New season ahead? What did I learn?

[Ron]

Ok, is anyone not ready?? ?Ok, so what did I learn?? A lot!

Preface: Eric Lipton is a PSIA Alpine Team member, unbeleiveable skier. Ski's very modern stlye, stacked, balanced, extremely smooth and powerful. uses all 4 edges actively. More compatible with JC or HH than you think.?
Dan Egan, legend in freestyle skiing I think 5 or more WM movies, Very aggressive skier, fluent and skis in balance even when knocked around. Had innate ability to find edges and kow where "he is" at all times.
1- I wasn't skiing forward nearly enough, we did some really cool drills to make you feel and keep the pressure on the front of the boots and to keep your CM balanced over the boots. Learned to drive the skis with both legs and move the core towards the intended line.
1a- Soften your boots, stiff boots serve no purpose in off-piste skiing
2- I didn't trust the skills I had. I needed to stop listening to doubt and fear and ski.
3- keep active, we heard this over and over again, great skiing requires constant motion; motion creates balance!
4- On all terrain, body down the fall line, this degree will depend on the steepness but you have to keep the upper body quiet, focused and down the fall line. On steeps, it never moves, the feet and lower body moves under the upper body. If you do this, it works!
5- pole plants, they are there for a reason, timing, balance, save your ass if you need it!? Also, don't ski around pole plants, ski through them, the old, plant, shift forward and past the plant. On steeps, you need to use them for bracing and balance. On the drops, the poles are there to help. Set the ski as it makes contact with the snow, and on to the next turn, DON"T STOP the turn!
6- I love steeps and off-piste, i love to traverse to lines and make that drop in. I love cornice drop ins!

[jim-ratliff]

Ron:

Tell me more what they meant by "ski through the pole plants" as opposed to skiing past them?  Spatially, as in skiing towards where the pole is planted, or psychologically as in not getting blocked off-balance or slowed by the pole plant?

Jim

[Ron]

I am not so good at the explaining, but here goes...

Typically, I would plant downhill and allow the skisto more laterally and then go down hill, a wide sweeping turn. The problem is that you have now plpaced your body in a postion where its traveling laterally and not "forw-agonally"  its a term used at the clinic, meaning your body should always be heading back intot he next fall line and forward, so forward and diagonally. If you then were to pole plant slightly froward and towards the intended direction, andthen plant and rock forward with your arm, your body will head in that direction past the pole plant. So it's not a dramtic move but it keep the entire body moving fluently into the next turn. Does that make sense? Skiing past the pole is moving laterally and usually leaves the body behind and not forward.

[jim-ratliff]

Thanks, and it does make sense.

It's not the skis that are "skiing through the pole" but the body? Very interesting visual image.

I realized last winter that (among considerable other bad technique things) I was putting the pole down too close to my skis and too much out in front, and as I skied past the pole (and their terminology is very descriptive) that the pole "Plant" would force my hand and shoulder and body back.? That's certainly not a good thing for someone that also has problems getting weight forward in the first place.? And I also found that if I got my pole more down the hill and back toward the middle of the front of the ski then it was easier to get my body inside the turn and to keep my weight forward.? When I started doing that, my "personal coach"? even noticed and commented on how much better my turns looked.? BUT, I hadn't thought it through as well as what you describe.  So my goal should be to plant the pole and then let the body fall in the direction of the pole (forw-agonally)?

Thanks.

[Ron]

yeah, sounds good. I am not so good when typing this stuff up but I think you are getting the drift. Yes, if you plant and push forward, then you are skiing through it vs. plant, and then ski around, it's hard to keep forward on the fron to fthe boots when your hand is now stuck behind you. We really did some simple but very effective drills on piste and then off-piste to get forward, worked like a charm in about 1/2hour.  It's a mental thing for sure and I had to make some technique changes and get past some old muscle memory issues but once it clicked, things were so much better, stacked and smooth. My speed, stability and balance jumped big-time. We were rippin one early AM on very crusty windblown frozen stuff that I would have been so tentative on beofre. Keeping forward and stacked made it so much easier.

[LivingProof]

Ron,
All I can say is "I'm bummed that I was not there".

Your week reminds me of my "ski weeks" when I was new to skiing. In the old days, it was common to go to a resort and ski all day with the same instructor. I even did a couple of ski racing weeks with instructors who were past members of the US Ski Team. We all need corrections from an expert eye and repetitions to build in the new concepts. Trust the Force!

I remember seeing a pic Phil did at JH on my one good day last year and my hand remained way behind my body following a pole plant. Shocking, but living proof that I need to continue to develop. Garry, the grand, gray, technique guru was coaching me on this during our April visit to Holymount. Your good bud, HH, spends much time on hand position during the complete turn and on moving the hips much more forward over the boots, so, yes, there are common areas.

It's impossible to communicate all you learn in a week, be it in skiing or another development class. Hey, but next time, I might join you!

Mike
 

[Ron]

yeah, we discussed him too!? We won't go there but there are some similarities for sure. We didn't focus so much with pushing your hips but keeping the pressure forward on the boots, it will put your hips into place automatically.  All I can say is skiing the big lines are a little different......? this was on day 1 the skier is Katie Liek a 15 year old, ranked as one of the top freeskiers in the US........




I shot this video on the the same chute half way down.? This is Eric Lipton, make sure your back it up to 00;00, it wants to start a 5 seconds in. This is how I want to ski!? Expand it to full screen.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlcpics/3875100103/

[ToddW]

Ron,

It sounds like a wonderful experience -- both the skiing and the learning.? Between your trip and Gary's upcoming Clendenin experience, I'm feeling an acute sense of snow deprivation.? Call me jealous.

I was particularly struck by your point #2? "2- I didn't trust the skills I had. I needed to stop listening to doubt and fear and ski."? I think this is almost a universal issue for recreational skiers.? Can you elaborate further on this?? How did Egan and co. help you move beyond doubt and fear?? Jim and Lynn will attest that I'm aggressive within my "zone" and a craven coward outside of it.? I've got 3 days of privates lined up with one of my favorite instructors in February, and pushing my terrain limits is one of the main things I want her to help me with.? My barriers to success are less those of technique and more fear/doubt and physical fitness.

-todd

[midwif]

Gee Todd,
The only time I noticed any hesitation was in the woods at Killington. The no helmet issue made that a wise decision.
And perhaps that time you took that grand, free wheeling, tumbling fall at Loveland trying to avoid smashing ME to bits (uh, did I say thank you??? if not, please accept a belated, but heartfelt one.)

Ron
Sounds like a GREAT experience. One of these days....maybe. I need more vacation time!!
Oh boy, a few cooler nights and I am really looking forward to skiing soon. Doing a summer trip would be VERY luxurious.

[Ron]

I was particularly struck by your point #2? "2- I didn't trust the skills I had. I needed to stop listening to doubt and fear and ski."? I think this is almost a universal issue for recreational skiers.? Can you elaborate further on this?? How did Egan and co. help you move beyond doubt and fear?? Jim and Lynn will attest that I'm aggressive within my "zone" and a craven coward outside of it.? I've got 3 days of privates lined up with one of my favorite instructors in February, and pushing my terrain limits is one of the main things I want her to help me with.? My barriers to success are less those of technique and more fear/doubt and physical fitness.

-todd

thanks Todd, yeah to me, no fear within your comfort zone is a misnomer. To go beyond and improve your abilities, experiecne skiing at a different level and ski some of the lines we skied, you have to turn off the ouside influences. Its hard at first but if you think about it, when the going gets rough, How many little voices are saying, it's steep it's too gnarly, you can't,- this is my problem, I need to clear it all away and be present with what's in front of me- ski now, stop looking for excuses why I can't or why i shoudn't.  I was on a ridge with Dan, it was about 42-44 degrees (according to Dan) This is the steepest by far I have ever been on. If you haven't been standing on a ledge looking almost straight down, you should!? Making the first turn I realeased the edges and the skis came around but I ended up leaning back towards the mountain stopping. I looked up to Dan and said "what did I do wrong" he just said, "you didn't trust yourself, You told yourself you had to stop."- that was it, nothing else was said, I cleared my mind and made the drop and finished the line without stopping.
TEchnique- We skied with a woman who was fearless, she basically made all turns with a stem, side slipping much of the steeps or making wide parrallel turns legs wide apart with stemming. She had the courage though to get into the line and ski the terrain. So this made me think. Its important to have the skills but how important is to to be perfect, Who am I being perfect for? Me? Others? If I am not perfect in form, does that really make me poor skier? Is it more important to explore the mountain and see what it offers? Isn't it OK to just have to ski thourgh some areas and not make perfect turns? (we did this on one face, its just to narrow and chewed up, we dropped the fce, made and immediately turned the boards sideways and had to slide slip down about 8 feet and then traverse forward, drop again and then out.

To me the answer is; did I enjoy the line, Is my skiing effecient and fluent. I Would like ot ski like Eric Lipton (see video) but until that time, I am pleased with what i have accomplished and? now get more enjoyment out of the mountain, the terain and my fellow skiers. I actaully enjoyed traversing and poling, walking to lines. It became part of the skiing experience. The actaul precision was much less important, (It will improve with time) I guess its the way you look at skiing.

[LivingProof]

Ron and I had a phone conversation yesterday that I want to follow-up on.

First, I asked Ron what the impact of his recent conditioning program was on his skiing. He said something like "huge!", maybe he'll expand on that, but, he stated they skied all day, every day. I can't help but think that being in excellent physical condition makes pushing the performance envelope much easier and safer. Said the other way, being tired sucks, literally and figuratively.

Second, being with a group of true, expert, world class skiers opens the door for what is possible instead of dwelling in the land of what ya can't do. Confidence builds each day, especially when your physical condition does not hold you back. Ron described the learning experience as not intensive from a technique perspective, but, working on small things daily. Some of my great learning experiences were mimicing the turns of really good instructors.

The trick now is to start skiing like that away from the instructional experience.

[Ron]

sounds pretty good. We'll see in about 100 days!

[jbotti]

I will just chime in on two things. First conditioning. For me at age 49, now conditioning is more important than ever!! Becsue I do large amounts of aerobic conditioning (7-9k miles on the bike each year) I find that fast twitch work is the most important for me. Plyometrics is the only way to go and you can do them most anywhere. 2 months of solid work 1-2 times per week and everyone will be strong and ready for ski season.

As for fear and perfect skiing, for me the better my form is the less I am scared!! I agree that one does not need to ski everything in perfect form (although that would be the goall for me), but form helps the mental side so much. The sense that I will hold my form, and not start wailing around, not needing to power a turn by rotating my upper body, all of this gives me more confdence and fights the fear. For me it is impossible to separate fear from technique and form.

The guy you posted Ron who skied that short section so nicely, I feel confident that when he gets into difficlut terrain all he foscuses on is holding his form. In fact if you listen to the best skiers talk about skiing hairy stuff they usually all say the same thing, that were focuded on one technique key that helps them hold their form (it might be some counter and not rotating, it might be a forward pole plant to keeps their weight forward or it might just be pressuring their tips).

I made huge progrees with my off piste skiing last year. It was really two things. The first was pushing myself into terrain and situations that were difficult for me. Some amount of de-sensitizing to the fear is necessary. Buit as the seaosn went on, I found that skiing hard stuff with poor form was not getting me the result and I needed to go back to really focusing on technique in the the double black terrain. When I really worked this, I fellt like I was skking rather than surviving, in control vs. holding on and truly enjoying the terrain vs. wanting to get to the bottom.

[jim-ratliff]

Interesting perspective - a cycle of progression.? I know that in many sports, relaxing and trusting your muscle memory is? a big key to performing well.? The harder you try to hit a baseball, the less far it will go.  The more you try to 'guide' a pitch the less control you have.? And it was VERY hard as a Little League coach to get them to experience that feeling of a relaxed swing as opposed to a? muscled swing.

So JB, while I understand your technique comment I think the technique has two components.? One is the skill set side of skiing (the muscle memory) but isn't another the physical relaxation that comes from the confidence that you have in the muscle memory.

Thats what I initially heard Ron saying (hope he responds), that in the related incident the coaching was really aimed at reminding him that he had the necessary skill set and that he just needed to relax and trust himself.

I know that I am often surprised at how poorly I ski when at a Harb camp doing things that I can normally do, and am convinced that it is because I am "trying" to make certain movements.? In that environment its ok, because the overall goal is on unlearning old and learning/refining new, but I can sense the difference in my skiing in a "not relaxed" mindset.? And I can also sense the difference when I can carry the new muscle memory into "relaxed" skiing where I'm not trying to ski, but just skiing.

So is it nature (our basic mindset) or is it nurture (the training we have received)?? I have seen some kids skiing amazing places with limited skills but all the confidence in the world!

[ToddW]

I certainly didn't mean to belittle technique in my post.? Rather, I realized that my current SMIM and runner-up lay outside the area of technique.? Ron's comment resonated with my personal situation.

By best estimate, I put in over 200 hours on drills last season.? Thanks, Jbotti, for elsewhere emphasizing time and again how big that pays off.? At my last camp, I earned a "wicked angles" from Rich and two high fives from D., who's the most technically precise instructor I've ever met and who I'll be doing the privates with in February.? This week, it was finally cool and dry enough to get out carving on black snow which was a thrill, so I haven't forsaken technique.? I've just reached a point where I have to focus on other issues too, such as releasing on steeper terrain as willingly as I do when laying them over on moderate terrain ( fear, plain and simple. )

Following up on Jim's comment, my best turns by far last season were when I saw a nasty multi-party collision a few hundred yards ahead and my mind was focused entirely on getting down there to help.? I was really pleased with what my muscle memory auto-pilot accomplished? ? I'm looking forward to refreshing or topping off my muscle memory at a ski camp in December at A-Basin to start the season off with a bang ... even if it is a few months after those lucky guys, Ron and Gary, started their seasons.