I am rubbish as skiing

[nammynake]

I first learned to ski aged 10 but I always go several years between each trip. I've been on 3 trips as an adult (1 week each) and each time it is like I am starting from scratch. I can just about do a basic snowplough into parallel turn but honestly I'm pretty rubbish.

I'm heading to St Anton in March and I'm determined to either take some lessons while I am there or have some at the local XScape place.

Is this dog too old for new tricks or will some lessons get me out of this rut and up to a reasonable standard?

I don't have any problems with coordination - I cycle a lot including mountain biking - so I am hoping that I just need some good instruction over several hours/days.

[Hoofy]

Like anything you need to practice.

Definitely, I'd get some lessons prior to going there. And maybe more when you are there.

[Dominic H]

Agree with Hoofy, get some lessons here and get some while you're there. There's some fantastic skiing to be had in St Anton and on to Lech and Zurs. Plus, you'll need all the help you can get skiing down from Krazy Kangeroo/Taps/Moose!

[goldblum]

There's an indoor slope at Castleton or Castlefield, can't remember which but it's one of them and it's close-ish to you. Get some short turn lessons.

[Cheib]

Try and get some lessons preferably if you can afford it of the 1 on 1 variety before you go. Also when in resort try and get an instructor who is English or speaks English as a first language....it does make a difference. Skiing is all about tiny movements which need to be described accurately.

Also try and do some specific work to get your legs ready.....your cycling will serve you well but you need to do leg burning thigh exercises.

The single best exercise I have found for replicating what your legs will go through is doing squats on two balance discs like in the picture on this web link

http://site.rockbottomgolf.com/scratch-the-caveman...

Do say 10 squats and then stay down and move your weight from your left leg to your right leg gradually. You can also do it on terra firma but the discs really help with the simulation and making your legs burn like a bd!

[nammynake]

goldblum said:

There's an indoor slope at Castleton or Castlefield, can't remember which but it's one of them and it's close-ish to you. Get some short turn lessons.

Yeah Castleford, less than 30 minutes drive away. I'll see what kind of lessons they do.

[a311]

Fitness will help OP, if you can learn in St Anton you’ll be able to ski anywhere. It’s an odd resort in terms of progression-some blues are a very dark blue to what would be red in other resorts, not much difference to allot of the reds then there’s no true blacks IMO. Head over to the Stuben area as it’s much quieter and although marked as red the pistes are nice and wide and not too steep.

As others have said no substitute for practice and tuition. Any time you can spend in a fridge at home will help, but it’s quite a controlled environment compared to when you’re in resort where it can be icy, foggy, white out, rutted, slushy etc. I’m a qualified instructor and would say for most there’s a balance between self learning and tuition lessons will be good at this stage at it will stop you from getting into bad habits-if you can afford it go for one on one tuition. Groups are fine but with groups up to 8 it’s hard for the instructor to concentrate on individuals. When I teach groups the formula is follow me, then I’ll head down a run and stop and watch each person coming down and give them feedback once they’re-it’s hard to do much more. There’s a few British schools operating in the Alberg so I’d look at them first-anyone with a BASI lv 4 qualification is the dogs….. But it’s not a pre-requisite for teaching in Austria so make sure you know what you’re getting for your £.

We all learn at different rates and in different ways, but it’s kind of like riding a bike. You need to sort out getting from plough to parallel turns as regardless of how fit you are snow plough down any gradient constantly will kill you!

[Gilhooligan]

A good pair of well fitting ski boots will help a lot with your control. As many of the rental boots won't offer the support you need. But yeah, its all about getting the practice in.

I'd also imagine that if you can get to a certain level of ability it wont feel like you are learning from scratch again? I can go 6 months without touching a ski and get straight back into it - minus one or two sketchy runs.

[cheddar]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

There are.

Lessons.

I ski about 30 days a year every year, I'm rubbish and I remain rubbish each year until I get a lesson.

Then I get better.

A one hour lesson improves my skiing - and confidence - much more than weeks and weeks of self learning and flailing my way down a slope using the same bad techniques.

[Chapppers]

You're overthinking it. Basically: snowplow, turn, snowplow, turn, skis parallel, double backflip 540 twist to inverted landing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ls5j5iz2eA

[cheddar]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

One month on, eleven off, technique/confidence lost cmoose.

My mates are the same, they remain at the same awful/beginner level as they always were unless they get lessons.

Old habits etc.......

[nammynake]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll look into 1:1 lessons here before I go. I am confident that a few hours should at least clear any bad habits I have. Worth spending IMO if I'm shelling out on a week in St Anton.

[a311]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I don't think lessons are the be old and end all but IME yes you can come along in your own skiing by getting the hours in but allot of skiers hit the intermediate plateau and struggle to break through that barrier. If you have poor technique all you're doing by skiing more and more is planting those roots deeper. Look at the amount of 'Ski academy's' that operate like Warren Smith, Snoworks, etc. These have been specifically set up to tailor to the intermediate market who want to progress.

I'll agree what you say about repetition, we simply react to the snow beneath us most of the time without necessarily thinking about our technique. I don't think you can become very very good at skiing through repetition alone if they have inadequate technique and skills to begin with. To instil good habits takes time, IME a one off lesson won't do much I think it would take a week of half day lessons in most cases to move an intermediate skier on to a level they'd notice the difference. This is achieved in the main of the repetition of good habits to forget the bad ones.

Getting to a recreational level where you can enjoy yourself getting around most pisted runs in reasonable conditions, without feeling you're holding on for your life doesn't take much IME, we all learn differently but most I've not seen a 10 week skier not be in this category. Moving on to variable terrain, bumps, steeps, and off piste is a tougher nut to crack. Little kids are something of an exception, those who've been on skis from an early age have a comically awesome sense of balance!

Cheddar, I think we all need a loosener on our first run back after a long time out on the side lines. But I'd say if you're rubbish after doing 30 days a season you have allot of bad habits.....