J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

ldavies wrote

Are there any other girlies out there who pack 14 pairs of knickers for a 7 night holiday?

Surely three are enough. After three days, turn them inside out? :shock:
Oops, I forgot, you are going with friends. Take two pairs, turn them inside out, and then swap them? :twisted:

Can't think why you need more than one jacket and salopettes. Nobody is going to pinch them. They will be dry by the morning. There is a strength in just having one piece of kit. You don't arrive at the Gondola, and remember that your lift pass is in your "other" jacket. A fleece would do as a spare.

Since you are driving, I take it that weight space is not a big issue.
So you can err on the side of taking extra.

I am afraid that silks haven't caught me up yet. I wear a polo, sweater, jacket. Bottom half, just Y fronts and salopettes. Good thinsulate gloves.

My ambition is to get my ski kit, including my boots, on as hand luggage, so as to cut the journey to the Alps by the luggage waiting time. (I use Easyjet) Haven't figured it out yet though. I am down to 13Kgms. I only ever take four days clothes, wash and dry each night.

RoseR wrote

Dave Mac, do you breed the puppies for guide dogs or do you just train them? It must feel like seeing your children do well and go off into the wide world.

Rose, there are specialist breeders set up, controlled by the Guide Dog Society. We take the puppy at 6/7 weeks, and go through house training, general training, early directed training.

House training is like the nappy stage of children. Up at 4.00am, walking round the garden, in your dressing gown and wellies.

General training, sits, downs, wait, stay, recall. Recall has to be 100%. No dog tricks, like holding up the paw, roll over.

Directed training. Approaching stairs, lead the person to the bannister, place paws on bottom step and stop. Food distraction, ie must leave all food alone unless instructed that it is for the dog. Must stop at doors, kerbs, obstructions.

After a while, you get to think about the needs of a blind person, and this helps with the training.

RoseR wrote

Sorry this is rambling and not ski-related

This also is not skiing related, but in a way, is related to the thread.

Two weeks ago, my OH and I learned that our first guide dog puppy, which we had trained for a year, had completed his final training, been accepted, (there is a 25% reject level), and been placed with a blind man near to Edinburgh.

It was a terrific feeling to get that first acceptance.

We have less than two months to go with our second guide dog puppy, before she goes onto the next stage training, and about that time, we will get our third guide dog puppy.

Pavel. Thank you for your kind offer, but please don't go to that trouble. I plan to download the website addresses, drive to civilisation, and watch them on my son's PC. But thank you for your thought.


Pavel wrote:

In a very large ski resort there was a nearby farm that allowed members to sleep and eat for $7!!!!

Pav,
In my first season, I paid 24 Austrian Schillings for b&b, two guys to a room, with an drip feed oil heater in the corner, that we cooked on.

At the time, the rate of exchange was 72Austschgs/£. So I paid £0.33/night!!!! That would be about 50 cents?

Trencher wrote:

Skis, you had skis, you sissies. When I were a lad, Three of us would go to hill. Two would have to lay down in snow and be skis for t'other. You'd be that beat up after a day in moguls that we hardly had strength for a 20 hour night shift down pit t'at night. Aye, but we loved t'skiing. If there were only two of us, we'd have to snowboard instead

That's absolootly nowt. When I were a lad, after a 40 hour shift, down a proper pit, we ad to walk upt thill, with us legs tied togither, pullint t'Austrian ski team upt mountain, on a rope, eat a dead parrot for breakfast, puke up the parrot bits, use t' puke to wax me bare feet, put t'razer blades between me toes, before skiin down barefoot, backwards, wi me eyes shut, pullin the first aid ackier, loaded with two people.

Good bit of signposting Ise. The line up for the Kendal Mountain Festival is something else. Reinhold Messner alone ~ it is an opportunity for all true mountain lovers. Catherine Destiville, have seen on the box, solo climbing. Don't know the others but they all have strong climbing Cvs.

I had a spell of a couple of (pre-skiing) years at attempting rock climbing, before deciding that my body strength was never going to accumulate in my arms. We used to practice at Leek Roaches, alongside, (he said, nonchelantly,) Joe Brown, Don Whillans. It was when I fell off, and was left dangling on a rope end, I decided there were probably better sports, which led me to fell running.

May well go to Kendal.

Pavel,

Would like to join in the thoughts. However, in the wilds of Scotland, I cannot get broadband, and with dial-up, it ain't possible to download anything longer than a 20 second video.

I have the gist of your theme though. A long time back, as a newly qualified engineer, my pal introduced me to two weeks of Austrian skiing. We drove to Niederau, and slept on the floor in a friends room. I didn't take ski school, but some of the local instructors took it in turns to lead me down the Marbachjoch, a process that invoked the full range of responses, from total and abject fear, through sheer frustration, as everyone patiently waited for me to put my skis and googles back on, to the most exhilaring moments.

From that period, I was hooked! The next year, I was in Niederau on December 15th, and did not leave until April 15th. Never missed a days skiing. There were no piste machines, so life was deep snow, moguls, hard pack, ice, then more deep snow, moguls, ........

None of us had any money, we ate the most boring tinned meals and listened to music to pass the time, none of us had any money for drinks.

Yes I know that many of you can hear John Cleese saying, "Noor muney, lad, eeh, pure luxory. When I were a lad, we started skiing at two o'clock in the morning, skied till ten o'clock at night, no food or sleep, and often skied passed ourselves goin' upt cherlift, and bluddy glad to be there, was we"
" Now, you try telling that to the young folk today, they'll never believe thee."

Nevertheless, young folk, that passion for skiing is there, and will remain until I carp it. The same with Pav, Ise, Trencher, et al. Whoever Al is.