• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

jimmy

Mixmaster
Moderator
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
708
Location
West Virginia
Having fun with the fundamentals.
What is the first thing you have to do to start a left turn?
One of the wow moments i see is when a student finally understands that pressure is a noun, not a verb.
Well the first thing you must do to start a left turn is to quit turning right.
 

Steve

SkiMangoJazz
Pass Pulled
Joined
Nov 13, 2015
Posts
2,338

4ster

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should!
Instructor
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
7,219
Location
Sierra & Wasatch
Teach them turn shape. Rounding out their turns addresses a lot of the problems you all are addressing with out the dive into the technique rabbit hole. More skiing, less talking and drills.
Surprising how few skiers have a grasp of this basic concept. A round turn shape can add so much to a skiers repertoire. Along with eliminating over initiating & Z-turns a rounder turn develops more consistent speed control, better linked turns & rhythm. Definitely produces some WOW moments.

Instead of having the student try to follow me, sometimes I will just set the tracks in the snow & let them try to guide or match their skis to the same path. This works well with kids who will often shortcut your line in order to keep up.
D6EBE111-4DC2-4391-90CE-7367F094BAFA.jpeg


C956D58F-2B1F-4AA1-9091-64BE70A6E733.jpeg



Since it seems we have lost the OP, I am going to drift this thread a little and ask about WOW moments you’ve had as an instructor or coach?

I have had many but I will relay one that I often remind myself of if I am getting bogged down in a lesson.
My original boss at Snowbasin had a background in sales and although he didn’t get out on the hill a lot he spent most of his time at the sports-desk selling. If things weren’t very busy he would cut deals with anyone passing by. One morning I was called in to take a guy out on a 1 to 1 1/2 hour tour. I think he charged the guy $35 and as long as I was back in time to take a regular lesson at 10:30 all was good. We set out and I gave him the regular basic tour pointing out the highlights of the mountain and where are some places he could ski later that would be good. He was an advanced skier and although we had some brief conversations on the lift there was no real instruction asked for or given, from my POV we just skied. Anyway, as our time was running out I said thanks & gave a quick wrap up. As I was ready to ski away he said “Wait a minute, I just wanted to tell you that I have had private lessons at places like Vail & some big name resorts in Europe but I learned more from you in an hour this morning then all those lessons combined” as he handed me a $50 tip for a $35 tour!
WOW moment for me... sometimes LESS is MORE! :)

B0370B82-DC7A-4720-963E-CAFCFCCA7375.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Patfish

In the parking lot (formerly "At the base lodge")
Skier
Joined
Nov 28, 2017
Posts
4
A lot of this stuff you talk here is true but! ... don't think too much about every angle of your body when you already at a advanced level! ...brain off, listen to the ski and just feel it! ... the ski will tell you how he likes to be driven in the first turn - just don't fight against him! support him! :) ...some like more energy on the tip some more in the end of the turn on the tail, some like to be driven powerful some exact and playful ...just listen to it!

I'am a austrian skier (alps), did my first turns with 2 years :) ...and never had a skiinsructor :D ...But i know a lot of them (my closest friends are all instructors) and only a very few really feel what a ski wants from them in a carving turn. They just ski every ski exactly the same way like they have learned it :-/ ...that's one of the biggest mistakes you can do as an advanced skier!

cheers,
pat
 

Wannabeskibum

Out on the slopes
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
440
Location
Boston
Ok, let me speak from the perspective of the student. I am a “true” level 9 skier. I routinely take advanced level lessons with instructors when I am in the west. My most recent “wow” moment came this past winter at Breck. We were up in the hike to terrain between Imperial chair and peak 7. As we were skiing, instructor says, “stop clenching your toes in the boot, I want you to touch your toes to the top of the boot” - the result more consistent edge pressure along the whole length of the ski - as opposed to just the forward part of the ski - That was my “WoW’ moment as a student
 

mister moose

Instigator
Skier
Joined
May 30, 2017
Posts
656
Location
Killington
Foot awareness inside the boots coupled with raising the arch off the footbed to tip toward the little toe side has gotten me more "wow" moments than anything else.
While I can pressure up on the top of the arch, I can't move it inside the boot, AT ALL. I also have extremely little heel lift, meaning almost none. My foot world is pressure, not movement inside the boot (aside from forward ankle flex).

My skiing learning career has been a lengthy succession of linked and sometimes hard won "ahas", I can't think of any wows. My wows are watching Mikela winning the GS on Superstar. The Hammer skiing the headwall in the spring when the first 200 feet was... all rocks. Snow lightning so close you smell the ozone. Looking down Corbett's on a 4 foot powder day. Breaking through a wind cornice with free fall below. OK, I thought of one... First time I truly loaded up a carving ski deep into reverse camber, and released it too fast for my unsuspecting legs to react and I was sent catapulting into a rolling face plant. Wow. Never felt that before.
 

Kneale Brownson

Making fresh tracks forever on the other side
Instructor
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
1,863
If you TRY to raise the arch side of the foot off the footbed, you tip the boot toward the little toe side. If you TRY to raise the little toe side of the foot, you tip the boot onto its arch side. The foot doesn't actually move a bunch inside the boot.
 

James

Out There
Instructor
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Posts
24,419
While I can pressure up on the top of the arch, I can't move it inside the boot, AT ALL. I also have extremely little heel lift, meaning almost none. My foot world is pressure, not movement inside the boot (aside from forward ankle flex).
What do you mean “pressure up on the arch”? The top of the foot?
Your heel should not move around. Your foot should be able to pronate and supinate. If it can’t your ankle may be locked up with not enough room for the bones to shift. In some ways, people have been led to believe that the foot is merely a piece of wood, with a hinge at the ankle, that needs to be clamped as tight as possible. Doing this will result in peg legs, severly restricting balance like an ederly or disabled person with severe foot issues.

The foot “moving around” in the boot isn’t good either. I’d actually err on the side of slightly too much room as opposed to too little. But not having space above the foot, on top, is very important.
 
Last edited:

mister moose

Instigator
Skier
Joined
May 30, 2017
Posts
656
Location
Killington
Yes, I meant I can transfer pressure to the top of the foot, over the arch. I do not "rais[e] the arch off the footbed", that to me is too much movement in the boot, and essentially impossible for me to do. And yes, of course my bones move within the foot still. We're saying essentially nearly the same thing, although I'm of the opinion that comfort aside, any movement where when any part of my skin changes position relative to the liner is bad. Movement where my squishy flesh is pressured differently is just fine. And of course I can wiggle my toes. With a molded boot, molded liner and molded footbed, you can get really close to no lateral or vertical movement within the liner. Movement means something happens, and take a little time to happen, in between beginning to pressure the boot and the pressure being transferred to the ski. That's not good.

Picture a firm (but not crushing) handshake. Your skin cannot move relative to the other hand, yet you can still flex your palm and move your arm, wrist and do the "shake". There are zero gaps anywhere. Limp fish handshakes and sloppy boots are both disappointing.
 

James

Out There
Instructor
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Posts
24,419
Yes, I meant I can transfer pressure to the top of the foot, over the arch. I do not "rais[e] the arch off the footbed", that to me is too much movement in the boot, and essentially impossible for me to do. And yes, of course my bones move within the foot still. We're saying essentially nearly the same thing, although I'm of the opinion that comfort aside, any movement where when any part of my skin changes position relative to the liner is bad. Movement where my squishy flesh is pressured differently is just fine. And of course I can wiggle my toes. With a molded boot, molded liner and molded footbed, you can get really close to no lateral or vertical movement within the liner. Movement means something happens, and take a little time to happen, in between beginning to pressure the boot and the pressure being transferred to the ski. That's not good.

Picture a firm (but not crushing) handshake. Your skin cannot move relative to the other hand, yet you can still flex your palm and move your arm, wrist and do the "shake". There are zero gaps anywhere. Limp fish handshakes and sloppy boots are both disappointing.
Yeah pretty much saying the same thing. You might rethink the use of the phrase "top of the foot", as that's usually considered the dorsal surface of the foot. Plus, it's incongruent to pressure the ground from the top of the foot. "Under the arch" or some such thing is what you're saying.

Locking up the shin area in the wrong spot, to me is flat out dangerous to the knees. While slop sucks, it is actually better/safer than overly tight if the shank aka shin, of the leg is in the wrong spot. This is way overlooked in boots and a really difficult area for some.
 

Sponsor

Top