J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

Hi Jan,

Tried to look at the Auhof site. but it gave me error 404, or something. It matters not, this is the wee lift I saw last year, surrounded by green stuff, as was most things.

I haven't got the hang of direct contact on J2ski yet.
With a skiing mate, I get to Niederau 4/5 weeks a year, usually split in two sessions, Jan & March. Arriving mid Jan. will be in Bichlwirt on most nights, possibly playing guitar, if circumstances right. Do you stay at Grafenweg end?.

Agreeing with freezywater, but you might have picked up the subliminal message ~ why are you faffing about with Salzburg. It is winter. Go skiing for every minute you can in Austria. Go to Salzburg in the spring/summer/autumn, it is beautiful.

No expert, (being a guy, ye ken), but should you be flying at all in the first 3 months? Understand when this is the most vulnerable time.

During one season, a fellow instructor skied from 4 to 7 months. in the latter stages, we arranged for someone to ski behind her, if she had a fall, she wouldn't have been able to get up.....

There are three hire places in Niederau, Thalers, Margreiter, and Blachfelder. The Harfenwirt may offer you a ticket to obtain a discount from Thaler, but from several friends' experiences, the service is not good, and the range and quality of the equipment is lacking.

I would give Blachfelders the edge over Margreiter, but not a great deal in them. I get my services carried out at Margreiter, and, will continue to do so, after winning a bet with Eric, (the manager) that I could not ski down the Mercenwiess last year, the day after it had rained, and turned to ice. By my reckoning we will both have long grey beards and be incapable of remembering our names by the time the bet is paid off.

I don't know your standard, but if you are free skiing, you can ski back to the Harfenwirt at night, and catch the T bar up in the morning, then ski down to the village.

I did four seasons in Niederau in times past, and it is a wonderful, magical village. I have two weeks in late Jan, and two weeks at end of season.

Don't miss a visit or two to the Bichlwirt, 100m up from the Harf. It has a 500 year history, Maria is welcoming, and Herbert plays good harp stuff most nights.


Jan ~ new lift opposite the Harfenwit? There was new short beginner T bar there last year. Is that the one, or is there a new one? Niederau is crying out for a chairlift right up the Tenladen to meet the Mittermoos T bar at the top.

THis is a good site for clarity of explanation about knee injuried.

My prime comment on this subject is that once the repair has been effected, good quality physio and after-attention will reap benefits. After an arthroscopy, I skipped the physio stuff, was back playing tennis in two weeks, and skiing 6 months later. This was a mistake, and I paid for it.

At season end, I attended a sports physio anda sports scientist. The exercise program offered was worked on everyday until the following winter. The result ~ seven weeks of pain and twinge-free skiing.

It is worth the effort.

Rossfrae, what are Seths?

I have a pair of K2 merlins, they were a big improvement on my 26 year old Blizzard firebirds! I thought at the time I was being adveturous, by downsizing from 210s to 2 metres! As age and knees set in I find that almost anything at 185 and under can be turned.

Had a Christmas email yesterday from a friend in Niederau. She says the conditions are very good. The Wildschoenau web site shows 1.3m, but that will be at the top of the Schatsberg in Auffach. From this I would expect the Marbachjoch to be over a metre deep. And at this time of year, the north facing runs normally remain below freezing most of the time.

Unfortunately, there looks to be a slight warming next week, but the conditions should hold. The piste machine men are among the best at preparation.

Say hello to Maria and Herbert in the Bichlwirt from me, I will be there 2 weeks in mid Jan and two weeks at the end of season.

Pavelski gave a good short history of the development of parallel skiing. The stem christie was aimed at a middle step between snowplough and parallel. The problem was that a lot of skiers remained locked in the stem process, because they perceived an issue of retaining balance by progressing to parallel.

We used, with reasonable success, to cut out the christie phase, through a process of cross-hill traverse stops, progressing to an "Open knee swing". That is using a change of terrain to assist in the initiation of the turn, skis parallel, shoulder width apart. It works well, but is difficult for beginners to grasp. This was in effect a carved turn, but it took a lot of ground, and was only any use on slight slopes. Shorter skis and changed camber has made this process easier to achieve.

Enlightment only really occured when the pupil grasped the technique of heel slip, which, then allied with the parallel turn gave the combination of ability, control and confidence.

Incidentally, there was a period in the early 70's when we were mandated to teach downward unweighting, called "Avaloment" in the France and "Grundschwung" in the Austrian ski school. High backed boots quickly appeared followed by rickety knees! It developed into an extreme form, termed "Jetting", sitting down on a snow bump, twisting the knees, and jetting the skis away! I remember bolting 8 inch vertical extensions to the back of my boots!

Having said all that, there are occasions when downward unweighting is rewarded.

I agree with ski53 and ben76 that carving is a parallel action. Also, there is nothing wrong with "knees together", it is a style variation along with the rest.

And if more girls skied with their legs together......

Dave Mac