Grace, Mya, Isla day 3

Isla
Isla is getting very comfortable with her skis and the terrain. She moves her centre of mass into the turns with a push from the outside leg and also a push forward of that foot. At the start of the day she is very cautious and slow but this resolves itself naturally with patience. We finished up with some exercises at the “conveyor belt” where she brings the skis parallel between turns and then initiates the plough with a downhill ski stem – leading the centre of mass into the new turn. We will work more on this tomorrow.
We also worked on side stepping uphill – there Isla struggles for edge control and orienting the skis in the right direction but each time we attempt it she improves.

Grace and Mya
Snowploughing is not a method of skiing! It’s useful only as a temporary learning prop and when being forced to brake on a very narrow passage. Our very first run on the Colorado made it clear that Grace and Mya had been in snowploughs for too long and that run was far too steep for them to progress – forcing them to be defensive and to snowplough all the time at speed. In addition Mya was stressfully (leg muscles) locked into the backs of her ski boots. The solution was to take the TeleMetro from the Centre and head up to Aime 2000 where the Golf and the Everts lifts would get us away from the crowds and provide more reasonable slopes for making progress.

Work was commenced on Sideslipping and Pivot which are described in detail below. Given that we only have a few hours to pack all this in I’ve taken a few shortcuts. The goal is to transition from plough turns to parallel ASAP! This involves bringing some aspects of the Pivot into general parallel skiing directly under the heading “Combining Dynamics and Pivot” – involving using the two skis on their uphill edges to “spread butter” with the tips/fronts down the hill (with or without ski pole support) – instead of flipping the uphill ski into a snowplough which puts it on its downhill edge, turning it into an accelerator pedal. (The modules below should explain everything – but I’m keeping it very simple on the slope for the girls)

I’ve explained to Mya to get on the fronts of her boots (shins and balls of feet) so that the front of the ski can turn her – like a bicycle or car would. Being on the backs of the boots is exhausting for the legs.

Sideslipping (Joystick control)
The main practical purpose of sideslipping is to get down the mountain without picking up speed. Many learners are deprived of this skill because it is generally undervalued and has become even more neglected due to the complete domination of carving skis. Wider skis are easier for sideslipping in a greater range of conditions. Parabolic skis have some trouble gripping on ice during a sideslip, but modern “double rocker” off-piste skis give a smooth and grippy sideslip in just about every condition, including ice.

The skis are kept on edge by the lateral stiffness of the ski boot shafts. Skis over 100mm wide underfoot begin to create problems on hard snow due to the extra leverage from the edge through the shaft of the boot. Those skis can be very unpleasant on-piste and it’s one limit of how an “all round” ski can be defined. Anything wider than 100mm is not “all round”. 

In ski teaching the sideslip serves specifically for developing fall-line skiing. Fall-line skiing is where the skier’s body travels directly downhill and not so much across the hill. This would apply to bumps, steep off-piste such as couloirs and deep powder snow. Slalom is not “fall-line” skiing. (The mechanism of initiating the turn with a sideslip is called “pivoting”.) The skier should be able to sideslip on either ski or both at the same time. It’s normal to start off with both skis on the snow, skis parallel and with the majority of weight on the lower ski just to get a feel for it. The stance is normally quite narrow to prevent the uphill ski from catching the lower edge. Most beginners have trouble keeping the skis close together if they have previously learned to snowplough.

It should be noticed that only the uphill edges of the skis are in contact with the snow so the downhill edges are in the air.

Pulling the legs together with the adductor muscles on both legs ensures the best options for control. Pulling both legs inwards keeps a narrow stance and when the skier practices sideslipping on one leg it ensures the that centre of mass can easily be placed above the appropriate hip joint. Sideslipping is facilitated by subtle movements of the centre of mass – moving it downhill to slide and slightly back uphill to stop. There’s no need to use the feet or knees to try to sideslip – just moving the centre of mass in a manner resembling a joystick rapidly leads to developing awareness of how subtle movement of the centre of mass has pronounced effects.

Sideslipping can be practiced on the uphill ski only, with the adductor muscle pulling in the downhill direction and the pressure still kept on the uphill edge of the ski and hence on the outside edge of the foot. You don’t try to stand on the outside edge of the foot the pressure there is an effect of the ski boot construction / lateral stiffness of the boot cuff running up the lower leg.

If the fronts of the skis are pushed downhill (Joystick Control – by moving the Centre of Mass forward slightly) then with there being no contact of the downhill edges the skier goes into a controlled forward diagonal sideslip on the uphill (braking) edges only. Likewise if the tails are pushed downwards during the sideslip then it turns into a backwards diagonal sideslip. Being able to alternate between straight down the fall-line and the two diagonals is a precursor to the skill necessary for pivoting in the fall-line.

Pivot

After learning skating turns on the flat this is the way beginners should learn to turn for dealing with gradients. They should be assisted if required – by holding a ski pole at the side of the instructor and being physically led through all the moves – just like someone being led in a dance. Eventually the skill is assimilated due to the body being fed the correct feeling repeatedly. Some athletic beginners can cope with this manoeuvre on their own.

The reason for this pivot is to develop fall-line skiing skills. It’s a “braking” form of turn which gives great control over speed – because of the skis only being used on uphill edges. The other important element of this pivot is that both feet are kept downhill of the skier (vertically below the skier) which is not only a fun and playful way to ski but is critical for safety on dangerous steeps such as in couloirs. Most people are totally brainwashed in the skiing world into believing that a ski only turns because of its inside edge with its sidecut. Well it does, but not all of the time. The ski can also turn while on its outside edge during the first half of a turn. If someone has already worked on sideslipping then they already partly know the mechanism for this.

The skier has to stand on the uphill ski only, lifting the lower ski off the snow. The foot should feel pressure on its outside edge but the adductor muscles of this leg should be pulling in the downhill direction. The ski will remain on its outside edge (due to the lateral support of the ski boot shaft preventing the ski from flattening). The downhill pole should be planted for support and so when the lower ski is lifted the body weight should be partially transferred to the pole. This requires the skier to face downhill and tilt forwards from the hips (angulation). Place the centre of mass downhill as much as possible with the use of support from the ski poles. Try to keep the ski on its uphill edge while the centre of mass moves downhill of it. The use of the pole here is to support and guide the centre of mass – which then pulls the ski tip downhill along with it. (In dynamics, skiing with only forward motion of the ski, the pole is not required because the support for the centre of mass comes from the lifting up power of the ski itself. This is why pole planting is only associated with pivoting – sideways motion – and not with dynamic – forward motion – skiing – where only a pole touch at most is required when entering a turn)

The adductor muscles of the outside leg continue to be engaged to allow the centre of mass to pull the front of the ski downwards in a sideslip into a turn. This trains the correct muscular coordination – pulling inwards towards the turn centre with the adductor muscles (of the “outside” leg).

To check that the adductor muscles are being used the “Pole Stopper” exercise is useful. For this exercise I place a ski pole between the tips of the two skis. The skier lifts a ski a few inches off the snow and then pulls the tip against the pole. If the adductor muscles are being used then as the tip is blocked the tail should swing inwards at the back. If the tail swings outwards then the it’s the muscles on the outside of the leg (abductors) being used to push and twist (torque) rather than the adductors (inside of the leg) being used to pull or tension the leg laterally.

When the pivot starts the skier (centre of mass) has to move downhill slightly from the ski but not too much because the ski must remain on the uphill edge for as long as possible. Moving the body too much downhill would change the ski edges far too quickly – for this effect the ski must be allowed to sideslip right from the beginning. The ski will change edges when it is in the fall-line, onto the new “inside” uphill edges for the last part of the turn. All the time – from start to end of the turn the skier needs to pull inwards and tension the adductors.

Completing the turn correctly requires the skier to avoid body rotation and to have the body in an anticipated and angulated stance, ready for another pole plant at the start of the next turn.

Turning on the inside ski is much harder to do – and for easier coordination it’s best to use the preferred foot – eg. right foot for somebody who is right handed.

Pressure is initially felt on the inside edge of the foot with the adductors held tight (pulling uphill) and the ski is initially on its inside edge (uphill). Strong pole support is necessary to get the centre of mass downhill of the ski and a lot of commitment to using the pole is required. It’s much more difficult to get the centre of mass far enough downhill for a smooth pivot when standing on the lower leg. Whereas the outside ski pivot is a great way to start developing good angulation – the inside ski helps to develop more advanced angulation – by exaggerating the “end of turn” angulation requirements. People generally have the greatest trouble with angulation through the second half of a turn – learning to link pivots is the ideal way to develop Angulation and Anticipation skills.

Linking Pivots
Linking the pivots is a true test of edge control and skillful directing of the centre of mass.

Two Skis (Close Stance)
Competition bumps skiers have their feet close together and many people swear by a “two footed” platform off-piste. This works because both skis pivot always on their uphill edge. The feet are always kept downhill of the body and so are the knees. Using the adductor muscles of both legs pulls the skis together and strengthens the stance. It’s important however to always orient the body on only one hip – preferably the outside one. The hip is the biggest joint in the body and it is very close to the centre of mass. Any confusion around this area leads to confusion everywhere. Motion starts from the centre of mass – so use your outside hip in the turn – pulling it backwards during the turn – to get your reflexes working and your core muscles protecting your back the most efficiently possible.

See…
Off Piste Fall line
Short Swings (Jump Turns)
Moguls
Angulation
Anticipation