Dangers of dry ski slopes
David George
ski slope. These are popular in Britain where people use them to practise
before going on their weeks ski holiday. They consist of plastic brushes
built in a honeycomb structure. I've never dry skied before (I did 75 days
on snow this winter) but knew they could be quite dangerous for burn type
injuries and broken thumbs.
I soon got the hang of the surface and was getting confident, too
confident. On my last run my binding released and I fell catching my right
hand in the honeycombe and breaking both bones in my wrist (well shattering
my wrist was the hospital verdict).
That was a month ago, I've spent 2 weeks in hospital had two operations
under general anathestic including a bone graft and now have external X-fix
holding my wrist together which will stay there until e.o.-July. The
hospital say it is one of the worst wrist injuries they have seen, akin to
someone smashing the wrist with a lump hammer. I'm also not able to work
full time (I would sooner not work at all but need the money). Rather than
skiing I have the prospect of sitting in an office in Chamonix next winter
taking phone messages for my company.
I've had many wipeouts on snow but never anything close to this seriousness
and question my sanity for ever going near a dry slope. It is ironic that
it happened in Suffolk at all.
The cause of my boot release should also be a warning... after spending the
whole winter lecturing guests on safety issues I forgot to adjust the ski
bindings' for different boots. This meant they could unusually release
under the increased torque you get on dry surfaces. Mea Culpa.
I would be interested to hear the experiences of anyone who has recovered
from a bad wrist injury.
best regards and be safe
David
XlMeister
Good luck with that!
XlMeister
David George wrote in message <7jo0g8$40e$1...@pheidippides.axion.bt.co.uk>...
ro...@postmaster.co.uk
"David George" <david...@kimble.easynet._removethisbit_.co.uk>
wrote:
> I thought I would keep fit during the close season by visiting our
local dry ski slope.
> On my last run my binding released and I fell catching my right
> hand in the honeycombe and breaking both bones in my wrist
Many sympathies. You were very unfortunate in experiencing what sounds
like one of the worst injuries I've heard of on plastic.
I train, teach or race on plastic slopes 3 or 4 times a week all year
round, and over the years have seen some pretty bad falls (and had one
or two myself!). But very few what I'd consider serious accidents.
Okay, some *look* bad (like the bloke who managed to cut his cheek open:
blood everywhere, but it was only a minor cut) or are highly painful
(like a twisted thumb or serious 'dendix rash') but I can recall only
two cases of broken bones (one wrist, one tibia - any that was someone
in a beginner's lesson foolling around and not listening to the
instructor). They guy who broke his wrist is now skiing in our race
team: he's fully recovered and the experience hasn't put him off!
One of the things an instructor on dry slopes always tells beginners is
*never* to put you hands down: it is hard to resist this almost reflex
reaction, but you can overcome it.
Don't let your experience put people off dry-slope skiing: it's a great
way of getting the basics or working on your technique (to a pretty high
level as well). But it _is_ different from skiing on snow and as
you found you must get used to these differences.
>
> The cause of my boot release should also be a warning... after
spending the
> whole winter lecturing guests on safety issues I forgot to adjust the
ski
> bindings' for different boots. This meant they could unusually
release
> under the increased torque you get on dry surfaces. Mea Culpa.
>
Note that on a dry slope you are going slower, so in a fall the binding
is *less* likely to release - leading many people to lower their DIN
setting slightly.
--
Rob Midland Ski Club, UK http://midski.snow.org/
700+ skicams around the world at http://midski.snow.org/webcams
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
Paul Carr
I ski at sheffield every now and again without too many problems but I have
had a few 'brown trouser' moments with bindings realeasing. Basically the
hire skiis are set for 'easy' release. I ski quite hard and a few times
going over the bumps has caused early release and I have found myself skiing
on one ski.
I injured my ankle in january this year while skidooing. I broke it in 3
places and it is now held together with a metal plate and 13 screws. This
did not stop me going skiing to courmayer in april.
Paul
David George wrote in message <7jo0g8$40e$1...@pheidippides.axion.bt.co.uk>...
>I thought I would keep fit during the close season by visiting our local
dry
>ski slope. These are popular in Britain where people use them to practise
>before going on their weeks ski holiday. They consist of plastic brushes
>built in a honeycomb structure. I've never dry skied before (I did 75 days
>on snow this winter) but knew they could be quite dangerous for burn type
>injuries and broken thumbs.
>
>I soon got the hang of the surface and was getting confident, too
>confident. On my last run my binding released and I fell catching my right
>hand in the honeycombe and breaking both bones in my wrist (well shattering
>my wrist was the hospital verdict).
>
>That was a month ago, I've spent 2 weeks in hospital had two operations
>under general anathestic including a bone graft and now have external X-fix
>holding my wrist together which will stay there until e.o.-July. The
>hospital say it is one of the worst wrist injuries they have seen, akin to
>someone smashing the wrist with a lump hammer. I'm also not able to work
>full time (I would sooner not work at all but need the money). Rather than
>skiing I have the prospect of sitting in an office in Chamonix next winter
>taking phone messages for my company.
>
>I've had many wipeouts on snow but never anything close to this seriousness
>and question my sanity for ever going near a dry slope. It is ironic that
>it happened in Suffolk at all.
>
>The cause of my boot release should also be a warning... after spending the
>whole winter lecturing guests on safety issues I forgot to adjust the ski
>bindings' for different boots. This meant they could unusually release
>under the increased torque you get on dry surfaces. Mea Culpa.
>
Col
I'd say you've been pretty unlucky. Most injuries are of the broken thumb or
burnt arse variety with the occasional hitting a fence and/or cafeteria. The
problem is that the brushes are designed to be slidey whereas everything
else around isn't therefore transition from one medium to another results in
a quick trip to the local hospital.
Obviously your hand went under the mat quite far which occurs when the mat
has lifted or the ground below has become pitted. Then when your momentum
takes you past your wrist snaps. This can occur of the slope is watered and
the water happens to create a hole. The mat lifting occurs when its not
pinned properly and is a maintainence issues.
I've taught over 500 days on plastic for my sins. I've seen some great
crashes and broken my thumb no less than 4 times ! Obviously your bindings
were wrongly adjusted and therefore you might have had a similair disaster
on snow but on mats you put your hand down and they are toast. The moral of
the story is not that plastic slopes are inherently dangerous more that they
have to be used carefully and of course your equipment must always be
properly adjusted by professionals. Small things like toe wing adjustment
and toe hight on a binding are enough to give you a pretty horrific injury.
David George <david...@kimble.easynet._removethisbit_.co.uk> wrote in
message news:7jo0g8$40e$1...@pheidippides.axion.bt.co.uk...
> I thought I would keep fit during the close season by visiting our local
dry
<snip painful story>
MARK FOSTER
heard horror stories about dry slopes and so have avoided them. I live in
the Midlands in England and so have the luxury of being able to get to
Tamworth Snowdome.....anyone within driving distance should give it a try.
It's right on the M42 so in theory should be within reach to a lot of
people........ It's got real snow so you don't have to adjust your
technique, bindings or anything. I try and go every fortnight during the
summer to keep my legs in shape etc...nice and cool as well when the sun is
shining outside (you can tell I hate the summer and prefer the snow!!!)
Good luck with the wrist!
Mark
David George <david...@kimble.easynet._removethisbit_.co.uk> wrote in
message news:7jo0g8$40e$1...@pheidippides.axion.bt.co.uk...
> I thought I would keep fit during the close season by visiting our local
dry
SkiGrrl
David said:
>
> I would be interested to hear the experiences of anyone who has recovered
> from a bad wrist injury.
Hi David - a while ago I had a lovely shattered wrist and matching silver
fork fractures of my left arm. I did something I NEVER do - put my hand out
to catch myself after hooking an edge on a rock. I put my hand out, and hit
the rock with it. Laws of physics took over. I was not a happy puppy.
I was lucky enough to have a genius set it at the mountain base - so when I
got home <in a bivalve brace> the ortho surgeon didn't need to go in or
ex-fix it.
The interesting thing was, the ortho cast my arm in an unusual position. If
you hold your arm out, perpendicular to your body, rather like holding a ski
pole, and then turn your hand palm to floor. Then bend wrist so hand is 90
degrees, with fingers pointing to floor.
awkward as hell - had to rest my arm on a pile of breadbaskets in a
restaurant. It stayed that way for a couple of weeks. Then the cast was
removed, and the wrist re-positioned <major pain - hurt worse than the
original injury> by bringing the wrist back in line with my arm, then
angling wrist so that my little fingers was kind of at a 45 degree angle to
my arm, but the hand and arm were in alignment. A few weeks of that, then
cast removal and re-positioning again.
More owie.
After another round or two of this, then a pressure-type ace bandage on the
wrist.
What a production.
However, now if I lay my hands / arms flat on the table, and then rotate my
hands outward <flipping them over> my right hand flips all the way over, as
it should. My left one is about 97% there. Amazing. You'd never know.
The only time I have trouble is carrying heavy groceries or something like
that.
Best of luck!
SkiGrrl
<oh, this happened in January - and I took some runs at the end of March.
Against orders, but did it anyway. By the next season, no problems...>
Willem-Jan Markerink
>In article <7jo0g8$40e$1...@pheidippides.axion.bt.co.uk>,
> "David George" <david...@kimble.easynet._removethisbit_.co.uk>
>wrote:
>local dry ski slope.
>> On my last run my binding released and I fell catching my right
>> hand in the honeycombe and breaking both bones in my wrist
>
>like one of the worst injuries I've heard of on plastic.
>
>I train, teach or race on plastic slopes 3 or 4 times a week all year
>round, and over the years have seen some pretty bad falls (and had one
>or two myself!). But very few what I'd consider serious accidents.
>Okay, some *look* bad (like the bloke who managed to cut his cheek open:
>blood everywhere, but it was only a minor cut) or are highly painful
>(like a twisted thumb or serious 'dendix rash') but I can recall only
>two cases of broken bones (one wrist, one tibia - any that was someone
>in a beginner's lesson foolling around and not listening to the
>instructor). They guy who broke his wrist is now skiing in our race
>team: he's fully recovered and the experience hasn't put him off!
>
>One of the things an instructor on dry slopes always tells beginners is
>*never* to put you hands down: it is hard to resist this almost reflex
>reaction, but you can overcome it.
And break your neck....
I prefer to keep my reflexes in tact....it survived millions of
years of evolution, so there must be a good reason....;-))
It's also one of the reasons why I will NEVER put my hands in the sleeve of
a ski-pole....if the pole catches behind/below a ski (as has happend to me
more than once), it can delay your arm movement enough to make a frontal
crash deadly. Yet the instructor tells you otherwise....
Carrying a 14kg backpack makes you rethink the laws of physics....wrists
don't come first in the line of vital parts....
--
Bye,
Willem-Jan Markerink
The desire to understand
is sometimes far less intelligent than
the inability to understand
<w.j.ma...@a1.nl>
[note: 'a-one' & 'en-el'!]
Bob.P...@mci.com
"David George" <david...@kimble.easynet._removethisbit_.co.uk>
wrote:
> That was a month ago, I've spent 2 weeks in hospital had two
operations
> under general anathestic including a bone graft and now have external
X-fix
> holding my wrist together which will stay there until e.o.-July. The
> hospital say it is one of the worst wrist injuries they have seen,
akin to
> someone smashing the wrist with a lump hammer.
snip
> I would be interested to hear the experiences of anyone who has
recovered
> from a bad wrist injury.
>
> best regards and be safe
>
> David
David:
About 5 years ago, I did a compression fracture of a number of the
bones in my left wrist while learning to snowboard (let's not even
discuss that part of it).
While about 6 of the bones my wrist were fractured to some degree, the
doc did a lot of (very painful) traction and then (also very painful)
manipulation to get the bones in proper alignment before casting my
wrist. The next day, the cath scan showed things were still good. So I
simply had to spend many weeks in a succession of casts but never had
to undergo surgery.
Yours sounds a lot worse, but it is amazing how well people can rehab
from serious bone and joint injuries.
My only advice would be to follow your physical therapy regimen
absolutely religiously from the moment they start you. (Mine started
with squeezing a spongy ball before the cast even came off.)
Because of how many bones are involved and how difficult it is to do
much of anything without using your hand, you'll probably find the
wrist will be pretty painful for quite a while after you start
therapy. As long as your doc says the joint is okay structurally,
you'll need to just work through that pain.
You'll need to be very aggressive to get all of your strength and range
of motion back. Mine was fairly badly crunched, but after a year or so
I never noticed it again.
Good luck,
Bob
Good Ol' Ed
to preclude finger and wrist injuries. I envision it to be like a boxing
glove with the thumb tied onto the hand.
A stock baseball mitt might also work altho it may take a little
modification to hold a ski pole.
Good OL' Ed
Bless Utah, we just hike up and ski real snow.
ro...@postmaster.co.uk
w.j.ma...@a1.nl (Willem-Jan Markerink) wrote:
> In article <7jo5ir$etu$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>, ro...@postmaster.co.uk wrote:
> >One of the things an instructor on dry slopes always tells beginners
is
> >*never* to put you hands down: it is hard to resist this almost
reflex
> >reaction, but you can overcome it.
>
> And break your neck....
> I prefer to keep my reflexes in tact....it survived millions of
> years of evolution, so there must be a good reason....;-))
Yes, but it you fall slowly (as beginners do) landing on a well-padded
part of your body (e.g. hip) is far preferable to twisted thumbs or
wrists. Also if you are skiing *fast*, better to just roll - as horse
riders do when they come off at speed.
> It's also one of the reasons why I will NEVER put my hands in the
sleeve of
> a ski-pole....if the pole catches behind/below a ski (as has happend
to me
> more than once), it can delay your arm movement enough to make a
frontal
> crash deadly. Yet the instructor tells you otherwise....
>
By sleeve I presume you mean what we'd call the strap: almost
universally in the UK straps are removed off poles used on dry slopes.
> Carrying a 14kg backpack makes you rethink the laws of
physics....wrists
> don't come first in the line of vital parts....
Agreed.
--
Rob Midland Ski Club, UK http://midski.snow.org/
650+ skicams around the world at http://midski.snow.org/webcams
Richard Walsh
You're still here. I thought you might have given up on this NG.
Remember when it was fun?
RW
(snip a good broken wrist story)
John Red-Horse
>
> I did something I NEVER do - put my hand out
>to catch myself after hooking an edge on a rock. I put my hand out, and hit
>the rock with it. Laws of physics took over. I was not a happy puppy.
>
I did something very similar to this this January. I now know just how
lucky I was, because all I got was a broken pinky (well, I blew out some
ligaments in it also) and a sprained wrist.
I was still able to ski the whole season, although for the month following
my incident, I had to do it without poles.
Good luck with the rehab (to both of y'all)...
cheers,
john
Scott Abraham
uglytim wrote:
> Bert is out stalking as usual, hoping to take things outside the NG as
> usual.
Damn right.
Fair is fair.
I assume you also don/t have any problems with death threats, since you
continue your insanity, feeding the fire.
Scott
Willem-Jan Markerink
>If this dry slope injury is prevelent, a special mitt could be made up
>to preclude finger and wrist injuries. I envision it to be like a boxing
>glove with the thumb tied onto the hand.
>
>A stock baseball mitt might also work altho it may take a little
>modification to hold a ski pole.
I use snowboard-style longish gloves for this very reason....normal short
ski-gloves end right at the wrist, not offering any resistance.
Willem-Jan Markerink
>In article <7jokdn$mo4$7...@news.a1.nl>,
> w.j.ma...@a1.nl (Willem-Jan Markerink) wrote:
>> In article <7jo5ir$etu$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>, ro...@postmaster.co.uk wrote:
>> >One of the things an instructor on dry slopes always tells beginners
>is
>> >*never* to put you hands down: it is hard to resist this almost
>reflex
>> >reaction, but you can overcome it.
>>
>> And break your neck....
>> I prefer to keep my reflexes in tact....it survived millions of
>> years of evolution, so there must be a good reason....;-))
>
>Yes, but it you fall slowly (as beginners do) landing on a well-padded
>part of your body (e.g. hip) is far preferable to twisted thumbs or
>wrists. Also if you are skiing *fast*, better to just roll - as horse
>riders do when they come off at speed.
I can't remember any serious crash where I had the time to think or the
time to (re)act to perform such an action.
Also bad is the fact that many falls happen with poor visibility, something
that your reflex/timing of fall doesn't like either. That also contributed
to my dislocated shoulder probably....never knew what hit me, or
worse, *when* it would hit me....8-))
(Btw, for the physiologists among us: I read a study today that claimed
that the light sensitive cells in our eyes receive a stimulus before a fast
moving object/image appears at the specific cell, as some weird kind of
predictive vision....but that doesn't help much if you can *see* it
coming....;-))
>> It's also one of the reasons why I will NEVER put my hands in the
>sleeve of
>> a ski-pole....if the pole catches behind/below a ski (as has happend
>to me
>> more than once), it can delay your arm movement enough to make a
>frontal
>> crash deadly. Yet the instructor tells you otherwise....
>>
>
>By sleeve I presume you mean what we'd call the strap: almost
>universally in the UK straps are removed off poles used on dry slopes.
>
>> Carrying a 14kg backpack makes you rethink the laws of
>physics....wrists
>> don't come first in the line of vital parts....
>
>Agreed.
>
Willem-Jan Markerink
"SkiGrrl" <Ski...@skigrrl.ihatespam.com> wrote:
>
>David said:
>>
>> I would be interested to hear the experiences of anyone who has
recovered
>> from a bad wrist injury.
>
>to catch myself after hooking an edge on a rock. I put my hand out, and
hit
>the rock with it. Laws of physics took over. I was not a happy puppy.
But can you be sure that *nothing* would have happened if you had not put
your hand/arm out?
It is quite easy to say that the wrecked part should not have been there,
but the real question is what would have happened without it being there.
Or, like with my dislocated shoulder: had that joint be more
forgiving/flexible when going flat-out hill-down, I might have broken my
neck.
(in hindsight a contributing factor was probably that I tightened the
straps on this backpack, so that it had a higher, or less gradual, kinetic
impact....one reason not to use the hip-belt as well)
The fact that you broke something doesn't always means that Mother Nature
did the dumbest thing possible....;-))
XlMeister
According to the message header, this was posted through telstra.net at:
NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 10:51:02 EST. And here it is, only 11:00
p.m. on Thursday June 10th, EST.
I'm reading it an hour after it showed up on my machine, and it's Fri Jun 11
11:54:59 1999 your local time as I type this. Looks like it was posted a
little before 11:00 a.m. Friday, your local time.
It's kind of fun to read your messages hours before you post them. Can I get
you to post the winning WA lottery numbers for the Sat. 6:00 p.m. (PST)
drawing? I'll split the $11 million winnings with you.
XlMeister
XlMeister
>Wow! How do you do that?
>
>According to the message header, this was posted through telstra.net at:
>NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 10:51:02 EST. And here it is, only
11:00
>p.m. on Thursday June 10th, EST.
You're really fortunate to be able to connect to telstra.net from your home
machine, too. They seem to cater to goverrnment and big organizations,
according to their advert:
Big Pond Direct offers organisations a high-performance, commercial grade,
dedicated permanent connection to the Internet. We are Australia's leading
provider of dedicated Internet connection services and solutions.
Whether you're a small business, corporation, government organisation,
educational institution or an Internet Service Provider, Big Pond Direct has
the solution that's right for you.
XlMeister
Col
> Do they put any kind of padding under the carpet? or is it hard?
>
Nah you always lay the dendiz straight onto the ground and then its pinned.
This allows it to drain (you spray water on it to reduce friction). Hence in
summer you are almost grass skiing in places where the grass is rampant !
> Must be awful on the ski's bases, too.
>
Ah but the secret weapon is a) Use skis _only_ on the mat and b) A quality
dead flat tune, mildly sharp edges, detuned maybe 15cm back tip and tail and
then spray Mr Sheen (furniture polish) on at the end. This, i've found has
made my skis last for whole seasons of teching every day. However i've gone
through about 6 pairs of Salomons (thank you they are free !) right through
to the fibreglass !!
And the combo of Mr Sheen and water is pant filling speed.
For those people who have never skiied on plastic. Have a go, if you can
edge and carve on this stuff then when you get on snow you'll be turning in
circles ! Its a great way to train.
David George
>
> >Obviously your hand went under the mat quite far which occurs when the
mat
> >has lifted or the ground below has become pitted. Then when your momentum
> >takes you past your wrist snaps.
>
> impact=thing, like when you stick out a limb to break the fall and the
shock
> of the impact goes up the various bones, shattering at the point of
greatest
> force (wrist in this case).
It happened quite quickly but what I think happened is that my boot
released... basically this was my fault due to not adjusting the bindings
and I was travelling quite quickly at the time on a right hand curve. I
fell forwards and I think my hand hit the front end of a hole... the doctor
said the hand had been driven backwards into the wrist with some
considerable force.
I was quite shocked at the time so didn't go back to check the slope but I
don't think there was anything abnormal about it.
> Everything smashes, quite awful. 20 years ago it
> might have been un-fixable.
Yes the hospital said that a few years back they could have done nothing
more than set the wrist solid. I was very very worried in hospital
especially as I got passed around the various consultants who didn't fancy
the operation. Eventually a wrist specialst called Mr Deliss (bit like
Jamey Shay of Nato) of Ipswich General did the op and he is quite hopeful
that I will have reasonable movement.
It is, however, extremely painful on a day to day basis and not to be
reccomended.
I was very surprised at the extent of my injury as I've had some falls at
much higher speed on more extreme terrain on snow without problems.
David
oh I had meant to set up my bindings but because of some other problems had
forgotten.
GillW
"Col" <colin...@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:
> Anthea <an...@geocities.com> wrote in message news:37605d09.0@info-int
>
>
> Nah you always lay the dendiz straight onto the ground and then its
> pinned. This allows it to drain (you spray water on it to reduce
> friction). Hence in summer you are almost grass skiing in places
> where the grass is rampant !
On our slope we actually have a fine gravel surface (for good drainage),
topped by a porous (but grass-proof!) felt-type underlay - and then
the dendix.
Col - as a point of interest - which slope do you teach at?
> > Must be awful on the ski's bases, too.
> Ah but the secret weapon is
> a) Use skis _only_ on the mat and
> b) A quality dead flat tune, mildly sharp edges, detuned maybe 15cm
> back tip and tail
> and then spray Mr Sheen (furniture polish) on at the end. This, i've
> found has made my skis last for whole seasons of teching every day.
> However i've gone through about 6 pairs of Salomons (thank you they
> are free !) right through to the fibreglass !!
Agreed - I use far more furniture polish on my skis than on my furniture
....
> And the combo of Mr Sheen and water is pant filling speed.
Though have a racing formula with other ingredients which is even faster
but only lasts about 250m before needing to re-apply it. Not so hot for
teaching though - I've never found 90mph demos terribly effective!
> For those people who have never skiied on plastic. Have a go, if you
> can edge and carve on this stuff then when you get on snow you'll be
> turning in circles ! Its a great way to train.
Those who can ski plastic, do - those who can't stick to the snowdome!
For anyone thinking of trying it for the first time - it won't (at least
at first) 'feel like snow' - even those of us who ski on it all the time
don't instantly adjust to it when we've been on the real thing. However
it's worth persevering with and you will get used to the slightly
different feeling. If you can get yourself some decent coaching too,
all the better, as Col says it's a good training environment - think of
it as being equivalent to the time an athlete might spend in the gym and
you're getting the idea.
And as for those so called dangers - in 7 or 8 years of skiing, teaching
and racing on plastic slopes at least 3 times a week I've never (touch
wood) suffered anything worse than some impressive bruising (on parts
that don't show!) and a few grazes.
Maybe Rob has it right in making the analogy earlier in this thread
about horse-riders learning to relax and roll when they fall. My early
experiences on (and often falling off of) racehorses have probably made
that reaction more instinctive than the 'put your hands out to save
yourself' one.
Young children (who're more used to falling over in their 'normal' (off
slope) life can fall and find themselves in positions which often look
to be physically impossible without harming themselves - yet adults very
often seem to suffer injury (and I've seen this more on snow than on
plastic in fact) from innocuous looking falls. I'm convinced that being
relaxed when you fall rather then becoming tense because you think
you're going to fall is the key to this. It explains why good skiers
when they fall seem to be able to get away with falls which often look
quite dramatic - partly that experience helps them to be more relaxed
anyway, and the falls happen so fast anyway that they don't have time to
tense up, unlike the novice 'uh-oh I think I'm going to fall' type
(remember those?).
Gill
--
Gill Weeks, Midland Ski Club, UK http://www.midski.snow.org
=====================================================================
For over 700 webcams from ski resorts around the world visit
http://www.midski.snow.org/webcams/
Col
news:7jqnsm$c9a$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> In article <7jqfqh$8br$1...@plutonium.btinternet.com>,
> "Col" <colin...@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Anthea <an...@geocities.com> wrote in message news:37605d09.0@info-int
> >
> > > Do they put any kind of padding under the carpet? or is it hard?
> >
> > Nah you always lay the dendiz straight onto the ground and then its
> > pinned. This allows it to drain (you spray water on it to reduce
> > friction). Hence in summer you are almost grass skiing in places
> > where the grass is rampant !
>
> On our slope we actually have a fine gravel surface (for good drainage),
> topped by a porous (but grass-proof!) felt-type underlay - and then
> the dendix.
>
was talking about the ancient original dendix matting that used to slip
slide around..gravel does help the draininage as does rubber channels by the
side (and spectacular when people get stuck in them and shoot off in a
straight line !)
> Col - as a point of interest - which slope do you teach at?
France and NZ but am currently stuck in London trying to earn some cash !
*depressed*
>
> Though have a racing formula with other ingredients which is even faster
> but only lasts about 250m before needing to re-apply it. Not so hot for
> teaching though - I've never found 90mph demos terribly effective!
>
>
> For anyone thinking of trying it for the first time - it won't (at least
> at first) 'feel like snow' - even those of us who ski on it all the time
> don't instantly adjust to it when we've been on the real thing. However
> it's worth persevering with and you will get used to the slightly
> different feeling. If you can get yourself some decent coaching too,
> all the better, as Col says it's a good training environment - think of
> it as being equivalent to the time an athlete might spend in the gym and
> you're getting the idea.
>
It definitely works well for getting your muscles tuned up and when you get
on snow you'll have a much better understanding of ankle flexion and *why* a
ski carves as opposed to skids.
> And as for those so called dangers - in 7 or 8 years of skiing, teaching
> and racing on plastic slopes at least 3 times a week I've never (touch
> wood) suffered anything worse than some impressive bruising (on parts
> that don't show!) and a few grazes.
>
I've found that people tended to really freeze on plastic but when I teach
on snow they were much less anxious as there is generally more run off
space. On the other hand snow is *really* fast compared to plastic so it
takes a bit of getting used to.
I also once saw a bloke go straight off the end, hit the rubber matting ,
eject from his bindings and land in a fence all because he was Mr Top Dog
and was trying to impress his friends with his wicked high speed down-stem
;-)
derek
<SNIP>
> I prefer to keep my reflexes in tact....it survived millions of
> years of evolution, so there must be a good reason....;-))
Yes the reflex is there to cause a fracture of the arm/collarbone rather
then render you unconscious because with the adrenaline flowing you can
still run, if you're unconscious you can't. Its for this reason that Judo
and Ju-Jitsu style martial arts teach people to fall so that they can avoid
the injury and continue to fight. Perhaps we should teach all beginners on
the dry slope the art of judo style break falls before we teach them to ski
;-)
<It's also one of the reasons why I will NEVER put my hands in the sleeve of
a ski-pole....if the pole catches behind/below a ski (as has happend to me
more than once), it can delay your arm movement enough to make a frontal
crash deadly. Yet the instructor tells you otherwise....>
I have to say I use the straps on piste as they increase the stability of
the pole in the hand when used as the support in a high speed turn in the
bumps. I never use them on the plastic or off-piste.
Derek
SkiGrrl
Willem-Jan Markerink wrote:>
> But can you be sure that *nothing* would have happened if you had not put
> your hand/arm out?
> It is quite easy to say that the wrecked part should not have been there,
> but the real question is what would have happened without it being there.
Actually, Wil, I can. Had I NOT put my hand out when I did, my angle and
momentum would have carried me past that bit of exposed rock. Snow has some
bounce and/or give. Rocks don't! :-< I would have fallen, but on the snow
just below the granite. I don't really tighten up when I ski, so in general,
when I DO wipe out, it's either just something silly, like standing waiting
for someone and tipping over because I stepped on my basket.... or something
major. I am the owner of two torn rotator cuffs, and more broken/cracked
ribs then I can remember. No leg injuries though. As someone mentioned, like
an equestrian, I will roll with a fall and try to tumble out. That often
means that I 'take the hit' with my upper body. Oh well, since it doesn't
happen that often, I consider myself lucky.
Have fun!
SkiGrrl
RA Horn
last time I visited a dry ski slope - that was 2 years ago, hence I tend
to avoid them and do other sports in the summer.
Richard