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So I'm afraid of hills...

Serafina

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
+1 to basically everything above.

I am learning to downhill and I am 43. I'm athletic and coordinated, and I was carving after my first lesson. I am that person you see blazing down the bunny slope without a care in the world...or at least, without a care until I got to the steep part on the green slope up the mountain that was all bumped up from people skiing over the powder, and it took me FOREVER to get myself down that without wiping out, and my thumb ached for 3 days after because I was gripping my poles so tightly from fear. :fear: Or until I got to that piece of the slope that crossed a blue-black run, and had more than one fall-line, and I had to make my way to the other side without causing a wreck, all the while worried that if I had to avoid one of God's Own Skiers I was going to accidentally launch myself down the adjacent blue slope and not be able to get off of it. :fear:

Mr. Serafina, now, will be 57 next month, and he is also learning to ski downhill. He is not a particularly coordinated or athletic person, and it takes him forever to learn new physical skills, and after 4 lessons they decided to let him keep his wedge-christy turns and just teach him how to do pole plants with that. And Mr. Serafina follows me down whatever slope I'm on, but he does it more slowly, with wedge-christy turns, and he doesn't ski anything like the Real Skiers on the slopes, but he does it safely and he has a lot of fun with it. :faint:

Don't worry about how other people are skiing, or about how fast you are not going. Focus on learning how to control your speed, focus on staying safe, and then have fun. If you never get off the green slopes, so what? You just have to find a hill that has some nice, scenic, enjoyable greens!

Forget about the little kids. They are made of rubber, and they know it. I am persuaded that humans don't develop bones and ligaments until they're pre-teens.

And for sure, try some different skis. I know it's difficult to contemplate, but I'd strongly suggest going and renting the beginner stuff from your resort - even though you have your own gear - just to find out what it is like for you when you ski on gear that is designed for someone who is just starting out. You never know - most of your problems could just be from the skis you are using!
 

RhodySkier

Certified Ski Diva
I can give a shout out to the K2 First Luvs! Last year was my first full season of skiing, and I found the First Luvs to be a good beginner ski--fairly easy to turn, not too fast, very very stable. I skied them all last year into this year. They took me from a newbie to intermediate skier at which point I got more advanced skis.
 

Witchery

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I was a green run skiier for AGES, and then went to skiing blues and then blacks and double blacks. Now I realise that lessons is what I needed and time on the mountain. I was always nervous of getting out of control and not being able to stop myself. I have two injured knees, so that made it worse. I go to the gym now to strengthen my knees and take lessons every time we go sking and i've finally gotten to the stage that I trust myself to get down anything, sometimes not so gracefully but I know it's not as bad as I originally thought it was.

Have faith in yourself, trust your instructor and ski without fear (too much caution can really upset your stance/balance and your reactions). Have fun and stick with it, you'll get there!!!!
 

Robyn

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Robyn, wasn't this during the Diva Week 2 seasons ago? I think I watched you do this from the chairlift!

Yes, it was. :fear: Sure is wonderful to know that my moment of terror is emblazoned in the memories of many Divas. :p Keeps me humble I guess.

Oh, and I agree with those that are saying the Lottas are too much. If you want to have a shop throw a summer wax on them and save them for a season or two and pick up a pair of beginner skis. Those Lottas are probably taking you for a ride rather than allowing you to ski them.
 

gardenmary

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I don't know exactly where this fear is coming from. I don't know if it's because I'm plus size and so I'm worried gravity will drag me down the mountain faster than other people, or if it's because I'm late 30s and am too old to try to learn this, or if I don't trust my muscles to do what they're supposed to, or if I just need to practice more (which is what I was told after my last two lessons). I see other people zipping down the steeper parts of the ski school and it's gone from being encouraging that it can be done to a serious self-esteem issue - if that four-year-old can do it, why can't I? :help:

Oh, I can SO identify with what you're feeling. You are me, 3 years ago. Plus size then, plus size now (working on it...). 47 years old then, 50 yrs old now. Muscles are in better shape now than they were then, however! But I needed to get to the place where I trusted myself at least a little bit more (I still struggle with that). The learning curve from total beginner to getting up enough guts to try something other than the bunny hill was a long one, and it was mainly learning to trust myself and give myself enough credit for what I had accomplished.

I think your equipment is a big part of this.

I think my equipment's good. I noticed last weekend that one of my heels is slipping just a tiny bit in my boot, so I'm planning on hitting a bootfitter probably early next month.

If your heel is coming up off the sole of the boot you may need heel lifts - but a good bootfitter will know exactly what is needed by examination and questions. If the boots don't fit properly pretty much nothing else will work. They are the foundation of the whole setup.

I've got a pair of K2 Lotta Luvs that are pretty well used (I bought them used) but are still in good shape, and I had them tuned up at the beginning of the year. I'm going to take them with me to the bootfitter to have them checked out too.

Agree with the other Divas - the K2 website says the Lotta Luvs are for expert skiers, which means double black diamond. They are indeed taking you for a ride, and probably a wild one. Take Robyn's advice, get them waxed up for storage and rent beginner skis (maybe look into a season rental, way cheaper). I've had my True Luvs for 2.5 years, they've been the BEST for learning.

Most of the women's ski clinics that I've found that are close enough to drive there and back in a day are either weekday clinics, require the skier to be good on blue slopes, or are just plain too expensive for me to consider right now. I can't swing a weekday clinic right now with having to pick up kiddos from school in the afternoon.

I hear you on all those counts. If it's not timing, it's money; if it's not money, it's something else! What you might consider is having a lesson about every five times you ski, and (once you get your equipment switched around) spend the in-between days practicing one thing at a time. The only thing that ever got me beyond my truly epic fear of any slope whatsoever was mileage - doing it over and over and over. (We won't discuss my side-stepping down a cross-country slope - a pitch of about 10 degrees. :redface:) Even today, I will stop at the top of a run I know quite well, take a deep breath, remind myself that I don't have to be lightning fast or perfect, and just do the best I can. Serafina's comment about "God's Own Skiers" made me laugh - to me, those are the really good skiers that if, through some bonehead move of mine, I were to interfere with, I'd just die of mortification. Why I let these people intimidate or scare me, I'll never know (they're doing no such thing, I'm just afraid of getting in their way). So I talk to myself quite a bit while skiing, which helps. It's kind of weird, I sort of develop a teacher side that tells me things like "where are your hands??" and "let them run, both skis on edge, release" and so on while I'm skiing. It's no weirder than people walking alone through stores talking on their bluetooth device, I suppose.

Oh, and...my son overheard me talking to my husband about the part of the hill where I got stuck parallel and being unable to muster the courage to point my skis back down the hill, and chimed in, "Oh, I love that part of the hill, it goes so fast!!!"

Ah yes, that would be my son. The one who rips down BOTH Olympic downhill runs, from the start house, at Snowbasin, with no trouble at all. He has broken 70 MPH and is now going for 75. :faint:

Please PM me if you have any other questions that I might be able to help you with. This site was an absolute godsend when I first started, so don't hesitate to ask here either!
 

AliceH

<span style="color:#F89F07";">Angel Diva</span>
Thank you all so much for the tips - I would have responded sooner but I've been waylaid by some nasty bug. I hope you don't catch it through the computer ;) I guess the good news is I've lost 4 pounds since being sick from lack of energy to eat. :ROTF:

I think I'll try the First Luv skis - I found them online for about $210, I think I can sneak those into the budget without my husband noticing. Hopefully I can get the bindings pulled off my Lotta Luvs to move over so I don't have to incur the additional cost.

Or does anyone here in Colorado know a rental place that carries them? Do they usually have them at demo days, or are those mostly for the higher end skis?

Edit: I don't suppose any of you ladies that have graduated from the First Luvs have a pair around 153 or 156 that you're interested in selling? The more I think about it, the more I think you're right on this - my instructor was able to take me down the green slope at the basin last year on rental skis, but when I bought the Lotta Luvs (used, thankfully, for a hundred bucks including bindings) they felt like they were...too waxed, maybe? And then the week after I bought them I hurt my neck (not skiing, LOL) and was out for the rest of the season. So I've never really had the chance to evaluate them against beginner skis.
 

RhodySkier

Certified Ski Diva
I have a pair of 2009 First Luvs 156cm with Marker bindings that I am looking to sell. I skied on them about dozen times. They're in good condition, and I loved learning on them. Message me if you're interested! I'd definitely be willing to take less than $210 for them.
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
She may not be able to PM you yet (I'm not sure of the post count required for that).
 

gardenmary

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hope you and Rhody can connect, Alice - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with those skis and will progress so much better! Good luck!
 
B

B.E.G.

Guest
I hope the First Luvs do the trick - can't wait to hear how your next ski day goes :smile:
 

marge

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
How awesome! I love when things work like this on this site! :smile: I hope the First Luvs work much better and you can begin to feel more confident. :smile:
 

Robyn

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
How awesome! I love when things work like this on this site! :smile: I hope the First Luvs work much better and you can begin to feel more confident. :smile:
Agreed!

And, Alice, kudos to you for continuing to try to conquer that fear. You are an inspiration!
 

AliceH

<span style="color:#F89F07";">Angel Diva</span>
Rhody's going to send me a picture of the skis this weekend. I suppose it's fortunate that I'm still not well enough in the lungs to go to the mountains this weekend :laugh:

I can't even begin to tell you gals how helpful your input has been. Your collective advice and support has taken me from tears of despair to tears of anticipation (what can I say, I'm just generally an over-emotional and weepy gal, :D ). It never occurred to me that skis might be *too* good, I figured beginner skis were just lower quality - but the "skis taking you for a ride" really made it click. I have to admit, I'm surprised my instructor didn't comment on that during our lesson, but he's a guy so maybe he's not familiar with girlie skis. Fortunately, I've got two more lessons pre-paid, and I don't feel like the lesson I've used was a waste, as he did re-instruct me in some basics I had forgotten.
 

Serafina

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It never occurred to me that skis might be *too* good, I figured beginner skis were just lower quality - but the "skis taking you for a ride" really made it click. I have to admit, I'm surprised my instructor didn't comment on that during our lesson, but he's a guy so maybe he's not familiar with girlie skis.

Hi Alice,

I had 10 years of XC ski experience at the advanced-intermediate level when I came to downhill skiing...and I at present have a seriously beefy pair of skis and love them - but there is absolutely no way I would have been able to learn how to execute the turns if I'd been using my skis for the first round of lessons. I didn't even graduate to 160s (the length I ski now) until after my third lesson.

I expect you are right and the beginner skis aren't of really high quality - but they are designed to help your body learn the moves you'll need to manage the Big Girl Skis. :D You are going to be so surprised and happy when you see how much easier this is on those beginner skis! I am sure of it! We will see you whizzing down the slopes by the end of this season!:ski:
 

whitewater girl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I haven't noticed beginer skis being any lesser "quality"...they're simpler, softer flex, designed to make the learning process easier...

...and you can ski them, progression-wise, untill you start hitting speeds where they feel unstable & "chattery" (or you otherwise start feeling that the skis are holding you back). Some people stay with their soft-flex skis for a very long time; others progress to a more agressive ski fairly quickly - so long as you're having a good time out there, it's all good...
 

skigirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Alice what are your stats, height and weight??? I'm asking because a 156cm for a small person and a beginner will still be too much ski even if the ski is the right level ski. I just want to be sure we get you on the right ski for you right now so you can fall in love with skiing.
 

AliceH

<span style="color:#F89F07";">Angel Diva</span>
The ski's a bit taller than me, but I've run my height and weight through several calculators (including looking at the chart on the K2 website) and they say I should be using a longer ski than a 156 even as a beginner. (Yes, I'm that big.) If it turns out to be too long, I'll exchange it for a shorter ski - I'm betting that I can do a close to straight-across exchange for a shorter ski at one of the places here that sells used ski equipment if I have to, which I couldn't have done with my Lotta Luvs - they've got a LOT of cosmetic damage to the top of the skis.

Just to give you an idea...when I'm out skiing, I *might* see one or two women larger than me through the day. Maybe.
 

gardenmary

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
You and me both. I'm 5-8, 210 right now. (*deep breath* There, I typed it.) Oh well, it's better than the 235 I started at!

That said, however - my husband and son have repeatedly assured me that I am a better skier than half the people on the hill. They don't BS so I believe them. But then again, as my husband says, for the amount we've invested in my ski lessons I'd BETTER be a better skier, lol!
 

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