European Snowsport

Outstanding, independent ski schools in Verbier, Zermatt, Nendaz, St Moritz and Chamonix

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    Archives for October 2016

    Who Said You Can’t Have Great Skiing In The Autumn?

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    The snow here in Zermatt has been nothing short of superb considering the winter hasn’t even officially started.  The resort can boast year round skiing thanks to its Glacier sitting over 3500m. Early season snow and low temperatures have meant some incredible conditions with quiet runs.

    As of last weekend fresh snow has allowed the resort to open down to the Furggsattel chair to boast over 25km of skiing.

    image-3 The regular fresh snowfalls have meant that even the new European Snow Sport mascot has had the chance to experience some fresh powder.

    This time of year the resort plays host to many different national teams as they favour Zermatt due to its excellent early season conditions.  When you are up on the slopes you can spend a few minutes standing at the side of the run and watching future Olympians in the moguls or in the gates.

    With Autumn still very much in the valley a morning ski can be followed by some fantastic walks from the village up to Blatten, Furi or Sunnegga where famous restaurants such as Chez Vrony and the above named Blatten restaurant are open for fine dining.

    Temperatures in town by early afternoon have been comfortable sitting between 12-15 degrees Celsius meaning when you come off the slopes you can ditch the ski gear and walking around in a t-shirt is more than possible.

    Although the winter season hasn’t kicked off,  the town still has a real buzz about it.  The streets have a good ambience especially in the evenings and the fantastic restaurants and bars that make Zermatt what it is are all open.

    More snow is arriving so the skiing is only going to get better, there is still plenty of time before Christmas to get an early season ski with some great deals in resort to still be had.

    Ski Photography Tips With Melody Sky

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    Last winter some of our ES instructors helped out ski modelling for photographer Melody Sky on one of her photoshoots. Melody has been shooting in and around Verbier for years and you can see her work all around the resort on Billboards and in brochures. Her intimate local knowledge means she knows exactly where to go and when to get the best photos.  This Article is about Ski Photo Tips with Melody Sky

    Over the three days of shooting, not only did we get some great shots, we also picked up some insider photography tips:

    Search out some snow

    Getting good powder shots is all about getting good snow, but that does’t necessarily mean you need much of it. We were shooting a few days after the most recent snowfall so most of the usual routes had already been skied out. However with a short hike we were able to find some patches of untouched snow just off the sides of the piste. Just make sure you know where you are going to end up.

     

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    Try Different angles

    Try mixing up the angles for a different perspective. Getting low to the snow is a good way of making jumps look bigger and drops and edges look steeper.

     

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    Frame the shot

    No matter how good your skiing looks, it’s probably not going to look as good as the backdrop! Make sure you get the scenery in the shot first and then let the skier ski into frame.

     

     

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    One turn wonder

    Turns always look more spectacular with a bit of speed. Whether you’re on or off piste try and build up a bit of speed across the flat and commit to one turn. The more speed you have the more snow you’ll be able throw up

     

     

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    Synchro

    Everyone loves a bit of synchro! Try and choreograph the turns by getting into a rhythm and let the photographer snap away.

    …or get a pro to do it! Check out Melody’s website melodysky.com

    Find out how our team got on in the PDG

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    At the end of last season a team from es competed in the worlds most prestigious ski mountaineering race: the Patrouille des Glaciers. 

     

    Video by Lucy Croft words by Graeme Gibson

    I signed up for the pdg team at the start of last winter, joining Jonas Lundstedt and Tim Stephens who had already competed in the two previous race.  As a snowboarder and only occasional skier I was very much the rookie of the team. And looking back, I was also blissfully unaware of what I was getting myself into.

    I knew the stats involved: Zermatt to Verbier, 110km, 4000 vertical meetings and about 12-14 hours but it wasn’t until our first trying session that I started to appreciate exactly what these numbers meant! Ever struggle with motivation for getting in shape? Just sign up for something which genuinely terrifies you! Fast forward a couple of months, and I was starting to feel like this was actually do-able. I had a good 30,000 vertical meters logged, a whole load of new light-weight kit and a new tight fitting,  technical wardrobe, which I previously wouldn’t have been seen dead in!

    As spring started to arrive we began doing longer tours around the Rosa Blanche area, getting up to around 2000m vertical, which is about half the climbing of the actual race. Knowing you can do half distance and still have a bit more left in the tank is great confidence boaster. But its still hard to know how you are going to hold up both physically and mentally when you do the whole thing, and that is kind of the whole point of endurance events – finding out how you react when you are so cold/tired/hungry that you want to cry!

    Before the start of the race in Zermatt all the competitors attend a service in the church where various speakers get up and explain (in four different languages) a little bit about the race, its history and the epic highs and inevitable lows we can expect to experience along the way. Here are mine.

    Highs 

    • The atmosphere at the start in Zermatt
    • The view going past the matterhorn with a full moon
    • Bacon Sandwich in Arolla
    • Water and Jelly Babies at the top on Rosa Blanche
    • Skiing down to Verbier
    • The Atmosphere coming into the finish in Verbier
    • The steak I had after finishing

    Lows 

    • The false summits on the way up Tête Blanche
    • Struggling up the first icy slope out of Arolla
    • The whole team running out of water half way up the Rosa Blanche climb
    • Nearly falling off the rope on the rappel down from Col de Bertol
    • The 40min skate around Lac des Dix
    • Trying to run in ski boots to the finish line
    • Having to wear a lycra one-piece

    Even though it was an incredibly tough undertaking the ‘highs’ in this list came much more easily to mind than the ‘lows’ and I’m already looking forward to entering again in 2018

    5 common fears of first-time skiers

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    Fear of Skiing

    Some people have a fear of skiing but for many skiing is amazing, the feelings of sliding down a run on a sunny day, the views, the sensation of turning, sliding and the feeling of well being from the mountain are addictive and intoxicating.  This is before you get to the great joys of time spent doing something fun with friends and family, exploring a ski area and eating delicious food on an alpine terrace. The benefits are many, the drawbacks few, but how to learn  and what are the things you need to know?

    If you’ve never been you’re probably harbouring an entirely false set fears about what skiing is actually like. My Aim is to dispel these mis-conceptions and explain what learning to ski is like. I am the founder of European Snowsport a ski school in some of  Europe’s leading ski resorts including Verbier, Zermatt, St Moritz and Chamonix. Each year mostly in Private lessons we teach lots of people how to ski.

    Fear of Skiing Questions

    1) I’m afraid of heights

    Yes you’ll be in the mountains and there will be some peaks nearby, but you wont be near any edges or drop offs or cliffs. In fact for the average learner skier the slopes you’ll use for the first few weeks of your skiing life are nearly always almost totally flat. They might at most have a slight gradient. Slopes are in fact graded by colour, In Switzerland beginner slopes don’t have a grade they are so flat. Then come blue slopes then red and finally black. In America of course there is a fancier system with black diamond and double black diamond. But it will probably be years before you approach these. Some resorts cheat the system be re classifying the runs to make their resort look easier.  This doesn’t happen in Switzerland.

    But for the beginner you don’t really need to worry about anything other than the beginner area this is the case in Verbier where the beginner area is in fact the putting green of the 18th hole of our golf course.

    So there will be nothing to fall off, no nearby precipice, not even a slope to speak of. Once you’ve got to grips with things on the putting green you’ll progress to what’s called the magic carpet, a simple human conveyor belt which progresses incredibly slowly up an equally gentle gradient. Again nothing to worry about. Your instructor will only take you on this when you can stop on the putting green. Step by step your confidence will slowly be building. This first simple step might take more than two or even three hours depending on how you’re feeling, how much sport you do, have done and how coordinated you are.

    Will I be cold?

    St MoritzThe Alps are warm most of the time, from February onwards most people are too hot on the slopes, sure there are bad weather days and cold days but if you are in the sun you’ll probably be too hot not cold. Most beginners usually turn up with too much clothing and can be seen peeling off layers as their lesson progresses.

    So how does my first  ski lesson pan out?  

    In your first experience of skiing you’ll  first learn to  put your equipment on and get used to how it feels on the flat. Then you’ll learn to gently stop probably using what is called a  snowplough.

    The word plough is deceptive, as it brings to mind something quite forceful and powerful. The plough is in fact quite gentle bringing you gently to a  smooth stop. Then you’ll learn to gently glide and brake to a stop. Gently is the important word here, things happen slowly on skis.

    Once you’re confident with the glide you can begin to learn to turn. It’s important to not rush to this stage, the more comfortable you are gliding and ploughing the easier it is to learn  to turn. By now you’re probably on day 2. Turning involves ploughing and making small adjustments to your plough. It does not involve big or powerful movements, it’s subtle and precise.

    Your instructors should give you chance to practice and the terrain he chooses should be as flat as possible. Again, practice this stage before moving on. At this point you might try the magic carpet for the first time and try linking some plough turns together down the gentle slop. As your first week on skis progresses you’ll become more confident at turns getting faster and more precise. You may even move on to the button lift or even go up the mountain and tackle a nice easy blue run   .

    Do I need good balance? 

    Not really, if you can walk you can ski, in fact even if you can’t walk you can still ski with ES Adaptive. Good balance will help but it’s not essential. You’re balance wont be challenged a lot, any normal person can learn to ski.

    Don’t I have to be really fit?

    If you’re a bit unfit it doesn’t matter. In fact the better your technique the less energy you’ll use, Instructors often use next to no energy when they are skiing slowly in front of clients. Even quite fat people can ski really well, so no excuses.  If you are really unfit just allow your self more time to learn, it’s that simple, you’ll take some breaks and it might take a few hours more to get the movements down but no big deal; with a private instructor your going at your pace anyway. it’s certainly no excuse to stop or to not go skiing.

    Am I too old?

    not to old to skiPeople can learn to ski at any age so don’t worry about this, I’ve taught plenty of people in their 70’s how to ski. No excuses.

    So go skiing, it’s easier that you think you can do it even if you’re not fit, if you’re old and there is no need to get cold  or fear heights. Go skiing it’s great.

    Fear of skiing by Julian Griffiths