bounceswoosh
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Which one?
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here...goes...something!
- Thread starter Serafina
- Start date
Which one?
Sarah_82
Certified Ski Diva
Mach 1. I'd checked it out from the Peak 8 Superconnect, and it had looked doable from there, though it looked a lot steeper once I was at the top! At least it wasn't very long, which is one reason I picked it. The fresh snow had blown away from the top, but once I got below that the snow was good.
naskis
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I finally skied glades yesterday. Many times! Why no one told me that it would be so much fun???!!! ( Actually my oldest DS did, but I did not believe him - he is a great skier)
Bretton woods was a winter wonderland (6+inches of fresh powder and more coming down as we skied). AWESOME!
Bretton woods was a winter wonderland (6+inches of fresh powder and more coming down as we skied). AWESOME!
deannatoby
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
GREAT! Proud of you, because I'm still too scared to do glades, and I ENVY YOU! It was an awesome New England powder day, and I'm glad you enjoyed it to its fullest. Congratulations!!
cleopatra
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I work part time up at a cat ski lodge and yesterday I got a call to go up cat skiing!! My biggest fear of course is that I will hold the group back, but who can say no to free cat skiing? I had an amazing time, and never once felt out of my comfort zone. I kept up and was even faster than some of them (at the beginning, near the end my legs were jello). We were on more of the challenging terrain too, with some tighter trees than I have ever done, at speed too (maybe that is the trick).
I think I have no more excuses, I can admit it, I am not an intermediate, I...am...advanced!
I think I have no more excuses, I can admit it, I am not an intermediate, I...am...advanced!
Celestron2000
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
cleopatra
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's funny how I have such a hard time admitting this. You would think I would shout it from the roof top. My husband has been saying it for ages, but I have called myself 'Upper intermediate or low advanced' for a long time now. But when I watch ski ability videos, I am a solid 5.
Celestron2000
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Last weekend was skiing some buttery soft black bumps. I've done this run before and it's fairly steep and tends to have big bumps that I normally take one at a time, it's also right under a chairlift., but it was skiing so well last saturday that my confidence was building and I got in several good turns down the zipper line. It felt like a really good run, and a couple of 20 something guys shouted down from the cairlift, "Nice." "Gorgeous." "Are you hot?"
Celestron2000
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's funny how I have such a hard time admitting this. You would think I would shout it from the roof top. My husband has been saying it for ages, but I have called myself 'Upper intermediate or low advanced' for a long time now. But when I watch ski ability videos, I am a solid 5.
I like to think of myself as high-intermediate/ low advanced, and you're way ahead of me...
I'm constantly using this to rate my abilty level: https://www.keystoneresort.com/ski-and-snowboard/ski-and-ride-school/whats-my-ability.aspx
bounceswoosh
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I really like those descriptions!
I've apparently also been involuntarily graduated - I've long been complaining that a lot of 8s groups are too slow or mellow for me, but apprehensive about lining up with the 9s, which include some serious huckers and straight-liners. Nice guys, but way out of my league. Then there's the "let's hike extra for every run" contingent. A few weeks ago (actually while I wasn't there), an instructor walked over and informed my usual "crowd" of people I like to ski with that they were no longer allowed to line up with the 8s, and had better get their butts over to 9s. Not knowing that, I naturally lined up with my buddies on my next lesson day, and then found out we were 9s. Low 9s, really, but still. I mean, 9 by definition is "good enough to be a 9, and everything up from that." The instructor did check with my friends before letting me ski with them, and they vouched for me, and I was middle-to-front of the pack the whole day (my big concern for 9s is not "can I ski this terrain?" but "can I ski it fast enough not to hold anyone back?"). Since then, I've been skiing with them and finding the lessons a *lot* more rewarding (almost no time "wasted" front side on cruisers in between the good stuff). We pretty much start skiing as soon as the last person in the group approaches, but the instructor still finds time for a few words of advice.
Serafina
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yo Yo YO! Cat skiing, and Bounceswoosh elevated into the Expert ranks. You girls rock!
I like those descriptions too. Makes me a 7 and 1/2. I take the 1/2 because I hate moguls and avoid then whenever I can. My knees hurt, the ones here are always icy and rock-hard, and I just hate getting into them.
I like those descriptions too. Makes me a 7 and 1/2. I take the 1/2 because I hate moguls and avoid then whenever I can. My knees hurt, the ones here are always icy and rock-hard, and I just hate getting into them.
naskis
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thank you! I'm still smiling thinking about it. Want a repeat, soon! Too bad we can't go skiing this weekend.
And cat skiing ... Is it like heli skiing? You get dropped off some place high and remote and make your way down?
Sarah_82
Certified Ski Diva
I've also been wondering at what point you can consider yourself advanced rather than intermediate. I think based on the terrain I'm willing to try, and those Keystone level descriptions I could maybe call myself low advanced, at least on a good day, but then, I know I have a looong way to go, and I don't ski the harder stuff well, more like I pick my way down it. And the better I get, the higher I think the line between intermediate and advanced must be.
Though some of that is a matter of confidence and being willing to push myself. Today I was on a black mogul run, and it wasn't at all crowded, but there was one guy who was picking his way down at the same speed as me, and we kept getting in each other's way. Usually I wait and let the other person go ahead if it's not a run I'm confident on, but it became clear that this guy would continue going at least as slow as me, so I'd just have to go a bit faster and quit stopping so often, and by the time I got to the bottom I looked up and couldn't see him anymore.
If the moguls here were hard and icy I'd avoid them too, but lately the snow has been pretty nice for the most part, now that it's getting deep enough to cover more of the rocks. And I figure if I get comfortable with them that should help a lot with stuff I really want to be able to ski, like trees.
Though some of that is a matter of confidence and being willing to push myself. Today I was on a black mogul run, and it wasn't at all crowded, but there was one guy who was picking his way down at the same speed as me, and we kept getting in each other's way. Usually I wait and let the other person go ahead if it's not a run I'm confident on, but it became clear that this guy would continue going at least as slow as me, so I'd just have to go a bit faster and quit stopping so often, and by the time I got to the bottom I looked up and couldn't see him anymore.
If the moguls here were hard and icy I'd avoid them too, but lately the snow has been pretty nice for the most part, now that it's getting deep enough to cover more of the rocks. And I figure if I get comfortable with them that should help a lot with stuff I really want to be able to ski, like trees.
bounceswoosh
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
No, no, not Expert! Just getting decent. Note the careful word choice in the description of Nines - *becoming*; *enticingly close to*. (Sorta like when I got my first degree black belt and my master instructor said, congrats, you just graduated grade school! Second degree - junior high. Never made it past that.)
Absolutely - Trees are just more assertive bumps!
I know exactly what you mean about perceived level. I'm pretty sure I thought I was closer to the "top" when I moved out here ten years ago than I think I am now. My perception of "top" has shifted. Dramatically. To the point where I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get there; not in this lifetime, anyway.
If my experience is any guide, you can spend years in the level sevens and years in the level eights, and I still wouldn't necessarily sign up with a nines group; it depends on who else is there. It's pretty common for people to stay comfortably at a level 7, too, although if you're interested in trees, that's probably not you. The time you spend in each level before moving "up" is sort of a geometric progression. And I have friends who like to "drop back" for more drills and pointers some days; in some ways it's more about *what* you're working on than an absolute skill level.
There are people who ski the nines all the time, and they ski fast, but it doesn't look so good. They just want to ski fast and speed through the lift lines with a guide. I don't have that option of just letting go and flying down the mountain, but at the same time, I think all the skills I've learned will help me continue to enjoy skiing to a ripe old age.
Sarah_82
Certified Ski Diva
Yeah, I did the Breck lesson pass my first year skiing, and the last lesson I took there in April that year was in the level six group, where I was probably at least in the middle. And yet now, almost two years later, I'd place myself only one level higher, even though I feel like I've improved a lot since then. I'd do the lesson pass again, but money is tighter this year (even though I know it is a good deal), and I had trouble getting there early enough for the morning meeting time, especially when traffic was bad. Maybe next year.
deannatoby
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I think this year one thing that has really hit me is how much my ski "level" is hindered by time on skis. I ski EVERY weekend, but since I started four years ago I still don't have that much time on snow. The last two seasons were spent on baaaaaaad skis: Two seasons ago I realized they were a big hindrance, but last season we were in between jobs. Now that I have GREAT skis, I am painfully aware that I just lack experience. We got some fresh dumps this year, and I think back to those two, maybe three, days in the past when I got to ski a fresh dump. What experience do I have to draw on? So little.
I don't have the experience needed to go down a slope with many varying conditions-freshies to hardback to skied-off ice sheets to big piles of crud, etc.-- and easily switch my technique to fit those conditions. So, at this point the things I do know how to do I think I'm doing fairly well at for someone my age and experience level. But, I wonder if I'll ever be like some people that just strap on skis and do it all with ease.
I don't have the experience needed to go down a slope with many varying conditions-freshies to hardback to skied-off ice sheets to big piles of crud, etc.-- and easily switch my technique to fit those conditions. So, at this point the things I do know how to do I think I'm doing fairly well at for someone my age and experience level. But, I wonder if I'll ever be like some people that just strap on skis and do it all with ease.
bounceswoosh
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
That's my theory on why ski instructors are so good no matter what they're on: they need to be out there regardless of the weather. They don't get to say "Oh, it's below zero and wind scraped - I'll just sleep in today."
But hey. Skiing literally every weekend - that's more than I manage. And fresh snow - rarely does anyone get to experience that more than a few times a season. And if you decide to take a lesson in it, everyone skis it out while you're lining up for your group. It takes time to learn to ski the freshies, and the cut-up stuff that remains an hour later, and you just won't get that much time to ski it in contiguous chunks. So give yourself a break on that one.
You've been skiing four years. I guarantee you that the people you see who seem like naturals in all conditions - they've been skiing a decade or more. Save this post and go back to it in six years. You'll smile.
Serafina
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Was chatting about the conditions with my ski instructor earlier this season, and talk turned to few weeks before when the mountain wasn't in the kind of shape anyone wanted it to be in, and he said that no one signed up for lessons and so the ski instructors spent a few days going out and finding the skankiest, nastiest, ugliest stuff on the hill, and practicing skiing on it.
