I am going to take this thread off the rails for a moment .
First, am tired of people continually using racing stills, vids and legend status to support their positions. Racers do what they have to do to get to the finish line in the shortest amount of time, PERIOD. Sure there is a lot to learn and skills to build from the techniques developed in racing but ski racers are a small minority compared to the general skiing population and more importantly, the vast majority of the recreational skiers don't strive for the precision levels that racers, by definition, need to obtain.
Couldn’t agree more.
Nor do recreational skiers train 24/7 to be able to complete a run that lasts less than 2 minutes. Of course I agree that there are things to learn that filter down from racing technique but I sure wish more of our discussions could focus on real world every day recreational skiers with their typically average physical capabilities.
After all, it is possible to teach ski technique that will allow mere mortals to ski dynamically all over a big mountain from first chair to last without the need for thighs of steel, hair trigger reflexes, or extraordinary balance skills.
Isn’t that what we instructors spend more of our time trying to do?