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PisteOff

Jeff
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Joined
Apr 27, 2017
Posts
1,331
Location
Las Vegas
Funny thing about you thinking the mogul setup is a marketing ploy. That's what I thought initially. I bought the machine more than 10 years ago. I had it set up with the twin foot platform along one of the back wall in the conference room. All the visitors would hop on it and give it a go. They all usually have a good time at it. A really good ice breaker.

One day I went and swap out the twin foot platform with the mogul platform. Two guys (both about #250+) hopped on the unit for a spin. They couldn't get it going at all. They were really perplexed. They said they had no issues hammering it couple week prior.

I told them I changed the platform. The new platform requires a different balance and timing in order for it to work properly. I got on and gave them a demo. They tried again and still no luck.

I then explained to them it's all feel and timing and not brute force. They didn't believe me. I call my son (then 8 years old) in to the conference room and had him hop onto the SE. He wasn't tall enough to use the trainer bar so he hop on to the unit with his back to the training bar. He just cranked away at it without holding onto anything. They were amazed.
I told them all we had to do is incorporate some fore and aft movement to that and we are all set for bumps and powder.

There is definitely something about the mogul platform setup. If you can find someone with that setup. Give it a try.

I hear you about the dearth of terrain in some regions. I recall you mention about looking at Lake Tahoe area for the long haul. Spent a season at Squaw in 2012. Nice area. Good luck in your search.

If you happen to be in the Taos area, give me a shout. I'll there both Jan & Feb. Otherwise I'll catch you at the gathering for some turns.

I can understand what you're saying with regards to the Mogul Master platform. I'm not suggesting it has no benefit. It just doesn't "look" representative of skiing in my opinion as compared to the normal twin foot board set up. I would be happy to give it a try. I had considered buying it until I really started to examine it......

Yes, Tahoe will be home in a T -3 yrs and counting if not sooner. 5/21 is my max. date for retirement. I can go earlier depending on a few things......

The next time I get down that way will be to hit Telluride. Telluride has been at the top of my list for a long time and it may happen this season in February.

I'm definitely looking forward to the Gathering. Very stoked. Alta and Snowbird have been at the top of my list for a long time too. The videos I've been watching of Snowbasin have been really cool too. Nice bowls, open glades, baby cliffs to huck. Looks like a great place to warm up for Alta and the Bird. Going to enjoy meeting everyone and going to enjoy skiing the bigger lines with some folks that can teach me some stuff. Really really stoked.
 
Thread Starter
TS
Started at 53

Started at 53

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Posts
2,129
Location
Not Ikon, UT
Here is a short clip from my daily 10 minute Bosu Ball workout.

That is preceded and followed by balancing work.

 
Thread Starter
TS
Started at 53

Started at 53

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Posts
2,129
Location
Not Ikon, UT
OK, migrating my skiing reports from the Dec. 11-19 thread.

Day 1 at Deer Valley.

OK, I had a :bestday: on the bunny slopes.

Skied 21 runs, just did a cool loop working on not :philgoat:

I must say I freaking loved it.

Here is a synopsis
48e4ae61-b0c9-417a-b144-fa66e41fddde-jpeg.35056


Just made a ton of laps working on balance and turns.

@Lorenzzo and @Mrs. 53 were actually skiing the adult runs and Besty got in over 20,000 vertical. She did a couple of laps with me after a Turkey Chili lunch.

11c2dac2-9716-4641-92d6-c10c8a10a4d7-jpeg.35057
03fc0861-6a1c-4026-99cf-8fbc911c07a0-jpeg.35058
8264480e-6691-4ae8-add5-5bb2e8d570df-jpeg.35059


Did a few runs after lunch and then hit the hot tub and had a few beers.

Left boot hurt a bit on the inside ankle, having it punched.

Did I mention :bestday:

:yahoo:
 
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Thread Starter
TS
Started at 53

Started at 53

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Posts
2,129
Location
Not Ikon, UT
Day 2 is on the books

I skied the Snow Park area for a while this morning, did 10 laps. It was a progression from yesterday’s terrain. I felt very good and got a bit bored. So ventured up to Homeward Bound/Ontario with Betsy and @Lorenzzo for run in the adult terrain. Light was not great, it was cloudy and much of the run was in shaded areas. There were parts that were fine, but other areas that I felt I was a bit over terrained and I promised myself I would not do that! :( Some of it was a very different surface, rather than corduroy it was often chopped up and some fluffy snow conditions that I had never encountered before.

I am very comfortable making turns on slopes when I do not feel like I need to break all the time. Homeward Bound/Ontario was a bit narrow in the steeper areas for me and this caused a bit of over breaking/wedging which I do not want to fall into. I would say that my limited technique :( breaks down when I am uncomfortable, so I was not happy with that. Bandana is the run I should have progressed to today rather than Homeward Bound/Ontario, but it is not open yet. Maybe tomorrow.

My plan was before I arrived to make a gradual progression in terrain, but there is a bit if a gap as I described above, so I am a bit stuck. Can I get down the medium green runs, yep for sure, not a problem, but when my technique breaks down it is not the slow improvement I want to make.

There were more people on the mountain today, there was only one for run opened so it did feel a bit more crowded, but nothing that was an issue

Closest I came to :philgoat:was entering the lift line after the last run of the day and I was a bit tired. It would have been embarrassing to fall at the entrance to the lift lines. I had one moment, which Betsy caught on video, where I got my right hand behind my body but I did recover. She saw it all and mentioned that I looked nervous for when I was passing some slower skiers.

I won’t over terrain tomorrow, hoping that Bandana is open as that is where I belong at this moment.

Here is the synopsis of today, possible video to be posted later
1e9547dd-8799-4d24-83ca-d96d903650e5-jpeg.35115


No best day ever today, that was yesterday, but tomorrow holds promise.

Today was a :yeah: day which is just a bit below a :bestday:
 
Thread Starter
TS
Started at 53

Started at 53

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Posts
2,129
Location
Not Ikon, UT
This one was early in the day and just practicing making turns.

I turn left MUCH better than right. Turning right I just don’t seem to trust the weight shift as much and have way too much weight on my right ski. Stance is too wide on right turns :(

 
Thread Starter
TS
Started at 53

Started at 53

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Posts
2,129
Location
Not Ikon, UT
Ok, here is the video from the bottom half of Ontario. It was choppy soft fluffy snow that I had never experienced before the first time down this run today. I had one OH SHIT moment when my right hand got behind my body and I knew immediately that I was out of balance. Corrected it quickly.

I was pretty tired at this point in the day. This run is not too steep, but a bit narrow in sections for my liking.

Tomorrow will be a better day
 
Thread Starter
TS
Started at 53

Started at 53

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Posts
2,129
Location
Not Ikon, UT
Day 3
It was a beautiful sunny day, actually amazingly so.

I headed to the snow park lower area of DV today to just do laps on the training hill and work on stuff.

Wow, seriously a new :bestday: for sure

I got me new inside ski to lighten by bending that knee and it allowed me to slide that ski in towards the new outside ski. TONS of progress there as I got really frustrated yesterday. I tried to feel both a knee flex to lighten and tried to tip my new inside boot towards the little toe to release that ski to slide in. Of course I was trying to also keep my weight forward (a constant battle but I can feel it) and my hands forward (constant battle #2 :doh:) but I made progress on both today.

As for my skill progression, I felt today was a huge jump even though I was on easy terrain. I just felt after yesterday I needed. To build technique more than I needed to explore more of the mountain. I am in no rush, and felt like “stepping back” a bit today I made a really big jump forward.

@Lorenzzo ditched Betsy today to ski at PCMR, She has already plead her case for his return tomorrow.

Here is the before
6b66dc99-2146-4bee-a191-ff39407722f9-jpeg.35157




And after lunch
f3b2aa51-c294-4cb8-9d09-2cab098e84a3-jpeg.35158


 
Thread Starter
TS
Started at 53

Started at 53

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Posts
2,129
Location
Not Ikon, UT
What are you supposed to do when you get tired on the slopes?????

Day 4 was another breakthrough day! I started flexing my outside knee during the turn and it really helped get that edge in and seemed to lighten the inside ski as well. I got in a really good rhythm on my training hill and then Betsy and I went up and skied Ontario and then Success, two decent green runs. Things went well most of the time, in a bit of steeper terrain I lost my flexing rhythm and got my weight back but self diagnosed and righted things pretty quickly.

Skied 27 runs, but gotta remember 25 of those were on pretty easy terrain. I stayed most of the day on the easier terrain to continue to work on my technique, which I still think is a good plan, each day I feel I am making good progress.

debe0679-1a07-45e1-a1df-d0be34d9881b-jpeg.35236


It was good to ski a few runs with Betsy today being @Lorenzzo deserted her for the 2nd day in a row.

4c699a36-221f-4288-9724-6f92e6ff305a-jpeg.35237


Here is a video of my Day 4 progress

So... the answer to the question at the top of this post???? STOP SKIING as that is when you have crashes. YEP, you guessed it I :philgoat:with ski releases and all. It was a stupid mistake. I knew I was tired, but was meeting Betsy, Lorenzzo and GF for lunch, but still had about 30 minutes before the meet up so I kept skiing. It was a flat part of an easy run and I was goofing off making tight turns with most likely not enough speed and who knows WTF happened but I YARD SALED on the freaking bunny slope cuz I was being an idiot and not sticking to my technique. Might have another broken rib, but I’ll be good to go in the morning
 
Thread Starter
TS
Started at 53

Started at 53

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Posts
2,129
Location
Not Ikon, UT
No video today

Skied 18 runs

Started out terrible and out of fore/aft balance, but righted the ship after a few runs and then headed to Deer Hollow which is a nice green run and a new one to me.

Did it 6 times, and each was better than the last except for the last which was after lunch.... the Wagyu Burger was fantastic tho.
The top 1/3 of Deer Hollow is a bit steep by my standards, but the bottom 2/3’s was awesome. I got progressively more comfortable on each of runs 2-5.

Not a huge improvement day, but there was some so it was a success.
 

Monique

bounceswoosh
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
10,561
Location
Colorado
Hey hey.

There were parts that were fine, but other areas that I felt I was a bit over terrained and I promised myself I would not do that! :(

I would say that my limited technique :( breaks down when I am uncomfortable, so I was not happy with that.

Everybody over terrains themselves occasionally, and everyone's technique breaks down when they're uncomfortable. Don't sweat it. You criticize your skiing a lot in this thread. Don't sweat it so much. Enjoy the victories; erase the mistakes.

What are you supposed to do when you get tired on the slopes?????

You're in Park City! There's plenty to do.
 

Blue Streak

I like snow.
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
3,266
Location
Edwards, Colorado
No video today

Skied 18 runs

Started out terrible and out of fore/aft balance, but righted the ship after a few runs and then headed to Deer Hollow which is a nice green run and a new one to me.

Did it 6 times, and each was better than the last except for the last which was after lunch.... the Wagyu Burger was fantastic tho.
The top 1/3 of Deer Hollow is a bit steep by my standards, but the bottom 2/3’s was awesome. I got progressively more comfortable on each of runs 2-5.

Not a huge improvement day, but there was some so it was a success.
Hey. Remember the video of the guy who said he really improved after 80?
I met another woman at Vail this weekend who was about 70, who said she really didn't start to improve until the the last few years,when she started taking it seriously.
You are getting a great start.
Starting at 53 is no handicap.
Have fun, and look me up when you get to Vail (We will have snow by then. I promise :crossfingers:).
 

va_deb

Getting on the lift
Skier
Joined
Feb 16, 2017
Posts
125
Location
Virginia / DC Area
Wow! Awesome progress, @Started at 53. Love your dedication, and it’s fun to watch your journey. (I started a few years earlier than you, btw; just turned 50 this year.) Keep the posts and videos coming!
 

Joel

Having fun
Skier
Joined
Dec 2, 2017
Posts
196
Location
Colorado
@Started at 53, this thread is great. Has me ready to go get some lessons in. I've been casually skiing easy ( read mostly flat ) areas around me. There are lots of things I still need to learn. I'm another that started at 53 ( now 56 ). Keep up the great work!
 
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