Derren Appraisal

Derren skiing beautifully - in a storm!

I remember when "skating" suddenly clicked for Derren - when she was tiny! She has never lost the feeling and her timing still looks great and natural. The only change is positive. She looks more fluid, faster and more relaxed than ever.

She needs to work on the "pivot" so as to be able to choose which edge to use to start the turn and be able to have the option of skiing with a narrower stance - but that's not essential for the time being. She also needs to become a bit more aware of dynamics (to continue improvement) as she occasionally moves slightly in the wrong direction to pressure the ski.

Bugra Family Day 5

Hulya started of the day by accepting my proposition to come up the beginner's chair. Her coordination had progressed well and so it was time to get some mileage. The real issue is that there is nowhere in this part of the Alps where there are long very gentle pistes so that someone progressing like Hulya can continue unaided. I knew that Hulya would be able to handle being supported by holding onto a pole beside me. The idea of this is that I do all the work and manipulate the skier - causing sideslipping and pivoting by the way I pull and push the skier. This method only works with "pivoting" and parallel (or diverging skis) sideslipping and not with any snowplough or "stemming" (converging skis). The skier learns by feeling what happens with the forces and dynamics of the turn. The process is simply repeated until the skier can do more and more with less and less support. In Hulya's case there was a strong tendency to keep the body in the vertical when turning into the fall line. I explained that it was important to remain perpendicular to the slope - using my pole as a support Hulya was able to correct the fore/aft positioning to correspond to the geometry of the mountain. 

Later on Hulya practised on her own again and seemed to be able to correct some of the fore/aft issues by herself - she was certainly faster and more confident - but there was a bit of a stem creeping in - only caused however by the inside ski getting a bit stuck. The way to overcome this is to go back to skating/step turns again for a short while. In any case the pivot and the skate use different edges but the same muscle (adductors) coordination - with either parallel or diverging skis. 

Kutay, having mastered straight running and using the magic carpet to get back up the hill, now had to learn how to turn. First of all he had to still improve his "herringbone" climbing coordination. Five days is too long for developing this coordination and so it appeared that he either wasn't trying hard enough or simply didn't connect. Talking more sternly certainly got his attention - but didn't get results. Taking his legs and feet in my hands and manipulating them did get a result - and an "OK" from Kutay - it gave him the physical connection that he couldn't understand up until now. Kutay could now climb with a skating action (Herringbone pattern on the snow). The objective was now to get Kutay to skate/step in turns - changing direction and bringing each turn to a stop under control. After a few attempts he managed this and had his first way of controlling his speed in descending - with absolutely no snowplough.

Speed Shopping
Before lunch Bugra went into the ski shop and walked out in about 15 minutes flat with his own pair of Zag Big 178s with Rossignol rental bindings (for a very small fee) and a pair of brand new Head World Cup racing boots that fit like a glove.

Ilay, Defne and Bugra came with me after lunch up the Grande Motte up to 3032m altitude. Unfortunately the cable car was off so we didn't get up to the very top - but the sun was out and the view was pretty stunning anyway. The red run was well within Ilay's limits now. The time seemed right to start working on some more advanced technique. I filmed the skiing prior to changing anything - then began work on "timing". Correct timing means coming down into a turn and then back up out of it - the way a motorbike does in any turn. This is also how a leg works you go down and then push back up with it - and it's how skating works too. A turn on skis resembles skating in arcs - with the skier coming up out of the turn into the perpendicular to finish the turn. We did a progression from three steps around - to two steps and then one step per turn. Ilay did good skating step turns. Bugra and Defne were turning prior to stepping. Ilay had absorbed her coaching very well during the week. When we got to the single skate however Bugra got the timing very well and looked very natural - with independent leg action. He needs to ski like this a lot more. On the final descent we did a big section off piste on some steep ground and Ilay had no problem there - she looked very confident and had fun.

Conclusion

Bugra sacrificed his own learning to get his whole family up and running. The skating got him to ski more "one legged" and so to center himself better over his skis - plus the correct timing proved to be very natural for him. This is clearly the main route for Bugra to focus on in future to eliminate the bad habits which get in his way.

Kutay found himself in an alien universe with alien demands being placed upon him in every way imaginable - but he responded by adapting and becoming stronger every day. Patience is required at this stage so that only the correct coordination is developed and despite a slow start his progress was accelerating rapidly. It would only have been a short time before he would have been independent on his skis and skiing parallel. His very low body weight would have permitted him to progress faster than most adults once the initial coordination was in place.

Hulya demonstrated very good coordination and learning ability. She needs long gentle slopes to build up confidence. She was honest at the outset about having no desire to ski and was obviously not comfortable with the physical accelerations. In contrast to this beginning she appeared to enjoy discovering that she was able to make consistent progress and envision a clear way ahead.

Ilya impressed me the most with her final off-piste descent. She skied that steep off-piste like she had been doing it for years. That means for me that the combination of dynamics and pivot skills has really been taken on-board. Her attitude was wonderful - from the way she disciplined herself not to lose her poles and sit down when afraid to the way she handled her body in general, the cold, her emotions - everything. Impressive! 

Mont Blanc (4010m) Italian side - seen from Toviere

Bugra Family Day 4

Kutay seemed to have digested yesterday's dose of skiing and came out stronger today. He was able to descend from the top of the beginner's chair with holding my pole instead of being held securely in front of me. He accepted being guided into sideslipping and pivoted turns with me manipulating his body. Later he managed several solo descents of the small pitch near the magic carpet and eventually terminated by being able to climb up - sidestepping to the carpet and then get on a off by himself - and slide back down to the bottom.

His own words were "I'm good!"

Hulya, who yesterday looked like she was going nowhere fast, made the biggest improvement of all. She had gained reasonable control from skating turns so I decided to show her the other option - pivoting - initiating the turn from the outside edge instead of the inside edge of the ski. After supporting Hulya though several turns so she could feel it properly I left her to work on her own for a while. I explained that the feeling of pulling the ski across into the turn was like spreading butter with a knife - not a twisting action. Also - this process does not step from one foot to the other as in skating - the weight normally needs to remain on the outside foot from start to end of the turn. Hulya's progress was impressive and despite her discomfort with acceleration she was correctly pivoting with her skis parallel by the end of the morning - and skiing in control.



Today, with the improved weather and visibility, everybody benefited from a mountain top lunch at the summit of the Toviere. The mountain in the background of the family photo is Mont Pourri 3779m (only 231m lower than Mont Blanc - the highest mountain in Europe.

Ilay was still skiing confidently but sometimes she was letting the skis run away with her. We did some exercises while going towards La Daille, starting out with using the bumps for pivoting - tips and tails off the ground. I then added some more "magic wall" dynamics and then pushing forward of the outside foot - demonstrated with skis off. I emphasized that on the steep you have to move the body across quickly into the new turn and push the outside foot ahead quickly. We then went down a black run - successfully - though I didn't tell her it was black until afterwards. Eli's attitude was great - dealing very well with natural apprehension. She was trying hard to stay in my tracks - which is difficult to do - most people end up much lower on the mountain than me on each turn because they cannot complete the turns well enough. She did seem to get a bit tired towards the end of the day - but that's not surprising.

Bugra started to get some attention at the very end of the day. His main issue is that he still tends to push the leg out and get on the outside edge of the foot - stiffening instead of relaxing the leg during the turn. He is also too much in the vertical - not adapting to remain perpendicular with the mountain during accelerations downhill. (commonly incorrectly referred to as "leaning back") We worked on all of the appropriate opposite actions.

Bugra Family Day 3

Kutay was flying today - but only supported between my legs. He liked the chairlift and enjoyed descending while being held but his coordination will take some time to develop. He needs exposure to other dynamic activities in general.

Hulya already shows good coordination and edge control but not much confidence just yet for dealing with small accelerations - that will come. It would help if there were less people around on the nursery areas. People's bodies tend to over-react to accelerations if they are not accustomed to them - but this always stops happening. All that is required is patience. Hulya was working on step turns - making the skis diverge. There is not artificial "security" here in the form of a snowplough so we have to allow the body to get used to the small accelerations before this works properly - the real benefit comes later on because no defensive blocking coordination is being learned. Hulya has a natural tendency to avoid standing on her left leg when sliding. This is perfectly normal for most right handed people.


Ilay until yesterday had never skied anything other than a nursery slope. Not only did she leap straight to blue intermediate runs but just one day later is skiing almost parallel on them. Ilay responds well to both the mental and physical challenges presented. I'd already asked her to swing the uphill ski into the turn, but now asked her to also lift and swing the tip of the lower ski into the turn. She was given an explanation of the "magic wall" and how to push against it (dynamics). She was told to push the outside ski forwards and we practiced hockey stops - which she quickly became proficient at. The swing of the tip of the inside ski creates a diverging or parallel stance and the hockey stop creates a parallel stance - all breaking the grip of the dreaded snowplough or stem.



The video shows Ilay using dynamics for the first time to make her skiing naturally parallel - she is trying to "fall over" ("magic wall" is an explanation I use for children instead of Newton's second law of motion!). While doing this she is also working hard at trying to actively diverge her inside ski.

Toviere (Aeroski on the right)

Glacier 3500m cable car seen from the Toviere - all closed and covered with storm ice and snow

Bugra Family Day 2

Kutay and Hulya continued getting used to skis by using a small "magic carpet" lift which only worked intermittently.


Hulya's Iced Skis
When sliding back downhill I supported one on either side holding onto a ski pole across the front of my body. Julia was hampered by ice sticking to the base of her skis but it took me some time to realise this was happening to her - and until then I thought that she was very tense and "resisting" the accelerations - but it was her skis dong the resisting.

Kutay's Frustration
The conditions were very bad with heavy snowfall which was a bit overwhelming for Kutay and made it difficult for him to move easily. Kutay became easily frustrated - but he enjoyed the speed when straight running. He just didn't enjoy the jumping exercises I gave him because it was a little bit hard to do - jumping up with two feet and swinging both skis slightly to one side.

(All the photos shown here were taken the following day  because the blizzard made photography impractical.)

We had started an hour late because a fatal accident on the road concerning a Tignes lift operator had delayed all the traffic getting to the ski stations in the morning. After lunch it was Ilay and Bugra who came with me and after one run on the beginner's slope we bought lift passes so that we could use the Pacqui lift to return to Val Claret (from Le Lac) instead of using the bus.

Ilay's Impressive Self Control
I told Ilay that she needed to stop dropping her ski poles when falling and that all she had to do to keep them in her hands was to chose to do so - likewise she could choose "not to sit down" when a little bit scared. Once aware of her own psychology she responded very well and took charge of those issues - no more pole dropping and no more sitting down when accelerating.

We went up Pacqui in a blizzard and Ilay never complained. This leads to the blue run from half way down the Toviere so I got Ilay to hold my ski pole for support and I skied her by my side - guiding her - all the way down.  This support allows me to pull her into a proper pivot when moving - so that she can confidently feel what it should really be like. We completed the descent with only one stop and she had lots of practice despite zero visibility at times. The only negative was that she became a bit cold so we went in for a hot chocolate. Coming out of the cafe we went up the Tichot chair straight into a blizzard again. This blue run is even steeper than the previous one but Ilay skied it entirely by herself and did a great job of it. This is impressive because she had never skied even a green (beginner's run) before by herself. This was a fairly steep intermediate run and she was competent and confident all along. Having absorbed the correct feelings on the previous run she was able to make it happen for herself on the second run.

Bugra Family Day 1

Ilay started off with her snowplough technique and would only very cautiously and insecurely attempt to ski down the beginner's run in Tignes Val Claret.

Making Ilay into a real skier... 
To begin with we did some skating turns on the flat - changing direction incrementally. This is done to make the skis diverge instead of converge - guiding the skier away from the snowplough stance. We then worked on sideslipping and then onto basic pivoting into a turn from the uphill edge of the uphill ski. I did the exercise using the ski pole in the ground and pulling the tip of the ski against it - to feel the proper pulling inwards with the adductor muscles. Bugra tried it too but had a tendency to twist and "push" the heel outwards instead of pulling inwards with the adductor muscles. I supported Ilay through some complete pivots so that she would feel them. Bugra remembered this from before and was able to pivot quite well as an exercise. We added "jumping" to initiate the turns because this brings the skis together parallel in the air and is an exaggerated way to prepare for a pivot - the skis being completely off the ground when swinging them - instead of pulling against friction on the ground.

Kutay and Hulya - First Steps
Kutay and Hulya took over after lunch and as complete beginners we walked around on one ski for a while - changing skis and then going to two skis. Kutay's coordination was typical for a little boy his age and also his re-interpretation of my movements which he wasn't really able to copy. The main thing was to get him used to the skis on his feet and used to straight running and accelerations.

Hulya's coordination was very good for climbing with either a herringbone step (skis diverging) or a sidestep and she gradually became more comfortable with the small accelerations of straight running onto the flats. For both of the beginners the bodies reflexes were settling down and the over-reactions to the accelerations were disappearing.



Aprés Ski!
We took a long bus trip back to Val Claret from Le Lac and then I returned to my car to to get changed and go for a 10k run. It was cold changing but the run - around Tignes and across the lake both directions - was enjoyable. On returning I started the car and left the engine running while going back outside and closing the door - then "clunk!" - the central locking closed on me, shutting me out of the car with everything I needed inside the locked car - and the engine running! I found someone else leaving a car and borrowed a hammer - smashing a window to get back into the car. Leaving the car park I wasn't concentrating on driving so ended up spinning completely out of control on the ice and the back of the car ploughing into a snow wall - fortunately with no damage.

Luke Day Five

Another slow opening on the mountain - took the bus around to La Daille and used the old, slow and cold - but reliable three-seat chair up to the Follie Douce. This was Olive's first run beyond the nursery slopes and it was not ideal terrain for a beginner. With normal conditions Olive would have been able to handle this easily by now anyway - but the training had been extremely discontinuous due to the weather.

Olive was prepared for the steeper terrain through a brief explanation of the very basics of dynamics - basically when the pitch is steeper move your body more quickly and with greater commitment into the turn. In this case I also suggested a bigger movement into the turn. I hadn't said this to Olive earlier because it would have caused her to over-edge the skis (she had this tendency) - but now she had more of a natural pivot so increased dynamics would not present problems. Olive did very well and when the piste became narrower I added the "pushing forward" of the outside ski - and she immediately noticed that this tightened the turn radius. I explained how this pushing action makes the ski cut under your own trajectory more "proactively" and so makes the turn sharper. During this first ever descent of a proper run there was a steep narrow section where I asked for jump turns - just to ensure a proper pivoting action. Olive managed this well and Leonie practised it too. The run terminate with an excursion off-piste in deep snow - which was no problem to Olive with her little skis.

After a coffee break Luke and Ella came up the button lift to the Mont Blanc run and we started to work on increasing dynamics. I chose this because Ella had reverted to pushing her feet out - and the two things are mutually exclusive - you either move your feet or move your body. Ella found this tough to do in irregular un-pisted snow - probably because this snow is extremely unforgiving of any pushing outwards of the feet to the side! Going down through the trees in deep snow there were quite a few falls but also some brave attempts to use big dynamics to overcome the heavy packed snow. The skis can't pivot in such heavy snow so exaggerated dynamics is the only effective way through.

After Lunch at the Frutiere Olive took a tired last run and then returned home by the Olympic Telecabine. Luke was working on his fore-aft movement, having worked out that his shin injury was due to being left behind - not due to coming too far forwards. Leonie was still unstable because she was rotating a bit and more importantly being lifted prematurely out of each turn by the skis (those aspects are linked). Leonie's range of leg movement was also very limited. Luke was starting his turns with a rotation and being left in the "back seat" plus had postural problems with the outside hip being  thrown outwards on the turn (linked to the initial rotation) and then twisting the spine the other way to try to compensate - and then standing on the inside ski as a result. Against a wall in the funicular building I demonstrated how the body should sink down into the turn and - how angulation is achieved by the altering relationship of the body to the mountain geometry (and gravity) - in this case by fixing the feet in position and then turning the body (instead of the other way around when actually on skis. Leonie understood this best and when following me was able to seriously increase her confidence and hence her speed - reducing rotation and so being able to sink down and keep the body inside the turn more effectively until coming up deliberately to complete the turn. Leonie was probably benefiting a lot from the clear feedback from her new ski boots. Luke with his need for a wide boot - and always having been fobbed off with "bigger" boots - had understood that the lack of appropriate feedback and support from poorly fitted and soft boots had eventually probably caused him to injure his shins. The lack of clear feedback and support is probably a major reason for developing the tendency to be "left in the back seat" - but now the correct new boots with clear feedback were helping him to understand why he was all over the place "fore and aft". There is a strong tendency for the body to remain "vertical" instead of coming perpendicular to the slope - and good boots will certainly help to make this adaptation to the perpendicular.

Finally on this last day we had been able to get a reasonable amount of skiing done despite a late start.

Luke Day Four - Black Flag Day

Today was the first time the black flag - signalling maximum avalanche risk - has been put up in Val d'Isère for almost 10 years.

Eventually Luke and Leonie caught up with me at the Gourmandine some time after 11am - I'd been in there since 8am having driven up early to avoid traffic problems - the road had improved though. There were still several enterprising overtaking manoeuvres made during the climb so as to avoid getting stuck behind crawlers and those who are simply afraid to overtake anything and prefer to start convoys by preventing everyone else from overtaking (by not leaving enough space).

Tignes Odyssey

We drove to Tignes having heard from two sources that the Tichot lift was open as it had been the previous day when everything remained closed in Val - but we were disappointed on arrival to find it closed. The car park had about a metre of snow in it so it was totally blocked both for vehicles already in it or those like us needing to park. Luckily a snow blower machine entered just ahead of us and cut a single path which we followed. When the machine doubled back he went to the side of us and cut a spot for us to park. We decided to at least use the nursery slopes here for a while and look at some technical stuff. Basically, we worked on pivoting because both Luke and Leonie were rotating their bottoms around the turn while stemming the skis and neither had any visible angulation.

Luke's complete lack (even perhaps negative) of angulation during a traverse!

Pivoting
I was hoping that avoiding rotation might help Luke to improve his stance and so protect his shins better. Luke also worked on standing up on the ball of the foot to extend the ankle slightly and lift the shin off the front of the boot. I made sure the difference between twisting the foot and pulling inwards with the adductor muscles was understood. Leonie found it hard to separate standing on the inside edge of the foot and outside edge of the ski at the same time - but all it really needs is to be able to keep the ski clearly downhill of the Centre of Mass. 

Shin-ding

After a few runs we decided to head back to Val having heard that there were runs open at La Daille. I dropped everyone off at la Daille and went to park and return by bus. Our timing was lucky and we quite rapidly met up again and went up the Funicular together. Luke realised now that his sore shin had come from being "left behind" (often described incorrectly as "leaning back") and not from pushing on the front of the boot. Until now I'd been confused because normally shins get hurt by pressing on the front of the boot  - not from getting on the back of the boot - but Luke's stance was visibly too far back so this started to make sense. I got Luke to adapt to accelerations downhill by moving forward to get perpendicular to the slope. When he gets stuck in the vertical he also picks up the tip of his inside ski and gets the tail jammed in the snow. We worked on picking up the tip instead and this appeared to help him become aware of the issues- and reduced the pain on the shins.

Static Wall Exercise
Leonie worked on trying to separate the rotation of the leg in the hip socket from the rotation of the upper body. We did this by using a static exercise with skis off - basically swinging a leg from behind the body with the foot pointing outwards, making and arc in the air/ or snow surface, so that the foot comes round to face inwards in front of the body. Leonie couldn't get the leg to swing around like this and the whole body would rotate instead of just the leg - but the difference gradually started to become clear. 

Luke Day Three

The mountain was practically closed today - with only the nursery area open and the funiculair for a short period. Leonie found some good boots. Surprisingly it was the thoroughbred Nordica racing boot - the "Doberman" that was not only the most comfortable but completely sorted out all of Leonie's stance and alignment issues automatically. It's the first time I've been seen Leonie standing up and supporting herself and also the first time she has had a boot that will allow her to grip with the inside edge of the ski - stopping her knees from collapsing inwards.

Creating Angulation

The only technical work today was a brief spell with Leonie looking at how to orient the body correctly for angulation as required in both sideslipping and most turning. Yesterday we noted that Leonie tackled sideslipping with her bottom heading off downhill causing her skis to flatten. Correct angulation however is not quite as simple as just turning your bottom uphill. With Leonie's improved stance with the better boots it was relatively easy to get her to stand up and tilt the upper body from the hips only - then to turn the upper body to face downhill by pivoting on the hip joint - thus creating an apparent angle at the hip when looked at in the direction of the skis (the direction they are pointing in). This angle is a major contributor to edge control - and motion of the centre of mass. The main reason Leonie has been unable to use her poles for pivoting is because of the absence of this "angulation". Leonie found the correct stance for setting up angulation in only a few minutes but I don't believe that this would have been possible even with hours of work in the old boots. Skiing requires the upper body to be perched on one hip joint at a time - and able to rotate on it. There is a slight flex so that the leg muscles relax with a more equal distribution of force over the hamstrings and quads. The upper body must tilt forwards slightly taking the pelvis along with it - so it feels like you are bending to look over a fence that you cannot touch and get quite near enough to see over (this may mean standing up on the toes). Finally there is a pull inwards of the adductors on the support leg to get the hip joint underneath the centre-of-mass and the opposite hip (and shoulder) is slightly raised. When posture and/or boots are all messed up this is neigh on impossible to explain - but can happen spontaneously when the conditions are approximately correct.

Driving down the mountain took 2hrs 30m - two avalanches blocked the road and had to be cleared by snowploughs. There were deep ruts in the ice on the road and further down the mountain the ruts had rivers of water flowing through them. Sitting behind a snowplough for part of the descent the cars coming uphill were being hit by a an oncoming bow wave of slush, water and ice from the plough - it was very, very messy. I was impressed by the handling of the little Peugeot with its two snowtyres.

One night's snowfall!

Luke Day Two

Olive Morning

Olive's first run today was on the main nursery slope with the chairlift. Instead of traversing across the path at the top steep section we immediately started to work on sideslipping. Olive held onto my ski pole and remained above me on the slope so that I could control her. After a few descents of the steep section she was already quite steady and could be helped to move diagonally forwards or backwards. Her top ski started to diverge uphill slightly without me saying anything and that's a good sign. People who have learned snowplough never do this - they always desperately try to point the uphill ski downhill and this causes endless problems. With Olive never having learned snowplough there was no hint of this type of defensive and inappropriate action. We also practised sidestepping down - so that Olive was aware of this option.

Part of being able to sideslip is keeping the weight mainly on the lower ski and avoiding turning the body to face uphill for safety. To help to develop the right feelings I had olive start to do jump turns - with a swing of the skis in the direction of the turn when airborne. This can't be done if your body is facing uphill. On landing the skis have a tendency to pivot and turn in a way closely resembling the sideslip (spreading butter is a good analogy) - the skis brushing off speed by going partially sideways. Olive continued to improve and was able to pivot successfully on steeper pitches. She was also gaining confidence on the gentler pitches and was happy to glide quite fast.

Olive Afternoon

Right from the start of the afternoon session Olive was able to sideslip from the top by herself. With her renewed energy she was keen to go by herself though she had to be warned that the top part would be too steep and that only sideslipping would work for her at the moment. Everyone else joined in the session and everyone made the mistake of turning the bottom downhill instead of uphill when sideslipping - it was a very revealing moment. Everyone needs to work more on this so I'll be looking at this with greater priority tomorrow.

Luke, Leonie, Ella

We only managed a handful of runs together due to timing and weather issues. Partly due to the challenging snow conditions Luke was bracing against his outside leg and going quite stiff at the hip. I wanted him to try to become aware of all that tension and resistance. Difficult snow requires a stance that resembles being "seated" - but with the seat facing downhill - so that you are not falling backwards when there is no support underneath your bottom. A seated stance facing downhill will still cause your centre of mass to be directly above your feet - relative to gravity. This is necessary in chopped up snow because it gets the feet ahead of the body and the femurs more horizontal - so that if there is a sudden deceleration from a bump or patch of deep snow the legs will push the skis through it - and the knees can be pushed up in front of the body to absorb shock. 

We worked on using the poles to get right over the lower ski to be able to then pivot from there into a new turn. Everyone has been failing to allow the body to come out of the previous turn right over the skis with the support of the pole for pivoting into the next turn - the pole use is very weak in all cases. Conditions are however limiting the time spent on exercises and the variety of exercises we can do.

Leonie seems more comfortable at having a go at offpiste - the Zag skis are no doubt helping a lot.