The Skiing Department Blog

One of the most important items of equipment to purchase before going skiing is a good set of skiing goggles.

It does not matter what level of skiing you are at, from first time beginner to professional racer, a set of goggles is essential for many reasons. There are a wide variety of models available that have a range of prices, to suit all budgets. Typically, you can spend between £30 to £120 (€35 to €150) on a set of goggles.

The differences in pricing mostly reflect the goggles lenses and the added benefits more expensive lenses would offer.

Why do we need to wear ski goggles?
There are two main reasons why we wear ski goggles:
The first is protection from the wind and the cold on our eyes when we are travelling at speed and the second is to protect the eyes from the sun.
There is another reason, which is of course fashion, and like all accessories some it is not an essential consideration but certainly one that many people take seriously.

Higher priced goggles might offer more anti fogging abilities, lenses that are made from materials that allow more clarity of vision and also anti scratch properties. All ski goggle lenses should have 100% UV (ultra violet) sunlight protection.

Ski goggle lenses are also designed for different weather conditions.
Some lenses are designed for bright sunlight whilst others are designed for foggy or cloudy (white out) conditions. Professional skiers will have several sets of goggles to use for whatever weather conditions they face. It is also sometimes possible to have inter-changeable lenses on your goggles, although as it is the lenses that make up the bulk of the cost, it is just as effective to buy a second set of goggles and wear them according to the weather at the time.

As a beginner or recreational skier who can understandably only justify one set of goggles, I would recommend lenses for cloudy, foggy and white out conditions. (A white out is when it’s difficult to determine the difference between the cloud and the snow, therefore creating a feeling of disorientation). These lenses will enhance the contrast and help to minimise the impact of white out conditions. When the weather is sunny then you can wear sunglasses instead of your goggles, so you have goggles for bad weather, and sunglasses for good (sunny) weather.

I have come across many recreational skiers who dislike wearing goggles and therefore always wear sunglasses for the following reasons: They feel uncomfortable, their face gets too hot, they think they look stupid, they prefer sunglasses as they think they look better in them.
The downsides to wearing sunglasses even on a sunny day are that it might still be very cold and your eyes can water/start to freeze up, the wind gets in your eyes, they can fall off too easily if not properly adjusted.

Personally I do wear sunglasses on sunny days, especially if teaching, mainly for some of the reasons I have given above! But, if skiing at anything approaching high speed, I would rather wear goggles with clear lenses on a sunny day then wear sunglasses. Also, they are not uncomfortable to wear, especially today as the manufacturing technology has improved.

If you are skiing off piste, especially in deep powder snow, always wear goggles, do not wear sunglasses, whatever the weather. If you fall, you will either lose your sunglasses in deep snow or they will get wet on the inside and you won’t be able to clear them until you get indoors.

Goggles can also ‘fog up’. This can be a common problem, especially with beginners. This generally happens when moisture forms on the inside of the lens due to overheating or water/snow entering the goggles. Once snow gets onto the lenses, either inside or outside, it can be difficult to stop the goggles from fogging up. The best solution is to try and prevent any snow or water getting on the lenses, but it is often easier said than done if you fall over in the snow or it is snowing. You should carry a good lens cloth with you and if the goggles do fog up, try and use covered type ski lift (EG: Cable Car/Gondola), where you will have time to dry them off. If you don’t have that facility and you really have problems with vision, it would be best to find a restaurant or other indoor area once in a while to dry the goggles off.

More expensive lenses can certainly help prevent fogging up but in my experience, if the weather conditions are humid and wet then all goggles will fog up at some point. It’s just part of the skiing experience. The best advice is just to keep them as dry as possible. I have never come across any magical trick to prevent fogging up, but if anyone knows one, please write in!

For some time, I have used Scott goggles, which I have found to be excellent. Other makes that I have used in the past include, Bollé (Good quality, value and stylish) and Briko (excellent lenses for ski racing).

I hope that you found this post informative. If you have any questions or feedback please do contact me via the comments section.

In my last blog post, on learning to ski, I got up to the point where you has learnt to ‘sidestep’ up a small slope and get used to the feeling of having skis on your feet.

It’s worth bearing in mind that my posts on beginners ski tips are not designed as a self teaching manual on learning to ski but merely a tool to use alongside a professional ski instructor. Hopefully, the information that I am providing will help beginners answer some of the questions they have before embarking on this new and exciting experience.

The next stage of learning to ski is to actually descend down a slope for the first time. The ideal slope will of course be very shallow, not too long (about 10 meters) with a flat section at the top and a ‘run out’ area at the bottom. Ideally, the run out area should be sloping back uphill. It’s not always possible to find the perfect slope but your instructor will be able to find the most suitable slope to learn on in the area.

One of the first things to remember when taking up the sport of skiing is that it is an athletic sport. This is not to say that you have to be an ‘athlete’ to be able to ski, it just means that the movements you make are athletic movements and some skiers will of course be more athletic than others. I have personally taught people in their 70’s that had never put on skis before and they have achieved a high level of skill very quickly. A decent level of fitness does help and any kind of general exercise will make a positive difference to the experience of learning to ski.

One of the points of the sport being athletic is that you are rarely standing in the same position for long. Skiing is a dynamic sport and although there are basic positions that are taught when you learn to ski, it is important to remember that we move in and out of these positions all the time.

When you are preparing to make your first decent down the small nursery slope in front of you, the basic position of standing on your skis will be adopted. Firstly stand with your skis apart and parallel to each other. The width of the skis can vary but in general, about hip width apart is fine. If they are too close together your will lack stability and if they are too far apart it will feel uncomfortable and you might lack control.

Naturally you would have noticed that your ski boots angle your lower leg slightly forward. Your ankles should be slightly flexed inside your ski boots. Then your knees and your pelvis are also slightly flexed. The well known ski instructors cry of ‘bend zee knees’ is not incorrect, but just bending the knees only is not enough. Better to flex a little everywhere (Knees, ankles, hips) than only in one place. A position of ‘readiness’ is adopted, rather like when expecting a tennis ball or even like a goal keeper in football (Soccer).

Ski poles are an important piece of equipment, and at this stage they are used to help you stay upright, walk up slopes and possible to push you along a flat area. In future, they will have other uses but for now it is important to hold them correctly when skiing down. Hold your hands slightly forward from the body at about hip level with the elbows slightly bent. Try and relax the arms. They don’t have to stay like this all the time but if you think of this position as the ‘core’ position, that you come back to, this will at least give you an idea of the general posture you should adopt when skiing.

Going up to the head, one of the most common things to do when learning to ski is to look down at your skis. Always look up in the direction of where you are going. Think about looking at your pedals when riding a bike or the gear stick when changing gear in the car, it doesn’t help and neither will looking at your skis.

So, the general posture has been adopted. Naturally flexed, ready and dynamic. This will prepare you for the changes that you will have to deal with on a slope. Changes in gradient, small bumps, humps and varying snow conditions. All of these will throw your balance off and by always trying to come back to the ‘core’ posture you will manage to stay in balance at all times.

Your first experience of skiing down the small slope should not throw up these challenges and hopefully the snow is smooth and consistent. Before skiing down the slope just try moving around a bit, flexing up and down, jumping up and down, moving away from the ‘core’ position and coming back to it again.

Start your descent with one small push of your ski poles and then let the skis do the work. You will slide down the short slope and come to a natural stop at the bottom where the slope starts to go back uphill.

In my next post, I will discuss some exercises to perform that will further enhance posture and agility and start to introduce ways of controlling your speed.

All photos © Serge Sozonoff

I have previously written about the possible occurrences of avalanches in ski resorts and tried to answer some questions to skiers, on their first ski trip, about how these forces of nature might affect them. Other than in very rare circumstances, avalanches do not cause concern to towns and villages, beginners ski slopes or even more difficult runs. Of course, in exceptional circumstances, they might become a problem and there are some examples of this happening. But, the main risk of avalanche is to skiers once they venture off the controlled or marked ski runs and venture into the territory commonly known as off piste or backcountry.

One of the most common causes of injury or death, in an avalanche situation, is the skier starting the avalanche themselves. This can be due to the skiers weight on the snow triggering a slide or the movement of the skis running through the snow and cutting the surface like a knife.
Of course, conditions vary and sometimes the snow outside the controlled or marked ski runs is safe and stable, providing no avalanche risk at all. The skill comes in being able to know when it is safe and when it is not. Ski resorts have systems in place to warn people of the dangers with various degrees of danger and symbols that clearly display what the current level is.
Click here to view the European standard system for avalanche danger.

Generally avalanches occur when there has been a heavy snowfall although this is not necessarily the case. A build up of heat can also trigger snow to slide even if the snow has been lying for many days and sometimes even weeks. A build up of wind blown snow at the top of a ridge, also known as a cornice, can also trigger an avalanche if it breaks away and starts to slide down hill, often bringing more snow with it. There are other reasons but the most common are known are as follows:
Powder Avalanches (Fresh Snow), Slab Avalanches (Layer breaking away) and Wet Snow Avalanches (warming temperatures rupturing layers).

One of the key words in avalanche knowledge is ‘Layers’. During the snowfall season there will typically be several falls of snow. Some are heavy, some are light. The temperature, wind and humidity factor can vary which creates different types of snow every time a fall occurs. This means that different layers build up, each unique in consistency, density and solidity. What this means is that often the layers do not bond together well enough and when something occurs to break that bond further, like temperature change, a skiers weight or vibration then this triggers one layer to slide off the other, creating an avalanche.

In other posts on this subject I will go into more detail about the different types of avalanche, the ways of looking at the dangers that might be told in the ‘snowpack’, and also methods of preventing being caught in an avalanche. I will also look at ways of rescue, if the worst happens and a companion is buried under the snow.

A personal friend of mine wrote a short story about one of his experiences with an avalanche in Verbier, Switzerland in 1999. I wanted to publish this story as I felt it really made you feel close to understanding the situation that is presented when encountered with this force of nature: Avalanche story

This story is written by Scott Hammond who now lives in Norway and runs White Mountain Sports, a ski school, ski shop and luxury self catering accommodation in Kvitfjell, near Lillehammer.

In previous posts, I have written a little about avalanches and the effect they have on skiers in the mountains.  A personal friend of mine wrote a short story about one of his experiences with an avalanche in Verbier, Switzerland in 1999. I wanted to publish this story as I felt it really made you feel close to understanding the situation that is presented when encountered with this force of nature.

This story is written by Scott Hammond who now lives in Norway and runs White Mountain Sports, a ski school, ski shop and luxury self catering accommodation in Kvitfjell, near Lillehammer.

The winter of 1999 was an amazing winter season in Verbier, as it was in most of the Alps. ‘The Big Winter of 1998/99’.  As far as I remember it all started around January 26th. It started to snow and from then on, it was powder skiing every day. It snowed heavily for five days and then cleared up again. It snowed pretty much solidly for five weeks with a four day window of sunshine after 3 weeks of heavy snow and then back to more snow, for a further 2 weeks.

On Feb 1st 1999, my brother and I woke up to a blue bird powder day. With a small group of friends (5 of us in total) we headed straight to an off piste run called Col Des Mouches. We were one of the first across the famous Tortin face and in to the huge bowl. Col Des Mouches is not particularly steep, but known for slides coming from the steep coloiurs or gullies above. We made our way safely across the bowl, keeping an eye on “Banana Coloiur” above us, a well known avalanche hot spot. One of the girls, Ross, who we were skiing with fell and lost a ski. There was a meter plus of snow and we were several hundred meters below her. For us to climb back up to her would have taken along time. The other girl, Suzie was together with her.

We decided to ski down the long run in untracked powder and come back around to help them. On the way down I made a friend aware of a bowl to our left. If there were a slide when he skied into it, with this much snow, he would not get out very easily, so it was best avoided. The bowl was approximately thirty meters across and eight meters deep. We skied around it and descended to the bottom, which turned out to be an amazing run. At the bottom we met an old ski buddy and my brother stopped for a chat. I decided to head back up and help Ross look for her ski. The Tortin lift took five minutes for the ride up and then it was a five minute traverse back across to Col Des Mouches and then a small decent. This meant I was away from the girls for about twenty five minutes.

Arriving back in Col Des Mouches, while traversing over to where the girls were, I noticed that there were some people skiing away fast. One particular guy was screaming “let’s get the hell outta here”. I did not think much of it. I continued across and over the ridge. I came over the crest of the ridge to see my ski tips sticking out one meter over a fracture in the snow of around one meter deep. The fracture line spread out some five hundred meters across. I looked down and saw the final movements of a massive amount of snow sliding down hill. A huge snow cloud was starting to rise and Ross and Suzie were nowhere to be seen. I knew where they were when we left them, but I could not see them. I backed out of the slide area as it was still on its way down and skied out into the middle of the now tracked out bowl which was at a much lower angle. The bowl we had skied was somewhat steeper but not overly. I estimate around 28 degrees.

After skiing down a few hundred meters to where the avalanche debris has gathered, I traversed back into the middle of the now stationary slide. I found one guy half buried and pulling himself out. Another was lying on the snow but I could see he was moving, alive and in no real discomfort. Another was walking around after getting out of the snow. He was disorientated and panicking. I called out to him.

“What happened?”
“Avalanche”
“Anyone buried? How many of you were there?”
“6” I could only see 3
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for my skis” This shocked me but I new, he was in shock.
“Have you seen 2 girls?”
“Yes, we passed them, they were over there but moving down”
“Do you have beacons?”
“Yes”
“Turn them to receive!”

He looked at his beacon with no idea what to do. He was very confused and in shock, but I am sure that he had never used it before.

It only occurred to me later in the day that I was the first and only one on the scene. I pulled out my beacon and turned it to receive and picked up several signals. I was hoping that they were not the two guys closest to me, which they were. I went over and turned their beacons to receive. I started to search and found two other signals and started moving upwards. My brother then arrived and started to panic. One of the missing girls was his girlfriend. He had his beacon on ‘send’ which was making it impossible to search, as we were too close to each other. He had no idea what to do and started to cry and panic. He could not function, so I turned his off and told him that someone had seen the girls descending. It would be best if he went down to look for them at the lift station, and to report if they were not there. If they had one pair of skis he should be able to catch up with them and if they had found the skis, someone may have seen them at the bottom.

The confused guy had turned his beacon to receive and it was now making a loud noise which I knew meant that the buried victim was close. I was now picking up a faint signal as well and confused guys beacon was making a loud beeping sound. He was some 50m higher than me. I made my way up and my signal got stronger. He was still unaware of what to do, so I headed towards him to turn his beacon off. This was all a blur to me, but I assume that it was now five minutes or so after my arrival on the scene. A mountain guide had now arrived as news and the size of the slide had gotten to the piste patrol. He asked me what I knew and I told him what I had done. I told him I had a signal. He told me to keep on that one and he went off in a different direction to search. When I got to the confused guy, looking at his beacon, he had it set on forty meters. Mine was quieter but finding a signal as I had been winding the distance down as I got closer to the source.

By now, people were arriving from everywhere and more and more beeps were being recorded by the receivers. Another guide had arrived and started to direct from above, stopping people far enough away and asking them to turn their beacons to ‘send’ so it did not to interfere with my search. I had turned off confused guys beacon and found that I was only eight meters away. I climbed up and to the left and pin pointed the signal to within one meter. At this point, I got my probe and shovel from my bag and handed them to some other skiers that had now arrived. We were now at around the ten minute mark, I think.

I found the exact point and asked whoever had my probe to start probing. He started to probe about thirty centimetres under the snow just pushing in and pulling out again. I took the probe from him and shoved it into the snow, hitting hard all the way down and kept going until it stopped. I probed a few more times and was confident that I had located the victim. I started to dig with my hands and someone else was using my shovel. More shovels arrived and after what seemed to be forever, we had a two meter hole. I had no idea how long it had taken at this point as we were digging furiously for some time.

I found the top of the victims head and I quickly dug around his face. I cleared the snow from his back and lifted his head slowly to get his face out of the snow. I then shoved my fingers up in his mouth to clear the snow which was jammed in tight and put my fingers in his nose to clear his nostrils and airways. He had snow jammed into every orifice. On clearing the snow from his mouth, there was a huge gasp for air but I could feel there was a lot more snow to be cleared from his airways. At this point, he bit down hard on my fingers. Then I knew for sure that he was alive. I wanted to punch him in the back of the head as it hurt so much, but I thought that he had been through enough that day!

By now there were pisteurs, guides and skiers all over the slide searching for more victims. I could hear the sound of helicopters in the distance. I later found out that the guy I dug out was called Mark. By the time we had him clear, there were dogs, guides and skiers in what seemed to be in the 100’s. Mark was taken to the one of the waiting helicopters and flown to Sion hospital. The guide that was first on the scene then came to me and told me that I had done well and asked me if I could assist him on searching the avalanche path to the valley, to check for further victims. We descended and crossed the path of the huge slide. Thankfully, we did not pick anymore signals.

I skied down to the bottom and arrived at Tortin lift station. Helicopters were picking anyone who had a beacon, probe and shovel and flying them up to the slide. My probe and shovel were still up at the avalanche site which I never got back, though the ski resort did buy me new ones. Some friends started to ask what had happened to which I told them as much as I could remember as they were preparing to go back up. I then lost all control and collapsed. I had to be helped to get my skis off. I was shaking and unable to stand up. I was helped inside the restaurant. Someone went to get me a large beer. In the restaurant, I found my brother and the girls. I sat there a cried for some time. The girls had been standing there when it cracked a meter in front of them. They were not buried though Ross lost her skis. I still do not know how I did not see them walking down. The avalanche was huge. Some five hundred meters wide, two kilometres long and over one meter deep.

The official report on the avalanche was later put down to a rapid local temperature change and not human triggered. Our good friend “John Boy” died on his 50th birthday under six meters of snow in the small bowl, I told my friend not to ski into. Another skier was in hospital for 2 weeks suffering from related injuries and hypothermia. Mark was taken to hospital and was released later that day. I spent the next few days with heavily bruised hands from digging through hard pack snow with my bare hands, as well as being bitten. I broke down in tears at work on several occasions that week.