J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by ir12daveor

The que thing is one of the reasons I rarely go to Engelberg. I've spent 40mins waiting at the bottom and over an hour trying to get from Traubsee to Stand on more then one occasion. I know people who live there and don't bother going skiing on the weekends. Pity though there is some good off-piste to be had if you can get up there.

Last Sunday I was probably within 5km of Engelberg as the crow flies and the snow conditions were as good as it gets. 40-45cm of fresh powder and hardly no tracks.

I always do the second last run of the day. Never the last! ;-)

I'm interested to hear your logic for points 2 and 5.

For training to be effective it should be as specific as possible to the sport you intend on doing.

Quite a lot of the muscle activity in skiing is eccentric. i.e. you are activating the muscle as it lengthens. Eccentric exercise causes more muscle damage then concentric exercise which is why people get muscle pain after skiing. The good news is that if you do even a singel session of eccentric exercise before a holiday it can reduce the effects of eccentric muscle damage and reduce (not prevent) leg pain. Walking uphill is a concentric muscle activity and will not actually do anything to prevent skiing muscle pain unless you walk back down the hill after going up!!!

Weight training should also be specific to skiing for it to be at its most effective.

Of course doing anything before going is better then doing nothing though.

I'll vouch for the 40cm. I was pretty close to Engleberg today and it was thigh deep powder and face shots all day. :mrgreen:

I have been to Engelberg in May and it was only possible to ski from Titlis down to Stand. The area around Traubsee where the XC skiing is was pretty low on snow. I'd say you are ok until April down as far as Traubsee at about 1800m.

In May you will be very limited in places that are open. Most resorts will close between Easter and mid April, only the Glacier resorts will have their upper runs open after this.

Its stopped here in Zurich now, but this morning was chaos. Seems like the snow plough guys thought winter was over until it came back with a vengeance this morning.

Tony_H wrote:

ir12daveor wrote:

Tony_H wrote:

There is clearly a sway towards wearing them, mainly because of media hype over the Natasha Richardson incident. It has not been proven that a helmet would have saved her life at all.

There are quite a lot of flaws in arguments you post in the helmet debate, but to me a statement like the one above shows how little time you actually really spend in ski resorts. There has been a Sway towards using helmets for at least the last 6-7 years, probably more. There were already people wearing helmets the first year I started snowboarding in 2001, the number has increased steadily every year since. Since 2003 I reckon I visit at least 10 different resorts in Switzerland a year, this year it has already been 17. I may be talking about only one country, but in Switzerland the sway towards wearing helmets goes back many years, and certainly long before Natasha Richardsons unfortunate accident.

Mate, I am a recreational skier from England, and am lucky enough to spend maybe 3 weeks a season in a ski resort. To me thats pretty good going, but I appreciate its nothing in comparison to the lucky ones like yourself.

I do however think you are being a little disrespectful, as I have simply said that the numbers of helmets you notice has been on the increase recently, but I have seen people wearing helmets since I started skiing back in 2001. Mainly kids it has to be said, but also plenty of backcountry skiers.

I notice now there are far more pots on boarders heads, and that many more recreational skiers wear them too. In comparison to maybe 3 years ago, I'd say there was probably 5 or 6 times the number of people now wearing them. But thats got nothing to do with how often I ski, or makes my opinion less worthwhile.

Anyway, I think we have ascertained the points I raised previously.

Spending a most the of time in a small number of resorts does have an effect on what you see. If the resort is predominately people with the same background and opinion as you then I would expect you to see less helmets. But look at the bigger picture. I have been to some resorts that are more heavily populated by overseas tourists then others. I do notice less helmets on the tourists then I do on locals, and in the resorts mainly visited by locals it is almost becoming a rarity to see someone with no helmet whether they are skiing on or off piste.

Don't get me wrong, I actually would hate to see a legislation demanding people to wear helmets. You are entitled to not wear one. I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the attitude that I am a good skier, I don't need one because I will never hit my head. Noone, and I really mean noone can have so much confidence in their own ability that they can avoid anything unforeseeable happening on the slopes. You are free to not wear a helmet, but accept that you are human and stop putting out the attitude that if you are good enough you don't need one.