Messages posted by : JamesA
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Post Script. Jan I Stenmark...great thread idea.
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I agree with the comments so far. You cannot bend the knees without flexing the ankle and still be standing.
I suppose it's possible but you will be weighting the back of the ski the way Killy used to do in the '60s with the Jet turn. Oops showing my age with that one. Here's more stuff to ponder. Back weighting, weighting the back of the ski, will cause the shovel to slide out and front weighting will cause the tails to wash out. The bending of the knees will cause you to lower the center of gravity (CG) and increase stability. Flexing the ankle will allow the ski to be evenly weighted and cause neither the tails or shovels to wash out while lowering the CG. Lowering your arms while skiing has a similar stability effect. I always try to tell my students to ski tall so they can then retract to a lower more stable position when the terrain requires it. mmmmm....sking a dynamic sport? flex move arms, lower, raise, lower again seems like I'm really into the dynamics of telemarking.... well the cat's out of the bag... Let's really talk flexing the ankle and the knees and the toes and the heel raised to see the true dynamics and grace..... WOW sliding on snow, skiing classic, skiing new age, snow boarding, heck riding a tobbogan - what a great sport for mind and spirit. |
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I'm late to this thread but here's a few uses that I do/have.
101 Placing the poles of several skiers to use as gates and allow the kids a chance to wend their way down between them. The kids love skiing between them. 102 Using the poles as tomato or bean plant support poles in the summer time. I use broken ones for this that I salvage from garbage cans at resorts. They never rot and are sturdy. 103 Saw an advertisement for a car that was promoting it’s use as transportion to ski hills. They showed the gear shift replaced by a ski pole. I think it was an up-market car like a Beemer X-drive or Mercedes all wheel drive. I think that I’ll adapt one of my broken poles to the gear shifter of my VW ’85 Vanagon people mover……the idea is that cool :lol:. |
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Just a tip. January is the coldest month in the Rockies that's why they promote Indian Days with discounts to get the people out. I might suggest that you bring or buy when you get here a pair of mittens instead of gloves. Your fingers will stay warmer in mitts. You can find good gear in Calagary or in Banff. Banff has to saty competitive and will often match Calgary prices.
To see how to dress for the cold in Canada you need but visit a Canadian ski shop. They sell the tested stuff. Go to : http://www.mec.ca They have all of the coolest (phat) but warmest stuff at CDN $. Ask for a catalogue and they will send you one. Lots of keep warm tips there in. Membership is just a formality. Their stuff is sustainable and eco-sensitive. Skiing in the cold is a frame of mind. Stay active dress in layers keep exposed skin to a minimum. Take frequent breaks and hydrate yourself. I can ski to about minus 26 or 27 then it gets too cold for my boots to flex properly. I can only ski one or two runs at colder temps. A day in the cold can be invigerating but you'll need to be well fed on hot food high in calories as you'll burn them off. High calories won't pack on pounds as you will burn the food off just staying warm. Stay active and ski the sunny slopes and you'll do fine. Watch for frost bite and always ski with a friend. The ski areas have free guides called "ski friends" - duh! - who will ski with you and tour the mountain with you. Write if you need more. J. |
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I have a few suggestions regarding your stay in Jasper.
Place to stay: Columbine House visit http://www.bbcanada.com/columbinehouse We stay all the time and find the hosts great. The rooms are a ground floor suite with your own access and a private bath. It feel most chalet like. It beats the noisy hotels. The breakfasts are great and the rooms are well kept clean etc. The best deal in Jasper for the quality. Place to eat: Try Miss Italia a second level dining room that is the best Italian food in town even if Denis the chef is Greek! Try Fiddle Creek reataurant. Sea food and Canadian food. Expect Bison, elk trout salmon and great soups and vegies to boot. What to drink: Yes I know OZ has some mighty fine wines and we drink those all the time. We only get the bigger wineries and you no doubt get the smaller winerey blends and vintages at home. You will see the bigger wineries here too but venture afar and try the local is my motto. We also make some might fine wines in Canada. Mission Hill and Inniskiln will be avaliable anywhere in OZ but when here you must try the smaller winery vintages. Try Sumac Ridge Meritage a red - gold medal stuff. Try Cave springs CabMerlot - nectar. Oh yes Canada is the home of ice wine! a must for the after dinner desert wine. I like the Vidal ice wines. Skiing If you get the chance try to venture a bit further from Lake Louise get to Kicking Horse an hour west from LL. This is a powder haven and not so well travelled. There is a gondola that rises 3000M from the valley floor with a 5 star dining room at the top. The planked salmon is great as a mid day meal. Your wife can wend her way down the easy track and you can venture off the track to the deep and step and still meet her along the trails as they intersect on the way down in many spots. I know LL is huge and you will find it hard to pull yourself away but you you've come a long way and don't want to miss out. Sunshine is a beginners heaven as well. High alpine and above the trees a totally different skiing experience from LL. You are skiing in my home stomping grounds so if you need more info send a PP and I'll answer all. :wink: |
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I'm pleased to see the thread on health. The advice on hospitals is right on! I spent 21 days there with my neck & throat cancer, 3 days in an intensive care burn unit with 14 tubes stuck in me! I had no way to talk (a tracheotomy was done) and was under heavy sedation - time was lost to me.
I wish to post some of my experiences at Paval urging. I don’t wish need to scare the innocent or to solicit criticism from the "experts" so I’ll tread softly. I have some vivid memories of my hospital time and your message was good for those going under knee surgery. I hope my comments help I took my cuddly Teddy Bear with me. Yup I know I was 53 years old but the action was intended to be a conversation piece for the nursing staff many of who were much my junior. It just so happens that the bear is also a symbol of healing to the Indians around here. I figured it couldn't hurt. My bear worked. I received alot of various responses from the staff. Nigel (my bear ) was cuddled and flattered galor. The staff were set at ease. We had something to talk about that wasn’t about my condition - a diversion as it were. My bear had a matching housecoat to mine. My wife had made both the bear and the house coats some time earlier, she’s artsy/craftsy that way. We looked quite the pair wandering the halls pushing the IV tree together both clad in blue plush housecoats. A second point on this. I asked all staff to "sign in" on the white board that was in my room when their shifts started. After a time you don't know who's helping you at any particular moment as the days disappear without windows. I had surgical interns, several surgical teams passing through my room daily doing rounds. I had nutritional staff. I had respiratory staff. I had nursing staff and nursing interns. The number of people passing through my room after 21 days was staggering. I lost track of who was who. The sign up board helped me to recall their names and personalize the help. I learned much from the staff. I asked one nurse how she handled the sick people all of the time she responded “It’s part of life, the suffering, it shows we are human and alive” She was a real angel of mercy. It’s difficult to sometimes accept the help of others especially strangers . These two things allowed me to address many of the staff by name and personalized my time with them. Any way it worked for me. |
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I've always found that a "mention" of a white spot on the cheeks to a fellow skier an be the best thing a fellow can do. Something like "you have some blisters on your cheeks be careful". That white spot of skin may be frost bite!
When the skin freezes feeling is lost so the bearer may not be aware of the condition. The reason, the water in the skin freezes and causes a blister, when this thaws it is painful. Untreated the blister can burst with resultant peeling and such often associated with a burn. It hurts. Don't be shy if you see a blister say something, your fellow skier may not be aware of the condition or know this symptom as he or she may be from a warmer climate. Look for frost bite when the wind chills are high and the temperatures drop below about minus 15C. Look for white noses too. It's the ends of things that are exposed that get "blisters" first. You may not get a thanks but you have the knowledge that you are doing good for a fellow skier. :wink: PS I'm not a para-medic so if anyone else has some input on this idea please feel free to amend. |
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Yup - I skied the orange ones that were pictured. They were solid as rocks. My feet were always warm. The boot worked well in warm temperatures when the plastic was softer but when it got cold you couldn't flex them at all.
I skied these with a Spademan plate binding that allowed the ski to flex well under foot. Had I skied any other type of binding the boot would have caused a flat spot on the bottom of the ski and the ski wouldn't have carved at all. Hey wait aminute skis were skinny and didn't carve so much as bend in the arc or so the theory was at that time. http://www.uvm.edu/skivt-l/?Page=./vault/Equipment_Dustbin/spademan.jpg&dir=./vault/Equipment_Dustbin Here's a web site of '70s stuff where I found the image. I am surprized as to how much of this dustbin junk I skied.... The yellow volkl rentigers The HAnson boots The burt binding the k2 boot - I was the other guy who bought those!! they made two pair I swear... the spademan bindings Quite a list. I used to sell ski gear to work my way through college and found that I spent all my earnings on ski gear and lift passes. The whole ski shop work thing was a wash but it gave me free skiing. |
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