J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by ise

hymac580 wrote:Here I am in the UK, on the web, checking out anything to do with skiing and the mountains dozens of times a day, whilst working in an industry being crucified by the downturn, wondering why I made the decisions that got me here, and salivating at the prospect of just 1 week of skiing this year.

Now, I know it's too late for me, with all the responsibilities I'm now encumbered with, but my snowboarding mad 16 year old son, could forego the 'rat race' when he leave school in 2 years time, and wants to do something ( in fact not just something, but a career) that means he gets to live and work in the mountains.

What careers ( not in the 'rat race') can he pursue that means he gets to live and work in the mountains, whilst earning enough to aspire to marriage, children, maybe buying a flat/house.

Anyone currently ' living the dream' - how did you manage it?


Graham

Is snowboarding all he does? You really need a range of qualifications to get work all year around and actually live, even then working for someone else full-time or freelance really isn't going to pay so well in my opinion.

When he leaves school, if he wants to be a professional, he might still find University useful which will also provide chances for trips and to build experience.

Another option is just do an ordinary job but do it close to the mountains, it's always a way to build money to buy property and be financially secure before being a full-time outdoor professional. I know teachers for example who work in international schools here who do a lot of outdoor work with the schools and get paid to take additional NQB's.

The key word though is professional, he needs qualifications and loads of them really. Just being a snowsports instructor unless you're at the very, very top level doesn't pay so much and it's hard to work all year around. The other point, or a mistake to potentially avoid, is to ask if you want to merge your hobby and work, after-all what would you do on your day off? You can still work in the mountains but leave your hobby for your time off, just a thought!


How serious is he?

steverandomno wrote:This, and your recent post got me thinking. I know there are some charities that aim to give deprived kids/teenagers/young adults an experience of mountains. Does anyone have a good list of these charities?

what do mean by that? skiing or adventure travel? what's your interest if I might ask? and, yes I probably do have some contacts depending on what you need.

daved wrote:I think an analogy would be changing gear in a car...when you first start out driving you have to consciously think about it but as you get more used to it you don't. With skiing I feel that if you strive to improve you think about what you are trying to do.... :?:

That's a perfect analogy and so I suppose improvement is measured when you can do it without thinking or that's the goal at least. I can't always get there but often enough to know what I'm aiming for.

pigski wrote:Wow! That's the last time I write what I thought was a straight forward question on a forum and not look at it again for a couple of days!

I don't feel quite so bad that we are having such a tough time deciding what to do about lessons judging by the divided opinions on this topic.

Annoyingly though we can understand and even agree with both sides on some points which makes our decision even more frustrating to make :shock:

Still got two weeks so hopefully we will have a light bulb moment before then :)

Thanks for all your responses!

I think if you read it you see consensus around the main stuff, get a good instructor on a recommendation (like Mikeskifrance whom I know by reputation from when we were in St Gervais), groups can be good but only small ones and .. er... well that's probably good enough really.

RossF wrote:caron-a, I don't actually ski, j

.........

. Have you ever actually seen me post a picture of me skiing, where you can see my face? Didn't think so.

I'm sure there's a forum for people like that, I can't recall the name right away but I'll try and find out .....

daved wrote:
a rather selfish view......thats going to take about 95% of people off the slopes and most of the rest should be thinking about it .....that leaves you as a lonely skier :-o

erm. actually I'm not the one judging everyone else and calling people dangerous am I? My remark was tongue in cheek, I don't need that job on the Daily Mail editorial team just yet 8) I am alarmed by other peoples risk perception but as I can compensate for it I'm not going to lose much sleep over it.

You raise an interesting point about thinking about skiing, I doubt 95% of people do think about it, that would basically mean only 5% can actually ski to any standard and I'm sure the majority of people I see can ski reasonably well. I can't think consciously about it, my mind can't process the information quick enough that's coming at me nor consciously control my reactions at the speed required. If you're thinking about it then relax and let go, it really will be easier.

In fact that's one of the reasons I enjoy some music when skiing on my own sometimes, it's not as if I'm thinking about much else and it's a nice backdrop. On the rare days I'm skiing well most of what's happening is below conscious level and it's almost like being an observer. That's one of the reasons people enjoy skiing powder, you get an almost trancelike state, your endorphin levels are probably up, add a bit of music and it probably should be illegal )

bandit wrote:
Public holiday or not, Grimentz was closed!

I know, I suppose it's all about money. Zinal were always going to run the lift anyway for the racers, so the extra costs of allowing punters up was probably offset by day tickets and business for the restaurants. At Grimentz they'd have had to offset the entire cost and there wasn't so many paying customers once you've subtracted people on season tickets. That's my guess anyway.

RossF wrote:UNKLE-Reign is an awesome tune.

great band, we saw them live last year and they were excellent