Today – sticky snow and a couple of colds but everyone was up for it. Warm up run then straight into technique Beginning with the “Pivot”. Pivoting is an essential skill but never explained or taught in skiing. Everyone was physically supported through a Pivot turn just so as to experience the sensation. Full details of the Pivot are available here – with demonstrations… http://madeinmountains.com/pivo/
The basis of the Pivot is the skis travelling sideways. Pure sliding sideways is called side slipping or side stepping if we step downhill. Those basic elements are necessary skills for removing fear and apprehension when there is the inevitable encounter with a steep section of piste to navigate. Obstacles like that require tactics and strategy – not just attacked with a snowplough or bombing out of control.
I demonstrated the “joystick” control – using the Centre of Mass to control side slipping – including forward diagonal and backward diagonal side slipping. Luca was able to do this well. The others were still trying to point their skis in the appropriate direction and often staring at the ground instead of looking around.
Finally we combined the Pivot with the dynamics – pushing the centre of mass downhill while still on the uphill edge of the new turning ski. This time Finn was the one who got it right. The Dynamics is fully explained here… http://madeinmountains.com/dynamics/
The solution for progressing is to combine the snowplough when necessary with dynamics and the snowplough will gradually disappear because dynamics is exactly what enables parallel skiing.
Everyone progressed well and attitudes were positive and strong all along.
Cameron: Stand on the front of the feet and off the backs of the boots when you are anxious!
Lindsay: Try not to hug the mountain when you feel insecure – pull the outside hip backwards to prevent this rotation. There’s a detailed explanation of what to do here: http://madeinmountains.com/chiskiing/
Fiona: Find some women’s boots so you can stand up. If you buy don’t get beginner’s boots – get advanced skier boots every time! Never tell the shop you are a beginner.
Finn: Making great progress. When on steeper ground the key is to use bigger dynamics – which is counter-intuitive as people get scared of the steepness and do the opposite.
Maddie: Just remember skiing is about turning – not about always being first down the mountain!
Luca: For the moment forget about facing downhill – just move sideways lateral to the direction of travel. If you want to understand more complex and detailed actions look at the Chiskiing link just above and read some of the blog posts I’m putting up for Alex in his race training.
