Ah yes, that’s much more like it. I suspected I was missing a trick somewhere.
If worst comes to worst, a couple of old strips of carpet and a roll of Gorilla tape will make for affordable skiing. 
Cat; my wife and kids ski in Filzmoos, Austria. My oldest was three when he started with lessons (though he didn’t go off on his own or anything) and #2 son will start at the same age when he goes this February. We have a small apartment out there so accommodation is not a factor, but you have to calculate ski hire cost for their kit as it’s not worth while to buy anything but clothes while they’re still growing like weeds.
I expect they’ll be taking lessons in the mornings for a few more years, with increasing amounts of skiing in the afternoons. We fly to Salzburg and rent a car there for the rest of the way. Usually the absolutely smallest, cheapest econo-box into which we’ll all fit, as we don’t expect to really need the car once we’re at the village.
She’s telling me that she’s a former nationally ranked alpine racer and I’m a dirtbag tele bum who’s more comfortable in tight New England trees. But I can still beat her on the way up a skin track.
Well we all take our victories where we can Telemark. And hats off to your good lady. Proper downhillers are incredibly skilled and certifiably insane. The fastest I’ve ever gone is 60mph and the only thought going through my head was
AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Thank god I didn’t have to turn.
And 60mph is probably a gentle pootle down the slope for her. Ah! to be that good.
oooo! we passed through there in the summer and ski’d a day last winter in Flachau, Wagrain and Alpendorf.
60 MPH is really, really fast. Very few recreational skiers will ever reach that speed. The speed measuring methods used (watches, phones, etc) are notoriously off, with estimates that are way too high. If you were doing 60 MPH on a ski slope with other people then that was pretty impressive.
Former racers don’t really feel the need to go super fast. My wife was a Slalom and GS specialist although she did like Super-G. She didn’t have a lot of opportunity to ski Downhills and the skis you need for that aren’t very practical for everyday skiing. The issue for me is she’ll do top to bottom GS runs back-to-back-to-back. That’s tough on your legs when you’re on tele gear. Tight trees are a natural equalizer.
It was measured by GPS tracking on my phone so I’m quite prepared for it to be off by some, I did run through a speed gun on another slope which gave my top speed to be within about 3/4 mph of my gps tracking. I’m fairly certain it was north of 50mph and in any case, whatever it truly was it was definitely *too *fast for me and hasn’t been repeated
It was perfect conditions as well, early morning with the first light on a smooth red slope with lots of run-off and no-one around. I didn’t set off to go particularly fast but everything was so perfect that it was begging me to tuck and go. Never again though, scary to the point of not being enjoyable and I’m not good enough to handle high speed. Thankfully I found my limits without any damage done but it was lucky.
I now turn my speed tracking off. I don’t want to feel that I’m trying to beat a record.
Not speed for speed’s sake but the thing that always impresses me about the pros (who I do come across on some of the glaciers that I’ve ski’d) is the effortless nature of the speed and control they do have. While I’m struggling to stay upright at the same speed they seem to have all the time and poise in the world. Rather humbling.
Yeh, I’m pretty quick, but in my entire life I’ve only topped 60 once (surprisingly, on an apex). For anything past 50 on true GS skis it takes a somewhat steep pitch, very hard packed “snow”, a decent tuck, and a course clear of other people. As much as I love speed, I’m the first to admit that it is over-rated in and of itself. Pushing the skis and your body to their limits in turns at speed it tremendously satisfying, but when recreational skiing the risk is greatly increased due to lack of netting and the possibility of encountering other skiers. I guess an analogy would be that it can be fun to drive fast, but to test a supercar to its limits on regular public roads in regular public traffic would not be so fun to a rational person. For rec skiing it’s far more satisfying to pick a ski from the quiver that is appropriate to the conditions and use it to dance with gravity than it is to hit some arbitrary speed.
You’re dead on target about super-G and downhill not being practical for everyday skiing. Last year a fellow gave me an unused pair of super-G skis with plates. I don’t know when I’ll get around to mounting them, for although I could ski faster on them, I would not be able to turn them at less than race speed, which would make them not just useless for most skiing, but even dangerous given the possibility of encountering other skiers or just plain going into the trees.
For folks with wee ones, consider cross-country skiing while towing them (warmly dressed) in a pulk. If they can walk they have the coordination necessary for skiing, but might not have the strength until approaching three years of age They’ll take to it like a duck to water if they have the opportunity to ski regularly throughout a season (for them, learning to ski will just be and extension of learning to walk).
The hardest thing for little kids to handle is the weight of skis and boots. Cross-country skis and boots are far lighter than alpine skis and boots, so very young kids take to cross-country more easily. As far as skill development goes, skiing is skiing is skiing. You’d be surprised at how all disciplines of skiing share the same basic skills, with each discipline focusing more on some skills and less on other skills. Any kid who has learned to ski on cross-country skis will have no difficulty at all picking up telemark or alpine skiing once he or she is physically strong enough to handle the heavier gear.
Save cash on growing kids by purchasing skis, boots and poles for the tots on an annual buy-back /exchange plan, or rent for the season rather than by the day. Also keep your eyes open for ski swaps – most clubs have them in the fall. Most importantly, ensure they wear properly fitting helmets and that their bindings are set appropriate to their weight.
Once your kids are zipping about on skis, consider learning how to tune and wax skis for your family, for you can save quite a bit by doing it yourself, and the performance difference will be significant compared to skis that don’t get enough lovin’.
Folks wanting to improve their skiing should consider taking lessons – even if it means selling the shirt off your back, take lessons. Seriously, if you learn good technique, you will improve the more you ski. If you do not learn good technique you will repeat the same mistakes over and over every time you ski.
Moved from Park City to Houston last summer. Between this thread and getting the Wasatch Snow Forecast updates about the fluff piling up, well its making me cranky. Hope to get back to PC for the spring break.
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Alas houston doesn’t even have anything high or steep enough for that.
Anyways, looks like a decent set if storms for utah/colorado.
Speed is overrated, although I did end up getting a set of piste carving planks for those days when bullet proof groomed ice is all that was available. Pines, Aspens are where it is at. My go to setup is a pair of BD Amperage with AT bindings. There are numerous other setups and retired planks but I still find I break out the old XScreams , the bindings are probably done but they are just fun resort skis.
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Nearly ready for the off.
A quick look at our destination this morning shows that, although not too much natural snow has fallen so far at low levels there is lots of man-made snow on all the pistes.
The Schmittenhohe is the rightmost mountain in that view and there are full runs open from the top to village level which is about a 1300m (4000+ft) vertical.
Looking good. Plus the glacier smack-bang in the centre of the picture has plenty of the natural stuff with another 20-30 cm to come later this week.
Thank you both, I’ll remember to check back to this thread for your advice if/when the time comes.
Enjoy!
So any particular songs you have for your playlist ? Any particular song /snow activity combinations you find go well together.
Side country / backcountry, I forego as I like to hear any squeaks or cracks, same for piste cruising as I like to hear other people.
After an in bounds hike I like to kick off with Lord Huron ‘Time to run ‘ when setting up and getting going .
Actually the sound track to Higher ( Jeremy Jones / Teaton Gravity Research ) is pretty damn good. (There is a Spotify playlist link there.)
http://www.tetongravity.com/story/snowboard/tgrs-jeremy-jones-higher-soundtrack
Sir Psycho Sexy is great for the bumps (Red Hot Chili Peppers, if you had to ask) probably not one for the kids.
Massive Attack, Blue Lines works for me for Pines and Aspens.
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Tradition dictates AC/DC. Back in Black or Thunderstruck. Or a personal fave is “Taste” by ride or “dead bodies” by Air.
I never listen to music while skiing. Too much going on around me.
That’s because of all that telemarking comedy going on 
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