Teach me the basics of skiing!

[G]

Ok, I have some skis here. I actually got them from freecycle to make a sledge, but reckon I might as well have a quick play skiing, what with there being snow everywhere!

I don't have any kit, but the skis seem to hold my normal goretex army boots ok.

So, what stuff should I do/try to start?
Thinking very basics - I have never skied before and got quite scared when I tried them on, on my driveway.

Pointing me to an actually-useful guide on the net is fine - have googled a bit, but not sure which are good and not, etc.

(And yes, I know most things recommend you get taught 'properly', but quite possible I'll never do it again.)

[stinkwheel]

Right. I'm shit at ski-ing but can go down a slope without falling on my arse (most times) so I should be a good teacher for a total beginner?

The metal edges of the skis are what gives you control. These are what grip the snow.

The flats are what slides.

So. If you stand with the skis paralell and flat, you'll slide fast as fuck then fall over with no way to stop (this'll be what scared you).

Oh yeah. Falling over. Don't be afraid to fall over. It is a very quick and reliable way to stop, set the bindings on the skis so they come off fairly easily. Your knees will thank you. Try to fall so you are uphill and the skis are downhill.

So, having established that paralell and flat is ideal if you want to go fast as possible with no control whatsoever, how to go slower.

For beginners, they teach "snowplough". Keep your knees together, point the tips of the skis towards one another and rotate both your feet inwards (pronate them both) so the inside edge of each ski is in contact with the snow in a v-shape.

The idea is that the edge of the ski is sliding across the snow, gripping it and slowing you down. Direction control is achieved by making one edge dig in more than the other.

Poles are unecessary at this stage but handy to help you get up.

Once you've mastered snowplough, you are in control and can try for paralell turns. I can't do these but the concept is that you keep the skis paralell and use the outside edge of one ski and the inside edge of the other to control your descent (pronate one foot, supinate the other). You zig-zag your way down, the poles provide stability, especially when going fron a zig to a zag.

It is quite rare to slide straight down a hill with both skis paralell (except when speed ski-ing/jumping). You go far too fast and are out of control. Watch skiers, even downhill racers and they kind of tack down the hill in a series of sweeping corners.

Oh, and British snow is widely considered to be among the fastest and most difficult to ski on in the world due to it having large ice crystals and being fairly compact and hard when ski-able on. If you can ski on a Scottish ski slope, you can ski anywhere.
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I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Redoko]

Stinkwheel you should be an instructor...
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[Paivi]

Are these downhill, telemark or cross country skis?
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My other bike's a Monster...

[G]

Cheers Stinkwheel, very useful , any tips on body positioning?

[MaybeGuy]

you cant learn to ski from the internet.

on the rare occasion i had to teach a skiing lesson, you'd be suprised how many people were like ''i read this somewhere'' or ''my mate says'' and try that rather than the way they're being taught.

just go to a dryslope and have 1 lesson. that £20 odd will get you doing basic step turns and stopping unless you're fat or have no coordination.

if you're too proud for that, watch that episode of southpark where they get a free weekend to buy a timeshare in some resort somewhere.
french fries, pizza etc. tips inwards, tails outwards and bend your knees to stop.

basic position is knees slightly bent, centre of gravity balanced, ie: not excessive weight on front or back of boot. applies at all times, so you'll lean further forwards when you're going faster, less so when going slower etc.

turning is weight on the outside leg and put that leg forwards, then step the trailing leg back in line once you've turned otherwise you end up in a heap.

carve turning is just using the edges to turn.

it doesnt really matter what type of skis they are, unless they're telemark skis, in which case the thread wouldnt be titled ''i want to learn to ski'', it would be ''wtf are these things that look a bit like skis?''

if they're about 10 foot long it might make things difficult, or 6 inch wide powder skis. basically, same with snowboarding, should be about chin height up to about head height. shorter skis are more twitchy but better to chuck around, long ones are the opposite. same as bike forks really.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[G]

It's not so much pride, but that I'm going to make the skis in a sledge of some kind for the weekend hopefully and just wanted to have a 'play' beforehand. If I was going to a slope, I'd probably hire all the kit anyway and have to do it at the weekend or later, making the whole idea a bit redundant .

I was actually planning to go to Milton Keynes X-scape at some point, primarily for indoor skydiving, but was thinking of getting a snow boarding or skiing 3 hour lesson then.

Cheers for the general tips .

[Skudd]

It's years since I went skiing, many a month spent on the slopes. Too unfit to do it now though.
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Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[MaybeGuy]

do snowboarding. you know it makes sense.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[s44678]

Another vote for snowboarding.

On skiis you always feel as though you should be concentrating on some bollocks or improving your technique in some area. You are never content with just going straight down a hill. You feel like you have to pick and place your route, have some sort of rhythm etc.

On a board you can just whatever the f*ck you want and it feels amazing. Straight down - amazing. Massive wide carves - amazing. Nice rhythm - amazing. No rhythm at all and just kick out random hard turns to scrub off speed - amazing.

[yuri2085]

Seconded for snowboarding, I am a lot better at skiing that snowboarding, my only real area of improvement is jumps and faster in woods.
With snowboarding once you get past the first learning curve (lots of hard falling over when you catch the 'bottom lip/edge') its very relaxing and basically, enjoyable. I am still shit at snowboarding and my skull is thanking me for wearing a helmet when I was learning outside of the beginner slopes.

Snowboarding is way cooler too, and the boots are more comfortable =]

[karoshi]

[Redoko]

[G]

Skiing/snowboarding is only an issue for if I do go to x-scape, but I have always 'liked' the idea of snowboarding, maybe from hanging around with skaters as a teenagers (though the few times I tried I wasn't great, which doesn't offer much hope .)
I have skis now, so that's what I'm trying. Will try and make a sled tonight, then go to a nearby park with a bit more of a hill tomorrow .

I don't have ski boots, however my army boots kinda fit in - went for my first skiing at lunch time!
Cheers for the tips, all. Didn't really get to the point I could turn, but went down (the very shallow angle of) my road ok, as well as getting a one/two-person-power tow a few times .
The snow has turned all ice-crystally and wasn't nearlly as good as when it was powdery.
I only need to use two skis to start with for my sled, so hopefully it will snow at the weekend and I'll get a chance to play some more in better conditions!

[MarJay]

Fail.

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/g-ski.jpg
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Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Redoko]

[G]

I always sucked at skateboarding too though... but then I suck at ice skating as well .

Anyway, I say 'win'!
https://www.bikechatforums.com/download.php?id=69731

[jay12329]

Lean forward!!!!!!

Seriously lean forward, this is where proper boots come in, you can lean forward so far that the weight is on your shins and you stay upright. This isn't a good position for skiing but is a good demonstration to learners.

I wanna play

J

[Flip]

Stay away from ski lifts...

https://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/frozen/

[MaybeGuy]

Another thing... Set your DIN settings to about 5 otherwise you'll probably snap your knees if you come off.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[G]

I've actually set them a bit lower than that, added to just using army boots, it's hopefully not a big worry.
Going to try and have a another play today on a bit more of a slope, but suspect the snow is even worse now (tried my sledge late last night and it sunk more than I was hoping.)

[MaybeGuy]

[stinkwheel]

[MaybeGuy]

the rigidity is the key point of the boots. i bet those old leather ones are pretty rigid. also look on the toe where the bindings attach and you'll notice its weirdly shaped to accomodate.
army boots however are not up to it. too flexible. its possible yes. you can do it in trainers, its just not easy, and no grounds to learn.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[stinkwheel]