Alex, visiting us for the Easter, brings his unique gastronomy. In three days he has eaten his way through two whole packets of Waitrose ginger cookies (150 calories per biscuit) and thinks nothing of munching through three crisp packets or devouring multiple choc-ices in fifteen minutes; he still weighs less than me.
On Wednesday the three of us (Alex, Adrian, myself) made our second visit of the week to the Mendip Snowsport Centre. A. and A. were going to try snowboarding for the first time there; I eschew any sport where you wear your cap back to front.
They had fixed a leak in the sprinkler system and in the afternoon sunlight, a fairyland of water fountains bathed the slope: it made the surface an ice-rink. I immediately found my skis had almost no purchase: my turns didn't grip and I was spinning round so much I'd finish facing up the slope and then slide backwards (help!). By the time I had gingerly made my way down to the end of the second slope I was terrified. The bottom (training) slope was crowded with beginners erratically snow-ploughing. All hope gone, I slid sideways on my skis slowly to the bottom. Normally you can't get the skis to slide sideways .. that day it was easy.
As I arrived at the bottom Adrian looked on with concern: "Was the crash very bad?" Admitting my new-found incompetence somehow felt worse. It took an hour to adjust my technique to the point where I could finally make a top-to-bottom descent (hurrah!) and then it was straight off for a hot chocolate ("Gonna quit while I'm ahead"). I have to report that no-one else seemed to be having the slightest difficulty, and that Alex did just fine on the snowboard (Adrian was super-expert, in full instructor-mode).
Yesterday we returned to skis. The sprinklers were off and the course satisfyingly dry. A few runs had my confidence back and here are some videos: Alex and me.
(We're going to try the Skiplex system in Reading in a couple of weeks time).
Showing posts with label Mendip Snowsport Centre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mendip Snowsport Centre. Show all posts
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Friday, April 11, 2014
Ski Friday
Wednesday I crashed again. The details don't matter of course: travelling too slowly, weight too far back, the ski jams and it's the famous downslope wipe-out. The snowboarding instructor asked if I was OK and I gave him the thumbs up. The only real damage was where I'd fallen on the pole handle, and that was just a rib-bruise.
They know me now at the Mendip Snowsport Centre. As I walked up the steps to reception this morning a bearded instructor clocked my presence and casually greeted me by name. Later, at the button lift, a young woman instructor smiled and asked whether I planned to crash today. I replied I was trying to restrict myself to one crash per week; she smiled knowingly.
Today felt good, to be honest. The skis were moving smoothly and I was getting in the turns even when technique wobbled. If you didn't know much about skiing and saw me coming down, you might even be impressed, although surprised at how slow and hesitant I can be. The way I figure it, technique is the thing. Get the turns right and locked in, then think about speeding up.
The slope opens at 9.30 am and that was when I arrived, all booted up, with helmet, skis and poles. I was surprised to see three skiers already at the lift - normally it's pretty quiet at that time. It turned out they were Level 1 Ski Instructors on the staff, and they were about to be appraised by an outside assessor - a gentleman dressed all in black with a clipboard. He soon had them doing novice-type stuff like snow-ploughing down from the first lift-bump, directing them left or right and making cryptic notes on his board.
I was initially under the misapprehension that he was training them and, after a while, I took the opportunity (as his charges queued for the lift) to cheekily ask him for any hints for improving my own performance. He took pity on my naivety and gently explained that he was actually conducting an exam.
I promised to get out of his hair and on my next descent slid across to the exit. It all looked stressful enough without a random punter sliding erratically into the centre of things at random intervals.
Here's a video showing a descent of mine a week ago, taken by Adrian.
They know me now at the Mendip Snowsport Centre. As I walked up the steps to reception this morning a bearded instructor clocked my presence and casually greeted me by name. Later, at the button lift, a young woman instructor smiled and asked whether I planned to crash today. I replied I was trying to restrict myself to one crash per week; she smiled knowingly.
Today felt good, to be honest. The skis were moving smoothly and I was getting in the turns even when technique wobbled. If you didn't know much about skiing and saw me coming down, you might even be impressed, although surprised at how slow and hesitant I can be. The way I figure it, technique is the thing. Get the turns right and locked in, then think about speeding up.
The slope opens at 9.30 am and that was when I arrived, all booted up, with helmet, skis and poles. I was surprised to see three skiers already at the lift - normally it's pretty quiet at that time. It turned out they were Level 1 Ski Instructors on the staff, and they were about to be appraised by an outside assessor - a gentleman dressed all in black with a clipboard. He soon had them doing novice-type stuff like snow-ploughing down from the first lift-bump, directing them left or right and making cryptic notes on his board.
I was initially under the misapprehension that he was training them and, after a while, I took the opportunity (as his charges queued for the lift) to cheekily ask him for any hints for improving my own performance. He took pity on my naivety and gently explained that he was actually conducting an exam.
I promised to get out of his hair and on my next descent slid across to the exit. It all looked stressful enough without a random punter sliding erratically into the centre of things at random intervals.
Here's a video showing a descent of mine a week ago, taken by Adrian.
Friday, March 21, 2014
My Apps
Dear sister,
Now you have a smartphone people will tell you correctly that you need apps. Here are some of those cute little bundles of smartness to be found on my phone.
Like any toolkit, these apps have been added (and others deleted) over many months. What a zoo! I cannot imagine how many hours of my life I will never get back!
Thank you for your fond wishes that I not break a leg; in fact you are the fourth person to express such benevolence. This morning I traversed the entire length of the Mendip Snowsport Centre slope (which in fact consists of three linked slopes of varying gradient) from top to bottom, multiple times, with linked parallel-ish turns and without crashing!
A parabolic mike would have picked up my mutterings: "crouch and weight forward on balls of feet; feel the boot-pressure on the shins!"; "drop and turn the skis - push up out of the turn!". Through such mantras I am somewhat grimly getting down in one piece and avoiding limb fractures. I expect in a few sessions time my subconscious may even come to believe this is not insanely dangerous!
Checking my records, I had my first ski lesson on Saturday February 8th ("this is a ski boot - here's how you do it up; this is a snow plough, see if you can get down this six feet of slope") and my final lesson two weeks later on Sunday, February 23rd (my instructor that day, Bernadette, shakes me by the hand afterwards to congratulate me on some sliding madness which in her wisdom she recognises as the precursor to a parallel turn).
Since then I have revisited the slope a further ten times - I guess ten hours of practice - and as a result I kind of get it, with concentration, most of the time. A long stretch of practice lies between here and making all this stuff reliable and second nature.
Anyway, one day, when I think I can do it and survive, I may shoot a video of my descent - and send it to you via WhatsApp!
Best wishes from your brother.
Now you have a smartphone people will tell you correctly that you need apps. Here are some of those cute little bundles of smartness to be found on my phone.
- Maps - from Google
- Le Monde - I get to practice my French every now and then
- BBC iPlayer
- Vue - check out the local films
- Assistive Light - turn your phone into a torch (strictly a 'widget')
- IMDb - is the film actually any good?
- Clock - make sure the alarm can ramp up in volume gradually
- Antivirus - I use AVG
- infoCycling, cricinfo, Eurosport, BBC Sport
- Amazon and Amazon Kindle
- The Economist - I have a subscription
- The Times - I have a subscription
- LinkedIn - the working person's Facebook
- BT WiFi, The Cloud FastConnect - for those cafe hotspots
- Realcalc - I have the paid version of this scientific calculator
- Google Sky Map - how do they do that?
- National Trust - map based and essential when travelling around
- BBC Weather and The Weather Channel - (I toggle these to get the best forecast!)
- Wikipedia
- Google Calendar
- Google Chrome - much preferred over the Galaxy-supplied browser
- BBC News - a rather addictive app
- Gmail (and the POP3 email client 'Email' for business email)
- Fast Balance - the HSBC app to check my account
- Skype
- DropBox (I use camera upload to automatically transfer pix to my DropBox account)
- WhatsApp - yes, please install this early to avoid MMS charges!
- iChing - I like to hear the advice of The Sage before big decisions!
- London tube map - good to be there when you need it
- Google Translate - with French dictionary downloaded for offline use
- YouTube
- Chess - I rarely play and never win
- Heathrow Airport Guide - for checking arrivals/departures
Like any toolkit, these apps have been added (and others deleted) over many months. What a zoo! I cannot imagine how many hours of my life I will never get back!
Thank you for your fond wishes that I not break a leg; in fact you are the fourth person to express such benevolence. This morning I traversed the entire length of the Mendip Snowsport Centre slope (which in fact consists of three linked slopes of varying gradient) from top to bottom, multiple times, with linked parallel-ish turns and without crashing!
A parabolic mike would have picked up my mutterings: "crouch and weight forward on balls of feet; feel the boot-pressure on the shins!"; "drop and turn the skis - push up out of the turn!". Through such mantras I am somewhat grimly getting down in one piece and avoiding limb fractures. I expect in a few sessions time my subconscious may even come to believe this is not insanely dangerous!
Checking my records, I had my first ski lesson on Saturday February 8th ("this is a ski boot - here's how you do it up; this is a snow plough, see if you can get down this six feet of slope") and my final lesson two weeks later on Sunday, February 23rd (my instructor that day, Bernadette, shakes me by the hand afterwards to congratulate me on some sliding madness which in her wisdom she recognises as the precursor to a parallel turn).
Since then I have revisited the slope a further ten times - I guess ten hours of practice - and as a result I kind of get it, with concentration, most of the time. A long stretch of practice lies between here and making all this stuff reliable and second nature.
Anyway, one day, when I think I can do it and survive, I may shoot a video of my descent - and send it to you via WhatsApp!
Best wishes from your brother.
Saturday, March 01, 2014
The joy of skiing?
My sister said, "You must enjoy skiing as you're going three times a week?"
On reflection, I can't quite agree. Since completing my beginner course last week I've been twice more. I can get down with a fair-to-good confidence of neither crashing nor accelerating out of control down the fall line. My ability to do stem turns (skis parallel on the traverse and snow plough on the turn) is kind of getting there. I look with envy on those who swish down the slope doing stylish parallel turns. I wonder how long it will take for me to emulate them .. and I have no idea.
The experience feels much the same as when I was learning to drive. I knew then that it was a necessary stage, and that driving would be fun when it was effortless. But while you're learning it's rather desperate stuff with the odd moment of pleasure and achievement when something (rather unaccountably) works well or at all.
Yes, as I ski for the twentieth time down the slope, doing my turns, sometimes it unaccountably goes rather well.
It's incredibly useful to have Adrian accompanying me. As a ski instructor, he gets to offer hints and stop me falling into bad ways every session. I've seen a skier coming down, wrenching his body from left to right as he jumps into parallel turns. It looks a sweaty, desperate business and precarious at that: I don't want to end up stranded there.
Oh, and perhaps my impact pants will arrive today ... !
In the car on the way, we discuss the business model of the Mendip Snowsport Centre. The slope is longer and more interesting than most dry ski slopes, with a pleasant setting in the woods. The course starts narrow at the top with some bumps on the right, then turns sharply to the left onto a wider section (there's a quarter pipe on the right at the bottom of that run), before veering right through a steep section to emerge onto the lower slope where all the teaching gets done. The surface is that old-fashioned bristle lattice, which is both hard and slightly dangerous to fall upon.
An investment programme to use a more modern, carpet-like synthetic might allow them to develop a snowboarding park section with halfpipe and maybe some jumps. If they've got access to land, the investment might well pay off.
---
I'm reading Gregory Clark's "The Son Also Rises" which is a new look at social mobility across countries as diverse as Sweden, the United States, the UK, Chile and China. Surname records go back a long way and can be used to track the composition of elites in society. Most people believe that social mobility has increased in recent times, especially in the 'egalitarian Nordic countries'.
Wrong.
I'm still working through his country studies, and looking forwards to the reasons he suggests for the persistence of elites.
On reflection, I can't quite agree. Since completing my beginner course last week I've been twice more. I can get down with a fair-to-good confidence of neither crashing nor accelerating out of control down the fall line. My ability to do stem turns (skis parallel on the traverse and snow plough on the turn) is kind of getting there. I look with envy on those who swish down the slope doing stylish parallel turns. I wonder how long it will take for me to emulate them .. and I have no idea.
The experience feels much the same as when I was learning to drive. I knew then that it was a necessary stage, and that driving would be fun when it was effortless. But while you're learning it's rather desperate stuff with the odd moment of pleasure and achievement when something (rather unaccountably) works well or at all.
Yes, as I ski for the twentieth time down the slope, doing my turns, sometimes it unaccountably goes rather well.
It's incredibly useful to have Adrian accompanying me. As a ski instructor, he gets to offer hints and stop me falling into bad ways every session. I've seen a skier coming down, wrenching his body from left to right as he jumps into parallel turns. It looks a sweaty, desperate business and precarious at that: I don't want to end up stranded there.
Oh, and perhaps my impact pants will arrive today ... !
In the car on the way, we discuss the business model of the Mendip Snowsport Centre. The slope is longer and more interesting than most dry ski slopes, with a pleasant setting in the woods. The course starts narrow at the top with some bumps on the right, then turns sharply to the left onto a wider section (there's a quarter pipe on the right at the bottom of that run), before veering right through a steep section to emerge onto the lower slope where all the teaching gets done. The surface is that old-fashioned bristle lattice, which is both hard and slightly dangerous to fall upon.
An investment programme to use a more modern, carpet-like synthetic might allow them to develop a snowboarding park section with halfpipe and maybe some jumps. If they've got access to land, the investment might well pay off.
---
I'm reading Gregory Clark's "The Son Also Rises" which is a new look at social mobility across countries as diverse as Sweden, the United States, the UK, Chile and China. Surname records go back a long way and can be used to track the composition of elites in society. Most people believe that social mobility has increased in recent times, especially in the 'egalitarian Nordic countries'.
Wrong.
I'm still working through his country studies, and looking forwards to the reasons he suggests for the persistence of elites.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Jenny Jones and me: the video
Sixteen second clip from BBC Points West, Monday February 24th 2014.
Shows Jenny Jones, Olympic snowboarding bronze medallist at the Mendip Snowsport Centre. Also, in the background with grey jacket and black trousers a novice skier: first descending the slope badly and waving his arms for balance; then drinking some water with his back to the camera to Jenny's right; and finally on right of picture ascending the button lift in the distance.
Dear reader, it was me!
It is steep! It is! This is the last skiing post you'll get from me for a while: promise!
Shows Jenny Jones, Olympic snowboarding bronze medallist at the Mendip Snowsport Centre. Also, in the background with grey jacket and black trousers a novice skier: first descending the slope badly and waving his arms for balance; then drinking some water with his back to the camera to Jenny's right; and finally on right of picture ascending the button lift in the distance.
Dear reader, it was me!
It is steep! It is! This is the last skiing post you'll get from me for a while: promise!
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Ski course successfully concluded!
Skied from the top, signed off from the beginners' classes and now the proud possessor of a half-price annual slope pass. I'll be hitting the slopes again - without adult supervision this time - on Wednesday. (There is a bit of a pun there).
For the record, just a small crash today and a residue of aching muscles: plus a nice warm feeling of accomplishment!
 |
| Mendip Snowsport Centre - the lower slope from higher up |
Friday, February 21, 2014
Jenny Jones and me
I was that close to Jenny Jones today, as she gave media interviews to the BBC and ITN and coached (for the cameras) the kids' half-term snowboarding class at the Mendip Snowsport Centre.
Form a sentence with the words "pride" and "fall" in it. In my brash overconfidence, I managed to crash out on the steeper lower slope and now sport a bruise the size of a hen's egg on my left hip. Some way to go before I can compete with the awesome injuries in Ski Cross though.
Here's a bonus video.
Jenny Jones and the Mendip Snowsports Centre
 |
| Jenny Jones - slopestyle snowboarding queen |
Form a sentence with the words "pride" and "fall" in it. In my brash overconfidence, I managed to crash out on the steeper lower slope and now sport a bruise the size of a hen's egg on my left hip. Some way to go before I can compete with the awesome injuries in Ski Cross though.
Here's a bonus video.
Jenny Jones and the Mendip Snowsports Centre
Saturday, February 08, 2014
Mendip Snowsport Centre
My first skiing lesson for eighteen years this morning at the Mendip Snowsport Centre, about half an hour's drive. We were a mixed bunch: two posh young ladies, one middle-aged woman and several teens; the only other bloke was Damien who certainly looked the part - slim, athletic with designer stubble - but proved to be absolutely inept.
In this first class we learned to stay upright, snowplow and use the button lift. We finished with some simple snowplow turns. I'm booked on the next lesson, the Intermediate, next Sunday.
It takes four lessons to be allowed free access to the slope. The pictures only show the lower portion of the slope; at the top there's a dog-leg and it vanishes up into the woods. Assuming I pass lesson four, I will have skied from the top.
In this first class we learned to stay upright, snowplow and use the button lift. We finished with some simple snowplow turns. I'm booked on the next lesson, the Intermediate, next Sunday.
 |
| Two of us got as high as the Blue Zone on our last run |
 |
| This is where you try to stop- and that's our instructor, Mark |
 |
| The cafe - quite snug inside; four or five tables |
It takes four lessons to be allowed free access to the slope. The pictures only show the lower portion of the slope; at the top there's a dog-leg and it vanishes up into the woods. Assuming I pass lesson four, I will have skied from the top.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)