J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by ise

I know people, particularly adults, find it hard to go into groups of people they don't know and worry about the standard of other people in the group and then prefer more individual coaching. I think if you really want to learn something though you need to take the plunge and get into a group situation.

The pay-back for taking that plunge is pretty good. In a group situation you've got other people to learn from. Generally people will be making the same mistakes as you and there's a reassurance that you're not the only one finding something difficult. There's actually a benefit from getting small pauses while another member of the group makes an exercise, you get to observe someone else other than a polished instructor and get a chance for a short reflection on what's being taught.

And of course like many things, the more you get involved the more you're going to get out of it, it is fun once you've taken the plunge, you're meeting people who obviously have the same interest as you, there's a social element after the class laughing about the day with new friends over a drink.

If you need one hour for something really specific 1:1 might be interesting but it's often a fallacy that you need it, mostly we construct reasons around a reluctance to put ourselves into the that group situation. By and large you'd find that most professional outdoor training takes place in groups as it's the best learning environment although obviously the networking is a big deal with that.

where's that?

rustyinn wrote:Can any give any info on Flumserberg ?

I'm in Switzerland from Sunday Lunch till Wed. morning next week so hope to ski Monday/Tuesday. This place seems fairly close to Zurich (where I arrive/leave) and have plenty of green runs as I will have a total beginner with me, more worried that they get off on the right foot with skiing than having some huge challenging area for myself, I'll just be happy to on snow.

Anyway, comments appreciated and any alternative suggestions - at this point I've got flights booked and nothing else).

Dave

I've never been but people I know living in Zurich rave about it, it's where I'd go if that's any help :D I got past on the train a bit adn it seems you just step of the train and onto the slopes.

clubman wrote:
ise, please let us know how the BCA repair works out.

Actually I'm not hopeful, I was talking with them on the phone and they've run down down spares for the tracker 1 in preparation for the much delayed tracker 2. They seemed to suggest they had neither the spare part nor a replacement unit, in which case I'm not sure what they are proposing to do. I did suggest we'd switch to Pulses in preference so they might do some something imaginative with the tracker 2 for me.

bandit wrote:

Lets just say, that the uniformed staff (whoever they represented) I met at both Luton and Reus recently, were amazingly keen to issue excess baggage slips. The weighing scales were also somewhat over enthusiastic, and based on information supplied by Mitsubishi, doing the maths ) , my plain old Delsey rigid suitcase must weigh in at 6 kilos empty :lol:
The resulting charges for the outbound journey added 50% to the return flight costs. The check in scales on my airport return journey I saw go from 14.5 to 15 kg and back to 14.5kg with no external intervention.
There is good money to be made from excess baggage charges on the budget airlines, and there were many puzzled tourists at Reus trying to reconcile how their luggage could get heavier with less sun cream, shower gel, yada yada

I was prepared to chuck stuff out of my luggage, which would have been cheaper than pay the charges, which was not an option on my outward journey, as I had only 1 item in my case )

All UK airports have the 23kg baggage limit for H&S.

it's the inevitable consequence of the way businesses are run nowadays, processes are outsourced and the SLA produces bizarre incentives. It's a complete scam really, what really annoys me is the excess luggage charge is by weight, so my sack of mountaineering gear is charged by weight but someone with a golf bag is charged by item and they're paying less.

bandit wrote:

ise wrote:

On a tangent, I've broken my Tracker. The battery door has broken around the thumbscrew after being screwed in and out a few times. I'd say it's got 250 days use. It's worth checking any regularly used tracker as it's a potentially a problem in case of burial as snow could get into the battery compartment.

You just break stuff don't you )

Can you fit it with Araldite?

what can I say? it's a hard life on the mountain with me :lol: not everything can take the pace.

BCA's in-country agent has it for repair/replacement/inspection otherwise it's a new one I'm afraid.

clubman wrote:Practice is the thing for us recreational, just a few weeks a year skiers, though. I used to think I was going to be OK with my Tracker - and the occasional practice seemed to confirm that. But last year I found a multiple burial simulation set up by an instructor gave a very confusing reading. A mate using a Pulse had no problems at all.

A lot of people appear to find the pulse is quicker and it's hard to know what to make of that. I don't find it a lot quicker than a tracker but I practise. There's a new tracker out this year (finally) which is also three antenna so people may find that quicker. I know from practise that if someone's quicker than me it's because they're more skilled and not because they've got a Pulse.

A lot has been written about multiple burials and there's some heated debate about just how common it is. From practise I'd say I'm a lot more concerned about deep burials where the victim is reoriented.

On a tangent, I've broken my Tracker. The battery door has broken around the thumbscrew after being screwed in and out a few times. I'd say it's got 250 days use. It's worth checking any regularly used tracker as it's a potentially a problem in case of burial as snow could get into the battery compartment.

rustyinn wrote:Personally I'd rather walk than fly Rynair.

They once sold me a flight in a time slot they didn't actually have at Stansted, only several months later when they realised I was serious about legal action did they finaly give me a refund - ****** chancers.

All airlines do that, the slots are not confirmed until sometime after the flights go on sale. Exactly the same thing just happened with Easyjet slots for the winter and I expect I'm not the only one here whose flights have been altered as a result.