Better skiing: Lessons or practices?

I have lessons morning and afternoon.

I find I learn much quicker that way, and also the lessons are very amusing (watching everyone else fall over - even the instructor once, when she hit a rock showing us how to ski off piste). And it means there is always someone to chat to (I am a great talker) who is about the same ski-ing level as myself.

I think I will continue to have lessons, as long as I keep ski-ing. There is always something more to learn. Even the international level skiers have coaches to help them improve.

And as I said before, following an instructor means that one can ski in conditions of very poor visibility, when I wouldn't dare to be out on my own, because the instructors always know where they are. They also know the best sunny pistes to go on in the morning/afternoon, where the fresh snow is, where it's least crowded, and you can go in the fast track lesson queue for the lifts and zip past everyone else. They are also available to help with problems like boot fitting and very kindly dish out advice like how to stop your goggles freezing up on the inside, or which restaurant is the cheapest, or how to stop someone nicking your skis :D


If you are prepared to actually listen to your instructor you can learn a great deal, not just about ski-ing, but about the resort etc. And my instructors are usually quite happy to help me with learning French, while we're ski-ing in France.

Ally

Pablo Escobar wrote:Once you have something instilled in a certain way, it can be particularly difficult to 'unlearn' it.

Edit: Instructors aren't paid enough for 'hard work' ;)

I never take instruction that well, I prefer coaching :D

One question- maybe Ally knows the answer! So, how do you stop your goggles freezing on the inside? Everyone looks cool with their goggles, hat etc. I don't! I have Scott goggles and they mist up on the inside terribly, I can't see a thing and I hate wearing googles! As far as I am concerned they are a good, tight fit and I don't sweat excessively! So what is the problem? If I have to buy new ones can anybody recommend goggles that will behave themselves and I can look cool again! Thanks!

Anti fog coated goggles may be the answer :mrgreen:

Ian Wickham wrote:Anti fog coated goggles may be the answer :mrgreen:

Are all goggles not anti-fog coated? I inherited these (looking after them for family member) and apparently they weren't cheap! I have the box somewhere so will go and look but I would be surprised if they were not coated at all!

sued wrote:One question- maybe Ally knows the answer! So, how do you stop your goggles freezing on the inside? Everyone looks cool with their goggles, hat etc. I don't! I have Scott goggles and they mist up on the inside terribly, I can't see a thing and I hate wearing googles! As far as I am concerned they are a good, tight fit and I don't sweat excessively! So what is the problem? If I have to buy new ones can anybody recommend goggles that will behave themselves and I can look cool again! Thanks!

Scott should be fine, how old are they? You might have rubbed/cleaned off the anti-fogg coating on them. You also might find something with the vents in a different place works better for you. I tend to use OTG versions, even when I'm not wearing glasses there's more airflow around the eyes with seems to help.

I bought anti-fog goggles and mine don't mist up. But there was someone else in my group who's goggles were misting up and the ski instructor said that spitting on them works, if you do it before you go out and before you put them on (I don't know if it actually works!).

And he said the way to unfreeze your frozen goggles was to put them under your armpit, inside your jacket, for a few minutes.

Ally

I got Scott googles after they were one week old and they have always fogged up. I only wear them when it is heavy snow as I prefer my sunglasses. It is the most frustrating thing but how do I know which goggles will not cause this problem? This year it looks likely I will have to ski wearing my goggles so I really don't want this problem and will buy new goggles if I have to.

I will try the spitting! Are you meant to spit and rub though? Can't believe I am writing this! And I don't have much body heat so will try the under the armpit thing anyway. Do I spit on them first! Or stamp on them!