Kirk Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 No, it's a matter of population. In Switzerland, the percentage of kids who are brought up skiing is probably similar to the percentage of American kids brought up playing baseball. OK Jack, I can see your point. But it seems that perhaps it's more of a cultural thing than population. I guess I'm looking at the population of the east coast, particularly the New England region, the access to a variety of resorts (many considered world class) and the skiing/riding culture that I know exists there. I have a hard time believing that there isn't a good share of sliding sports programs available to develop youth riders/skiiers for competition (maybe some coaches could chime in here). As mentioned above, there are plenty of riders coming out of the east coast competing on the WC level - many started sliding when they were barely old enough to take their first steps. Then again, maybe many of these kids split their time with other "traditional" American activities growing up (ie baseball, football, etc.), and drop the snow sports for a period of time? Conversely, the "average kid" from Austria or Switzerland may eat, breathe, sleep skiing/riding ONLY? Cross training for skiing/riding off season. This would make an interesting study.... Oh, and if I see Superman on the hill, I'm still asking for his autograph...if Seinfeld is there with him, I may try to get his too Took this one slightly OT - sorry to the OP :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 next to no rider development unless mommy or daddy is reasonably wealthy, the **** get pricey quick. then you need a parent or a nanny with the time to get Jr to competitions often held on school days. so, it boils down to rich kids that happen to slide that their parents have the time/money to invest in the sport, this end up being a extreme minority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paappraiser Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 This isn't for sure but I've heard many people from the East can handle the ice like cake, but the constant need of sharp edges cuts down on the life of their boards. So I guess in saying this I have a question myself. Do riders from the East always need to have sharp edges to have a good day out on the ice? I dont sharpen my edges ever day. But a nice edge does help when you hit a sheet of blue... Im not kidding when I say we have sheets of pure solid ice, its rock hard, like black ice on the road.... I just make sure Im sharp, and let it go. My boards last long enough there is a lot of metal there. Its funny... The mountains here will never report the condition as "Icy" they just say "mixed terrain" you kinda know its going to be a bad day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willywhit Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 you can usually find some snow that isn't "skiied off" on the edges of the trails, you really only need a 5 or 6 foot wide swath to wiggle turns on. we use the ice to "hockey stop" on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Morales Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 I use ice to keep my beer cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 OK Jack, I can see your point. But it seems that perhaps it's more of a cultural thing than population. Well yes, it's cultural. By "population" I meant the sheer number of people in race programs in each region. I guess I'm looking at the population of the east coast, particularly the New England region, the access to a variety of resorts (many considered world class) and the skiing/riding culture that I know exists there. I'd say the "world class" resorts are in the minority in NE. As for access, any slope you could seriously train at are hours away from most people. I've been to Switzerland. Saying there is at least one chairlift in every town is not much of an exaggeration, if at all. I have a hard time believing that there isn't a good share of sliding sports programs available to develop youth riders/skiiers for competition (maybe some coaches could chime in here). Off the top of my head I can only think of a handful of world class programs. CVA, SMS, Gould, Holderness... below that there are certainly other programs, but again it's a matter of culture, and definitely what Bob said above. As mentioned above, there are plenty of riders coming out of the east coast competing on the WC level - many started sliding when they were barely old enough to take their first steps. Then again, maybe many of these kids split their time with other "traditional" American activities growing up (ie baseball, football, etc.), and drop the snow sports for a period of time? Conversely, the "average kid" from Austria or Switzerland may eat, breathe, sleep skiing/riding ONLY? Cross training for skiing/riding off season. This would make an interesting study.... Agreed. Oh, and if I see Superman on the hill, I'm still asking for his autograph...if Seinfeld is there with him, I may try to get his too Took this one slightly OT - sorry to the OP :o Heh, I'm thinking Seinfeld is a bit too much of a dandy to last long on a ski slope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 I use ice to keep my beer cold. well hey...look at it this way...when the better-than-others ice coasters SLAM on that "hardpack"...at least they can just lay there to keep the swelling down ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullwings Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 No, it's a matter of population. In Switzerland, the percentage of kids who are brought up skiing is probably similar to the percentage of American kids brought up playing baseball. The best talent rises to the top. A friend of mine at work lived in switzerland for 15 years. He said that that the school system there has a mandatory "winter-sports break" in addition to the holiday season break (christmas for some people). So, kids get to take a whole week of school off so they can go up to the alps for snowboarding and skiing. Only kids here (U.S.) that see winter sports, whether for recreational fun or competition, are those whose parents have money (majority of them anyway), which suports another claim i made earlier regarding the kind of people found on the slopes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdboytyler Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 Apples and oranges. Skiing in Switzerland is like baseball here. There are chairlifts in every town. That region is a factory for skiing talent. No comparison..... Give it up. When an east coast rider goes west, it's like Superman leaving planet Krypton. And why is Switzerland a factory for ski talent? Because the Swiss get awesome conditions, which makes it worthwhile for the population at large to participate in the snowsports. I theorize that if the Swiss had ice coast conditions, they wouldn't be as involved in skiing and snowboarding. As for the east coaster being Supermen when they're out west, where is the video to prove this? From video clips I've seen of SES, I haven't seen any East Coast superiority I also theorize that the East/West debate is always brought up by an east coaster. Inferiority complex or jealousy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 Terje is from Norway, another country where most people ski but unlike Switzerland it's friggin' icey and cold just like VT/NH/ME/Quebec and NB I thought france and Italy where where the good snow was in europe anyway, I thought the Swiss got not as good conditions for some reason also, much of the skiing culture in europe has nothing to do with conditions other than there IS snow much of the year, it was for a long time the most efficient way to get to school or town or whatever short of having dogsleds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 A friend of mine at work lived in switzerland for 15 years. He said that that the school system there has a mandatory "winter-sports break" in addition to the holiday season break (christmas for some people). So, kids get to take a whole week of school off so they can go up to the alps for snowboarding and skiing. Mandatory!? Wow, how'd it be to grow up with that "requirement" as part of a school curriculum "You vill snowboard oder schi und you VILL ENJOY IT!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullwings Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 I thought france and Italy where where the good snow was in europe anyway, I thought the Swiss got not as good conditions for some reason also, much of the skiing culture in europe has nothing to do with conditions other than there IS snow much of the year, it was for a long time the most efficient way to get to school or town or whatever short of having dogsleds yeah, that's what i remember hearing. of course, i've never been to the swiss Alps, but they definitely don't have great conditions all the time. in fact, i've heard the opposite from people that have been to the swiss alps and ski year round. I don't think they necessarily get as much snow, precipitation wise, but rather that what snow they do get, stays there. That, in turn, means less than ideal conditions. I could very well be wrong, but i'll leave that for someone from those areas to correct (year round data observations is what we need, not -- i made a 1 week trip there once and it was awesome). i'll look up a climate chart and check what their annual precipitation looks like. or, i'll be lazy, and not do anything. you'll know... Edit: http://www.myswissalps.com/switzerland/switzerland-nature.asp?lang=EN under the weather section, they show an average precipitation of 400cm (not inches). that's just precipitation, and not necessarily snowfall, some of that might be rain. i'll throw out some mammoth numbers now. i took this from the mammoth website. the last 15 seasons, show an average of 441 inches of snow. multiply that by 2.54, and that's 1121cm. that's close to 3x the amount. last year had 668 inches or 1697cm of snow. those are just purely numbers, and it says nothing about the snow conditions per say. however, with the numbers they report 400cm (about 157 inches) and how much snow you always see in pictures and stuff, it probably means that the snow stays there. and you know what they say about snow that just stays there forever... i hope you know because i don't :lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 I thought the Swiss got not as good conditions for some reason I dunno, but Zinal is in Switzerland, and from here it looks pretty darn good: http://www.extremecarving.com/films/2003/wmv/stoked1.wmv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobD Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 In the midwest, we never ride ice. At least according to the conditions reports at all the hills. It's always packed powder. Also, even when the dirt is showing through the snow - it's always 24 to 48 inch base. BobD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdboytyler Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 ... I thought the Swiss got not as good conditions for some reason ... I've only been to Switzerland once (March of 91 at St. Moritz for a week), and the snow conditions were great. The groomed was hero snow. And the 1 day that it dumped a couple feet, the snow was nice and dry and it stayed fairly untracked off-piste most of the day. And when I was researching that trip, I read plenty of articles that raved about the snow conditions at Switzerland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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