Clear skies and sunshine! We all need some good weather or else we would all live on the West coast of Scotland or underground.
Bottom of the Grande Motte Glacier
Off-Piste
Gulsum had the morning off so our first run of the day included a little bit of off-piste. Cagatay was the first to fall over – being thrown out of a turn near the end. I explained that – as in slalom – you have to fight to stop the ski from lifting you up out of the turn too soon. The ski is powerful off-piste even at slow speeds due to the build up of snow beneath the whole base deflecting the ski.
Slalom
The slalom course was in good condition and empty this morning so we went straight over to it. Taha continued to make significant progress taking 2 more seconds off his personal best time. The boys are now struggling to match this performance. On the last run Taha was trying to deal with the higher sped by anticipating his next turn and moving earlier than he was used to – it seemed to work. The boys were just trying to use greater dynamics. Cagatay was leaning hard on the back of his boots and braking with a snowplough – which would then cause him to lose a ski and fall on most runs – and then he would try to protect himself by pushing harder on the backs of his boots and braking harder! Time to stop slalom and work on technique!
Touching the fronts of the boots
After studying the slalom video over a hot chocolate and panini break it was time to get to work sorting out Cagatay’s problem. We skied down a black run “Trolls” but before getting there I explained to everyone to try to touch the front of the boots with the shins during the turns. Both Taha and Cagatay have a strong tendency to press on the backs of the boots instead. Cagatay didn’t succeed just yet but he still made it down the black run OK. After that run I explained to him that he had to try harder – that it was his own mind that was placing him in the back of the boots so he could actually make it do the opposite if he decided. This took a bit of persuading because he didn’t realise until this point that there was any psychological issue. The exercise given was to call out “Touching the front.” all the way around each turn as we skied down the hill. This definitely worked because his stance became much more effective and relaxed.
Top of the Grande Motte glacier
Gulsum Skis!
Gulsum joined us for the afternoon and we started off with relaxation exercises – contracting and relaxing muscles to increase awareness of unnecessary tension. I explained that the center of mass was the key to skiing so that it had to be moved – it didn’t matter what edges the skis were on. Gulsum was able to feel the motion of the centre of mass but had some trouble controlling speed. Speed is contained by resisting the ski bringing you up and out of the turn towards the end when gravity has a maximum effect. You have to fight intentionally to stay down and to the inside of the turn. The helped Gulsum control her speed. I explained that when you learn to ride a bicycle you don’t realise it but you unconsciously control the bicycle through the motion of the centre of mass. The bicycle changes shape to lift you back up as you fall over and the consequence is a turn. Skis work in the same way but we simply don’t have handlebars to hold onto to give the illusion of “steering”. Likewise a bicycle turns whether or not you hold onto the handlebars. Everybody started to feel more and more how the centre of mass was controlling everything and the skis just supporting this process. I asked everyone to connect the “pulling inwards” of the leg to the movement inwards on the centre of mass. Gulsum skied down the blue run -without any problem – for the first time. Snowplough had been stopping her from using the centre of mass until now – but awareness of the function of the centre of mass has allowed her to change this through understanding.
Middle of the Grande Motte glacier
The Grande Casse – next to the Grande Motte
