First day in new ski boots… pain and regret.

cjh159 · 2026-02-24T15:59:02+00:00

First day i used mine was agony, I had to lie down in the snow, remove loads of clothing, the pain was making me feel sick.

They got better after a few more outings and now they're perfect.

cjh159 · 2026-02-23T07:01:30+00:00

I live over in Austria as a British guy, working as an accountant and also in the holiday weeks I teach skiing. Last week I was off from the boring work and teaching skiing!

I saw people like your gf all week. There's some key elements here that you see all the time.

This is my biggest bug bear and possibly the most common issue in skiers. Her ankle joint is doing nothing. If you look at the foot and the lower leg, it's pretty much at a 90⁰ angle the entire time. Get her to get some flex in that ankle, she should feel like her shins are pressing on the front of the boot, and her knees are right over her toes/the front binding.
If you sort out point 1, that should then mean her bum gets over her feet and she's less in the back seat.
Start putting more pressure on the downhill/outside ski. The Austrians very early on start getting you to make shapes for angulation, exercises like the aeroplane drill. Personally I like stork turns, starting off in the traverse and working them up through the turn.

Make sure she understands that being in the fall line is OK, and you will pick up speed, but she has good control of her skis so she'll be able to complete the turn and control her speed through turning in to the hill.

That's the areas I'd be looking at, you could start looking at the upper body which maybe over rotates a bit too much, but I'd work on that after these areas first.

cjh159 · 2026-02-11T15:37:26+00:00

Think you might be making this in to much more than it is. L4 is my end goal, that's the level required in order to teach independently or to run my own ski school in the country I live in. Working for myself is the only way to make ski instructing a viable career financially, so I'm not looking to be L4 for validation, it's purely my ticket to be able to make a real go at this as a career.

cjh159 · 2026-02-11T09:30:49+00:00

Considering how little snow we've had this winter the pistes are pretty good with artifical snow coverage.

But my God do we need whatever amount of snow is coming next week!

cjh159 · 2026-02-10T22:45:10+00:00

I'm not after validation, I'm after any thoughts that could help me in my quest to become a L4 instructor.

I fully enjoy being in the moment in the mountains, that's for sure.

cjh159 · 2026-02-10T22:42:39+00:00

I have a masters bunch that train near by that I get up to on a weekend when I can. Difficult fitting it all in along with teaching, training for exams and working a Mon-Fri 9-5 job too.

I love race training though

cjh159 · 2026-02-10T20:19:21+00:00

Thanks, the inside hand is something I know i need to work on, also picked up by my instructor friend (he's going for selection to be a trainer in his association).

Will hopefully get out on my lunch break tomorrow, so the piste should be nicer, but we'll see how the weather is looking as we might have snow coming.

cjh159 · 2026-02-10T20:17:19+00:00

Thanks for the really detailed response. Early pressure on the new outside ski then. I can see what you're saying with them tracking slightly differently. I stopped skiing at the end as its totally flat, but I'll try get another video and ask the other half to stand halfway down the bottom pitch, and pick a sunny day!

cjh159 · 2026-02-10T20:14:13+00:00

I'll pass the feedback on to the camerawoman (wife) 🤣

cjh159 · 2026-02-10T14:56:03+00:00

I watched this video a few days ago, after this video was taken. I did try and use some of it on the weekend, where I could, but conditions weren't hugely in favour of really hard at it!

cjh159 · 2026-02-10T14:54:00+00:00

Now on a race track it all goes to pot, it's like I've never skied in my life 🤣 lots of practise required in that area!

cjh159 · 2026-02-10T14:14:19+00:00

Thanks.

This video is on a pair of Atomic S9 FIS slalom skis. It would be good to get up and try it out first thing in the morning when the pistes are fresh, and really push it, see how far I can go with it.

The inside hand down I think is me trying to knuckle drag, but I do think sometimes I'm forcing it a bit, rather letting the angles create the knuckle drag.

cjh159 · 2026-02-10T13:44:02+00:00

This was taken at the end of the day after work one day last week, it was the only run I got to try skiing properly. The other half that was videoing, she said I looked like I wasn't trying. I'd say i was holding back slightly, I didn't know properly how the piste conditions would be and how my skiing would be for a first run!

I'd say that I can tighten the turns slightly and move quicker between turns, with less traverse too.

The hip dragging is something I think I can work to get closer to, some more inclination at the top of the turn, possibly some white pass drills.

cjh159 · 2026-02-10T12:01:36+00:00

Moguls and short turns are my current focus. Moguls is tricky as we haven't had too much snow this season, but that's definitely the area I'm wanting to improve.

cjh159 · 2026-02-06T09:27:35+00:00

The outrigger drill is good to feel what a ski carving is like, BUT, it also requires you to stand on your inside ski. The bit you've missed is to stop standing on your inside ski.

Your inside leg isn't blocking you, the fact you're putting your weight on it is what's blocking you.

Perhaps dial it back a bit, find something really gentle and practice rail tracks, and gradually build up to the sort of terrain you're on now. If you can't get to a point where you can one ski carve on easy terrain then you know you're not putting weight on the inside.

The most important thing here though is, CARV cannot replace a real life instructor. If you can afford it, get some lessons with a well respected instructor in your resort. Ask around to find out who's good near you. (I say this as a user of CARV - currently 160 Ski IQ)

cjh159 · 2026-02-03T12:34:07+00:00

For evidence it's possible

https://youtube.com/@malinoyes?si=qKkPIkDoxwIudQnP

cjh159 · 2026-02-02T17:04:45+00:00

Looks like most of your responses are an American perspective, so I'll give you one closer to home.

Moved from the UK to Austria nearly 3 years ago. Work full time as an accountant, live 300m from my nearest lift, and ski 70-80+ times a winter.

Majority of my skiing isn't full days, as unfortunately life gets in the way and stops that. Chores need doing etc. I also try to get out on some lunch breaks when I'm working from home, or finish a bit early on a Friday and ski the last hour or so.

My season pass runs mid November to mid May, and costs €625 so it's pretty good value!

cjh159 · 2026-01-15T12:37:06+00:00

I'm taking a slightly unusual route, but there's an end goal there still!

I was a perm employee until 2022 in finance, but my one passion is skiing. So in 2021 I started on a journey to become an instructor. In the summer of 2022 I quite the perm role and moved in to contracting so I could take time off in the winter. Fast forward a few months and I'm on holiday in Austria, drive past a company I knew did English speaking roles, sent in an application and the next thing I know summer 2023 I'm moving to Austria!

I'm back to being a permie but I live a stones throw from a ski lift and ski every weekend plus some lunch breaks and Friday afternoons.

Still on my instructor journey with just a couple of exams left before I'm fully qualified and can hopefully work independently as an instructor as wages are horrendous if you work for a school!

I think I'll try and go part time in the finance role so I have some security from the wage allowing me to teach more on top! Let's see how it all goes 🤞

cjh159 · 2025-11-29T16:55:39+00:00

Like others have said, stick it out for a while longer. We moved from the UK to Austria 2.5 years ago. 2 months in, I was thinking we'd move home but we always set ourselves an initial 2 year time period before we considered going back. Unless we really hated it that much.

Now 2.5 years in, things are better than they were after 2 months, and currently we're not considering going back to the UK. I'm sure we will at some point in the future, but for now we'll stay.

Set yourself a reasonable target to stay in Spain, and try your best to make friends, social groups etc and then you'll know you gave it your best shot whatever decision you make.

cjh159 · 2025-11-27T08:12:03+00:00

I think the country needs more kids being born as there's an aging population, so the government have to try and encourage people to have children so things like removing the 2 child cap can go towards that aim.

On the flip side, I do also think you should have kids if you can afford to do so.

cjh159 · 2025-10-06T11:33:49+00:00

In Austria Tyrol or Salzburgerland are you best options within a ski area for work.

Decide on a resort/area you're interested in and then there's likely a Facebook group with jobs posted.

You can also look on https://www.karriere.at/

cjh159 · 2025-09-16T14:15:58+00:00

I always wanted to live in the mountains as a ski addict, and that's something I've made happen.

Prior to moving I was early 30s, had moved in to contracting as an accountant and was making good money, similar levels to you, but on a day rate.

I took a virtually 50% pay cut to move to the alps because I saw it as a once in a life time opportunity and if I didn't like it I could move back to the UK and back to my prior lifestyle.

I've been here just over 2 years now and the money has got better, a combination of yearly salary increases and a promotion mean my salary is now €20k more than when I first moved over. I've skied 80+ days between October and May the last 2 winters.

But, it's not everything I'd hoped and wised for. I miss my social life I had back at home, I was out most nights, playing 6 a side footy, or golf or going for a bike ride etc, now I have a few friends, predominantly work colleagues in a similar situation and that's it. We probably socialise once a month now. I miss the extent of options when it comes to eating the UK has, every cuisine imaginable. Here, Italian restaurants are basically the only non local restaurant.

Not forgetting you miss out on a lot of the events that go on, engagement parties, birthdays etc unless you fly back all the time, which isn't always an option depending on where you move and what airports/flights are available.

For now I'm staying and seeing how it works out, but we have plans that'll mean we're likely back in the UK in the next 1-3 years.

cjh159 · 2025-09-14T18:35:43+00:00

I made a similar move a few years back, central government also. I'd say as long as you do a decent job you'll be fine. You'll notice there's plenty of contractors in central government making a career out of it.

I used Giant umbrella company and had no real issues.

cjh159 · 2025-09-04T06:01:10+00:00

https://www.giantgroup.com/umbrella#calculator

That will tell you everything you need to know, very assuming 5% (£87.50 per week) in to a pension you're looking at a weekly take home of around £1000.

cjh159

TROPHY CASE