J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Innsbrucker

Agree with above post by Andy. Also, you might need to stop half way down to grab a drink (if your insurance company allow that!). Pavel's posts are nice to learn from about a good approach to aim for, and I really get the advice about not trying slopes which are too difficult. I think sometimes pushing too far outside my comfort zone has held me back.

Still, we will sometimes end up in busy bits of piste, and although I cannot really do a snow plough stop, I would not be comfortable skiing a busy piste without some ability to stop. I have had a child nip down the bank beside a narrow track, and land on his back at my feet. There was no space for me to swerve without heading over the abyss! I did see it coming but still needed to brake sharply. However the snow plough is never really going to replace the hockey stop for emergencies .

I have hip pain and very inflexible hips, I cannot really get the skis far enough apart to do a snow plough stop, which is frustrating because it makes controlling speed on a footpath which is almost narrower than the skis are long very difficult, although such narrow paths are not normally found if you stay on piste

At the end of the day, for the crowded and busy places you absolutely need a hockey stop to be safe in emergencies and until you have it, the answer is to go slow; there are times when a snow plough is pretty much essential too even though rarely right for emergency stops. Just have a little patience, practice a bit but not so much to spoil the fun, and go slow (within your stopping ability), sticking to easy slopes where you can control the speed, and if possible flow all the way down as Pavel teaches. In the meanwhile, if you get into trouble, just thrown yourself to the ground: it is probably technically incorrect as a braking method, but it is even more technically incorrect to run over some small child who lands at your feet!

Thanks for that, I always enjoy those historic ski vids. I am told by an Austrian from the Alps that because in the immediate post-war period the heels were not securely fixed, the technique was more like Telemark. Would you agree? It is not really possible to see this in the video.

Probably handy advice for a beginner. I have always wondered about leaning skis against car, I do that sometimes....

Not sure how you learn to get on and off lift before ski day? Unless you have one in your garden? It is a pity there are no videos of me as beginner in my late forties, repeatedly falling off the small drag lift on the beginners' slope, and holding up the queue of children, to the exasperation of the East German lift attendant who spoke no English. I did get the hang of drag lifts after that...

Going off piste alone, even close to the piste, strikes me as a really bad idea, though maybe it is OK if you know you are a really good skier / mountain person with plenty of off-piste experience and training.

You will be just fine. I known slushy snow is a bit dangerous for someone like me who is not expert but it is not as bad as April. You can also see coping with different snow conditions as a chance to extend your skills, I tend to look at it that way. Besides, high up or north-facing conditions the snow will be pretty normal. Provided it is not cold and wet and windy I think a holiday any time in the season is fine, and I have never really understood the attention people pay to snow reports, unless you are heavily into of-piste, although it is true some fresh snow is a nice bonus. The quality of grooming (which I found pretty bad at St Anton) strikes me as at least as important.

If you stop in Innsbruck check out Strudel cafe in the old town: they have about 20 varieties of Strudel, including savoury ones :-)

Snow is pretty bad really, on Monday I had a little venture off-piste at Seefeld, the narrow path of gravel and protruding rocks was really not good for my new skis. Stayed away from the quieter piste where last week there were big patches of grass on the piste itself. And the snow there was, was soft. But what do I care, most the main pistes at good resorts are skiiable. Monday (a public holiday) was sunny, and a great day, I tend to side with those that say on groomed pistes, it is just fine, and if you don't like slush, go to a north-facing piste. I am OK with a little skiing in slush provided I can have my beer in the sun: that suits me far better playing the 'real man' in a blizzard.

I would think for anyone who likes to ski on pistes can have a decent holiday, though the kind of hard-core skiers who don't believe in pistes are going to suffer this kind of non-powder skiing: http://www.epictv.com/player/embed-player/269617?disable_ads

Just to add best wishes for Mrs H's recovery.

I guess there is no right answer, for some of us just being in the mountains and not skiing would be second best but still great, for others, it means nothing unless you are sliding down the mountain on a couple of boards.

I can imagine the hardest part with a foot injury might be getting ski boots on and off unless you have some rear-entry boots.

"I'm very happy to say I've never been mistaken as being Austrian….."

Ah. Don't have the Austrian style of singing, probably.

But the girls in dirndls are cute :-)

Did you never come across equally alarming habits among French men???