Things I have gained from J2Ski

the company of a great group of people ..most of whom are sensible :D

If I may Ally, break it down to two areas first gained and second learnt .....

Gained some good mates Snowb4ndit,Scapular,TonyH who I have skied with and will be skiing with shortly and possible a few more after next week.

I do try very hard to be patient with posts that I find unbelievably dopey.

I do try not to get too frustrated when people forget how to use google

But above all it is a fantastic place to communicate with like minded people with a passion for the mountains and a great font of information and humour.

Icy excluded :wink:

Only joking Icy ........ :lol:

My God. As one who is regarded as a "regular" I guess I really don't know where to start, so I've based this on Allys original posting as a guide:

1. Friends. I have actually befriended a few people from this website, and I mean actually in person having met them, in some cases skied with them, in some cases actually becoming good friends with them, and I am skiing with someone from this site next week for the first time. Personally I can only see that as a big success and a massive thanks for the website for these proper friendships.
As for online "friends", its hard to regard them as actual friends, as in reality we know next to nothing about each other. However, what I have gained is a "community" to which I feel I belong. Ok, I am the first to admit I can be the black sheep, the argumentative one, the controversial one, and the wind up merchant, but every community needs its characters, so I hope I fit in somewhere.
There are a few on here who I would like to think could become friends if we met up, with whom I have good banter and enjoy a discussion or arguement, and several more I have become facebook friends with outside of this community. All in all, friends is probably a very good starting point Ally.

Perhaps I should add point 1 (a) Enemies. I hate to think I have made enemies on here, but I am sure there are people who read my posts and think >>> idiot <<< So, let it be known that offence has not been deliberately caused at any time, but I do understand its hard to read sarcasm or tongue in cheek comments. I don't intend to change though, sorry for those who don't like my postings )

It's great to be able to 'talk' to people who are also obsessed with ski-ing - yes Ally, you are so right on this one.

2. Practical advice - there is a fountain of knowledge on this site, and we can all share from one another. CEM has expert advice on feet and boots, Bandit has good advice on a lot of things, Dave Mac knows all about small Austrian resorts, Trencher and Pavel have fantastic advice on technique and equipment, and so on. Plenty of others out there who I apologise if I have missed you - there are so many who contribute to this forum. Hey, even I come up with some useful stuff now and again.

3. Practise at staying on topic - I find it quite amusing that Ally G mentions this one, seeing as she has been the Queen of Wibble over the past couple of years. We also seem to have a new Chief Wibbler in Iceman as well now. Its all good fun, and part of the rich tapestry of the J2 ski life. Nothing wrong with a tangent here and there.

4. I've managed to gradually improve my communication skills - learning how to be more diplomatic etc. and form part of the on-line community.
Yes, I've managed to delete posts I shouldn't have written and edit others before they got posted! Sometimes we post from the heart before the head engages. Thats pretty much the way I am in life, say what you see, if you like. But I have had sufficient yellow card warnings now to understand when I need to reign it in. A bit :wink:

5. Fun - some people on here can be brilliantly amusing at times
I agree, many people make me laugh a lot with their posts. There are a small number who wind me up with their postings, but I am sure I do them as well.
One or two appear to have really come out of their shells recently with wit and banter; Old Andy in particular springs to mind.

6. Support - theres always sympathy and empathy on here for those with injuries or disappointments. We'd hate it to be us that needed it.

7. An encyclopaedic knowledge (if I could remember it all, that is) on a vast spread of subjects connected with ski-ing.
100%. I have learned a lot by reading posts on here, asking questions, and meeting people face to face. I have to say that Pavel seems to be a huge knowledge base for all the technique aspects of the sport, and his posts always make me smile, but I come away thinking "I did not know that" or have some kind of lightbulb moment after some of his posts.

8. Satisfaction at helping others with their queries when I happen to know the answer, or can make a useful comment.
I like to think that my previous reviews have helped and influenced people with decisions on where to go, and I actually enjoy putting them together and sharing my experiences with others in case its useful for them.

9. The realization that we all vary greatly in our approach to ski-ing and life in general - so some of us prefer chalets to self-catering etc. etc. and there is generally no 'right' answer to this sort of thing. We all express our views but in the end it is up to the individual to make their own choice.

I think the key factor out of this is the final sentence there Ally; we all express our views , there is no right and wrong a lot of the time, but its up to individuals. People will disagree with each other, and with me, and I them, but its all good to have different ideas and outlooks.

10. How to exercise patience and tolerance on-line - like when some poor innocent newbie comes up with a question that has already been asked about a million times.

Maybe I'm not so good at this one!!!! :twisted:





This site has given me something to focus on when I need a ski fix, which is usually about 5 times a day at least!!! Like Snapzz said, its another kind of life really. I don't think my wife quite understands, but thats her loss isn't it guys????

8)

I'd like to respond to this one, purely in the spirit of healthy debate, not argument. I'm also not thinking of you specifically Tony as the view you've expressed seems shared across the board,…

Tony_H wrote: 10. How to exercise patience and tolerance on-line - like when some poor innocent newbie comes up with a question that has already been asked about a million times.

As a relative newbie I stand somewhat in the middle on this. Yes some muppets don't seem to read any previous threads before asking a basic question. This bugs me too.

On the other hand this is a pretty mature forum so some recirculation of topics is inevitable. Image if we said "Carving, sorry we discussed that in 2003, please think of a new topic!"

As an example I recently I bought my first set of skis. I read some old threads as the most basic of all newbie questions is "what size skis should I use?" Now if I'd taken advice from a really old thread I'd have ended up with something 2m long. Even something 6 months to a year old might not have allowed for a small increase to allow for rockers.

If a new thread is raised on an old topic I'd hope that an old hand would point the newbie towards an existing thread (maybe with a nudge towards using the search button).

There also seems to be a fair amount of "this thread is crap" type comment. This seems unnecessary to me. If anyone doesn't see the relevance of a thread why bother posting on it?


Cheers,

Owen.

Marksman wrote:I'd like to respond to this one, purely in the spirit of healthy debate, not argument. I'm also not thinking of you specifically Tony as the view you'e expressed seems shared across the board,…

Tony_H wrote: 10. How to exercise patience and tolerance on-line - like when some poor innocent newbie comes up with a question that has already been asked about a million times.

As a relative newbie I stand somewhat in the middle on this. Yes some muppets don't seem to read any previous threads before asking a basic question. This bugs me too.

On the other hand this is a pretty mature forum so some recirculation of topics is inevitable. Image if we said "Carving, sorry we discussed that in 2003, please think of a new topic!"

As an example I recently I bough my first set of skis. I read some old threads as the most basic of all newbie questions is "what size skis should I use?" Now if I'd taken advice from a really old thread I'd have ended up with something 2m long. Even something 6 months to a year old might not have allowed for a small increase to allow for rockers.

If a new thread is raised is raised on an old topic I'd hope that an old hand would point the newbie towards an existing thread (maybe with a nudge towards using the search button).

There also seems to be a fair amount of "this thread is crap" type comment. This seems unnecessary to me. If anyone doesn't see the relevance of a thread why bother posting on it?


Cheers,

Owen.

Good point well made Owen. You've come on here and added to this place recently, your humour puts a smile on my face.

I've probably been guilty of saying things like "here we go again" in the past, and been told off for being blunt with newbies so point taken.

I do also think you're right that if you have NOTHING to add to a thread, leave it alone. And I'm not talking about the helmet debate this time!!!!

Marksman wrote:

As an example I recently I bough my first set of skis. I read some old threads as the most basic of all newbie questions is "what size skis should I use?" Now if I'd taken advice from a really old thread I'd have ended up with something 2m long. Even something 6 months to a year old might not have allowed for a small increase to allow for rockers.

Owen.

Nothing wrong with 2m plus skis, just ask Dave Mac :twisted:

In fact, I also suspect that if you ask him about rockers, he will tell you they are great to sit on in front of the fire after a good day blasting down the hill on his 2.4m skis :D

??? And my answer, btw, is an example of what I get out of J2Ski along with pretty much everything everyone else has stated.

Thanks Adders for allowing us to form this community )

I've met quite a few from here, and they are all lovely people. It's great to meet up with peeps.

Some great humourists on here and there are always posts that make me laugh :D

I've saved money by getting ideas for upgrading my kit, and selling some I didn't need to other J2skiers )

I enjoy the Fred Drifts!

bandit wrote:
I enjoy the Fred Drifts!

Is Fred a new member - not seen him posting much
:roll: