Push yourself or be comfortable?

Start in the intermediate class. For one thing, it is not wise to assume that you will start off at the same skill levels as your last day of last season. You may need a day to get back to that level.

Then, skiing learning is a progression. Following this progression, and learning the basics well, will advance you more quickly. If you do make rapid progress, and that does happen, any decent ski school will move you up a level.

It is great that are keen to progress, but it may be better to think of your first three years or so as an investment.

_Tom_ wrote:This year is going to be my second year skiing after last trip's great success at getting me addicted. I really enjoyed it last time and am very excited about going again!

I was thinking though, last year I picked it up pretty quickly and after my 2nd day I was moved up into the advance group as I was progressing very quickly. I found the first day in it pretty challenging and after the third day I was feeling pretty comfortable on reds and some black sections. The group however was quite mixed ability so I wouldn't actually call it a true advanced group, more of an intermediate to advanced.

This year though the advanced group will be a proper advanced group but I'm not sure whether to put myself down for the advanced or intermediate group. I think I'd find the advanced group quite challenging as they'll be tackling blacks from day one. In the intermediate group I don't think I'd be challenged too much but I'd be able to ski comfortably and learn at a comfortable pace.

I was just wandering what you guys would reccomend?

Intermediate for you my friend ....... you do not have to rush you're learning, you made the point of being comfortable stick with that and build your confidence and skill. 8)

Hi,

I agree with all of the above, and as wickers says stay with what you are comfortable with and take it at your own pace, you have years to get better.....even though I have some 18years under my belt there are always new things to learn that help with stance, technique etc.

And just having an afternoon to yourself just to pootle around at your own speed without trying to keep up with anyone, so you can practice what you have learnt in the lesson previously can help no end.

.......mind you someone said when I was new to the game was "if you don't fall over....your not trying enough" :D....and to some degree they were right, take evrything at a comfortable pace but push yourself on a little each time

But the most important thing is always to have fun and enjoy yourself and the wonderfull surroundings :D :D

Jon.

For me "awareness precedes meaningful choice"! I had a lot of success by approaching skiing like college. Do a lot of homework and your test will be easier. To that end, I would suggest you read, view, and practice with a variety of tools such as: Self-Instructional Books, DVDs, and a lot of dry-land exercise. This "homework approach" really ups the value of on-snow ski lessons.

It has already been said in this thread (and they are completely correct) you must learn the fundamentals before you can be a competent all-mountain skier. That means A LOT OF PRACTICE ON EASY GROOMED RUNS. To create an awareness you need to have some tools to use. I have an affliation with a "learn-to-ski" website that advertises right here on J2Ski, and it has a lot of free ski tips, free ski lessons, and free ski videos that can help you create awareness. The approach is a bit different and therefore refreshing in my opinion, and for the most part it is simple stuff you can easily apply. I suggest you go to the following URL and click on the Site Map. It is an easy way to find the good stuff.

http://www.weekendwarriorsguide.com/

Others I like are:
Harold Harb - http://www.harbskisystems.com/
Warren Smith - http://www.warrensmith-skiacademy.com/

By using these three ski sites (and J2SKI of course) you can discover a lot of different tools to help build your skill level. I strongly suggest you spend a lot of time on these sites, as each presents the basic concepts in a different way and one of these may be more understandable to you than another. I am a firm believer that you need a combination of the written word, videos, illustrations, dry-land drills, and a lot of time practicing the fundamentals on groomed runs, to become an expert skier. I also believe this process of learning never stops no matter what level of expertise you achieve in skiing. To me this approach to learning is a hoot, a blast, too much fun, and so on.

Tom, because you are new to skiing, now is the time to get it right. I urge you to develop a true understanding of ski technique right now to ensure you do not develop bad habits that will haunt you for the rest of your skiing days. This, or course, is much easier said than done. I guess the old saying applies here; you get out what you put in. It's a fact that most skiers do develop bad habits and they do carry them for life.

Hope I am not coming across as a bit too passionate about my ski opinions here in my first post. I do get excited for the love of skiing.

Best of luck, Tom!

Cheers for the replys guys. I went with the majority advice and put myself down as intermediate. I'm sure if it really is too slow they can move me up but like Bandit said, I might just be "surviving" in the advanced group which wouldn't be fun really and the other guys might get annoyed if I slow them down.

So excited but it's not until Febuary!

No you talk a tad of sense in my early years I used to watch an old channel 4 video, and what that allowed me to do was reassess and refresh my memory what I had learned over the previous couple of years ...... it worked very well for me, so good advice 8)

Hi,

SkiRite & Ian have hit on a great tip with regards to watching old skiing video's and dvd's, if you hunt round at car boots sales etc you may be able to lay your hands on some.

I remember watching a few years back by Hugh Monney (think the surname is correct), Martin Heckleman and my favourite was a video where Franz Klammer was teaching Duncan Goodhew and Sharon Davies....MMMMmmmmm, very early eighties but after watching these video's a few times it was supprising how much information actually sank in, and once in the mountains became usefull.

It's certainly a good way to keep the brain in ski mode while waiting to get out to the slopes.

jon :D

jonG wrote:Hi,

SkiRite & Ian have hit on a great tip with regards to watching old skiing video's and dvd's, if you hunt round at car boots sales etc you may be able to lay your hands on some.

I remember watching a few years back by Hugh Monney (think the surname is correct), Martin Heckleman and my favourite was a video where Franz Klammer was teaching Duncan Goodhew and Sharon Davies....MMMMmmmmm, very early eighties but after watching these video's a few times it was supprising how much information actually sank in, and once in the mountains became usefull.

It's certainly a good way to keep the brain in ski mode while waiting to get out to the slopes.

jon :D

I like to have a look at the Sharon Davies Video :wink: