Skiing

[SeeinRed]

Its that time of year. Broken arms, broken legs, etc. I never used to ski. I always thought it looked fun, but I wasn't allowed to because our school basketball team had a rule against it from Junior High on up. Last year was the first time I have ever tried, and I went twice. I picked it up pretty quickly surprisingly, and despite my best efforts didn't break anything. I did manage to get run over by a Amish girl though over there at Perfect North. Long story. Anyway, I just wanted to hear some people's expirences and reccomendations on anything and everything. I really enjoyed skiing and I believe I have started a new winter hobby for myself.

BTW, I also would like to know if anybody knows anything about the now closed Spicy Run Ski Resort. It was out 32 quite a bit from Cincy closer to where I come from. I just want to know if they plan on opening it or if there are any future plans. Doubt anybody knows, but hey, this site is good for a lot of random knowlege so there is a chance.

[Dom Heffner]

My advice to you to you is something you already know: learn how to snow plow.

Moving along on the snow while on devices designed to do so is not very difficult.

Stopping is an entirely different matter.

[SunDeck]

Perfect's is a nice place to learn, but I advise trying to go during the week so you can avoid the long lines and the nutjobs who can't ski but just point themselves straight down the hill and go.
I have skied for 30 years, so it's hard to say anything about the learning curve. I really don't remember what it was like to learn because I was only a kid. But the one thing I can say is that lessons are well worth the money. I taught my wife how to ski, but without her going to some lessons it would have been hard for her to learn how to parallel.

If you want to make a vacation out of it, there are nice resorts within a day's drive, either in New York (Greek Peak is a hoot) or up in Michigan (Boyne is an old favorite of mine). If you have the time, inclination and the money to do so, I highly recommend a ski vacation. It will improve your skill immensely.

Anyway, so what do you want to know? Fire away.

[GAC]

I live right on the foothills of Valley Hi Ski resort here in central Ohio.

Yeah, like I'm gonna strap two slick rails to the bottom of my feet and send myself screaming down a steep hill? That's like putting a blindfold on Chevy Chase and entering him in the Indy 500.

We go over and tube. My daughter wants to snowboard; but she's never done it, and as a Dad I'm somewhat wary. Every time we go over there they're carting somebody off in the squad for trying something stupid while snowboarding. I might let her try the beginners hill.

[paintmered]

A few years ago, I was at Perfect North with a student group and I was skiing with a friend who had never skied before. Anyways, he gets the brilliant idea to take on Center Stage, goes into a tuck straight down the hill, biffs it about halfway down and ends up at university hospital with a broken clavicle.

I've seen some impressive wipeouts on that run while on the lifts. I saw one guy lose it at the very top and proceed to catch about 6 feet of air off every mogul on the way down. It took everything I had to not fall out of the chair from laughter.

[SeeinRed]

Originally Posted by paintmered

A few years ago, I was at Perfect North with a student group and I was skiing with a friend who had never skied before. Anyways, he gets the brilliant idea to take on Center Stage, goes into a tuck straight down the hill, biffs it about halfway down and ends up at university hospital with a broken clavicle.

I've seen some impressive wipeouts on that run while on the lifts. I saw one guy lose it at the very top and proceed to catch about 6 feet of air off every mogul on the way down. It took everything I had to not fall out of the chair from laughter.

Yeah, I was stupid and tried one of the "experts only" runs. My girlfriend thought I would land on my butt, but I didn't. That was my second time skiing and she was mad because she was leaving butt marks everywhere. (Thats a technical term of course) She thought she would try to prove that I wasn't as good at it as she was. She proceeded to try and show off and take a little shortcut through the woods and promptly screamed some profanities followed by an I'm screwed. She hit a tree. Not a big one mind you. A little sappling. I told her if she is going to scream, next time the tree better be bigger. Anyway, I made it clear down every run that day without leaving any butt dimples in the snow. I was pretty proud of myself.

SunDeck, I'm sure that I'm not doing it anywhere close to pretty, but I got the whole weight transfer thing down. That was the biggest thing to learn for me. I observed and realized that there aren't many people going striaght down the mountain. An important point as far as my safety went. I was ready to go faster than any man should ever be going on a pair of slivers under his feet. Luckily, my girlfriend talked me out of trying to show everybody the fastest way to ruin a ski trip. The one part that I did have problems with the first time is that it felt like the end of my skis kept digging into the snow when I tried to make a turn. I think I might of fixed that by getting shorter skis the second time. I still had some difficulty with it though.

I found that 90% of my falling the first time was due to just not concentrating on balance and letting my legs stiffen. If I kept my legs loose and let them absorb the bumps, I had no problems at all. The other 10% were just because I was stupid. I haven't been taught how to do anything yet, but I would like to learn, so I might have to invest in some lessons. I do tend to pick things up on my own. I don't pick them up beautifully I'm sure, but adequetly. I also taught myself to bowl and now average close to 200. Its typical, I can do things OK, but I just can't get over the hump to do them well. Its always the same. I get stuck on some small detail that will put me over the hump and just can't figure them out. Somebody could probably teach them, but I love the challenge.

[HumnHilghtFreel]

I got really big into snowboarding in highschool when I joined the ski club. I had gone once before that, and it was an unmitigated disaster When you hear people on the lift going up say "I hope he's okay" you know things are going rough.

But I did four years in highschool and actually ended up becoming somewhat decent. It's been about 2 years since I've been now. I'm trying to get my brothers to help me plan a trip up to Mad River Mountain sometime soon though.

[cincinnati chili]

Perfect North is to skiing what a squirrel's nose is to boogers.

[oneupper]

After over 40 years of no snow in my life, I went with my sisters' family to Breckenridge, Colorado for skiiing.

We've done it four times since.

My advice: take the lessons.

I'm a "50 first dates" skier, that is, I forget what I learned the year before. So I take a lesson or two to "remember' and pick up something new.

I suck and always will, but when I get invited up to some blue runs, I can do it and not die.

Perhaps you're a natural, but it would probably serve you well to pick up a few essential "safety tips" just in case.

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by SeeinRed

Yeah, I was stupid and tried one of the "experts only" runs. My girlfriend thought I would land on my butt, but I didn't. That was my second time skiing and she was mad because she was leaving butt marks everywhere. (Thats a technical term of course) She thought she would try to prove that I wasn't as good at it as she was. She proceeded to try and show off and take a little shortcut through the woods and promptly screamed some profanities followed by an I'm screwed. She hit a tree. Not a big one mind you. A little sappling. I told her if she is going to scream, next time the tree better be bigger. Anyway, I made it clear down every run that day without leaving any butt dimples in the snow. I was pretty proud of myself.

SunDeck, I'm sure that I'm not doing it anywhere close to pretty, but I got the whole weight transfer thing down. That was the biggest thing to learn for me. I observed and realized that there aren't many people going striaght down the mountain. An important point as far as my safety went. I was ready to go faster than any man should ever be going on a pair of slivers under his feet. Luckily, my girlfriend talked me out of trying to show everybody the fastest way to ruin a ski trip. The one part that I did have problems with the first time is that it felt like the end of my skis kept digging into the snow when I tried to make a turn. I think I might of fixed that by getting shorter skis the second time. I still had some difficulty with it though.

I found that 90% of my falling the first time was due to just not concentrating on balance and letting my legs stiffen. If I kept my legs loose and let them absorb the bumps, I had no problems at all. The other 10% were just because I was stupid. I haven't been taught how to do anything yet, but I would like to learn, so I might have to invest in some lessons. I do tend to pick things up on my own. I don't pick them up beautifully I'm sure, but adequetly. I also taught myself to bowl and now average close to 200. Its typical, I can do things OK, but I just can't get over the hump to do them well. Its always the same. I get stuck on some small detail that will put me over the hump and just can't figure them out. Somebody could probably teach them, but I love the challenge.

Shorter skis will definitely help. I imagine the way you are learning to turn at this point is to "wedge" or "snowplow" as Dom put it. That means you point the tips of the skis inward and press down hard, forcing the skis to wedge into the snow.
That is the best way to start as a beginner.
In order to turn- and this is kind of the hard part to explain- you don't necessarily "turn" the skis as much as you turn your whole body, transferring your weight from one ski to the other.

From there, you eventually learn how to manage the weight transfer, and you incorporate a little "hop" which becomes your turn. At that point, you are learning to parallel ski, which is basically the art of changing your position on the slope using that hopping and weight transfer.

Not sure what point you are at along the continuum of moving from the wedge to parallel skiing, but I'll take a stab at the following advice.

1) Pressure- your legs need to be strong. Controlling your skis through a turn requires you to bear down on the tongues of your boots. When you are moving in a straight line, it doesn't require much from your legs, but turning well requires exertion. The more you learn to control the skis by pressing down with your thighs and knees the sooner you will parallel ski.

2) Balance- you may have heard the term "uphill" or "downhill" ski. If you are standing perpendicular to the slope, those terms describe your skis. The downhill ski is always the workhorse and turning well is the process of changing direction and moving your weight from one ski to the other, always to the downhill ski.

3) Rhythm- Whatever speed I am skiing, I try to do it with a pace and rhythm. You will see skiers planting their poles just before they turn, which is a way to maintain one's rhythm. A more advanced skier, plants the pole, sort of gets that little hop around it, then bears down, pressing their knees together, leaning into the hill to get their skis up on their edges to carve a line in the ice or snow. When you do it for the first time, feeling your skis carve instead of sliding, it's like a revelation.

Enjoy!

[WebScorpion]

Originally Posted by SunDeck

Perfect's is a nice place to learn, but I advise trying to go during the week so you can avoid the long lines and the nutjobs who can't ski but just point themselves straight down the hill and go.

Just because I've been sent to psychoanalysts by both the US Army and my therapist, (who I fired, by the way,) doesn't mean I am a 'nut job'. I have never understood the concept of slowing down on the slopes...I love to go fast! I also love to make that ultra-cool spray of snow at the end of the run when I jump up, turn sideways, and dig in my edges to stop. Snowplow shmoeplow! Well, when I first started it was hard to tell if I was trying to stop or just practicing my cartwheels...but hey, I learned from my mistakes and I'm successful about 80% of the time now. Speed is addictive. I have never hurt anyone but myself on the slopes...and a couple trees...and one of those snow blower nozzles. BANZAAAAAAIIIIIIII!!!!!!

[SeeinRed]

Originally Posted by SunDeck

Shorter skis will definitely help. I imagine the way you are learning to turn at this point is to "wedge" or "snowplow" as Dom put it. That means you point the tips of the skis inward and press down hard, forcing the skis to wedge into the snow.
That is the best way to start as a beginner.
In order to turn- and this is kind of the hard part to explain- you don't necessarily "turn" the skis as much as you turn your whole body, transferring your weight from one ski to the other.

From there, you eventually learn how to manage the weight transfer, and you incorporate a little "hop" which becomes your turn. At that point, you are learning to parallel ski, which is basically the art of changing your position on the slope using that hopping and weight transfer.

Not sure what point you are at along the continuum of moving from the wedge to parallel skiing, but I'll take a stab at the following advice.

1) Pressure- your legs need to be strong. Controlling your skis through a turn requires you to bear down on the tongues of your boots. When you are moving in a straight line, it doesn't require much from your legs, but turning well requires exertion. The more you learn to control the skis by pressing down with your thighs and knees the sooner you will parallel ski.

2) Balance- you may have heard the term "uphill" or "downhill" ski. If you are standing perpendicular to the slope, those terms describe your skis. The downhill ski is always the workhorse and turning well is the process of changing direction and moving your weight from one ski to the other, always to the downhill ski.

3) Rhythm- Whatever speed I am skiing, I try to do it with a pace and rhythm. You will see skiers planting their poles just before they turn, which is a way to maintain one's rhythm. A more advanced skier, plants the pole, sort of gets that little hop around it, then bears down, pressing their knees together, leaning into the hill to get their skis up on their edges to carve a line in the ice or snow. When you do it for the first time, feeling your skis carve instead of sliding, it's like a revelation.

Enjoy!

To tell you the truth, I never learned how to "snow plow" and turn. I just transfer my weight from on let to the other and kind of twist I guess.The hop is the part that kind of intrigues me because I found that I do best when I kind of jump off the right foot for a left turn and the left foot for ar right turn. I even stopped by sliding sideways on my first time. The whole snow plow thing just wasn't taught to me I gess so I don't use it. Poles at this point seem to hinder me more than help. I haven't had the revelation yet, but I will have try and pick up the techique this year. I am by no means a good skiier, I can just get down the hill without falling now. Thats a pretty big accomplishment for me. Thanks for the advice SunDeck! Maybe we'll run into each other on the slopes sometime. Then you can point at me and laugh when you see a ski sliding down the hill followed by a person trying to ski on one ski.

[SunDeck]

You are learning European style. They don't teach kids to snowplow, they just go straight into the jumping from one ski to another.

I say keep it up- as long as you can learn to keep your speed under control, don't worry about snowplowing. And learning to stop by sliding sideways is in many ways the same thing you need to do in order to parallel ski. You stop by pressing on the downhill ski and leaning into the slope of the hill. Same thing, really. As you get better at it, you shift from a slide right, slide left, slide right pattern to one where you carve an "S" pattern down the hill.

[Redlegs23]

My story is similar to yours SeeinRed. Played basketball in high school and was never allowed to ski. Went for the first time my freshman year in college and did fairly well. I went with a bunch of beginners, and never had lessons. I don't think I even fell the first time I went. I've been about 3 times since then, and I absolutely love it. I'd go once a week if I could afford it. I've gotten pretty decent just from teaching myself. Granted, I have many close calls every time I go, mainly when I brave the center stage. One really bad wipeout comes to mind. Anyways, can't wait to go again this winter.

[SeeinRed]

Originally Posted by Redlegs23

My story is similar to yours SeeinRed. Played basketball in high school and was never allowed to ski. Went for the first time my freshman year in college and did fairly well. I went with a bunch of beginners, and never had lessons. I don't think I even fell the first time I went. I've been about 3 times since then, and I absolutely love it. I'd go once a week if I could afford it. I've gotten pretty decent just from teaching myself. Granted, I have many close calls every time I go, mainly when I brave the center stage. One really bad wipeout comes to mind. Anyways, can't wait to go again this winter.

That begs a good question. Would it be worth me buying a pass if I may only get to go 3 times this year?