Toes Down

I meant to mention another issue with regards to bumps and pivoting on steep terrain. There is a common piece of advice about pushing the tips of the skis down into the troughs of the bumps by pushing the toes down. This gives the impression that it just concerns bump skiing. In fact it concerns all pivoting - especially on steep terrain. When the skis are more or less across the hill the are almost horizontal - but when they pivot to point downhill they end up pointing down the gradient of the slope - anything up to 50 degrees. The dynamics ( motion of the centre of mass ) will be much less than this angle as both of the skis must remain downhill of the skier and on their uphill edges - so to accomodate the geometry the tips of the skis are best pushed actively downwards. They will fall downwards by themselves but rapid pivoting requires this to be an active measure. This doesn't mean getting on the back of the ski boots - it means bending the knees more. Normally it is best to ski with the toes pointing ulwards inside the boots - and the anterior tibialis alongside the shins being active - but this is an exception where pushing the toes down seems to be appropriate.

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