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amount of time and effort to become a good skier?


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I enjoyed every minute of my learning experience. My friend is a ski instructor and was very patient. At the end of a 2 week holiday I was a pretty decent beginner. The next season I progressed a lot with another week of lessons. All fun!

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  • 9 months later...

Hi there WantToski,

 

Well I too am a beginner, and except for one ski lesson have learned by myself, still crap at skiing, but never the less I can ski down the mountain, turn and stop with out crashing or falling now.

 

One thing I find from a beginners point of view, is the ability to relax.

I think this is one of the most important things, the experts out there correct me if I am wrong, but that is what I found.

If you are tense, which most newbies are it's not easy to balance or turn, etc.

I found that once I simply relaxed, it was so much easier, another problem for me was balance.

I found by bending my legs slightly and moving my weight forward just a tad, made all the difference in the world, I was soon able to ski all the way down with out crashing.

For me another part is fresh snow, as a beginner, hard ice packed snow is a definate no-no.

If it has just dumped then maybe any part is ok, otherwise if like early this season the mountains where looking a little worse for where, I would tend to ski of line a little, where there is still a little deeper snow.

I found this had a few advantages,

1. Tends to be a little slower, as more friction, ideal for newbies.

2. Easier to stop, due to the softness of the deeper snow, icy snow is still difficult for me to stop in.

When you try to turn, just simply move your weight to one side, nice and smoothly and you will turn, imagine your on a motorbike, you lean your weight to go round a corner, you never try to steer or you will go straight.

 

Ok this is just my advice as a beginner.

There are many much better skiiers here than me, so if I got something wrong please correct me, but this is how I found was the best way to learn?

 

At the end of the day, the main thing is to have fun, it's not how fast or how many jumps or turns you can do, it's if your enjoying yourself on the white stuff!

 

 

 Quote:
Originally posted by WantToSki:

good day to all... just an inquiry from a newbie...

 

i had my first and second ski tour about two/three years ago... just a one-night stay, wherein we were there just for fun - nothing serious.

 

then mid-january, i hit the slopes again; and i guess i fell in love with it! just this season, i have been to already 4 tours already.

 

my question would be is how long does it usually take for one to become a good intermediate skier? i mean, doing long turns/short turns in intermediate slopes? how much practice is required (how many times per season)?

 

what is required? private lessons? japanese badge tests? etc. what about off-season?

 

thanks for any advice!

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How to improve Skiing/Snowboarding quickly.

Well you have to be able to risk/fall and pick your self up and get on with it.

All those children and beginners you see becoming intermediate in a day or two have all fallen and got right back up and sped away.

I have brought quite a few beginners out of the slopes. All the cautious people who never fell, learned really slowly, but all those that pushed themselves and fell a few times could and would try any run on the hill.

 

Its not impossible to learn slowly/carefully/with 100 lessons and never falling. But you will be doing it alone because others have overtaken you.

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 Quote:
Originally posted by dale#1:
Totally. The best way to learn is to just be positive and have fun. Trying to nail technique and going to badge test route might just put you off forever.
I hope not...

Anyway, just to report, Ive gotten my "Grade 2 Badge/SAJ 2-Kyu" last January from the Furano Prince Hotel Ski School (former World Cup racer Kimura Kiminobu)... And now when I take group lessons in SAJ-affiliated schools, am placed in the "advanced" class (SAJ divides classes among 1. beginner, 2. novice, 3. intermediate, 4. advanced, and 5. expert)

note: of course, SAJ standards may rank one lower compared to international standards (???)

 Quote:
Originally posted by YellowSnow:
How to improve Skiing/Snowboarding quickly.
Well you have to be able to risk/fall and pick your self up and get on with it.
All those children and beginners you see becoming intermediate in a day or two have all fallen and got right back up and sped away.
I have brought quite a few beginners out of the slopes. All the cautious people who never fell, learned really slowly, but all those that pushed themselves and fell a few times could and would try any run on the hill.

Its not impossible to learn slowly/carefully/with 100 lessons and never falling. But you will be doing it alone because others have overtaken you.
Actually, that was how I really learned - I never minded when I fall, wipe out, tumble head first, have skis as well as myself stucked in the mud (yes, thats me when I skied Naeba during Golden Week of 2006!!!), etc. etc.... Hehehe...

And yes, you are right - those who are afraid to fall are usually the slow learners. As a case study, Ive got a friend who has been skiing since 1996 and he always brags that he rarely falls AND THAT he even forgotten to stand up!!! Guess what? He still cant do smooth parallel turns, and is even TOO TOO WAY slow to get down the "Panorama Course" in Happo-One (I brought him and some other friends last February)...!?! And before that he does brag a lot that we shouldnt be skiing in "beginner/novice" areas, etc. etc. - so, I brought him to an "intermediate" area (above), and look what happens...

 Quote:
Originally posted by scouser:
Must be great if you really enjoy learning. I wish I had more at school.....
Yes - I really enjoy learning...!!! And what Im trying to learn right now is to at least ski really good (form, balance, speed, control, etc.) over ice and slush (a LOT this year)...

 Quote:
Originally posted by snowdude:
For me another part is fresh snow, as a beginner, hard ice packed snow is a definate no-no.
If it has just dumped then maybe any part is ok, otherwise if like early this season the mountains where looking a little worse for where, I would tend to ski of line a little, where there is still a little deeper snow.
I guess I was lucky when I started - there were lots of snow last season...

wave.gif

But, of course, there are still LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS about skiing to learn about - and I see this as endless pursuit...

\:\)
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