Help I Need Your Advice!!

[peutrain]

Hello,

I like to start with my story, my husband is sporty, football, squash, the gym etc, me struggle to catch the ball. Approx 7/8yrs ago had a number of lessons on a dry ski slope, and i wasn't too bad, then went to scotland to try the real thing, and what a nightmare that was. Booked a private instructor (as thats what your told to do as you'll learn more) me and my husband met him, and things didn't go well, he had a hugh hangover and basically couldn't be bothered, because my nusband is naturally sporty he was fine and the instructor just went off with him and left me to tail behind. And tail behind i did, i can laugh about it all now but i spent a lot of my time going backwards, at one time, when getting off the lift it involved going backwards with my head pointing down the mountain, rushing under the lift and yelling for the other people to pull there legs up and out of the way. i then spent time sking backwards, or skiing forwards and not been able to stop. In the end i spat my dummy out, took my ski's back to my chalet, and spent an hour deforsting my ponytail.
After that my husband has gone on and on about doing it again, so this winter i finally did it, only because i have children did i maintain a positive attiude, and a smile on my face.

And i went, and i did try very hard, but i struggled, i'm not the skinnest girl on the slopes, my little boy was 5 kilos when he was born, so i'll never be kate moss again, and i'm not the fittest bunny either, but i tried really hard, but after about an hour/hour and a half of private instruction on the big slopes, i really struggled, i felt like i had no energy. The biggest thing, was the effect it took to control my ski's, with the weight of the boots and the ski's, i felt it was hard, and i could turn, or rather i could turn but one of my ski's just didn't want to follow, and all my energy seem to go into turning these hugh things in the right direction to avoid fleeing down the mountain, which i did and ended up nearly killing some poor bloke who could ski and was enjoying himsef up until then.

So at the end of all that, my daughter loved it and is a natural and for her, and my son who will learn like her at the best age, i want to do it again, but when i asked about having shorter ski's they were really against it, why i thought they looked ideal for some one like me.

So i came home found this site and i am now, asked all of you, who haven't fell asleep yet to reply and tell my if i should get some of these ski boards, will they change my life, like i have read, were you me, not mega fit and not that good

PLEASE HELP!!

Thankyou in anticipation of your replies.

peutrain.
x

[doc]

I know exactly what you are talking about and my wife has had her "adventures" on the mountain and didn't really want to go again until she discovered skiboards. That did change everything and she was now going for fun, no fear anymore which is huge. Yes I would say all you have to lose is one day trying skiboards and the potential is that you may find that you are not only more confident, but having more fun and keeping up with your family. I might suggest the Head Big Easy as one pair to look at. Easy in/out with release bindings and they work great for just starting out as well as advancing (which you will do quickly).

[obelix67]

Ah Scotland and Hangovers......

I have just spent the week with 5 beginner skiers.

I started skiboarding (snow blading as I am on salomons) at the end of last year - the speed at which you master basic skiing technique is one part of what makes this easier.

The problem I find is that all long term skiers think of these as short ski's.

I am not the person to say whether they are or are not.

I tried for a few days to get used to them and see what I can do, as I used to live at the bottom of the Lecht I am quite used to Scottish skiing (although not in the past 20 years). Since then I have done a reasonable amount of recreational roller blading and ice skating.

If you do either of these then you wont find the balance a difference - that native skiers do.

I only started back on snow due to my sons getting lessons from school.

Dont trust what skiers say about blades as they only try to ski on them.....

[peutrain]

thanks for the info so far, do you use the basic principals of sking when you use ski boards, is anything different?





Hello,

I like to start with my story, my husband is sporty, football, squash, the gym etc, me struggle to catch the ball. Approx 7/8yrs ago had a number of lessons on a dry ski slope, and i wasn't too bad, then went to scotland to try the real thing, and what a nightmare that was. Booked a private instructor (as thats what your told to do as you'll learn more) me and my husband met him, and things didn't go well, he had a hugh hangover and basically couldn't be bothered, because my nusband is naturally sporty he was fine and the instructor just went off with him and left me to tail behind. And tail behind i did, i can laugh about it all now but i spent a lot of my time going backwards, at one time, when getting off the lift it involved going backwards with my head pointing down the mountain, rushing under the lift and yelling for the other people to pull there legs up and out of the way. i then spent time sking backwards, or skiing forwards and not been able to stop. In the end i spat my dummy out, took my ski's back to my chalet, and spent an hour deforsting my ponytail.
After that my husband has gone on and on about doing it again, so this winter i finally did it, only because i have children did i maintain a positive attiude, and a smile on my face.

And i went, and i did try very hard, but i struggled, i'm not the skinnest girl on the slopes, my little boy was 5 kilos when he was born, so i'll never be kate moss again, and i'm not the fittest bunny either, but i tried really hard, but after about an hour/hour and a half of private instruction on the big slopes, i really struggled, i felt like i had no energy. The biggest thing, was the effect it took to control my ski's, with the weight of the boots and the ski's, i felt it was hard, and i could turn, or rather i could turn but one of my ski's just didn't want to follow, and all my energy seem to go into turning these hugh things in the right direction to avoid fleeing down the mountain, which i did and ended up nearly killing some poor bloke who could ski and was enjoying himsef up until then.

So at the end of all that, my daughter loved it and is a natural and for her, and my son who will learn like her at the best age, i want to do it again, but when i asked about having shorter ski's they were really against it, why i thought they looked ideal for some one like me.

So i came home found this site and i am now, asked all of you, who haven't fell asleep yet to reply and tell my if i should get some of these ski boards, will they change my life, like i have read, were you me, not mega fit and not that good

PLEASE HELP!!

Thankyou in anticipation of your replies.

peutrain.
x

[obelix67]

The basics of ski-ing and ski-boarding are the same in a few senses in my experience.

However I went to 2 hours private lesson on boxing day and I have been (it feels like) flying since...

Con - you dont have the luxury of balance that skis give you
Pro - nor when you are learning do you have great unweildly planks beneath you....

some of the Swiss resorts will as a beginner put you on blades the first day and then migrate you to skis on day 2 and as you learn

however some of my friends wifes have migrated to skiboards or snowblades as they are easier to control and ride one you have the hang of them - skiers and ski instructors will try and get you away from them as will skiers that have only used them in passing - for a day or an afternoon on a weeks holiday for example.

I bought one of the dakine helipaks (backpack) - my blades fit comfortably on, I have both hands free, I have ordered one of the sets of reins from Doc for my 6 year old to give him confidence on bigger slopes - he seems to suffer from vertigo....and I want him to feel comfortable that he wont fly down the mountain without dad going too.....errr

If you are staying on groomed slopes then give them a go, certainly it is easy to rent snowblades / skiboards here with releasable bindings...then as I have done this year look to next season to migrate to "proper" skiboards for a more powder effect.....my opinion might change during the next 14-20 weeks however as my Salomon Snowblades have been excellent so far and I have only been doing this for 5 weeks - where I have managed to get around 11 days on snow / piste.

You will see a lot of places criticise the salomon blades - I cant compare like (snowblades) with like (skiboards) however - but I have found them easy enought to get going on - you can get them from any Intersport. A lot of the folk across the water take this (skiboarding) as some hardcore all or nothing thing - most of the bladers in europe I have come across just look smug like we can play too - we dont have all that stuff they carry around but this is fun on the piste, it is less effort in my opinion, and easier to master.

I would not have thought I would be racing people on Reds and doing quite challenging Black runs after only 11 days ski-ing..... but then again...

[fookisan]

Hello,

I like to start with my story, my husband is sporty, football, squash, the gym etc, me struggle to catch the ball. Approx 7/8yrs ago had a number of lessons on a dry ski slope, and i wasn't too bad, then went to scotland to try the real thing, and what a nightmare that was. Booked a private instructor (as thats what your told to do as you'll learn more) me and my husband met him, and things didn't go well, he had a hugh hangover and basically couldn't be bothered, because my nusband is naturally sporty he was fine and the instructor just went off with him and left me to tail behind. And tail behind i did, i can laugh about it all now but i spent a lot of my time going backwards, at one time, when getting off the lift it involved going backwards with my head pointing down the mountain, rushing under the lift and yelling for the other people to pull there legs up and out of the way. i then spent time sking backwards, or skiing forwards and not been able to stop. In the end i spat my dummy out, took my ski's back to my chalet, and spent an hour deforsting my ponytail.
After that my husband has gone on and on about doing it again, so this winter i finally did it, only because i have children did i maintain a positive attiude, and a smile on my face.

And i went, and i did try very hard, but i struggled, i'm not the skinnest girl on the slopes, my little boy was 5 kilos when he was born, so i'll never be kate moss again, and i'm not the fittest bunny either, but i tried really hard, but after about an hour/hour and a half of private instruction on the big slopes, i really struggled, i felt like i had no energy. The biggest thing, was the effect it took to control my ski's, with the weight of the boots and the ski's, i felt it was hard, and i could turn, or rather i could turn but one of my ski's just didn't want to follow, and all my energy seem to go into turning these hugh things in the right direction to avoid fleeing down the mountain, which i did and ended up nearly killing some poor bloke who could ski and was enjoying himsef up until then.

So at the end of all that, my daughter loved it and is a natural and for her, and my son who will learn like her at the best age, i want to do it again, but when i asked about having shorter ski's they were really against it, why i thought they looked ideal for some one like me.

So i came home found this site and i am now, asked all of you, who haven't fell asleep yet to reply and tell my if i should get some of these ski boards, will they change my life, like i have read, were you me, not mega fit and not that good

PLEASE HELP!!

Thankyou in anticipation of your replies.

peutrain.
x


Put some time into improving your health number one. Eat healthy and exercise with weights training, flexibility and aerobic exercise. Then supplement this with balance and equilibrium training as well as speed training. Then as far as skiboards go, let them tell you and you don't tell them. This goes for others telling you what to do. This means try skiboards and give them a a chance to see what they have to say. Look for an excuse to continue instead of can excuse to quit.

Dan

....My discussion of this topic from an earlier post to a 12 step group.


The less you do...the less you will be able to do. I was reminded of this truism back in June when the public pool opened up. I generally swim in the pool during summer time and then just quit for the other 9 months out of the year when the outdoor pool closes at Labor Day. I felt that I do many movement related activities that are just as good as swimming such as weight training, jogging, yoga, mountain biking, cross country skiing, etc. Well, the day after my first day back in the pool my back was pinched as well as my shoulder. Apparently weight training, jogging and mountain biking is not the same as doing the backstroke.

I first learned of this concept that the less you do...the less you will be able to do from my Mom. One day she got dizzy while bending over. My dad told her that he would bend over for her, so she would not get dizzy. Apparently he did not realize that the less you do...the less you will be able to do. Well, his well meaning help only encouraged more dizziness in Mom since the fluid in her ear that regulates equilibrium and balance would stagnate from less movement. Mom then complained about getting dizzy when she got out of bed. What was her answer? She would sleep in a recliner at an angle so she would not have to lie down and go through the dizziness. The angle gradually kept getting steeper until she had to sleep sitting almost upright. What is V's response to all this dizziness? If something make me dizzy - I do more of it and make myself even more dizzy. (As long as it is not a medical issue. To satisfy the women critics that complain to me, my Mom, she has gone to doctors weekly since I was a little boy and is a pill abuser. So pills and doctors are not the issue with her. Movent or lack of movent is what is missing from her life not pills and doctors.)

I've seen many MD's that are supposed to be experts at health yet they fail terribly when it comes to themselves. On a walking trail I met a retired doctor the other day. He was bent over and quite distorted. I talked with him at length about his exercise program and diet. He does plenty of walking - but walking bent over in bad form. Gravity keeps pulling him in the wrong direction, so he keeps perpetuating the bad. He did no weight training, no yoga, no stretching, no work on righting his posture through various mechanical methods. He was not distorted due to ill health, he was distorted from years of heading in the wrong direction with his posture and his life. I planted many seed in him for right living, but do not know if they will sprout. this is an area where we are all on level ground whether rich or poor. You cannot pay your butler to eat healthy food for you or to do your exercises. BTW, what was I doing on the asphalt walking trail? I was rollerblading and running my gas powered motoboard. (skateboard) The motoboard. goes 30 mph and provides good speed training as well a balance and equilibrium training.

As we age we seem to lose many abilities. Now, losing some skills is fine, but losing most of them is not. Personally I have to be mindful of many areas as I like to be as well rounded as possible with my health. I was doing some rock climbing a few years ago near Malibu and did OK after I got warmed up. A year later after laying off all climbing, when I returned to the same place to climb I had knots in my stomach when I first viewed the climb. It looked scary to me, but once I got at it and started to climb, the knots disappeared. This also taught me that the less you do...the less you will be able to do. If I cant get some rock climbing in I try to pull out the ladder for some second story work or climb a tree.

This year was reminded this same lesson the first time I got back on the high dive in June. The high dive seemed too high for me, so I stayed off it the last few years. This year I decided to back on the high dive. I do not do anything to brag about on it, but just going off it was a good improvement for me. Was hoping to do some back flips off the less high springboard, but did not get around to trying them this season. My regular springboard diving improved in any case and at my age I am grateful for any improvement - it beats going backwards. Guess I'll just have to dream about the back flips for now. Actually dreaming can help. Psycho Cybernetics was created by Maxwell Maltz and this process of visualizing movents to perfect them helps with many sports.

**Sorry - I had to cut a section out of this post off as it was too long to be accepted here.**


Height training, speed training, strength training, mental training, flexibility training, balance and equilibrium training - there are many areas to train ourselves. If you aspire to be a mountaineer there is cold training as well as high altitude training as good preparation for climbing Everest or K2. If you ski then speed training is good. But speed training on skis is different from speed training on snowboards, as I found out last year. And speed training in snow sports is different from speed training while driving a motorcycle as my son found out. And speed training while driving a motorcycle is different from speed training while sprinting the 100 meters. And none of the preceding activities necessarily help with riding a unicycle or learning to juggle.

Cross training is important, but many activities do not exactly replace other activities. So, the moral of the story is do all that you can do, for a day will come when you cannot do it any longer and all you can do is watch. This year will seek out a public indoor pool for the other 9 months cause in addition to doing my weight training, jogging, speed training, mountain biking, cross country skiing, snowboarding and yoga - they are not the same as doing the backstroke. And no matter what physical activity you participate in, don't forget to warm up and stretch. What does this post have to do with addiction recovery work as one lady critic wrote me when it was posted earlier? You can answer that question for yourself do you have a better chance at recovery when your mind is clear, you body is healthy and you fell confident and have self esteem? Or do you do better when are a dizzy mess, depressed, losing mobility and skills, fearful and in poor physical shape?


"Minds like bodies will often fall into a pimpled, ill condition state from mere excess of comfort" ~ Charles Dickens

[obelix67]

You can answer that question for yourself do you have a better chance at recovery when your mind is clear, you body is healthy and you fell confident and have self esteem? Or do you do better when are a dizzy mess, depressed, losing mobility and skills, fearful and in poor physical shape?


Depending on the day I am all of these things :)

[doc]

thanks for the info so far, do you use the basic principals of sking when you use ski boards, is anything different?

You will definitely find these extremely easy compared to skis. More upright stance, more natural feel and the learning curve is much, much shorter than skis. Prior to skiboarding, skating is a great tool to get the proper balance and use the right muscle groups.

[sharon1953]

Oh I know just where you are coming from! 52 yrs young here. I struggled with skis for 6 yrs, had lessons from allsorts in varies European resorts, always came home from the holidays feeling deflated and depressed at my lack of progress and shear fear of being out of control yet again. In desperation I went to my local indoor snowdome, and having seen people zipping about on blades whilst away, I thought I might as well give them a try. And bingo, it all came together, I could finally ski, turn where and when I wanted to, without worrying about the things crossing over, and I could parallel perfectly. I will never ever go back to skis. The chap that served me at the snowdome was very negative about handing over the Salomon Snowblades, he said he could teach me to ski, yea yea yea!!!! and said “if you use the snowblades you will never go back to skis…and they were girly anyway…” I couldn’t understand this macho attitude, as though it was some kind of achievement to be able to ski on very long skis. My response was “ I don’t care what’s on my feet, as long as I’m having fun and feel safe”. Of course, he was right about one thing, I never have gone back to skis! Can’t see the point really. The only down side I have found is trying to find a blade with releasable bindings, where the binding doesn’t affect the way they feel, and if you are on a button/drag and they stop it mid slope, you have to remember to lean further forwards, as you don’t have the length behind to support you, so you can end up on your bum. The stance is slightly different to skiing (I believe you can have blade lessons in the States) but that tends to come naturally. I have experienced a face plant due to them not floating over deeper snow as easily as skis, but different widths and lengths can help with this, and release bindings can be fitted to some blades if you are worried about the safety aspect. I am still searching for my ideal blade, but I know skis will never feature in that search. Don’t be tempted by the Atomic 120’s though, they feel just like skis and they were a bad choice for me!

Go for it girl. PS. Did 4 months at the gym this time before going, and it made a real difference!!

[obelix67]

So where did you go this season that you want to get rid of the salomons already ?

I have done a number of faceplants whilst going from beginner to psychotic this season.

I have just been adding up and I have managed 40 days skiing this season so far. 35 of those on 99cm salomon blades 5 on spruce 120's

My biggest face plant was on an icy slope about 60 meters before coming to a stop, then having to run back up the hill, whilst a mate was contorted laughing his head off....

I would like to try the summit 110's and I would also like to try the icelantic scouts 143cm def more a ski than a skiboard

I was amazed last week how well the Spruce surf powder - quite interesting to be honest.

There is another site www.snowheads.com which is dominated by UK members and a few other places - normal patronising crap when it comes to skiboards - but there are a few on there - you could see if there is someone nearby that has different skiboards that you can try out in your snowdome....just an idea.

Good luck with the skiboarding