When do people progress to...

Hey,

New member to J2ski, but been reading the forums for a while.

I'm pretty much a newbie to skiing (did two weeks last season) but am sufficiently obsessed to fit in with most here. I'm going on my third week in early Jan and am going to get some private lessons as I really want to progress my ability.

This got me thinking as to what I should be aiming for in terms of skill improvement - I feel comfortable on most reds at the moment though I definitely lack any style, and I'm happy enough as a parallel skier. However, months of reading skiing websites has got me thinking about carving and (especially given european weather so far) to all that off-piste powder.

So when did you pros get competent enough to start trying a bit of off-piste etc? I reckon that I have some seasons ahead of me before then but interested to hear from other people :) Either way, will be loving the next week no matter what.

si

If you're having private lessons, then make one of them totally focussed on off-piste, and you'll be fine for moderate off piste skiing. However, there are a whole bunch of different off-piste conditions, so a one hour lesson will not prepare you for the more severe.

Keep it safe and only ski off-piste with qualified guide/instructor.Take advise on the type of equipment you should use from your instructor.

sounds as though you are doing the right things ....the only advice I could give as I don't feel that I am qualified ,,, is to get fitter before you you go .being fit helps you assimilate any technical improvements you make. Have a great time :D

All really depends on conditions, at the moment there'll be enough powder on a lot of pistes to a 'have a go' without leaving the piste!

Just keep doing what you are doing, building experience and technique in varying conditions.

Get the basics from taking a lesson or two then get the miles under your skis (on piste), another lesson or two and repeat.

Ski with people a little bit better than you if you can, it'll pull you along.

You're on a steep learning curve at the moment, so you'll progess quickly. It's when you start to perfect techniques that progress gets slower. But you'll enjoy yourself getting there!

Thanks for the responses!

I'll make sure to get the instructor to focus on some gentle off-piste technique, probably later in the week when I've got my legs back in the zone.

daved, with regard to fitness I know what you mean. I came to the same conclusion after picking up a small injury last season due to getting fatigued and lazy about technique at the end of long day's skiing. So in July I started going back to the gym very regularly and am now in the best shape i've been since I left university.

Anyway, 30 days left to go. So I can continue to peruse the tips on the forum (between refreshing the page with the webcam, of course, can't have the snow melting due to a lack of attention on my part).

Cheers again,

si

slipper wrote:Thanks for the responses!

I'll make sure to get the instructor to focus on some gentle off-piste technique, probably later in the week when I've got my legs back in the zone.

daved, with regard to fitness I know what you mean. I came to the same conclusion after picking up a small injury last season due to getting fatigued and lazy about technique at the end of long day's skiing. So in July I started going back to the gym very regularly and am now in the best shape i've been since I left university.

Anyway, 30 days left to go. So I can continue to peruse the tips on the forum (between refreshing the page with the webcam, of course, can't have the snow melting due to a lack of attention on my part).

Cheers again,

si

you can have an off piste lesson without leaving the piste :D in fact it's the best place to start, identify it to the instructor as one of your goals and they'll hopefully work on it. By and large it's just one part of being a skier, powder, variable terrain, carving etc are all parts of an overall package so you want to develop over the whole spectrum in step. By definition a good skier can ski any terrain. Don't fall into the trap of thinking off-piste is all about powder though :D