Victor Day 5

Once again we managed to get completely blown off the mountain by a storm that closed everything down. Fortunately both Victor and Rodion turned up in good time in the morning and we managed a very constructive session before the storm picked up force.

The session began with taking Victor through some of the same progression that Rodion had experienced the day before with great results.  This would also serve as good revision and practice for Rodion.  Victor had read yesterday’s blog and already understood the concept so there wasn’t much need to spend time explaining – which saved a lot of time. I gave him feedback and correction, the main problem initially being that he couldn't pull his hip back properly when completing a turn – and so generate the appropriate degree of angulation. I had to clarify for victor the issue of using the inside edge of the uphill foot while remaining on the uphill edge of the ski – so that the adductors could be used throughout the whole turn. Rodion was not using his body directly enough to generate the turn. I explained to him that dynamics – motion of the centre of mass – is the single most important thing to develop in skiing.

We practised with the “outside” ski, then the “inside” ski, then both skis as a single two footed pivoting platform.  Using the inside ski (initially downhill or “wrong” ski) the adductors still have to be used  - now for the purpose of  holding this ski on its uphill edge – perhaps because the body has to commit to leaning further downhill  to get the Centre of Mass far enough downhill in relation to this downhill leg – to initiate the pivot. This exaggeration is useful for learning the importance of getting the Centre of Mass into the turn without changing the edge – and the confidence given from a strong support with the ski pole when doing this.

Rodion raised the question regarding using the two skis – “Do you use the adductors on both legs”. I’d anticipated this question – but the answer isn’t clear. The fact that either leg used separately requires the adductors to be used implies that when both are used together that this might still be the best strategy – with the additional aspect that this will pull the legs and skis together to make a solid platform. Traditionally the opposite would be taught - using the “aBductors” of the inside leg (of the turn) to pull the inside knee into the turn (preventing an “A-frame”) – but this would appear to apply when initiating the turn with the downhill edges – not the pivot with the uphill edges. The day previously I’d taught Rodion to do this for carving to successfully remove his A-frame stance. Traditional teaching is all based on “inside edge” from the snowplough onwards – so they do not consider these issues at all. Rodion’s question was a good one.

Other Possibilities
There are other variations of turning that could be looked at here – especially the “surf” turn – which is another  very different way to avoid the inside edge at the start of the turn – but that is not “fundamental” and would only confuse issues at this stage of development so I’m deliberately avoiding all of this just now.

Skiing - Putting it to the Test 
Exercises are all very well but this movement pattern is about skiing – not just pivoting but all basic strong skiing. I asked Victor and Rodion to maintain the same movement pattern while skiing faster more rounded rhythmic turns and Victor impressed me by managing to eliminate his hip rotation for the first time ever – he had understood the action of pulling back with the hip. His initial reaction was that he felt he could move much more freely and that his back didn't hurt (it had hurt yesterday). To me he certainly looked much more agile and aggressive, moving more quickly than usual because of not being blocked by rotation. The change in appearance was also obvious. Victor found that the key for him to be able to pull his hip backwards lay in pulling his pelvis upwards at the front. This is extremely interesting because we had discussed posture several times over the years but not only could Victor not maintain ideal posture but it didn't have any significant effect on his skiing.   Victor could only get his hip to move back when he got his posture correct - and that links two critical aspects of biomechanics. Notably Danny Dreyer in "Chi Running" advocates this exact postural adjustment prior to letting the hip move backwards in running. Although in running the foot moves backwards and in skiing it moves forwards - it is my own extrapolation from running mechanics that the hip has to move as if running even when skiing or cycling (neither of which are completely natural physical constraints).

While Victor managed to make a big step forwards, Rodian was unable to integrate his new moves fully into his skiing. It was visible to me that Rodion was not moving his centre of mass once he started to pick up some speed and link his turns. The pole use, angulation and anticipation would disappear in direct proportion to his speed. He was trying to force the turns with his legs instead of using the legs to compliment the control from the centre of mass dynamics. I quickly gave Rodion feedback on this issue and made it clear to him that the angulation at the end of the turn would hold him inside the turn and the this would also give him the control over when he would come up and out of the turn. The angulation would also then let him get into the new turn without and edge change - facilitating an easy pivot. The point is that it's all about getting into a turn and staying inside the turn with the centre of mass until you need to get out of it. With bad visibility and bumpy off piste this pronounced hip angulation protects you from surprises when you will dig in with the skis and get thrown to the outside of a turn - your centre of mass will always be far enough inside the turn to stay there securely. If you do get it wrong then this just turns into another turn in the opposite direction. Rodion wasn't angulating into the existing turn and was thrown out head first down the hill twice when the terrain became difficult. 

Victor also felt how the same movement pattern applied to carving. Rodion needs to get this too but he is not there yet - it's where I want him to be with his skiing just now. The goal is to get him off the back of his ski boots in off piste and to stop him falling onto the inside ski when carving. If you don't angulate strongly and fight to keep your body down and inside the turn you will compensate by letting yourself fall into the back of the ski boots for protection.

Off Piste application
Continuing down the mountain we found some open off piste after following a trail through the woods. Despite not knowing the area I recognised this type of trail accurately for what it was. It finally opened out underneath the main ski lift and this is where we filmed the video for today. This was clearly an old avalanche  slope due to the lack of trees though for today with the prevailing wind blowing towards this face of the mountain there wouldn't be a dangerous accumulation of snow higher up. I did explain however that if something was to come down then to ski out to the trees at the side - not to try to outrun it. This obviously distracted Rodion because from then on he couldn't concentrate on his skiing. Victor skied well and towards the end of his first section he managed to coordinate his hip action along with everything else. His stance was very central throughout and he was only caught out a little bit due to not angulating enough - his upper body being pitched forward on a few occasions as a result. This can stress the lower back. Rodion ended up slightly on the back of his boots totally forgetting the pole use. He was much better centered over his skis off piste than a few days ago so the improvement is coming incrementally.

Railway Evacuation
Rodian and I went back up to the main station and then up a chairlift - but only to confront a wind so strong that we could hardly ski downhill against it. We went into the restaurant to get out of the storm and wait for Victor to bring the rest of the family - Timothy and Liliana who were all coming up to the main station together. Shortly after they arrived all the pistes were closed and the mountain started to be evacuated. There was barely enough time to eat lunch before we were forced out to get the last train back down the mountain. Further down the valley the road and rail access to Zermatt had been completely cut off due to avalanche - so we made the right decision not to even attempt to ski down but to just get out of the storm the safest way possible.

Rodion  - Thinking and Running

Rodion had asked me to give him some instruction in running so when in town I went through the basics with him. Those basics can be found written in detail in "ChiRunning". Prior to this we had to run through the icy streets on the town and Rodion slipped three times. I pointed out to him that he slipped each time because he landed on his heel in front of this body - whereas I was landing midfoot directly under my body so there was no risk of slipping. We found Rodion some Nike Free 3.0 shoes for him to begin working on natural running technique. 

Rodion asked if I was thinking about my running or walking all the time when I was doing it. I explained to him that mindful activity was in fact the goal. When you focus on an aspect of the activity you enter a form of communication with your body which builds awareness and acts as a mental exercise at the same time - both  relaxing and strengthening the mind. Training permits you to act unconsciously - but only so that you can focus on different aspects.