Skiing

Ha, fuck me! I checked the Zermatt snow report before they updated it this morning. 65cm overnight with another 30 to come!

Anyone here got any tips on how to teach kids to ski? Went to our local slope with our 7yo yesterday and had an hour of falling, crying and a twisted leg (nothing serious, but enough to call it a day). She was super amped getting there but we drove home beaten.

I should add that the snow was shit last night. We've had few weeks of low temps so they've let the snow cannons work. Then a few days of +5, then a drop to -5 so it was super hard packed, icy and frankly hard to ski.

Very little first hand experience, but a few things picked up from friends:

1. Keep it fun, don't push learning technique too hard too early
   
2. Keep it short, better to end wanting more than in tears
   

Ski instructor in the family says piste conditions unlikely cause of frustration.

Is there a ski school near you? My 5 year old daughter just completed her course and she loved it

Ski instructor in the family says piste conditions unlikely cause of frustration.

This. Most instructors I know say that snow conditions are irrelevant for kids learning to ski. The basic skiing skills work on all kinds of snow. Especially on a shallow slope.

What sort of slope are you teaching on? Should be almost flat for a 7yo learning the basics. Even the Swiss toddlers who ski like pros by the time they are 7yo start off on the bunny slope...

almost flat

Was the other bit of information. Because you can’t stop slope where you just stop.

Good call. Emailed them and waiting to hear back. I've checked the last two years and I don't think they've had any courses at all due to a lack of snow and / or teachers

Superflat slope so no problem there.

Was just reminiscing about my early days of skiing in Canada. I remember being firmly reprimanded for blaming the snow conditions when I had some trouble with turns. A gale had been blowing and big patches of blue ice were on the piste where the snow had been blown away.

My instructor was right...when I did things right, even the blue ice wasn't a problem.

Yep blistering snowstorm when I ‘skied’ this on my first skiing holidays a week after the race.

LOL...is that the Hundschopf?

Coudn’t see anything of the Eiger on that day.

I've never been down it, only up in the Summer.

I've been to the Lauberhorn downhill race three times but all three times they started just above that photo due to the wind conditions so I've never seen the full race.

Its a great day out, highly recommended. Piss up from 5am if you do it right!

Sod that, typical gung-ho alpha male nonsense. Of course the snow condition matters for a beginner. It's not everything though, I give you that, but it matters.

Reminds me of my sailing instructor telling me to "man up" when it was too windy to race. Still can't stand the man. His attitude did me zero good.

Of course the snow condition matters for a beginner.

Can you explain why? I just can't see how snow conditions on a gentle slope affect a beginner to the point that it is notably harder to learn how to ski. Strikes me a bit like a cyclist saying they can't get up a hill without stopping because they've got the wrong casette on.

Also, whats alpha male about that opinion? For what its worth, i've never had a male ski instructor.

Actually, thinking about it, softer snow is definitely better for beginners in terms of falling over but I can't think of any other benefit.

Yesterday was a freshly but poorly groomed icy slope. Rock hard ridges mixed with icy pebbles. Your skis went from good grip to zero grip to over a fist sized pebble then back to grip again. Overall it made for very patchy grip with skis going all over the place. Compare this to a well groomed slope that's been used for an hour and it's quite a difference.

Of course a half decent beginner had no issues, but being your first time on skis since two years it didn't help.

Don't you enjoy a perfectly groomed slope? I know I do

Rock hard ridges mixed with icy pebbles. Your skis went from good grip to zero grip to over a fist sized pebble then back to grip again.

That does sound terrible. I have never seen a designated bunny slope in that condition before. Has the resort just not been maintaining it?!

Ah. No wonder we're talking past each other.

We're in south Sweden, no resorts here! We're lucky to get a few weeks of skiing weather a year and the local bunny slope is a staggering 25 meter long with a rope lift. It's all run on a voluntary basis and the piste basher is ancient to say the least. The fact that there is a maintained slope with a rope lift at all is a small wonder so we have to make do with what's there.

Behold!

Much avi L4/5 though so I'm telling myself I'm not that jealous....

Honestly, I'm not sure there is anything I wouldn't do to be in the mountains right now. Even if I could only sit on the balcony with a cuppa.

Ah. No wonder we're talking past each other.

Aaaaah! I see! Yeah, thats a bit different. Sorry, was working on the assumption that you were on a groomed bunny slope in a ski resort in the Alps.

I know! :'(

Piste conditions for learners -
It’s all about confidence.
Too hard/icey difficult to stop and turn, skis can fly away. It hurts when you fall and you may not stop. Lose confidence
Too soft - skis grip unexpectedly, fall. Difficult to see bumps and hollows resulting in unexpected shifts in weight. It doesn’t hurt so much when you fall. But you still lose confidence.
Too shallow - can’t get enough speed to use weight on outside ski to turn in snow plough. Lots of poling to move anywhere. Knackering.
Too steep - too much speed, snow plough to manage speed is difficult and tiring without good technique.
We took a mate in his first ski holiday a few years back. It was a lesson for us all. What I thought of as a simple roller to get onto the easy stuff was a cliff. Long flat paths are not good places to learn. Beginners get tired and want to be able to see an end. In the end I told everyone to bugger off and I spent time with him on my own.
In my experience if you’re gonna have a beginner in the group ski with them 1-1 not in the group. They don’t need multiple ideas as to how to improve. It just overloads and confuses.
And finally the pressure of the group is immense and can overwhelm beginners, be gentle with them.