MA Request

[Seldomski]

To update, I spent my time skiing the past three days thinking more about my feet and legs, especially using more vertical range of motion in all turns. I also thought about 'staying with the skis' instead of letting them travel further away. I did not do any of the drills yet - the snow was very good, so I spent more time playing in the powder and crud. I was thinking about 'staying with the skis' the whole time. It felt very stable, yet I felt like I could turn at will.

Overall, the skiing felt weird. I felt heightened awareness of the snow under my feet. I think that may mean that it was a good thing? When I got tired and stopped flexing my legs, the skiing became significantly worse. I'll need new video to see if anything is actually better.

I have another couple trips lined up soon - I'll try to get new video. On days without powder, I'll try to get some time doing pivot slip/flex drills to work further on vertical range of motion + separation.

 

[Josh Matta]

weird is probably good. With out watching you I can not be sure. but usually a new way of do something doesnt feel right or good for some time. "Sometime" can be a couple turns, a couple runs, or hell a couple weeks.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

weird is probably good. With out watching you I can not be sure. but usually a new way of do something doesnt feel right or good for some time. "Sometime" can be a couple turns, a couple runs, or hell a couple weeks.

"If it's not strange you didn't change".

 

[Seldomski]

No new video, but I have a still from a trip in December. I think my legs are rotated in the hip socket? I still have a long way to go to increase vertical range of motion. Unfortunately shot when I had my mid layer tied around my waist, so it's hard to see pelvis exactly . I was probably between medium radius turns here.

 

[no edge]

In this case I'm looking at the sliding tails and asking: why?

Crushing the front of the boot didn't add any value to my skiing but I'm not a racer skiing injected ice.

I don't see the OP as crushing his boots. I see his feet back yet he is in compromised upper body position. I would suggest a conscious effort to move the hips forward. The present upper body lends itself to pushing the heals... and wasting the early part of the turn. It's almost like being in the back seat but the position of the feet don't seem to indicate that. He is! He needs to get centered. He does not need to move back, he needs to move forward... hips.

Helluvaskier is an outstanding skier and he is a wealth of information. The first thing he noticed in my skiing was that the early aspect of my turn was inadequate. This is very true for the OP.

The turn that the OP is doing is a carved turn. I would suggest down unweighting. Also, try when you are on that outside edge to angle more. Do this as an experiment as a drill and you will probably experience what edge angles can do.

Last, the camera man suggests... too low. I don't think so. The timing is off. You are a good skier but it important to not practice weak form. Good luck!

 

[geepers]

I don't see the OP as crushing his boots. I see his feet back yet he is in compromised upper body position. I would suggest a conscious effort to move the hips forward. The present upper body lends itself to pushing the heals... and wasting the early part of the turn. It's almost like being in the back seat but the position of the feet don't seem to indicate that. He is! He needs to get centered. He does not need to move back, he needs to move forward... hips.

Helluvaskier is an outstanding skier and he is a wealth of information. The first thing he noticed in my skiing was that the early aspect of my turn was inadequate. This is very true for the OP.

The turn that the OP is doing is a carved turn. I would suggest down unweighting. Also, try when you are on that outside edge to angle more. Do this as an experiment as a drill and you will probably experience what edge angles can do.

Last, the camera man suggests... too low. I don't think so. The timing is off. You are a good skier but it important to not practice weak form. Good luck!

Well I just call it like I see it. May be right, may be wrong. If it was on snow we could ask OP some questions and get to the answer.

But, heck, HeluvaSkier certainly gets huge performance out of his skis. So by all means go for that approach. May be an idea to make can afford the price of admission.

When I’m on snow I spend my mornings on steeper terrain skiing on race skis, going pretty hard. Once my legs and back start to tire out (sometimes one goes before the other) I’ll head in for lunch and relax a bit. I then go back out after lunch but rarely ski black terrain, and almost always on more mellow skis and boots (e.g. 140 flex vs. 160; all-mountain skis or consumer race skis e.g. Fischer WC RC). I only dabble in coaching these days when it is convenient for me (vs. being bound to it), and usually that would happen in the afternoon.

In between ski days I’m at the gym. On short weeks (one after a 3-day weekend) I’ll do two days… On 5-day weeks I will do 3 gym days. I have a 4-day cycle for the gym, where every other day is a squat day (one full legs, one squats mixed with upper back) with the other two days being dead lifts / shoulders and chest. I keep this routine through the entire fall and winter… during the summer I spend 10-20 hours per week road cycling so the gym time is cut back. Usually my goal is to regain my strength (post-cycling) by November each year and maintain it through April of the following year.

I’m 5’7”, 150lbs. As-of when most of this video was taken I was squatting 250lbs, deadlifting 315lbs, benching 175lbs and overhead pressing 115lbs… plus a bunch of core work (I also regularly stretch for flexibility and mobility). I’m a bit above those numbers now, but not meaningfully. I’ve found that the stronger I become, the better I ski, AND experience less fatigue and less risk for bad crashes due to skier-error (plus when a crash does happen, I’m more durable).

That said, I still get very tired. After two or three days on snow, my legs and back are shot – especially if those days are spent making race turns (vs. powder/crud skiing which due to lack of G-force doesn’t beat up my body as much). By the end of a season I’m happy for it to be over as it does take a big toll on my body to do this week-in and week-out. Nothing I’ve ever done abuses my body like arcing high-performance turns on hard snow… I think it is the G-force, but it just feels like my body is being pulled inside-out.

Interestingly, I had a chat with a well-known demo skier Saturday who expressed the same feelings of fatigue… and this is a pro who skis 200+ days a year. He basically said, for performance skiing (if you’re skiing every day like he does) there is only a window of 2-4 runs per day that he can really ski hard… the rest of the time needs to be more relaxed or his body wears out. This is the same reason WC racers are only taking 4-8 runs per day when training hard… the body needs to recover. It is a brutal sport.

 

[Mike King]

Still photos can be very deceiving, but what I see is a plantar flex (open) ankle and upper body rotation. What would be more ideal is dorsifexiion (more flex in the ankle) and rotation from the legs under a stable upper body. Of course, video might expose a different movement pattern.

 

[Seldomski]

I booked 3 days of group lessons (buy 2, get 1 free deal) last week at Beaver Creek. Day 1 and 2 turned into private lessons since I was the only "level 8."

Day 1 instructor wasn't really sure what to do with me since it varied who skied moguls better per run. I have a considerable advantage though, being 35 years younger than he...

Day 1, we just skied a lot (~28kft vertical in bumps) and I got a mountain tour without a lot of instruction. Day 1 instructor worked with the school to find a really good match for me on Day 2 and 3. Day 2 & 3 instructor had a freestyle/competitive mogul background. Day 3 there was one other guy in the group, a L1 instructor.

Day 2 we did some work on GS turns, javelin turns and Day 3 back mostly in moguls. Day 2 & 3 lesson plan was to work on all sorts of turns and tactics for all mountain skiing. We switched between groomers and bumps often and worked mostly on versatility in stance width, edging, skidding, etc. based on different terrain.

Snow conditions at Beaver Creek were generally excellent - an inch or two of snow fell daily. The usual freeze/thaw of spring was also in effect with temperatures and sun exposure varying every 15 minutes or so...

Issues identified and worked on:
-Right hand pole plants are weaker than left
-Sense of urgency in bumps. I tend to get mentally lazy/relaxed and I cannot turn fast enough in that state.
-My GS/carving turns need work. I was told this, but it is not a high priority for me right now.
-Upright stance in bumps. I was getting better at this by Day 3 and also outside of lessons thereafter.

Videos are from Day 3 of instruction.

In first video, I am trying to ski a more direct line. At the start of the video, I was too far aft immediately, but recovered. I tightened my boots after that run.


In second video, the snow was looser, as it had snowed a couple inches during the day. The moguls were very widely spaced and not very tall, so I did more of a medium/GS turn. A direct line did not seem like the right choice.


In general I find the direct line to require less physical effort to ski, especially when applied to well spaced bumps on blues and some blacks. As it gets steeper, I lack the foot speed/urgency and flexion/extension to pull it off with flow. I also cannot rotate the skis far enough perpendicular to the mountain (flexibility issue I think). Sometimes I ski the larger radius turns anyway just for some fun, to pop up off the moguls.

Edit to add: Yes, these videos are vertical... get over it please

 

[Henry]

Sel, how about completely changing the timing of your movements? When you see a really smooth mogul skier, this his how many do it.