Am i high, or...

rossta.

rossta.

Member
i decided to jot down a couple of my opinions regarding the skiing. unfortunatly half the people who read this will misunderstand the fact that its my opinion and not intended to start a huge argument. enjoy.

 
No poles is sick because:

It helps make you a better skier because you don’t become reliant on something that is completely unnecessary like poles. You become more in tune with your feet and can do more fun shit just controlling how your weight shifts over every axis of the ski. You get a real sense of becoming ‘one’ with the ski instead of ‘riding’ it. You can still ski everything you could normally without poles, so why bother? They only get in the way.

However:

I think kids do need poles when first learning how to ski. If you learn correctly, poles really do help you learn the basic motions and help keep your upper body pointed downhill, which IS important.

Skiing to me is:

Like painting. I hate the cocky park rat attitude of the ‘person’ skiing and what can ‘this’ and ‘that person’ do? Who cares about what everyone else can and cant do. Just cuz you can spin a hella fast 10 doesn’t mean you’re a good skier, it means you spend way too much time in the park. Skiing to me is like painting. Each run is a completely unique line down the mountain that no one will ever recreate. Your skis are the paintbrushes on the hill and everything you do/create with them is unique to you only, no matter how you do it. Skiing is more of an art form to me than a sport. Sports are all about athletics and strength, speed, etc. Art is more freedom to be unique and creative in your movements some way or another. So…I paint. With my skis.

People need to:

Drop the attitude. Smoke more weed. Chill the fuck out. Everyone these days is so concerned with everybody else that they completely forget about themselves. Everyone always asking “did you hear what ______ did?!” “OMG ____________ did this!” and “what can _______ do?”. Well wtf can YOU do?...yea, who cares. Be yourself, chill out and let everyone ski for what it is and how they want it to be.

Companies need to:

STOP sponsoring the first guy to come to you with a switch 10. The sport doesn’t need to go that direction where until everyone just wants to do ‘tricks’ on skis, like rollerblading. Lets face it, it’s a close comparison. No one straps on a pair of rollerblades to go carve or hit some steep hills.

START sponsoring the first guy to come to you with actual skiing talent. Someone who can make it from point A to point B fast, efficiently, and with style; yet can ALSO thrown down in the park when needed.

The good skiers are the ones who will survive after the revolution, and the revolution is on its way.
 
i hate painting because i cant sit still long enough, skiing with no poles works if you kill everything but if you suck please dont do it you make us skiers lok like gapers.
 
yeah, i think that there should be a rule saying that you should ski 14 years min. with poles so you do know how to ski.
 
dude, i might also be high, but it sounds like you want skiing to be ballet and get people sponsored who look beautiful and arty before those who can throw shit like 10's.
 
I think you^ are high... and I think you freeskier should lay off the narcotics and stick to just weed...

I do agree, 75% of ppl need to chill because 1. 95% of you aren't gonna go pro

1.1 That doesnt mean dont push yourself, that just means that you need to stop worrying about who is better than you and who you are better than

2. Skiing is so much more than park liek you said... and no poles prolly is cool

good thoughts, but take it easy haha
 
yeah^ no. stylie is better than 10's. a 10 is easy as fuck if you have a big enough jump. switch, if you can take of switch comfortably and have a big enough jump you can do a 10, anyone can but a stylie 5 7 9 not everyone can do it.
 
i don't think kids should start out using poles. I've seen waaaay too many kids really mess up their technique by using poles before they know how to use their hands for balance. They end up dragging their poles which places their hands by at their sides and throws off their entire balance. I agree with the no poles thing though; if you can throw down without poles (i can't), more power to ya. Sometimes i wish skiing had evolved without poles.
 
quite a few people in this thread seem pretty high to me,

no but he is right, we all should let everyone do whatever they want, except snowblading, that is the edge of tolerance for me.
 
word but posting that on ns isnt going to change the sport. just ski for yourself. maybe some kids don't think of skiing for its intrinsic value. if thats how they see it, whatever. skiing is skiing. there will always be some kid in the park shooting his mouth off talking shit about how he's flowed out by __(insert trendy company here)__. at the end of the day when you're packing up the car with a smile on your face, thats all that matters. if you cant deal with punk ass kids, smoke another j and forget em'.
 
that was the stupidest bull shit rant ive ever heard because its just what everyone has been saying all along and no poles in the park is super gay
 
i agree with the chill thing. i happened to catch a chair at the bird with a chick who is also on ns. was fun just to chat and meet someone cool. its so nice to meet cool people who are chill and love the sport. i hate the attitude. and about the painting thing - i love ripping big open lines down a bowl where other people have made short turns. and then riding the lift and seeing my own line from top to bottom. "ski your own line"
 
dude i like it.. its how i like to do it, and try to ski with people that are like that, ski for you self and let it flow. def good rant.
 
comments like that 'take away a ton from skiing'. only trendy people who want others to think they're cool get bothered by what someone else does. its cool to be yourself. skiing is about being happy and loving the fact that your at the mountain. best days are powder days when everyone is happy and nobody is pulling attitude cause we're all just stoked to be alive and gettin freshies. if people weren't doing anything different, there would be no PROGRESSION. i think i will always ski with poles - i have no problem with those who ski without them. ignore the people that bother you - encourage those who suck so they can improve(don't be a dick, cause you were a begginer once too - respect those who shred better than you. be happy and be chill, we all love meeting cool people - we all hate meeting dicks - don't be a dick.
 
the painting thing was corny as hell, I'm sorry.

And learning to ski without poles is the was to go I thought, then once you are in control you get to use poles.

And chill out on your anti-park sentiments too, there are some kids who look at skiing more like skateboarding now, not a big deal.
 
im glad to see someone said this before me.

#1 When i read your thing about poles i was in shock about your knowledge of skiing. I am an instructor, and what you said basically was totally wrong. Kids should NEVER start with poles. not only kids, ANYONE. If i see a kid im teaching with poles and its their really beginier the poles are fineto. Kids use the poles as more then an aid. they spin there upper body (which is what you DONT want them to do) and the drop their shoulders after they plant) this is not what is strived upon when learning how to ski. you want your upper body as quiet as possible. (sp?)

#2 was something about you can ski anything just as well as without poles. Not true. most people feel quite off balance without poles, and its not jsut because it feels so different not to use them. IVe gone threw drill after drill, exercise after exercise about poles with my clients. I personally automatically sit back with out poles, where the correct position is sitting forward. I can ski with poles inhand, without pole planting and i am in great position, i just need something in my hands (its wierd) but its what most people actually do. So no, you cant ski just as well without poles.

#3, once again i think you said something about no poles keeps your body down hill? Well in order for that to be sucessfully exocuted, you need to follow threw with a proper pole plant, which creates an obstacle for your ankels and knees to roll over. With out a pole plant, you are not guided to a correctly positioned turn, which evidentally throws off your balance, throwing off your base of support and center of mass. Consequentaly turning your shoulders and not facing down hill.

Thats just my idea on poles. DONT ski with out them.
 
Poles are absolutley nesscessary when in the BC and up on in the big mountains, think of hiking scary shit or traversing a ledge without your poles. When shit gets steep your poles provide that confidence and balance to let your rip down without stopping. I Agree with everything else.
 
thats confusing^ the first sentence was for the replied i quoted. the rest (#1,#2,#3) for the guy who made the thread.

sorry about that. hope its cleared up now
 
if ur just worrying about yourself why does it matter if you ski park or not or with or without poles ... its whatever you prefer ... I agree skiing is way more than just park but you have to admit anyone that throw a steezy switch 10 does have skill ...
 
Sorry friend, I skiied 5 years without poles and there was nothing different...It just takes getting used to like anything else on this planet...and "a complete pole plant?" common, if you mimmick the same hand/arm motions as if you had poles, it works the same, and yes, poles are just to keep your body and hands forward, for stability and balance...I've skiied plenty of trees and bumps without poles and done it to the point where if I had poles, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference, besides the obvious.

Now I do agree that Back Country and Deep Pow are different issues all together, but what you "teach your clients" is the mainstream way to ski...which includes poles. If that's all you've been taught or grown up with, of course you will see it that way. The argument that you teach your clients to ski the proper way, is not valid...esp. since we all go against mainstream skiing when we hit rails. It's a matter of opinion, in which you are very biased being an instructor...What if they wanted you to start teaching everyone how to ski without poles? I'm sure your opinion would change over-night.
 
I tottaly agree with what you say here. People on the mtn. and people on this site care way to much about what other people are up too. People need to worry about thereselves and not about others.
 
yeah ^learning with out poles is sooo much better... i skied with out poles since i was 3 till about 11. just knowing how to skate and not rely on your poles is soo helpful later on in your skiing life
 
Poles are a nececity. Noone can ski mogals, or just rip the all-mountain on a powder day unless you have poles. No poles is so awekwards for me and I guess i can see that people who only ski park, poles would not be nessecary, but when you ski the WHOLE mountain, no poles doesn't work.
 
i think people should learn to ski without poles because if u learn without poles then u dont rely on them when u finally get them
 
I think i managed pretty well. I know Im gonna get ripped on for this but I snowbladed for an entire season. It was a very shady period for me in skiing. regaudless This made me able to ski without poles quite well. I learned moguls on snowblades and stared doing harder stuff. All this time I had my uncle watching my form and helping me out. Well by doing that, I can now ski (on real, full length, taller than me, skis) with or without poles and ski pretty well doing it. So I think you need to know how to use poles just to get the feeling for a correct turn, but you dont nessicarily need them in order to ski well. BTW yes i do and always will use poles...And i will never snowblade again.
 
this might not mean alot to some b/c i don't think this site has a massive amount of telemarkers and, although the dynamics of the fall line are the same - form and function is different than alpine. anyway, i have seen a few tele guys at alta shred big gnarly lines without poles. i don't use the term shred lightly. it is actually really cool to see b/c they get real low and can flat hand the pow like you would do to water on a slalom ski. anyway... just a thought.
 
I have a old ski video that has guys ripping on teles in Europe with a staffs, they rip up some solid terrain while swinging this thing like a ninja and dipping thier hands into the pow. Cool to see. So ... maybe no-poles does have a place.
 
agreed. I like styly grabs over throwed shit. and I like when it looks easy and FUN, just like Jon Olsson makes it llok.
 
ok if u think that poles are useless, u obviously dont ski anything that u need them for(like any thing but the park), and ur prolly a park rat and cant ski anything else
 
tahts deep man, i like the comparison, and i agree with how ppl should learn how to ski first, becuase i see alot of ppl that thrown down in the park and then they suck just goin down the hill
 
Hi.

i read through all the comments and was very tempted to write back on everyones comment but it would have taken forever. instead, I would like to personally address several NS members in the post:

CJHski:

i was commenting negativly on those who only ski park...maybe if you had read more closly you could have taken note of that. i actually prefer big mountain shit to park anyday. sorry i am not the average park rat that you thought you were bitching at.

AWHolsen:

sure there are a bunch of kids who could own a bunch of us here on NS, but that doesnt mean that they are 'skiiers'. they can huck themselves in the park but they cant actually ski the mountain.

Ski_Viscoulsy:

haha, i like how you can admit your mistakes so openly (snowblading). welcome back.

Hagrid:

you're dead fuckin wrong and an idiot. certain people can ski anything without poles, including moguls and big mountain. you can't. unfortuntly, those few ARE better skiiers than you.

powder4breakfast:

nice, i try to rock the bird at least once a year. sick place. i prefer Solitude though, sick terrien and no one there.

killy802:

hella word. i was just addressing the issue, yo...

the 8th ace:

maybe i should clear something up. when i said 'starting out with poles' i meant learning the basic manuevers past the awkward begining when you are 3 years old. but like around 5 or 7 ish, kids should have poles, becuase that is when they are learning how to SKI not SLIDE (which is what you are doing at the age of 3)

sw_steeze:

(see above for poles int he begining issue)

Now. what the fuck. i think you should be fired from being an instructor (opinion) becuase you can't ski. saying that you NEED poles to ski big mountain, bumps, and eveyrthing to stay in proper form? fuck that. actually, its funny that you commented on how 'little' i know because i started out with 'professional' lessons and coninued them until about 6. i then participated in a bunch of skiing orginzations around Wa., including a freestyle mogul team for 4 years. so uh, i can ski the bumps. then i moved out to montana to get in touch with my powder/big mountain side, and uh, yeah. no poles is fine. I can ski just as well with or without poles. i cant speak for you though, you seem pretty conceeded and unopen to opinion. afraid of change. if you are that reliant on your poles to look down the hill and bend your knees, then fuck. enjoy your hot cocoa, old man. i'll see you in the bar when im done SKIING.

ANOTHER OPINION:

Theres a fine line between being a good skiier and an idiot. theres more to skiing than just hucking yourself and hoping that you make all 3 rotations. i think that having 'no fear' is bad when you are skiing, becuase then you just huck yourself and do crazy shit - but you are never in control. you need fear to keep you learning to one day overcome that fear. and when you do, hella control. skiing is all about being in control of what you are doing, not some stuntman antics to get you famous. fuck.

think about it...
 
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