Ski School Race - Setting

Each week on a Friday, here in Arinsal, we organise a race for all the ski school groups as a finale for the week. There are two courses, one for beginner groups, and one for intermediate groups. Flopi, who coaches racing in Argentina during our summer, generally sets the intermediate course, but having a group who finished on the Thursday this week I had to set the course myself if we wanted a race. Not having a racing background I have never set the ski school race course before, and the result was not quite the usual shape. However, I was quite happy for a first attempt, and the groups seemed pleased enough with it.

It was quite interesting trying to set the course and pull it afterwards during the course of a two and a half hour lesson, but with the help of Helen looking after my group and Kevin from the Quo, who was out videoing groups and helped out carrying the poles, I managed to fit it in without too much disruption to the lesson.

Setting the course is a matter of drilling holes into the snow and slotting slalom poles into them. We have a couple of large drills in the ski school for the purpose (see above), and I think some of the guys in the group were a bit jealous of the size of my drill bit when I turned up to the Thursday morning lesson.

In the next post I plan to go over some tactics and common mistakes in the ski school races, as many ski schools will hold a similar event.

A different way to do ski school

As I mentioned in the last post, I have had quite an unusal group this week. They booked me and another instructor for the whole week (fifteen hours over five days), rather than taking the usual ski school route. The usual option by the way, is to either join a fifteen hour group lesson with others of the same level, or to take one or more hours of private lessons either individually or in a small group.

This group consisted of seven adults and six children who were all friends and families from the north of England. They had contacted me by email several weeks ago to enquire about the possiblility of booking me as their instructor for the week. After a lot of negotiation with the ski school bosses and secretaries we managed to make a plan. The price offered by the ski school was a little more per person than the same time spent in group lessons. However they had one instructor for the children and one for the adults, compared to twelve or thirteen people in a group lesson here.

One big advantage was the flexibility they had. We finished a number of the lessons at mountain restaurants rather than back at the ski school, so that the group could go straight for lunch. On the day we took the telepherique over to the neighbouring resort of Pal we left the two groups there to continue exploring for the rest of the day. Normally a trip to Pal with a group is a bit of a rush as we have to ensure we leave enough time to get the whole group back to Arinsal in time for the next lesson. The more people in the group the longer it usually takes.

As an instructor it was great to be able to meet the group before lessons started, and then begin teaching and skiing right from the start. Normally we have to spend time at the start of the week organising people into groups of similar abilities before we can get started. It also takes time on a usual week for the group to gel and get to know each other, and a big part of our job is to try and create a rapport. This week was like having a big headstart over all the other groups.

The last day of the lesson was Valentine's day, so the gentlemen in the group had arranged with me to leave three bottles of Champagne at the Igloo mountain restaurant in advance. The ladies took a little persuasion to stop for a break, as they wanted to keep skiing. However they seemed suitably impressed when the Champagne was produced, along with classy cardboard beakers. The photo above shows them sipping Champagne on the Igloo terrace in the sunshine. A very civilised way to end a week in Ski School, I think.

The Hazards of Apres Ski

Firstly I'd like to apologise to regular readers for the two week hiatus since my last post. I would in part like to blame the group of people I have been teaching in the mornings this week (since I know they will be reading this when they get home).

One of the nice parts of being a ski instructor is going for an apres ski drink with your groups. In my opinion the first beer after a hard day's skiing is the best beer you will ever taste. The second is pretty good too. After that though you are on a slippery slope (as I'm sure many of you know) where the "just the one" becomes a session. My walk home from the ski lift should take about ten minutes. This week it has taken up to five hours, mainly due to the fact that I have stopped on the way for a (i.e. one) drink with the aforementioned morning group. You know who you are.

Actually this group have been unusual, in that they have taken out an "instructor hire" option, rather than joining group lessons. It was slightly more expensive for them, but meant they had a lot more instructor input, could stay together, and had more control over what we did. I will expand on this more in a future post, as I think it is a really good option for a large group holidaying together. I have also had a great group of beginners, so all in all I've had a very good week. Mind you, in this job most weeks are very good ;-)

How to ski powder

Skiing powder is one of the most rewarding, exhilarating and at the same time potentially frustrating experiences you can find on a pair of skis. The technique is not necessarily difficult, if the snow is friendly, but it is one that many skiers struggle to get to grips with. This is particularly true in the many ski areas worldwide where powder snow is a cherished rarity rather than a daily occurence, meaning this is a technique that skiers do not get to practice that often.

Since I wrote this post around three years ago it has consistently been one of the most visited pages on the whole blog. With this in mind  an update with new photos and a few extra tips seems a good idea.

It is true that very deep powder, or deep snow that is heavy or crusty, can be difficult to ski and require very precise balance. On the other hand a manageable depth of light fluffy powder is not that difficult to ski but it can be quite counter intuitive as you have to forget a portion of what you have learnt for skiing on the pistes.

The biggest difference in powder is that the ski is floating within the snow, rather than riding on top of a hard surface. What is actually happening is that the ski compresses the soft snow beneath it until it can support the ski. This means that the ski tends to bend under the skier's weight with the tip and tail being pushed upwards by the snow. The diagram below shows a weighted and unweighted ski in powder. The difference on the shapes means that the weighted ski will tend to float upwards and the unweighted one to dive downwards.

The upshot of this (apologies for getting a bit technical there) is that weighting the outside ski, as you might on piste, will result in the inside ski nosediving and the skier making a spectacular cartwheel. To avoid this you need to apply the weight to both skis equally. Try to develop a rhythm - push down on the skis so that they bounce up closer to the surface, then turn and sink down ready for the next bounce.

As noted in the comments below, there is a common myth that it is important to lean back in powder. This is definitely not the case - if you lean back your legs get tired and it is much harder to turn. I explain this in more detail in the post Why We Dont Lean Back In Powder.

It is also quite important to ski quite delicately in powder, and even more so in more difficult soft snow conditions. If you over-pressure or over-edge a ski it tends to cut into the snow, sink and stop. I like to think of a bounce and float turn - bounce to initiate the turn as described above, then gently float both skis through the turn as they unweight.

It is important to note that powder is normally found off piste, and skiing off piste carries a whole new set of inherent risks. Avalanches, route finding, unmarked hazards like cliffs and ravines, crevasses on glaciated terraine, tree wells in the trees are just a few. I don't want to put you off, but you do need to be prepared. Learn about the hazards and how to deal with them. Seek local advice, check the avalanche and weather forecasts, take safety equipment (transceiver, shovel, probe) and know how to use it. The safest option is to hire a qualified guide. That said, it is often possible to find powder snow on the edge of the pistes, or in patrolled areas of resorts that are deliberately left unpisted, and these areas are relatively safe to go and play in.

Updated 9th April 2011

Safe Skiing

After seeing a spate of accidents on the mountain recently, including my own mishap a couple of weeks ago, I decided to write something on ski safety. Our ski school building (above) has been covered in protective orange padding since last week to protect it from the skiers hurling themselves into it's walls. Actually it was put up after a young girl crashed into the wall and was lucky to escape with a broken wrist. Hopefully now anyone skiing into the building will escape serious injury.

That collision was a one off, but out of control skiers are all too common. Whilst losing control occasionally when learning to ski is normal, putting oneself in a position where losing control could hurt somebody is reckless. Time and again I see people hurtling down the mountain without the slightest semblance of control, and then going back up to do the same thing. I have some sympathy for the 'can do' attitude, but when transferred to skiing runs way beyond your ability it is likely to be somebody else that gets injured when you knock them out of the way. The most frustrating aspect of this is when the same people continuously fly down out of control, not caring who they crash into, and getting beligerant when anyone challenges them and points out how dangerous their behaviour is to other slope users.

I have no objection to people pushing their own limits and taking a risk they have judged and accepted. However when bystanders are put at risk it is a different issue. Perhaps the biggest risk as a ski instructor is being crashed into by other skiers or snowboarders. It has happened to a number of my colleagues, some of whom have lost significant amounts of work and income as a result. All because someone is too arrogant or selfish to think about the consequences of their actions.

The One Before The Crash

After the crash mentioned in the last post I discovered my previous jump had been caught on camera - this is the last run these ski pants (the instructor uniform ones) made before being cut off following my accident on the same jump the run after.

Photograph courtesy of Helen Parsons - thanks Helen.

Ski Instructors Crash Too

Well, after 23 years of skiing I had my first try at being stretchered off the mountain in the blood waggon (rescue sledge) yesterday. I somehow managed to slice my thigh open with my ski in what would have been a run-of-the-mill fall. 11 stitches later I was told I had been lucky to miss the muscle and was okay to ski today. I think a few people were surprised to see me up there working today but I was only following medical advice.

Anyway, I think one accident in about 130 weeks of skiing is a pretty good record, so I'll sign off now and have an early night.