The other day I was looking to refine carving edge to edge, and mother nature presented a challenge. The morning corduroy was pretty icy, and the sky stayed cloudy most of the day. Needless to say, the technique described in my previous thread of throwing weight/momentum into balance on the downhill ski was facing some trouble on the hard unforgiving surface. Now, one of the advantages of keeping balance as the priority is that even when the outside ski loses its edge, the body seems to naturally step onto the inside foot. That doesn't produce a great hold, but enough to set the outside down again to prevent shooting off into the trees.
Regardless, some problem solving was necessary and thoughts about my solution are appreciated. As mentioned in said prior thread I already had some notion/advice of moving the inside foot back during a turn, and given that it's soon to be the new outside, spent some turns feeling out what's going on underneath there before it gets pressured onto the ice. Well as it turns out, paying attention to how it's set down beneath the body for balance is a natural prerequisite to balancing (forward) onto it. It didn't take too long before setting that edge onto a slippery surface improved drastically, and I could play a "game" of sorts with the challenge being to set it down gently and smoothly before the body's momentum forces rain upon it.
Another observation is it felt as if that also solves the dilemma of where/how to angle the hips coming into a turn, since the approx correct answer is however forward or back on the inside hip needed to place the foot/heel in the "best" balancing point for what's coming up. That implies more back(ward) to anticipate more forward lean into the next turn. I've read a lot of differing explanations of optimal hip placement, and perhaps they're more similar than they can appear, but this method at least has the advantage of pursing some degree of immediate utility.
As an aside, there was that closed thread discussing ankle movement. I can't pretend to understand or even read too much of it, but during this day's exercise how that inside ankle felt as it went from edge to edge did crop up. When it's leaned over sufficiently, body weight on top turns it over (as if it's about to be sprang) when it's pressed against the inside of the boot, and as everything cranks over to the other edge (when it becomes the outside ankle), the foot/angle sprangs the other way given enough edge angle on the opposing side. I tried flexing the muscles within to pretty minor effect, and it seemed as though the ankle position was more a symptom/"result" of outside balancing forces rather than a causal factor in the chain.
Finally, the equipment purists would be pleased that this day was the first on new-to-me SL skis. They were a bit longer radius than the rentals and had much quicker rebound with a semi race plate. Probably would've been smarter to try on a less icy day, but it worked out in the end.
Regardless, some problem solving was necessary and thoughts about my solution are appreciated. As mentioned in said prior thread I already had some notion/advice of moving the inside foot back during a turn, and given that it's soon to be the new outside, spent some turns feeling out what's going on underneath there before it gets pressured onto the ice. Well as it turns out, paying attention to how it's set down beneath the body for balance is a natural prerequisite to balancing (forward) onto it. It didn't take too long before setting that edge onto a slippery surface improved drastically, and I could play a "game" of sorts with the challenge being to set it down gently and smoothly before the body's momentum forces rain upon it.
Another observation is it felt as if that also solves the dilemma of where/how to angle the hips coming into a turn, since the approx correct answer is however forward or back on the inside hip needed to place the foot/heel in the "best" balancing point for what's coming up. That implies more back(ward) to anticipate more forward lean into the next turn. I've read a lot of differing explanations of optimal hip placement, and perhaps they're more similar than they can appear, but this method at least has the advantage of pursing some degree of immediate utility.
As an aside, there was that closed thread discussing ankle movement. I can't pretend to understand or even read too much of it, but during this day's exercise how that inside ankle felt as it went from edge to edge did crop up. When it's leaned over sufficiently, body weight on top turns it over (as if it's about to be sprang) when it's pressed against the inside of the boot, and as everything cranks over to the other edge (when it becomes the outside ankle), the foot/angle sprangs the other way given enough edge angle on the opposing side. I tried flexing the muscles within to pretty minor effect, and it seemed as though the ankle position was more a symptom/"result" of outside balancing forces rather than a causal factor in the chain.
Finally, the equipment purists would be pleased that this day was the first on new-to-me SL skis. They were a bit longer radius than the rentals and had much quicker rebound with a semi race plate. Probably would've been smarter to try on a less icy day, but it worked out in the end.
