Learning to ski - Super Anxious
Discussion
HI All
Im living in an Alpine country in central Europe for the last 8 years. Im married to a native and She is crazy about skiing and has taught both our children to date. Anyway, I've always boarded or stayed at home with the little ones until it was their turn to learn. Now it's my turn to learn to ski and im super anxious about getting injured, not being able to stop etc. We have lessons organized for when the snow arrives with a friend up the street but i cannot shake the anxiety. I do want to learn and think it will be helpful long term as boarding is slow compared to skiing etc.
does anyone have any advice beyond taking a hipflask of whiskey.
Im living in an Alpine country in central Europe for the last 8 years. Im married to a native and She is crazy about skiing and has taught both our children to date. Anyway, I've always boarded or stayed at home with the little ones until it was their turn to learn. Now it's my turn to learn to ski and im super anxious about getting injured, not being able to stop etc. We have lessons organized for when the snow arrives with a friend up the street but i cannot shake the anxiety. I do want to learn and think it will be helpful long term as boarding is slow compared to skiing etc.
does anyone have any advice beyond taking a hipflask of whiskey.
Tips:
1. Leave the hipflask at home.
2. It’s normal to be anxious.
3. It’s very unlikely that you’ll get injured. It’s not impossible, just very unlikely.
4. Take lessons from a proper instructor. If your friend is a qualified instructor, fine. If not, book a qualified instructor.
A lot of skiing is counterintuitive: lean forwards when instinctively you want to lean back; keep your hands up and forward when you want them back and low to break the fall you think is coming; stay relaxed and supple when you want to be tense and rigid. One thing that can work is to have a song in your head that you mentally sing along to as you ski (don’t laugh). It takes your mind off the immediately stress and helps to relax you.
Above all: enjoy yourself. You will fall over and you’ll find out it’s not the end of the world. When you’re learning sometimes it’s better to fall than try to stay upright. So don’t get hung up about falling.
And learning is knackering. Skiing, like swimming, is a sport where the better you get the less effort you need to expend. Which means when you’re learning you expend a lot of effort doing stuff that isn’t particularly useful.
1. Leave the hipflask at home.
2. It’s normal to be anxious.
3. It’s very unlikely that you’ll get injured. It’s not impossible, just very unlikely.
4. Take lessons from a proper instructor. If your friend is a qualified instructor, fine. If not, book a qualified instructor.
A lot of skiing is counterintuitive: lean forwards when instinctively you want to lean back; keep your hands up and forward when you want them back and low to break the fall you think is coming; stay relaxed and supple when you want to be tense and rigid. One thing that can work is to have a song in your head that you mentally sing along to as you ski (don’t laugh). It takes your mind off the immediately stress and helps to relax you.
Above all: enjoy yourself. You will fall over and you’ll find out it’s not the end of the world. When you’re learning sometimes it’s better to fall than try to stay upright. So don’t get hung up about falling.
And learning is knackering. Skiing, like swimming, is a sport where the better you get the less effort you need to expend. Which means when you’re learning you expend a lot of effort doing stuff that isn’t particularly useful.
You will start to learn on a nursery slope, which is very, very gentle. That's where you'll learn how to slow down and stop, before progressing to steeper slopes. You'll get the hang really quickly and wonder what you were ever worried about. Then, you can get more accustomed to it on green and then blue slopes. There's no compulsion to go on anything steeper than that to start with, nor ever frankly. You'll find your comfort limit.
Then you can progress to jumping out of helicopters.
Then you can progress to jumping out of helicopters.
My experience of learning to ski was that at first I thought "this is easy" on the baby slopes, then that it was still easy to turn and stop on the steeper slopes, then all of a sudden it turned into abso-f'in-lutely impossible when I tried on a black run, there didn't seem to be anything in between.
My best advice is to chuck yourself over when you realise you can't stop before you're going too fast
Enjoyed every second of it though, until my Reynaud's kicked off and my fingers turned white, the most painful part was them tingling as they thawed out.
Hand warmers!
My best advice is to chuck yourself over when you realise you can't stop before you're going too fast
Enjoyed every second of it though, until my Reynaud's kicked off and my fingers turned white, the most painful part was them tingling as they thawed out.
Hand warmers!
The fact that you can already board you're already used to be on snow, low friction, downhill and know how to turn and traverse, powder, ice, lifts, gondolas etc so you're well ahead of a complete novice getting on ski's from day one. Also the fact that both or your feet are independent rather than being strapped to a board should help with balance etc.
I'm a boarder and have been for 20+ years and occasionally I do wonder if I should try skiing, but like you I'm starting from pretty much zero and for me it's more the frustration with starting at that level.
I'm a boarder and have been for 20+ years and occasionally I do wonder if I should try skiing, but like you I'm starting from pretty much zero and for me it's more the frustration with starting at that level.
Freakuk said:
I'm a boarder and have been for 20+ years and occasionally I do wonder if I should try skiing, but like you I'm starting from pretty much zero and for me it's more the frustration with starting at that level.
This is me also!Skied from 5-15.
Then boarded most years since (now 43)
Would love a go again but don't want to waste a day being rubbish!
Evanivitch said:
You'll be fine.
I've seen instructors turn blobs into competent red-slope skiers in 5 days. Definitely worth it.
Make your life a little easier, start doing bodyweight exercises and stretches now. Squats, lunges etc etc
Pre trip fitness is a great tip . Work the quads , Achilles and calves . If you find it hard on steeper slopes it tends to mean you haven’t mastered the technique . But as the above poster says it’s because you have to lean down slopes - and the steeper the more daunting I've seen instructors turn blobs into competent red-slope skiers in 5 days. Definitely worth it.
Make your life a little easier, start doing bodyweight exercises and stretches now. Squats, lunges etc etc
Some good advice above. Try and keep your shoulders/weight going down the mountain….as soon as your weight goes back (which obviously feels safe) you lose control and it is much, much harder to turn.
Watch good skiers who look in control and balanced. What you will see is that with good skiers there shoulders pretty much stay pointing down the mountain and they have really good lower and upper body separation.
Also do some work to prepare yourself physically….your muscles will be working overtime in your first few days. Lots of stuff online but the exercise I did years ago that I thought best replicated the burn you get in your thighs was using a pair of these
I’d also recommend stretching…calves, quads and thighs glutes. Hip mobility and ankle flexibility really help with skiing.
https://www.physioroom.com/physioroom-air-stabilit...
Do some squats on those say 20 or 30 reps and then stay down in an athletic position with your thighs at say 45 deg to the floor. Then gradually move your weight from right to left so say 80% of your weight is on each leg alternately. do that for say 30 seconds.
Take some rest and go again. If you are not getting much burn do the initial set of squats with a decent weight.
Personally I found that exercise replicated the burn you get in your legs towards the end of the day. As a beginner you will find that you’ll put most of your weight through your outside/downhill leg in turns so the idea of that exercise is to replicate that.
Watch good skiers who look in control and balanced. What you will see is that with good skiers there shoulders pretty much stay pointing down the mountain and they have really good lower and upper body separation.
Also do some work to prepare yourself physically….your muscles will be working overtime in your first few days. Lots of stuff online but the exercise I did years ago that I thought best replicated the burn you get in your thighs was using a pair of these
I’d also recommend stretching…calves, quads and thighs glutes. Hip mobility and ankle flexibility really help with skiing.
https://www.physioroom.com/physioroom-air-stabilit...
Do some squats on those say 20 or 30 reps and then stay down in an athletic position with your thighs at say 45 deg to the floor. Then gradually move your weight from right to left so say 80% of your weight is on each leg alternately. do that for say 30 seconds.
Take some rest and go again. If you are not getting much burn do the initial set of squats with a decent weight.
Personally I found that exercise replicated the burn you get in your legs towards the end of the day. As a beginner you will find that you’ll put most of your weight through your outside/downhill leg in turns so the idea of that exercise is to replicate that.
Get 1:1 tuition. Don't overdo it as tiredness is when the accidents happen. Focus on technique and add speed
I did some at school but then nothing until my 30s. I found once I moved beyond snowplough it got less tiring. Once I got the confidence to stop on only gradient of slope it also became less anxious as I could always stop and take a pause, then look ahead to my next route.
Biggest issue I found in the alps is the other skiiers, esp out of control Brits who had been for a few drinks at the end of the day. Much prefer Sweden, where the standard of skiiing is remarkable.
If you haven't already, then get a helmet.
I did some at school but then nothing until my 30s. I found once I moved beyond snowplough it got less tiring. Once I got the confidence to stop on only gradient of slope it also became less anxious as I could always stop and take a pause, then look ahead to my next route.
Biggest issue I found in the alps is the other skiiers, esp out of control Brits who had been for a few drinks at the end of the day. Much prefer Sweden, where the standard of skiiing is remarkable.
If you haven't already, then get a helmet.
I've only been once, last year, with my fiancee who has been skiing in the alps since she was a child.
I figured how hard can it be, so hired some skis and off we went up the ski lift. As we departed the ski lift, I pulled my goggles down and set off down the first slope, only to lose control and swerve off to the side, through the flimsy barrier, and slid 40m down the side of the hill on my arse. As I was lying there, I got a lot of abuse and mocking by my fellow skiers who were on the ski lift going directly over me
.
I'd like to say it got better from there but it didn't really. I spent most of the day falling over, got the hang of it for a bit, and then got tired and it all went downhill again.
I'd like to say I thoroughly enjoyed it but truth be told, I really didn't. However, that is my own stupid fault for having an ego and not having lessons, and my black and blue arse the next day was testament to that. I did love being in the mountains and I plan to go back again but will invest in lessons this time.
I figured how hard can it be, so hired some skis and off we went up the ski lift. As we departed the ski lift, I pulled my goggles down and set off down the first slope, only to lose control and swerve off to the side, through the flimsy barrier, and slid 40m down the side of the hill on my arse. As I was lying there, I got a lot of abuse and mocking by my fellow skiers who were on the ski lift going directly over me
. I'd like to say it got better from there but it didn't really. I spent most of the day falling over, got the hang of it for a bit, and then got tired and it all went downhill again.
I'd like to say I thoroughly enjoyed it but truth be told, I really didn't. However, that is my own stupid fault for having an ego and not having lessons, and my black and blue arse the next day was testament to that. I did love being in the mountains and I plan to go back again but will invest in lessons this time.
vaud said:
Get 1:1 tuition. Don't overdo it as tiredness is when the accidents happen. Focus on technique and add speed
I did some at school but then nothing until my 30s. I found once I moved beyond snowplough it got less tiring. Once I got the confidence to stop on only gradient of slope it also became less anxious as I could always stop and take a pause, then look ahead to my next route.
Biggest issue I found in the alps is the other skiiers, esp out of control Brits who had been for a few drinks at the end of the day. Much prefer Sweden, where the standard of skiiing is remarkable.
If you haven't already, then get a helmet.
This, 200%.I did some at school but then nothing until my 30s. I found once I moved beyond snowplough it got less tiring. Once I got the confidence to stop on only gradient of slope it also became less anxious as I could always stop and take a pause, then look ahead to my next route.
Biggest issue I found in the alps is the other skiiers, esp out of control Brits who had been for a few drinks at the end of the day. Much prefer Sweden, where the standard of skiiing is remarkable.
If you haven't already, then get a helmet.
We have a rule in the house - never do the last run of the day (meaning if you're starting to feel tired then don't go on.) My 12 year old daughter who is super-fit and in the junior-most rung of the Swiss ski racing system never does more than 5 hours a day and on those days they take a 45 mins break. I rarely do more than 2.5 hours in a day. As a beginner it can be longer as you'll be doing more standing-around.
A good instructor will keep you away from the idiots. Yes, and unfortunately it is disproportionately Brits.
chandrew said:
This, 200%.
We have a rule in the house - never do the last run of the day (meaning if you're starting to feel tired then don't go on.) My 12 year old daughter who is super-fit and in the junior-most rung of the Swiss ski racing system never does more than 5 hours a day and on those days they take a 45 mins break. I rarely do more than 2.5 hours in a day. As a beginner it can be longer as you'll be doing more standing-around.
A good instructor will keep you away from the idiots. Yes, and unfortunately it is disproportionately Brits.
As my username suggests I’ve spent quite a lot of time in Switzerland.. We have a rule in the house - never do the last run of the day (meaning if you're starting to feel tired then don't go on.) My 12 year old daughter who is super-fit and in the junior-most rung of the Swiss ski racing system never does more than 5 hours a day and on those days they take a 45 mins break. I rarely do more than 2.5 hours in a day. As a beginner it can be longer as you'll be doing more standing-around.
A good instructor will keep you away from the idiots. Yes, and unfortunately it is disproportionately Brits.
The thing I loved about Sweden was the ability to ski in the morning and then go snowmobiling in the afternoon. Skiing and petrol powered speed - 100kmph+ on frozen lakes.
chandrew said:
We have a rule in the house - never do the last run of the day (meaning if you're starting to feel tired then don't go on.)
I like to make my last run a demo of "how smooth and controlled can I make this" rather than "how fast can I take this black run"I like the smaller resorts like Grimentz in Val d'Annivers; shorter queues and more friendly resort.
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