Messages posted by : steverandomno
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Very nice!
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I would be very surprised if you manage 500 hours.
Anyway, it is possible to get from 'never ever skied' to the level of skiing required to pass CSIA level 1 within a 3 or so of months of constant training every day by a professional coach. It is possible to attain level 2 after a full season of 4-5 month. Some manage this in Banff every year. However, this is very intensive and involves professional instructors almost every day. OldAndy is right when he says
Very experienced skiers can often have very bad habits that they find very difficult to rid themselves of because they never got professional tuition. You can spot them a mile off, doing the most advanced terrain with massive rotation or sitting way back. You are at a huge advantage to be essentially learning from scratch with so much time to practice. So make sure you get some tuition, especially during the first couple of weeks, then again for a few days a month or so in. I'm very envious. Have a great time! :mrgreen: |
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The issue with fogging up is just as much about fit as about design. If there are gaps between the lower part of the frame and your face, especially around the bridge or your nose, breath will fog up the inside of the goggles no matter how much you spend.
I would rather have a modest pair of goggles that fit, rather than an expensive pair that don't any day. Therefore Bandit's suggestion of a voucher or a picture is a good one. Last time I was in Decathlon, I noticed that they have a new range of goggles out that have different sized frames, but that all accept the same range of different lenses. I haven't tried them but the concept is worth looking at. Another option - Does he already have a set of Oakley or other high end goggles that he likes and fit well? If so, maybe you could look into getting him a couple of different lenses for those. that way he has the right lens for different conditions. this takes the fitting part out of the equation and so you can give him something other than a voucher. I've never tried the modern photosensitive lenses before but it is hard too imagine that they would be fast enough to deal with rapid changes from shadow to bright sunlight that you can often get when skiing. I suspect that the light that causes the change in transparency has already done the damage by the time the lens reacts. |
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Ha ha - good point! Of course - i meant across the bridge of your nose and at the sides. It is especially important in very cold temperatures that none of the moisture rich air you are breathing out gets into your goggles. (as it will condense and freze inside the lens and you will not see where you are going). |
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Expect temperatures to be around -10 c in the BC interior and Banff. If you are unlucky then you may get daytime temperatures of -20 or below but they usually only have a few spells every season where it gets that cold. So, yes it can be cold, but -30 would still be considered unusual.
Lilywhite's advice is good. You will want to ensure you have good quality goggles that fit your face well, especially beneath your nose. My top tip for dealing with the cold is to buy a pair of silk inner gloves (you can get them for around 10 dollars on the internet). They ensure your hands stay dry and warm. Experience has taught me that i would rather wear a cheap pair of ski gloves with silk inners than the latest, expensive brand without inners. On very cold days, you will also find that your boots are stiffer and you will probably only need to fasten them a couple of notches less than usual. Boot shell pastic is like most other materials in that its properties change with temperature. If you fasten your boots too tightly and constrict your circulation, you will have to take 30 mins to warm your feet in the coffee shop. Don't make the mistake of leaving your boots in the car overnight where temperatures are regularly below -20. Ideally, you should remove your liners every night to make sure they dry out properly. If you doubt the effectiveness of this then remove just one liner and see which foot gets cold the following day. Layering will help you stay warm. Whilst cotton is not the best, layering is by far the dominant factor in staying warm. Alpine climbers who have been recovered from glaciers a hundered or so years after they fell, have been found to be dressed in many layers of cotton, shirts. Don't let the possibility of cold temperatures put you off, you will get used to it very quickly and, with the help of some sage advice, learn to deal with it quickly. |
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Welcome to the forum.
Your timing for Canada is not ideal, but by no means a show stopper. 15th of Dec is still quite early for Canadian resorts. Coverage should be ok. Groomers should all be ok and it will be very quiet and cheap outside of the Christmas and new year holiday dates. Coverage and skiability of the more interesting terain, trees, chutes etc.. will be hit or miss. Usually, by early Jan most of the terain is open, with the exception of special advanced areas that can take a few more weeks to build up a stable base. It sounds like you have plenty of time so the ideal thing to do would be to hire a car and do a road trip. Make sure you have some accomodation booked for christmas and new year as all of the major international resorts will be very, very busy. Realistically your choice of stops will centre around a broad arc between Calgary and Vancouver bordered by jasper and kamloops to the north and the US border to the south. There are a few resorts to the north such as powder king, smithers and a few others, but they would require a lot of time to get to that would eat into your time on the snow. The resorts to choose from are as follows, (grouped into north south and roughly from Calgary to Vancouver): Castle Fernie Nakiska Banff tri area (=Sunshine Village, Norquay and Lake Louise) Marmot Basin Panorama Whitewater Red Mountain Kicking Horse Revelstoke Silver Star Big White Sun Peaks Whistler Blackcomb Vancouver Local Hills An ideal road trip might be to start off in Vancouver for a couple of nights before hitting Whistler Blackcomb for a few days before the hoards of Christmas week skiers get there. Then you could either party in Whistler or save some cash and move towards Sun Peaks or Big White/Silver Star, then either head towards Banff for New years partying or south to hit Red, Whitewater, Fernie. Either way, I would make sure you spend a decent amount of time in Banff and do a couple of trips out to Kicking Horse and Revelstoke. The Banff national park is very beautiful and you should look into driving the icefields parkway which is spectacular. The following will be party central for Christmas and new years and will be very busy: Whistler Blackcomb, Banff, Big White. Banff will be almost empty when the New years crowds have gone back to work, but you will have to book a table ahead during the days around New years. So it depends on what you are looking for. Either skiing and partying and burning cash, or more focus on skiing at the quieter resorts. There are many options to do a bit of both. You will have a great time whatever you choose. |
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I have the same problem. Every trip, after a couple of runs, I feel like I'm really getting it. Then the next day I'm hopeless and have to go right back to basics, do a few drills to force myself to ski properly. Last season, I realized that if you put in some effort to do some basic drills on the first day then it makes a big difference. The problem is that it is usually the last thing you want to do after a summer waiting to ski again. I guess it's a combination of factors, the main one being that, no matter how much dry land training you have done over the summer, your body just isn't used to the movements and muscles used and this becomes most obvious on the second day when you're a bit more worn and the first day enthusiasm has waned a bit. Incidentally, I did ski fitness training yesterday for the first time this season. Ouch! |
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This is the bag I was talking about: http://www.decathlon.co.uk/easy2travel-winter-bag-id_8202757.html It holds a decent amount of clothing as well. It is about 23kg when full. |
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