J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by 3bigcats

lol at Salski Skiing pole to pole - That is class :)

Hi Trencher - one question if I may on this.
Having always skied in europe with my little one I have always wanted to ski the USA and intend to in a couple of years when I think my little girl will handle the travel/jet lag etc a bit better (She is only 8 at the moment). The big attraction for us brits with Europe is that if you take this year as an example, I left my home in Bristol - South West England at 6am in the morning and was on the slopes in La Plagne France by 2.30pm that afternoon - only a 2 hour flight and 2 hour coach transfer. A friend of mine visited Breckenridge this year with his kids (11 and 14) and said the main problem was that even though his flight from the UK was only 11 hours (If I remember rightly) if you take into account check in and transfer times etc he said it was effectively 24 hours door to door. He also said that as well as jet lag, they suffered altitude sickness which he thought may be a problem due to Breckenridge's resort height. However all told it took them a good 3 days to recover and ruined the first half of his holiday. This is truth is what makes me a bit weary of a USA trip.
Trust me for all of France's bad points - there are many many good ones which vastly outweigh the bad in my opinion. It is very easy to reach for us brits and the ski areas are vast. Also with kids you simply can't beat the ski in ski out convenience.
So my question if I may now that I've waffled on.
If I am to embark on a trip to ski the USA what would your recommendations be to try and avoid as best as we could the sort of problems that I have described above.

Pavelski - I always love all your posts and think they are well informed - however I have to agree with iloveskiing here. If you had witnessed what we saw in lift cues in La Plagne this february half term - the words bedlam come to mind and you simply just had to get into the lift whenever you got the opportunity. My wife, Daughter and I would always say we would not try to get the lift together and if spilt up would just wait for each other at the the top which often happened. I you are on your own and as you say let a quad go and try and join a trio - try that on the Arpette chair out of Plagne Bellecotte at 3pm during the feb holidays and you would have 20 very angry people right on your back pushing you forward regardless - it's the right idea I totally agree but the reality is completely different when I ski which unfortunately is always the peak periods - you just have to go for it or be left behind and if that means no one else gets on the lift with you then what can you do?. Manners and politeness are seriously lacking in french lift cues but you soon learn to just go with it and it is surprising how things move well when everyone does. Please rest assured I'm not condoning it but that's just the way it is.

Doh - I'm having a nightmare today - just realised Pavelski has already said back scratching as number 82.

and I cocked it up again by somehow putting a smiley instead of number 88

So I'll replace 88 with using your ski pole to pick your nose (Yeah OK I only did it to make my little girl laugh - much to my wifes disgust and I had put a few beers away - worked though!)

At this point all female forum members are saying how disgusting I am...................Sorry Ladies it was only the once! - honestly!

Oops - I cocked the numbering system up there so -

88) Scratch own back

89) Scratch wife's back

Next one's number 90 please ?

60) Can't believe I am the only one who has ever used my ski pole to scratch my back - come one guys please say in ain't just me :)

61) Using ski pole to scratch my wifes back because my legs were too tired to allow me to get my lazy backside up off my chair and walk over and do it for her with my hand :)

I'd like to add my thoughts if I may. We started our little girl skiing when she was 6. On a friends advice we actually started her on our local dry slope and she skied there for a good 3 months before we went out onto the snow. I personally think this is a great way of doing it becasue she could plough turn and stop and take a button drag before she even got to the snow.
Unfortunately (and this is where I have to disagree with Max) Our first ski trip was Obergurgl Austria and it was a complete nightmare for out little one. Basically we explained that she had three months dry slope and could plough turn and stop etc but they were completely uninterested. She spent the first 3 days walking around on one ski and just playing in the snow. Problem is she wanted to ski and so hated it. Mid week I spoke to her instructors to re explain she could plough turn and stop well etc but they refused to take her up the first blue run because she was struggling with the rope tow of all things! I pulled her out took her straight up the nearest blue on a T bar drag and she flew down. They stood at the bottom and didn't know what to say to me. They then offered to move her up a class but I was so annoyed I just took her myself for the rest of the week.
There is also a big logistical problem with Austria in my opinion because the lessons are morning and afternoon with a lunch time break - This is too much for little ones. Also we took some lessons that year and one day our instructor said we were going up the mountain. I said we need to be back to take our little one for lunch and he said no problem. The guy was clueless, he lost track of time and I ended up riding a lift back down as I couldn't have skied down in time to get her for lunch. Suffice to say that I was the last parent to pick her up and she was very upset.
In stark contrast and this is where I disagree with Max I'm afraid, the french ski schools have been great. OK maybe the ESF are not renowned for there compassion with the little ones at times but I found them first class tuition. More importantly though in Flaine/La Plagne etc we have all had morning lessons and have all been able to go off in our separate lessons for the morning, all back in time for a nice lunch leaving us to ski as a family in the afternoon. My wife,daugther and myself are all different level skiers so this works perfectly as you are in your own ability group but only apart as a family for a couple of hours in the mornings. Add to this the fact that with young kids you simply cannot beat the ski in ski out convenience of the French purpose builts and you have a much easier experience. Try walking for 10 minutes to the nearest lift with a kid in tow in ski boots and carrying their own skis - it ain't easy and you'll probably get a few tears.
So my recommendations - stick to the French system - pure convenience and the morning lesson is enough for them until they are secondary school age in my humble opinion.

Hiya SamIrvs - sorry to be a bit blunt here but I'm going to have to say what most people are probably thinking. I'm afraid I'll be amazed if you were "carving" down red runs after one week skiing (unless you are a natural ski genius and if so I apologise) . I have been skiing for the last 4 years now Obergurgl/Flaine/La Plagne etc and also regularly use my local dry slope as well as the Tamowrth Snow Dome on occasions. I reckon that whilst I'm now a "parallel skier" I am only just about starting to get my edges to grip/transfer my weight properly and allow a proper carved turn and that is on an even gradient. (Big difference betwen a parallel turn and a true carved turn but I'll let the experts explain that one for you) Even on a red run I can still spot myself (from video taken by my wife this year) using a slight wedge to initiate the turn on steeper terrain and my outside leg still skids out at the end of the turn on a steep so I just can't see how you were carving reds after one week skiing.
Blunt but honest answer to the question - you DEFINATELY need lessons after only one week's experience and a 6 year lay off. Sorry if this is a bit blunt mate but I'm sure most in the know on here will agree with me here.
After having a year off lessons this year in La Plagne I will be going back into them again next year because you simply never stop learning. As soon as you think you have something cracked there is something else to learn. This year I thought I was carving well on some nice steady gradients but one day skiing down to the vanoise express through the trees above Montchavin (beautiful by the way) I hit some really icy snow and my technique went out the window. My point is even when you are just about getting a technique right and you are happy, you can hit some different snow conditions which change the game again so not only do you have to learn the various techniques such as carving and dealing with steeps but you have to learn to apply them in different conditions.
There is a balance here though becasue I did get fed up of lessons one year in Flaine and pulled out and just spent the time on my own skiing the blues all week and enjoying myself. I think it is fine to do this when you are competant enough and sensibly stay within your limits but to move to the next level you simply must take lessons. My friends used to tell me about the intermediate plateau and I believe I have hit that now and felt frustrated in La Plagne this year because I took on some moguls on a red run down under the inversens chair. The better skiers will know what I mean here but I felt as if I just "got down" the slope rather than skied the slope if that makes sense. That said to me that I need more lessons.
Never stop learning I say!