The STW Ski & Snowboard thread. The 2016-2017 season

Tuck and roll, Edukator, tuck and roll.

One of the reason rugby or martial arts ain’t a bad idea as a kid – they reach you how to fall. I remember doing drills, running as a flat line into a forwards roll into a run and do it again.

Throwing your head towards the ground means you tend to land in your shoulders not face – but if you have to think about it, you won’t make it.

Of course sometimes it’s to fast and you don’t make it anyway, but I’ve been lucky so far.

And it might work better in a board than skis – don’t know about that.

Tuck and roll as demonstrated by one of the best snowboarders on the planet:

Throwing your head towards the ground means you tend to land in your shoulders not face – but if you have to think about it, you won’t make it.

Sounds like a good plan to break your neck, collar bone and shoulder given the speeds involved in boarding and skiing. What’s wrong with an arms in front of face or superman reflex? I owe my existence to that one. Edukator senior admits to having thrown a Rudge 500 down the road between two on-coming cars. Doing a superman he was able to do a press-up to get his head over the kerb – his only injury was a small cut on his chin.

Edukator – nothing protects in all situations. We can probably agree on that.
And I happily accept your evidence, but equally I’ve been over the bars, tucked, landed on my shoulders and rolled into a sitting position. For a landing on tarmac a slightly bruised thigh (no scratches even!) seemed like a decent outcome.
I’ve also known friends try to keep their head away from the ground and lose teeth as a result.
Sometimes things happen too fast to do anything though.
And neither of us I think is suggesting sitting in the sofa wrapped in cotton wool. Bad things can happen, but not often and it’s fun in the meantime – yes?

Back slightly on topic, a big round of applause for Dave Ryding, another top ten finish in last night’s Schaldming night slalom. Looks like an awesome event, I’m very tempted to go along one year – has anyone been> I’m thinking of the night slalom as it means I’ll get to watch a World Cup event without losing a days skiing, as I would for a WC downhill. Are the slopes incredibly busy during the day becuase of the visitor numbers?

I have couple of problems with extreme sports. One is the media driven race to ever more extreme to the point it becomes a challenge to survive the most stupid stunt. Red Bull are top of my list of assassins. Ok so some people want to base jump, but don’t given them any money or publicity FFS, you’ll just encourage the glory-seeking lemmings to join them.

My other problem is with those who dress as gladiators (helmet, back protection, protection pads for various limbs) and then go out and act “rad” on pistes with kids, mums and dads pottering around. OK put a helmet on for ski-mountaineering or riding the pipe/park or doing a slalom race – because you are the only one at risk. But a 100kg bloke wearing a helmet for his own protection when thrashing down a piste where there are many vulnerable people around him is a statement I don’t like. It’s the equivalent of the aggressively driven X5 on the school run – I’m safe FU!

Jambalaya – I’m amazed you can’t find goggle lenses dark enough. I’m thinking about flogging my dark iridiums as I find them too dark, normally happy all day with persimmons. We’re all different I spose.

Agree, Shifter. I wear Goggles when the conditions are bad so there’s poor light and it’s hard to see the relief. Ideally my goggles would have just a very light yellow tint and a UV filter – they would also be double glazed and have a mass of ventilation to reduce fogging. I’ve yet to find any that tick all the boxes.

Edukator – agreed on extreme sports (said the 100kg guy with a helmet – but I’m slow).
I used to ride Les Gets with a child seat on a Five (open face helmet, shin pads because stones get thrown up and flat pedals can scratch a little).
Sports are as extreme as you make them (and the stormtroopers are normally the Ines falling off crashing into others etc)

epic jerry of the day, a lucky lad and way to send!

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You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Even the unintentional ones #unintentional150footer #waitforit #3secondfreefallsFTB #jerryunharmed // @devins223

A post shared by Colton // Jerry of the Day™ (@jerryoftheday) on Jan 24, 2017 at 3:12pm PST

epic jerry of the day, a lucky lad and way to send!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPqkQgQgE9B/

That reminds me of a mates video I was watching, they were being shown some “amazing” unskied area of the resort by a guide, turns out the guide had got the gully they were in slightly wrong and ended up skiing the whole group off a 20m cliff, luckily there were trees and bushes to land in and there was loads on new snow to cushion their fall. I believe there was still a few broken bones, but could have been much worse.

Just trying to find the video

EDIT: No luck, but can’t believe just how many people ski off cliffs on youtube!

Yow – lucky!

We could argue ’til the cows come home about helmets. Mine is so comfy and so easy to wear that I think it’s daft not wearing it. I never deliberately go out to ride the park but I might go through it while passing and my helmet will be on. On the off chance I get clattered by a 100kg nutter I’d rather my helmet was on my head than in the house. It’s worth wearing just for the Laurel & Hardy ladder moments when walking skiers spin round with their skis on their shoulders… bloody skiers 😉

Agree re: Dave Ryding
Absolutely exceptional step up in skill, if you watch how he skis now it is truly world class. Bear in mind the utter lack of financial support he has had relatively and that this season is the first he has had a tech.

To have consistent top 15 then top10 and a podium.

I did some low level racing and trained with WC teams in the off season, i mounted 40 pairs of skis once for the italians, that was for one person to try ! Dave probably just gets the best he can from the rental shop*

*thats a joke.

There’s also the problem of the latest trendy skate helmets which have a shape incompatible with the strap (push the googles down) and nothing to guide/hold the strap in place.

*looks at “trendy” Smith helmet designed to sit perfectly with Smith goggles*
*looks at clip on the back to hold goggle strap in place*
*notes how comfy it is to wear with goggles*

*shrugs*

Fashion over function junk in which your nose/face will be the first point of contact in a forward fall.

Not sure how you would ever prevent that though? Full face helmets?

Maybe it goes back to what you were saying about falling differently on skis and boards, but I’ve rattled the back of my head far more times than my face. Much easier to protect yourself when falling forwards, either going into a roll or by absorbing some impact with knees and arms.

KP’s fall was horrific – but realistically what could he have worn to prevent it? Kinda hard to pull a cab double cork in a half-pipe while wearing a motorcycle helmet.

It’s worth wearing just for the Laurel & Hardy ladder moments when walking skiers spin round with their skis on their shoulders..

😆

Also worth wearing one just to avoid having your beanie and goggles snatched off by a stray branch when going through the trees.

Oh and for preventing beanie and goggles from disappearing in a “yard sale” crash. 😀

That I’m only wearing a highly dangerous Smith Helmet/Goggle combo is the one reason I haven’t tried a cab double cork yet. If I can borrow a full face jobbie next week, I might finally nail it. 😀

Full face helmets?

For some stuff why not? There is a trend towards helmets providing less protection rather than more though. They’re covering less of the sides of the head, those sides that came down as far as the cheeks provided some protection to the face but now there is nothing.

Good

Clearly not much good at protecting your face

You seem to have gone from advocating no helmet to advocating one that looks more like a moped helmet. 😆

Choice is good. Vive la différence, non?
There’s a balance to be struck between protection and comfort, suitability and, yes, looks.

looks

Clearly should be first and foremost. (and avoiding any gapes)

I’m pleased you appreciate the irony/my hypocrisy 🙂 but I think the “helmet fascists” on this forum and others forget that their helmet is more fashion accessory than protection and that helmet wearing has done nothing to improve head injury statistics (see my earlier link).

Wear one if you wish, enjoy the psychological protection, go bigger and radder – preferably where there’s no-one else who’s going to cop it when you screw up.

On the off chance I get clattered by a 100kg nutter I’d rather my helmet was on my head than in the house

+1 my worst skiing injury was a dislocated shoulder when an out of control **** took me out. Banged my head as well which was very painful. Helmet wouldnt have stopped the shoulder injury but I think would have reduced the headache.

Was the “out of control ****” wearing a helmet, surfer? Personal observation says they probably were unless it’s a very long time ago.

Most people (the vast majority) of people on my local Pyrenean pistes are there to have a good time. I can’t help noticing that the very few anti-social gits there intent on pissing people off are more likely to be helmeted than not.

Last year I saw one coming from about 300m when I was skinning up just off piste. He skied aggressively around some skiers then headed straight for me… X5 syndrome.

Edit: I’ll take the ski-git profile a step further:

Age 28-45.
Jacket: Grey or black classic cut rather than baggy.
Helmet: grey or black, googles or mirror shades
Clean shaven
Pants: black
Skis: up-market piste carvers but not race collection.

Anyone on here fit that? 😀

Cant recall I only had a brief glimse of him before contact!

I recall a young skier on blades who nearly made contact with one of my kids a few years ago on a gentle slope back into the resort. He was an absolute **** and really dangerous. He eventually ploughed into the lift Q 100m further on and by the time I got there was getting a good hiding from a bloke who’s family he had skiied into. I actually calmed the situation down but not before the guy had landed quite a few blows 🙂
I dont think he had a helmet on which in that situation may have been useful 🙂

Anyone on here fit that? 😀

Ish.

Age: 41
Jacket: Black (not very baggy but still loose)
Helmet: Black with goggles
Clean shaven: nope beard
Pants: Red (with duct tape)
Skis: mid-market Bataleon snowboard

I do still ride like a loon when the mood takes me though 😉

A local coach (and reserve CRS) had one of the kids he was coaching knocked over (no injury). He chased the ski-git down to the chair then once he’d “subdued” him, went through the guys pockets for his ski pass and took it. 🙂

Hospitalised twice while teaching by being hit. Both time the hitter had no helmet, the hittee – me. Didn’t either. Both times seson tickets removed and banned. Taught in a helmet after that and was never hit again. So the moral of the story is 42.

You forgot the GoPro in your ski-git profile Edukator 🙂

*applause for the t-shirt*

Big round of applause also for Millie Knight, the partially sighted skiier who’s just won world champs gold

“Now we’re white guys doing something stupid everybody grab a go-pro” 🙂

but I think the “helmet fascists”

Of which you are one of the most prominent.

On the subject of anyone social behaviour. The most unpleasant thing I’m seeing on the pistes are guys (of which some are speaking in French) with there dicks out pissing off the side of the piste whilst there are families and yound children skiing past.

There seems to be a broad mix of personal choice amongst the instructors here. Some with and some without ski helmets. Seems to be more the Italian Instructors without, although it’s something of and irony that a couple of the Italians with no helmets had hats, goggles and the rest of the face covered by a scarf or buff.

It’s true that the British have hang ups about things other cultures find perfectly normal, Piemonster.

To which thing? Wearing helmets or exposing yourself to small children?

Largely just taking the piss btw. You should see the state of some of the toilets here. I’ll be crapping on the pistes in another day or two

Largely just taking the piss btw

you don’t have the exclusivity of that. 😉

Edit: ski in Germany next time, clean toilets, no-one peeing on the edge of the piste, rules, rules and more rules, and at least a couple of legal brothels in the resort.

Also worth wearing one just to avoid having your beanie and goggles snatched off by a stray branch when going through the trees.

Tree riding – one of the best reasons for wearing a helmet …

Anyone on here fit that?

“Rosemary the telephone operator … could be… ” 🙂

Does sound like a few of us conform to a ‘social sterotype’ 😆 !

Age: 48
Jacket: Previously Black … now Blue
Helmet: Black with goggles
Clean shaven: grey stubble
Pants: Black
Skis: Jones Snowboard
Backpack: Not when cruising the groomers
Gloves: under the jacket sleeves … never the ‘welders gauntlets’

“Age 48” – testosterone already in decline
“snowboard” – sorry, boarders have trouble qualifying as ski-gits, they’re slow and too vulnerable with a board on their feet it takes an eternity to take off.

“Age 48” – testosterone already in decline

try telling that to my receding hair line … 😯

Age: 45
Jacket: blue and orange, I mean really horrific ask Stoner he’s seen but it was cheap Goretex (not very baggy but still loose)
Helmet: Grey with goggles
Clean shaven: on holiday? Really?
Pants: lime green (see jacket)
Skis: jones far better than I’ll ever need (but it rides beautifully) snowboard

Ah. If being slow disqualifies me I shall never be a ski git

Here’s one[/url] The guy who was taken out shows astonishing restraint.

Breckenridge T minus 5 days. Doesn’t look like we’ll get any fresh snow when we’re there, but I’m pretty excited to explore a new resort.