J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Max Cottle

My understanding is that if you have 12.2 turning radius skis that if you were to carve a full circle with those skis the radius of the circle would be 12.2

when you chose skis you look at the turning radius as a speed indicator longer Radius longer turn faster carve

shorter radius shorter turn slower carve.

hope this helps

cheers

Max

I would say Maria Alm which is near Saalbach and Kaprun Fly in to Salzburg.

Maria Alm has good Begginer adn intermediate skiing not too challenging for the expert skier.

The village is stunning and everything is central so non skiers can get about very easily and they can see the skiers whilst they are skiing both down the bottom by the lifts and up the mountain.

Very picturesque and very cheap.

Cheers

Max

I would go to shops and try things on for your size then buy them off Ebay. Much cheaper.

Just make sure you know what it is you are buying.

Cheers

Max

Hi Guys

I wholeheartedly agree with Pavelski, infact I suggested similar in the skier snowboarder debate in anothe thread. I think that boarders and skiers should have to take proficiency tests to allow hem to ski Red and Black runs.

I don't think that you should stop people going fast but I do think that they should be equal to the task on that particular slope before they go fast or even ski it.

I don't think that Skiers should have their ski passes taken from them out right if they are out of control but instead they should be given the option to do some etiquette and safety training. If that is refused then take their pass.

How practical this is in the scheme of things I don't know but I do know that something has to be done.

I don't even want to start on the amount of people who are drunk on the slopes in any one day.

Cheers

Max

It is generally possible to turn up and book your lessons but typically you are arriving on a transfer day so you will have loads of other people starting at the same time as you which means queues for boking lessons, queues for hiring gear and queues for lift passes.

What I always try to do (I have young kids who take lessons) is if I manage to arrive in time I drop my suitcases off and rush in to town and book my kids lessons, get their kit and passes sorted out. This will take much less time this way as there should be no queues.

However this is not always possible (however preferable), in which case it means an early start typically the lessons (unless private) will start at 9:00-9:30 so you will need to be getting down for about 8ish to hire stuff book lessons etc. sometimes they are not a ridgid on the first day about the start time, but you don't typically know that until you get down there.

I am a bit of a ski Nazi I want to ski every minute of every day that I am out there this is why I try and get things sorted before hand or a quickly as possible lol. Other people maybe a bit more laid back I don't know how you are but if you only have a week then evey minute counts I think (i generally go for 2 weeks and every minute still counts lol).

Anyway I hope this helps

cheers

Max

I would also say that you don't have to join a group lesson. It may beneficial to have private lessons for you and you girlfriend. you will both get a great deal more out of it and it may not be that much more expensive.

cheers

Max

It really depends on the individual.

First of all I'll say there is no substitute for lessons, they will teach you the correct form for skiing. They will also show you how to behave safely on the mountain.

I would say that a week of skiing is not lead me to believe that you are a compitent skiing, I am not saying it is impossible just unlikely and 3 weeks for your girlfriend again unlikely.

I also think that maybe your understanding of what carving is is probably a bit blurred, I am not saying this to have a dig at you just to put things into perspective. I would expect that after a week of skiing that at best you would be doing parrallel turns and maybe that is what you understand as carving....it is not.

I feel that once you can turn and stop compitently you can get down anything it is just fear that will stop you. Also if you are not used to skiing these more advanced runs you can become extreemely tired very quickly and find yoursel stuck halfway down a demanding run that you are really struggling to get down. This is where injuries can occur to you and to others. SO whilst I say that if you can turn and stop you can get down anything that doesn't mean that you should attempt to.

My advice to you is that if you are short of cash,, but you feel confident enough to improve your technique by yourself I would say do the following.
1) keep to the the less challenging runs
2) whatch how other people ski and try to mimick what they do
3) Don't do too much too quickly being too ambitious could cause you and others injury.

As I say though there is no substitute for lessons and I would reccomend that if you can afford to you should take some. Your instructor will place you in the correct group asses you and help to improve. We always believe that we are better skiers that we are and getting into a bad situation on the mountain will be no joke. I have seen many people leave the slopes in a helicopter and you really don't want to spend your holiday in a foreign hospital do you?

Hope this helps

Cheers

Max

You know that is so true a good pair of skis makes the world of difference but a good pair of stiff boots makes a huge difference too.

I don't necessarily mean a new pair. I have a pair of boots that fit me well, ( i have difficulty in finding boots) So I have had them strengthened up and stiffened and now they are fanstastic, Ihave so much more control, I can be more aggressive and more confident.

Cheers

Max