So the ladies giant slalom has decided who won the medals at the winter Olympics in Whistler and some fantastic very talented and committed skiing especially with the visibility getting worse as the race went on. I think it came down to the skier that wanted to race the hardest and not just the best technical skier, a classic example of this is Bode Miller in the mens skiing who notoriously always looks on the edge and ready to crash at any moment. He often skies with his weight on the back of his skies which must be frustrating as hell for the technical coaches, but with his weight back it can make him quicker but with less control over the skies. So my point is the skier that skies the hardest and took more risks, stood a good chance of winning.
A shame for Lindsey Vonn taking a tumble but it does prove she is human at least.
The gold going to Viktoria Rebensburg from Germany with an impressive performance, silver going to Tina Maze from Slovenia and bronze going to Elisabeth Goergl.
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Monday, 22 February 2010
Olympic update
Some great skiing at the alpine events at the Olympic games, now Bode Miller has all 3 medals at this games with his latest gold coming the super combined event, does this make him one of the best skiers in the world of all time? A debate that could run and run, whatever your feelings on Bode, one thing for sure he has always been very entertaining to watch, he never leaves anything left on the mountain even in the world championship races.
And as for Lindsey Vonn, arguably the best ladies skier around at the moment, and using men's skies, another great debate, should she be allowed to use them? well they are not against the rules and if she has the strength to use them then why not, the other athletes have that choice if they want to use them, but the stiffness can put extra strain on the legs.
Although the skiing has been fantastic to watch, was the course fair for the ladies on the Super G on the 21st Feb? part of the course still had the downhill blue markings showing and just after a roller so the skiers came over the crest with a jump and so many of the athletes missed the gate, which looked to me like they were following the older blue markings. Of course the argument is they should have memorised the course and the more experienced skiers seemed not to have a problem with it. So plenty to think about, but overall some fantastic skiing, and to add to that the mens ski cross now part of the Olympics and so it should be. I was lucky enough to witness these skilful skiers close up in Sierra Nevada, Spain on one of the World Championship tours about 4 years ago and it is one of the most exiting events around to watch. Can't wait to try and find somewhere to have a go!
And as for Lindsey Vonn, arguably the best ladies skier around at the moment, and using men's skies, another great debate, should she be allowed to use them? well they are not against the rules and if she has the strength to use them then why not, the other athletes have that choice if they want to use them, but the stiffness can put extra strain on the legs.
Although the skiing has been fantastic to watch, was the course fair for the ladies on the Super G on the 21st Feb? part of the course still had the downhill blue markings showing and just after a roller so the skiers came over the crest with a jump and so many of the athletes missed the gate, which looked to me like they were following the older blue markings. Of course the argument is they should have memorised the course and the more experienced skiers seemed not to have a problem with it. So plenty to think about, but overall some fantastic skiing, and to add to that the mens ski cross now part of the Olympics and so it should be. I was lucky enough to witness these skilful skiers close up in Sierra Nevada, Spain on one of the World Championship tours about 4 years ago and it is one of the most exiting events around to watch. Can't wait to try and find somewhere to have a go!
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
How Alpine skiing works
The men's downhill started yesterday at the Vancouver Olympics, finally after some warm weather delayed the start and what a great race it was, with Bode Miller from the USA getting the fastest time early on then some great skiing by Aksel Svindal from Norway and then the winning run by Didier Defago from Switzerland.
There are different types of alpine skiing so I thought I would cover this off.
There are different types of alpine skiing so I thought I would cover this off.
- Downhill
- Slalom
- Giant Slalom
- Super G
- Super Combined
Monday, 15 February 2010
Winter Olympics underway
Now the winter Olympics have officially started this weekend and from what I have seen so far the competition looks good. Fantastic ski jumping down to the last jump and this is on the smaller slope jumping 107 meters, wow!
I just love watching the speed skating, so explosive and on the shorter races always excitement often right on the last bend, the Koreans and Chinese always look string at this event, mind you we have a couple of British girls doing well, Sarah Lindsay and Elise Christie both making it through to the quarter finals of the 500m track.
Adam Rosen in the luge did well finishing 16th, so well done to him, unfortunately missed out on a top 15 place, but still a good effort, while on the luge I must send my condolences to the family and friends of the guy that lost his life in the luge.
Good luck to the curling team, we often do well at this, so no pressure guys!
And I could not go without saying finally the downhill looks ready to go ahead today after being delayed, so good luck to Chemmy Alcott, David Ryding and Edward Drake.
And let's keep an eye on Zoe Gillings in the snowboarding cross.
I just love watching the speed skating, so explosive and on the shorter races always excitement often right on the last bend, the Koreans and Chinese always look string at this event, mind you we have a couple of British girls doing well, Sarah Lindsay and Elise Christie both making it through to the quarter finals of the 500m track.
Adam Rosen in the luge did well finishing 16th, so well done to him, unfortunately missed out on a top 15 place, but still a good effort, while on the luge I must send my condolences to the family and friends of the guy that lost his life in the luge.
Good luck to the curling team, we often do well at this, so no pressure guys!
And I could not go without saying finally the downhill looks ready to go ahead today after being delayed, so good luck to Chemmy Alcott, David Ryding and Edward Drake.
And let's keep an eye on Zoe Gillings in the snowboarding cross.
Friday, 12 February 2010
Skiing Holiday day 3 afternoon
After a great lunch our guide gave us some bad news, there had been a death in an avalanche on the Monday, the skier had only been under the snow for two minutes and was with an experienced off piste group apparently. This news did remind us all how dangerous the mountains can be even for a very short time. My condolences go out to his family and friends.
We still ventured out looking for some fresh snow on the glacier on the Val d'Isere side, even after this news, it just makes you a little more observant. These pistes are normally fairly quiet but they are high and wide and not difficult so great for beginners and intermediates, but I always feel colder over this side of the mountain. Probably because of the height (obviously) but mainly because it stays in the shade for longer, a lot of the slopes are north facing. Now this does have its advantages, it keeps the snow on and off the piste in nice condition.
So looking for good snow off piste can be a little easier, even if it has not snowed for a few days.
We got to the top after one of our group (a mate of mine) fell off the button lift at the bottom, don't worry he received plenty of ribbing for that not from just us and the guide but the rest of our mates skiing with other groups this week.
From the top we traversed along an off piste slope to the side of the piste for quite a while, it looked good powder leading down to the piste but our guide had different ideas. He took us over the other side to some fantastic views and parts of the mountain I would never dream of skiing alone. With mountain goats up above us, sun still shining and the views you dream of this afternoon was fantastic. We still had to be careful and follow the guide closely as there were cliffs and a river running down the mountain which we could not see nor hear until we got near the bottom. The river or stream is a real danger because it is often covered by snow but that snow can give way to some freezing water! After a great afternoon coming down that side of the mountain we eventually made it back to furthest point from Val d'Isere on this side which I finally recognised where I was. A short coach ride back to town and a well deserved beer with some cake back at the hotel, trust me that does go together when you have had a terrific afternoon.
We still ventured out looking for some fresh snow on the glacier on the Val d'Isere side, even after this news, it just makes you a little more observant. These pistes are normally fairly quiet but they are high and wide and not difficult so great for beginners and intermediates, but I always feel colder over this side of the mountain. Probably because of the height (obviously) but mainly because it stays in the shade for longer, a lot of the slopes are north facing. Now this does have its advantages, it keeps the snow on and off the piste in nice condition.
So looking for good snow off piste can be a little easier, even if it has not snowed for a few days.
We got to the top after one of our group (a mate of mine) fell off the button lift at the bottom, don't worry he received plenty of ribbing for that not from just us and the guide but the rest of our mates skiing with other groups this week.
From the top we traversed along an off piste slope to the side of the piste for quite a while, it looked good powder leading down to the piste but our guide had different ideas. He took us over the other side to some fantastic views and parts of the mountain I would never dream of skiing alone. With mountain goats up above us, sun still shining and the views you dream of this afternoon was fantastic. We still had to be careful and follow the guide closely as there were cliffs and a river running down the mountain which we could not see nor hear until we got near the bottom. The river or stream is a real danger because it is often covered by snow but that snow can give way to some freezing water! After a great afternoon coming down that side of the mountain we eventually made it back to furthest point from Val d'Isere on this side which I finally recognised where I was. A short coach ride back to town and a well deserved beer with some cake back at the hotel, trust me that does go together when you have had a terrific afternoon.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Skiing holiday day 3 morning
On the Tuesday morning we headed over to the Tignes ski area, but before we made it over to Tignes the chair that takes us to the top of Toviere at 2704 meters has an avalanche transponder tester unit. Now all the years I have skied this area and I have never noticed this before, probably because I have not wore an avalanche transponder unit and we tend to use this part of the mountain as the gateway over to Tignes so just ski straight off once we get up there. Shame because there are some fantastic views and a restaurant at the top that on a clear day can see across Val d'Isere and Tignes. Now this transponder checking station is a small board with off piste information and avalanche risk on it and underneath it is a small unit where we stand next to, to check we get the green light that our transponder units around our waists are working.
A brief excursion off piste over on the Tignes side and we headed back to Val d'Isere for lunch. If I was not with a guide I would have probably stayed over the Tignes area and had lunch there, but our guide preferred to eat in Val d'Isere. Another good morning and again the pistes were only used to get somewhere quick, and what I really enjoyed is our guide would ski reasonably fast and safely when the skiing allowed and just told us where he was heading and we either kept up or met him at the bottom. My type of skiing, I much prefer to ski like that than to ski stop, ski some more and stop, I find that can be tedious, not to mention can be unsafe if stopping in the middle of the piste, but I think most people know to pull over to one side to stop at the side out of the way.
A brief excursion off piste over on the Tignes side and we headed back to Val d'Isere for lunch. If I was not with a guide I would have probably stayed over the Tignes area and had lunch there, but our guide preferred to eat in Val d'Isere. Another good morning and again the pistes were only used to get somewhere quick, and what I really enjoyed is our guide would ski reasonably fast and safely when the skiing allowed and just told us where he was heading and we either kept up or met him at the bottom. My type of skiing, I much prefer to ski like that than to ski stop, ski some more and stop, I find that can be tedious, not to mention can be unsafe if stopping in the middle of the piste, but I think most people know to pull over to one side to stop at the side out of the way.
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Learning to ski
For all those beginners out there wanting to take up the great sport of skiing, then I definitely recommend it. Find a resort good for beginners with plenty of green and blue runs, (not all resorts have green runs). The pistes are colour coded for difficulty. Green being nursery slope, blue is easy normally great for learning, red is intermediate, black is difficult and in some resorts the blacks will have diamonds to identify how difficult with the more diamonds the harder the run.
I would always recommend finding a dry slope or indoor slope to take a few lessons first, it will help when you are out on the snow, and make your week's skiing holiday more enjoyable. It also a very good idea to take lessons when out on your skiing holiday too. Some lessons will last all day, some will be for the morning and you can ski with your partner or friends if they are better skiers in the afternoon.
I am adding a link to a book I read a few years ago, I read the first edition, but I rate this book very highly, it has some great advice on learning and improving your technique.
I would always recommend finding a dry slope or indoor slope to take a few lessons first, it will help when you are out on the snow, and make your week's skiing holiday more enjoyable. It also a very good idea to take lessons when out on your skiing holiday too. Some lessons will last all day, some will be for the morning and you can ski with your partner or friends if they are better skiers in the afternoon.
I am adding a link to a book I read a few years ago, I read the first edition, but I rate this book very highly, it has some great advice on learning and improving your technique.
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