used to fall off (to the despair of our instructor). And sometimes the metal bars get tangled up at the top, so you try and reach for the wrong one. Also, the track you slide on can get quite icy, which knocks a few people off, and then if they haven't pisted the side of the drag lift and you fall off you can get stuck in deep snow (that happened to a friend of mine and they had to get rescued by a snowplough).

The only lifts I've actually crashed on are chair lifts, getting off at the top. Once I was taking a young kid up for his instructor and when he got off he skied over my skis and we both went smash (luckily he was okay), and another time (on the same chair lift in Obergurgl) my daughter and I both went smash getting off, and rolled down the slope and through the tape, but I've no idea who's fault it was or what happened.

I've even had problems with gondolas. In Zell am See they had one where you have to put your skis on the outside in a sort of rack before you get in it, and then take them out at the top after you get out, and I was trying to get mine and my daughter's skis out, and they got stuck and I was sort of trying to jog along beside the gondola and pull them out (it was going quite slowly though).

Ally