Harrison was having a hard time yesterday, struggling to adapt and make changes. Instead of giving in to despair he took it all on board and today was a transformation. Well done Harrison! I didn’t modify my plans for the day in the slightest and we got through an extensive program without a hitch.
Eilidh got lost on the slalom course (another “malfunction”) and had to be demoted with Harrison easily taking top place in the “Technical Progress” category. Alex continued his steady progress overall – taking something positive from every exercise. Alex wins “Best Jump”. Eilidh Still has the lead in the “Wise Word” category because nobody could come up with anything that might explain what “time” is or anything else that matters in the universe. (Questions on skiing were extended to include the entire universe!)
Wingsuit Skiing
After the warm up run down to La Roche Harrison said that he could really feel the pressure properly on his outside leg. This was great to hear – because it was always the key to opening up his skiing experience. Meanwhile Alex was still getting stuck on the backs of his ski boots so our first exercise was to ski with an EXTREME lean forward – hanging in the boots with our faces almost over the ski tips. This sort of resembles how a wingsuit base jumper would fly.
The goal is to feel how the front of the skis do the turning and realise that we have to work the ski fronts hard.
Angulation is part of this issue – because angulation is what provides security while being hard on the ski fronts. This is why I started work on angulation early with the group.
Slalom
Staying on a racing line in the slalom can only be achieved when all the technique we have been working on is brought together. Magically (as learning should be!) this is what happened with Harrison today. The line taken is a classic “beginner racer” line turning high above the gate and quite wide from it. A closer line with the apex on the gate and the skis more on edge would knock several seconds off. The main thing here however is the basic technical form – which is good.
Best times today:
Harrison 18.10 seconds
Alex 20.64 seconds
Eilidh 21.92 seconds
Alex went straight into a tuck – but focus should have been on technical performance not speed!
Skis going too much sideways here and not solid on the outside leg. This is why Alex is a full 3 seconds behind Harrison.
Eilidh
Putting up a good fight to stay in a rutted course.
Good skating at the start!
Skating Step Turns
Before carving skis were on the market skating step turns were a normal part of racing technique. You skated the ski and stepped onto it to direct your centre of mass. The only advantage with carving skis is that the step part and the diverging ski mostly isn’t necessary – but the underlying impulse to direct the centre of mass is vital – so we practised it on the flat going around in a circle. Alex in particular improved a lot – initially his legs were bowed out like he was riding a horse (lack of skating experience)!
Javelin Turns
The trick with javelin turns is to be on the front of the supporting ski. This develops the forward stance and angulation. Harrison was the best at this with Alex predictably struggling a little (his main difficulty is staying forward). I misplaced the photo of Alex so substituted it here with the group pileup instead…
Hanger Turns
We covered “hanger turns” for more advanced skiing and better timing. The hanger turn is when you finish a turn on the outside ski and remain on it into the start of the next turn – effectively doing the whole turn transition on one ski. This is about using gravity and the lifting power of the ski to get the body out of a turn – and not worrying about going too far with it. Perhaps 15% of all Giant Slalom race turns use this – where the turn starts on the inside ski as a result. I didn’t take photos of it but have an extreme one of Alex the racer…
Pole Control
“Best Pole Control” award also goes to Harrison – for sustaining it the longest.
Jumping
Jumping is fine – just don’t get carried away with it though and always use a professionally prepared jump!
