Today was of of the two days that I help out with race control for the Tignes ski station. It's always a pleasure to work with Tignes Development because they are good natured and easy-going. Even the town administration is friendly!
Even better it's the chance to spend a couple of days with the Royal Navy and help them out with their annual championships. Today was the Ski-cross and Boarder-cross competitions.
The competitors might not have had the best technique in the world but they were certainly going for it!
This tight corner was the scene of several pileups.
The skier's were notably faster than the boarders - and "cross" does make for a more interesting spectacle than traditional racing. Seeing someone being caught and overtaken adds another dimension of entertainment.
All the rest of the photos can be accessed here...
On the way home I noticed the lenticular wave clouds above St Foy and had to stop to photograph them...
The contrasting light in the evening at Aime also obliged me to test my new camera further. The camera takes about 6 images for a hand held shot like this and then processes them together for excellent results.
The storm subsided long enough for the ski lifts to open today. It appears that the jet stream is largely responsible having slipped further south and for longer than usual and dragging the cold polar air along with it. By mid-day the winds had returned and the glacier (panoramic image) was closed once again - skiing being available only at lower altitudes.
Carving Objective
Rodion's training had been significantly disrupted by the weather and we were still quite far away from obtaining the goal for the week - which was to get Rodion properly centred over his skis when carving. Today was the last opportunity available and Rodion was fully aware and concerned that he still couldn't relate to anything concrete technically in carving. The work during the week had been all in "pivoting" but with the aim of developing skills that would then help with carving and racing.
Inside Leg Symmetry
We had already looked briefly at how to use the inside leg to keep both skis at the same angle to the snow and the legs symmetrical. This wasn't in the context of carving but in general skiing with turns initiated on the downhill edges. I'd taught Rodion this to try to prevent his tendency to create an "A-frame" with his legs and to position his body better over his outside hip joint. Pulling the knee of the inside leg of the turn inwards (towards the centre of the turn) can help to bring the outside hip more securely beneath the uper body and act as the point of rotation around which hip angulation is achieved. The only time this isn't perhaps valid is when the feet are held together for a two ski pivot - but in this case holding the feet and knees together creates it's own symmetry.
Double Carving
The first exercise we started off with was simple "double carving" from the fall line across the hill. The skis are placed parallel, facing downhill, one on the inside edge and one on the outside edge - depending on which direction the skier will carve - similar to traversing but facing downhill on a gentle gradient. Rodion has no difficulty in holding the skis on edge and tracking or "railing" along the edges. The important issue here comes from moving very slowly. Where there are no dynamics due to very low speed, the skier has to balance between the two skis (similar to snowplough) and the only way to do this is to use hip angulation to get the centre of mass between the skis - with the upper-body slightly turned towards the outside ski. This provides a slow, safe platform for developing awareness of hip angulation. Rodion had trouble at first creating hip angulation because he kept his upper body far too upright. The required position is similar to a speed skater - with the upper-body tilted forward at the hip joints. Progressively, he managed to improve this and to maintain a symmetry with his legs.
We went through an "edge changing" exercise statically - which Rodion found difficult - placing both skis on their downhill edges while standing still! This definitely requires strong angulation with the upperbody tilted uphill to generate the angles required to place the skis on the correct edges.
Linking turns with some speed Rodion was able to maintain a good proportion of angulation and symmetry - though these are things that still require work to be done - and plenty of conscious practice.
As speed increases balance is replaced with dynamics (accelerations) and the pressure is more oriented towards the outside ski in the turn. The important thing here is to not permit this shift to cause a loss of symmetry and disorganisation of the body. Rodion was able to take the "balanced" stance into dynamics with a reasonable amount of success.
Skating Without Skating
It was still clear to me from his skiing that Rodion did not understand why we were doing all of this. The reason for working on angulation, centring of the body and awareness of the centre of mass was so that eventually Rodian would be able to use all of this to replace "skating" in his carving. When asked directly to use the standard down/up timing (motorbike turning analogy) Rodion would revert to leg retraction - an advanced method he had been taught years ago to help go faster in steep slalom courses - but which should not be confused with other things. Rodion was already moving his centre of mass in the right way for pivoted turns - but he couldn't sense the same movement through the longer sustained pressure cycle of carving. I explained that it felt exactly like skating - with pressure from start to finish (unlike leg retraction which completely relaxes the legs through the end of a turn). The difference is that the pressure is not made by you skating but that it happens to you due to your down/up motion of the centre of mass. When going slowly you can even generate greater pressure by exaggerating this movement because the hip angulation puts the skis very much on edge and they then try to lift you back up out of the turn even harder than usual. The sensation is one of skating - but you are not skating. The two pressure cycles are identical - one can be made by you "skating" and the other happens to you by dropping down into the turn. This can of course also be done without angulation - just with pure dynamics - but that puts many limits on what can be achieved here. In addition Rodion needed to learn how to place his body so as to avoid falling onto the inside ski and to keep a symmetry with his legs - so other issues were involved in this case.
Downhill Power Skating
I also explained to Rodion that the angulation and anticipation (body facing outwards through the turn completion) allowed the skier to skate in the sense that the body would face downhill and the legs skate off to the side - exactly like trying to skate fast downhill, but that the ski would curve back in, underneath and in front of the skater/skier and that by sinking down (with hip angulation) the skate could be held as long as necessary to complete a direction change - springing back up to complete the turn. This extra down-sinking being the main difference from normal skating.
Two Skis Skating
I demonstrated the carving with strong down/up motion generating a lot of force and Rodion described it as looking like I was skating with both skis at the same time. This is correct and showed me that he is understanding - because you can only see things that you understand. Rodion was able to then integrate everything and feel all of this for himself - to the extent that he now recognises the correct feelings.
Conclusion
We had unknowingly lost communications with the rest of the family because my phone had mysteriously switched itself to airplane mode. I'd never before had it on airplane mode so I didn't recognise the problem and thought that there must be other reasons for no-one replying to my texts. Meanwhile the family was panicking as we had intended roughly to meet and perhaps finish early for travelling purposes. Without this extra time however Rodion would not have managed to reach a clear technical goal - so it really turned out for the best. Rodion didn't get time to refine or practice at the end but his understanding was clear enough for it to survive. Correct timing gives an unmistakable sensation and he got it basically right in the end (even if the poles were still not being used and he could still have moved more). Once you have felt this then it provides a clear reference to aim for in the future.
Wild Chamois
Chamois surviving on a section where Rodion had descended off-piste a few days earlier. I used a 30X magnification lens to (810mm) to be able to get "close" to the small animals.
This chamois has clearly mastered the art of mindful quadripedal chiwalking. Her left hind leg is placed accurately below the centre of gravity while the other foot is left behind extending the stride backwards - using the large core muscles of the hindquarters.
It's impressive to see the difference in thickness between the front and back legs. It's also impressive to see in the video how unsteady these animals seem be in their deep snow environment. A lot of them die over the winter and that's not surprising.
Bye Zermatt!
Final departure from Zermatt on the train down to Tasch. I had stashed my bag in the cleaner's room at the apartment block (had to vacate the room at 9am) so after skiing at 4:45pm just went straight there and grabbed it - pulling it out onto the street and hailing a passing electric taxi. Within minutes I was at the train station, changed out of the ski boots and packed away the skis. In the car park at the terminal down in Tasch I changed out of the ski clothing and was driving home by 6pm. I resisted the temptation to cross over the mountains via Argentiere despite seeing the building and street lights outlining the route up the mountain pass from Martigny. The weather was still too bad. My original intention had been to take the motorway around the north of lake Geneva and pass through Geneva then on down to Chambery, but I decided at the last minute I couldn't face all those extra kilometres and so headed for the smaller road on the south side of the lake, cutting out Geneva. This was a good move as the roads were empty and despite extremely bad weather I made surprisingly good time arriving home at 11:15pm after a whole day skiing in Zermatt.
Rodion took advantage of the complete lack of skiing in Zermatt today to learn how to run with better technique. I'd gone through some of the theory with him the previous evening so we were able to start running straight away and then work on things while running. The only brief pause was to film Rodion's stride. Rodion, 11 years old, had never run more than a couple of kilometre's in his life so this was a real adventure for him. He covered six kilometres (starting at 7 minutes into the trail posted here) and almost none of it was flat. His first ever real long distance run was not only on on steep climbs but also at high altitude!
In Rodion's skiing he has been having difficulty in becoming aware of the full role of active use of his Centre of Mass. The key to efficient running also depends upon intelligent use of the centre of mass. There are several key mechanical issues in skiing that can be worked upon directly in running - notably "posture", upper/lower body separation and motion of the Centre of Mass. Great body awareness can be developed though mindful running and mental powers of focus, concentration, will power and relaxation are also benefits of creating a constructive dialogue directly with your own body. Rodion could begin to appreciate all of this as we discussed it during the workout.
Even on Rodion's first run the basics of efficient running are already in place. He is wearing Nike Free 3.0 shoes which simulate a "barefoot" effect despite having slight heels - and he is also wearing new leggings from North Face that can be used as either a base-layer, mid-layer or in this case - outer-layer. It was well below zero °C and the sun had just gone down with strong gusts of wind - so Rodion had a lot to cope with while working on his new technique. You can see in the video he is successfully landing mid-foot and then the foot is pronating onto the forefoot and lastly onto the heel. He is avoiding "reaching ahead" with his feet, legs and hips (Go back to his first video clip in this series - day 1 & 2 - to see how NOT to move!). The stride extends backwards, the feet fall in front of each other (straight line), the hip follows the foot backwards and rotates the spine right up to the 12th vertebrae (rib cage).
Rodion asked why I was using short strides and a high cadence. I explained that the elasticity of the tendons works more efficiently at around 80 to 90 strides per minute - so it is always better to try to keep this rhythm even when running relatively slowly.
We tried a few accelerations to make sure he could feel that speed came from relaxation and gravity - not power from the legs. Running uphill the task was to use the big gluteus-maximus and hamstring muscles while extending the stride backwards and to avoid using the smaller leg muscles. The most important part of climbing is to avoid "pushing off". The focus was on just picking up the feet using the psoas muscles (core muscles) to do the job. I didn't use those names for the muscles but just pointed to them so that he understood.
For breathing the instruction was to breathe both in and out through the nose and low down in the stomach (diaphragm) - but this was clearly too difficult at this stage for Rodion.
The arms were to be swung actively backwards as the leg on the same side recovered forwards with the psoas muscles - this being one way to prevent a painful "stitch" in the side - something which Rodion said he had experienced before.
I explained to Rodion that when he lost focus on whatever he was working on all he had to do was to try to re-focus. This is how you exercise strengthen the mind. Rodion was clearly enjoying the experience. Hopefully this is something he will be able to continue. The "mindful" approach to running is the same in general as he has been taught in skiing - so this is a very useful exercise.
Zermatt's "traffic free" streets! In reality the only difference is that there are no controls or rules for the vehicles so they are more threatening than ever to pedestrians.
Ice coagulating in the rapidly flowing glacial river water..
At least Zermatt hasn't covered their river over with concrete as Val d'Isère has done!
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.
Cafe at the base of the Matterhorn Express - early morning coffee stop before starting out for the day!
Today started off with great intentions of and early 8:30am start but we were greeted by a mountain slow to open up and with only restricted access due to high winds and a deteriorating forecast.
Victor - Hip Angulation
Victor and I set off alone up to the blue slopes of the Rifflelberg sector. Visibility was poor to begin with and after a warm up I started to look at Victor's skiing and how it could be developed. I noticed that Victor was a bit static during his carved turns. One sure way to bring life to carving is to make the apex of the turns earlier - to the side - instead of below on the mountain where gravity is maximised against you. However there is not easy. If your speed is not very high then it is hard to generate enough force to make the apex of the turn early (where pressure is greatest). To generate enough reactive force you often need to be able to drop your body into the turn in a way that dramatically increases the edge angle of the skis - so increased hip angulation is required. My observation of Victor's skiing was that while he could easily change the apex of the turn he would struggle to generate enough hip angulation for this to work optimally. To make Victor's carving less static he would have to find a way to create more angulation and down/up movement with his centre of mass. One other advantage of skiing this way is that the feet and knees are always downhill of the body as you are never finishing a turn off across the hill and overall speed is slightly higher constantly. This is a safer way to ski in poor visibility despite the higher speed because the skis will run over almost anything as they are not braking against gravity. To address the issue we looked at the motion of the hips. We had already discussed the hips at length so Victor knew what to do to pull the hip back and push the foot forwards. Victor realised that this was difficult to coordinate - so probably more static exercises are necessary. Not only does this action of the hip make increased angulation possible but it tightens and activates the core and postural muscles in the process - protecting the lower back. Pulling the hip backwards causes the shoulders to feel as if they are then being rotated into the turn - though they are not. Victor has always looked a bit stiff with the upper body/hip connection - so perhaps with a bit of practice this will finally free him up - and protect his back in the process.
The storm grew and shortly after the arrival of Liliana and Timothy we were all blasted off the mountain and into the restaurant. Storm there may have been but visibility was still pretty good!
Rodion - Angulation/Anticipation/Pole Plant
After lunch Rodion had the opportunity for a brief technical session because the lower access lift was still working. We would be the only skiers out and have the slopes to ourselves but at this altitude there was no wind so that was perfect. I'd been waiting for the opportunity now for a couple of days to finally work on Rodion's overall body position on his skis. This is a complex issue so all the other basic things have functioning well to be able to move onto this subject.
Good pivoting skills, hip angulation, posture and body awareness are all required prior to get this right - although all of those things can also be worked on by using this exercise. Rodion had to initiate a turn by using the pole to support him getting his centre of mass downhill of his skis, without changing the edges of the skis (they remain on the uphill edges). Eventually the body would cause the ski tips to start to slip downhill initiating a turn. Pronounced hip angulation is necessary to keep the skis on the uphill edges during this process.
As soon as the turn commences the hips have to set up the end of the next turn - resembling a hockey stop - with the angulation now permitting the body to hold itself strongly and safely against gravity and any deceleration from bumps or other obstacles trying to lift you out of the turn (especially in deep snow or on steeps). The pole is made ready for the next turn and goes in as the body comes out from the hill again and down into the next turn.
The key points are that the turn is controlled by the centre of mass and the angulation makes control of the end of the turn and anticipation of the following turn possible in a well centred stance - with a strong use of support from the poles.
All of this gives the confidence to get off the back of the ski boots and to use the poles. It centres the body and allows pivoted turns to be very strong and rapid - putting the skier in control instead of in the back seat.
Rodion's positioning on the skis can be seen here to be dramatically different from yesterday (Off Piste) and his control is very clear. With a small amount of practice this basic movement will be used Off Piste and it will also be used to strengthen his carving and stop him from falling onto his inside ski in future. Pivoting (braking) is the best way to learn to understand this action - but the same basic coordination appears throughout skiing.
Slow start again – but today there was a massive queue for the long lift up to the glacier. Once we got there the T bar broke down and there was a massive queue for the chairlift. Eventually we decided to ski down a red run instead of heading up to the flatter glacier that we had been aiming for. This was probably a good move because little Timothy already had cold feet as the snow temperature must have been very low due to the clear overnight sky (radiation loss). Timothy was very resistant to any coaching. His child ego was causing him to switch between considering himself as the best authority available in skiing and then feeling too fearful to move without extreme backwards leaning and stress on his little legs. Unfortunately he simply wouldn’t listen to anyone and so was impossible to teach. He appears to be extremely wilful – to his own detriment in areas where he is not capable of making informed judgement – and nobody has managed to give him a basic framework to know where his boundaries lie.
While he went into a café to warm up his feet I took Liliana for a run and we went on an off-piste excursion in quite difficult wind packed snow. Liliana skied well and confidently and that was great to see. Her lack of fitness was already showing through after linking a few turns – but she had not lost her skiing skills and she surprised me with her confidence and courage in difficult snow.
Timothy's Triumph After warming up Timothy followed me off piste on a gentle slope and despite a few falls he didn’t complain too much and did a great job of staying in my tracks. He is so small and light that he has to go in my tracks or he would be stopped by the snow. We were running out of time for getting to the Marmottes restaurant for a 2pm lunch meeting so I suggested that we continue off piste down a proper marked off piste trail – realising that it would certainly be a lot steeper and more challenging – but also being prepared to carry Timothy if it was too much for him. Despite a lot of sideslipping and strange noises he made it the whole way down and by chance the off-piste trail ended up exactly at our restaurant and we were not embarrassingly late after all. This run had been tougher than most black runs and the saving grace was that it had no ice. Getting down this by himself – despite limited technique – would only have a positive outcome on his confidence. With a bit of luck it might even get him interested in learning some real technique.
Off Piste Adventure Rodion and I headed off after lunch and decided to go off-piste on a steep run which required us to put on our transceivers. It was our best off-piste descent so far. The steepness, while making avalanche risk greater also makes skiing much more interesting. Rodion was surprised by the big rebound from his skis and called it “bumpy”. He worked on his hip use – pulling it back - and on his timing and rhythm. We hadn’t had time during the day to continue to change his technique but that will have to move forward tomorrow. Despite the steep terrain and deep snow he didn’t fall over once and so the pivoting and dynamics has improved in general – but he was getting stuck too far back and that needs to be addressed as soon as possible now.
Day 1 We met at the central train station in
Zermatt. I was there early to find a café for breakfast - with my
"hotel" not being a hotel there was no breakfast there and I hadn't
come prepared for that. Victor and Rodion arrived some time later and we
discussed the best plan for renting and storing skis for the family during the
week. Nothing was obvious here because the access to
their apartment was very difficult and inaccessible to any transport.
We eventually settled on a plan and got the lift passes then set off to do the
round tour of Zermatt in the bus - to get to where we would rent, store and ski
from next to the Matterhorn Express.
Rodion and I set off on the lift together
and continued right to the top - taking the Matterhorn Paradise cable car to
the highest point. It seemed like this would go on forever. Even at the top we
had to walk through hundreds of metres of tunnel. Eventually we came out to a
view over towards Italy and flat glacier skiing. The best point was that the
weather was good with clear visibility. The view was stunning and the
Matterhorn is impressive to look at.
We skied down to the main run and then I
asked Rodion to show me his carving. He fall over on the first turn, blaming in
on the poorly pisted snow - which was partly true. We did a couple of runs up
high like this and I observed Rodion's form. There was some safe off piste over
to the side further down but it was windpacked. Rodion also fell over here a
few times but that was expected as wndpack is difficult to ski on. The causes
of all the falls however were technical and this was useful information for me
to be gathering. Further downhill we came across some good off piste and with
some coaching Rodion started to enjoy his skiing.
Main Technical Issues
When carving Rodion was falling onto his
inside ski and creating a large A frame stance. He clearly thought that was
okay and that it was caused by "skating" - but it wasn't. It was
caused by his upper body not being properly placed over his support leg. With
shorter turns he was rushing the start of the turns because he was trying to
"face downhill" and so wanted to get the skis around to quickly. He
had also developed an "up/down" timing - coming up when going into
the turns. Off Piste the windpack exposed a hip rotation issue and lack of
feeling for the resonance (bounce) of the skis when floating in deep snow. His
pole use was practically non-existent for short turns and he was compensating
for poor body position by leaning hard on the back of the ski boots. There
would be a lot of work to do but part of the problem is that Rodion had learned
by copying - not by understanding - so a lot of explaining would have to be
done and it was not yet clear where would be the most appropriate place to
begin.
With the off piste being very good further
down the mountain I decided that we should ski it and make a bit of an
adventure out of it. Skiing should be fun and educational at the same time.
Rodion improved when he adopted a more seated stance in the deep snow and
started to look for the "bounce". We had some big runs in excellent
deep snow to finish the short day on a high note. Conditions change rapidly on
the mountain and it's important to adapt and exploit opportunities when they
are available - it's almost certain that snow like that will not be
available on other days. Rodion was confused about the value of skiing off
piste for improving his skiing - so I explained that Slalom, Bumps and Off
Piste were all very valuable ways to become a more verstatile and adaptable
skier.
Day Two
An earlier start to a grey day on the
mountain with reduced visibility. This would be a good day for working on
technique and I'd had time to think about it. Rodion also had a lot of
questions.
Walking
We began our session by looking at walking
and feeling the hip moving backwards as the support leg extended behind. I
explained to Rodion that in skiing the support leg extends in front not behind
but the hip has to move back to align everything correctly. There is a tendency
to do the opposite and let the hip follow the foot forwards – even more
strongly than in walking where this mistake is also made. (Cycling has also the
same alignment issue to deal with). Rodion understood and was able to separate
the required body parts and to coordinate everything almost immediately – which
is quite impressive because it can be very confusing. The hip rotation commonly
present in his turns disappeared. This is normally an extremely difficult
problem to correct – but the results were clear to see.
Timing – skating
Walking and skating use roughly the same
basic leg movement. Rodion’s first attempt to pull back the hip didn’t work
because he had inverted his timing – coming up into the new turn instead of
down (as in skating). His timing was rapidly corrected and then the hip went
easily into place. When someone skates the hip is naturally pulled in beneath
the centre of mass with the adductor muscles – so this easily ties in with
pulling back of the hip – it makes it easier to skate in effect – and the
skating makes the hip alignment easier too.
Rodion was a bit confused about timing in
general, thinking that skating was only for racing and trying to go faster. In
fact – just like a motorbike always comes down into a turn and back up out of
it the skier does the same – generating a pressure cycle on the ski which
nearly always relates to a skating action of the legs and body. When pivoting
the skating action generates vertical (down/up) motion and is used to slow down
or to direct momentum.
Rodion couldn’t see how a turn starts due
to the motion of the centre of mass – he seemed to think that some sort of
extra effort had to be made – perhaps with the legs – so this probably explains
partly why he tends to rush the start of his turns. I didn’t really want to get
into this subject at the moment – because he needs to work on his overall body
position (for aft, anticipation etc.) before going there. His question was
interesting though because now I know he isn’t fully aware of the use of his
centre of mass to control turns.
Using inside edge of the foot in the pivot
Rodion had some trouble understanding how
he could skate while pivoting so I explained that he should stand on the inside
edge of his uphill foot while the ski remained on the uphill edge (critical to
the pivot) – this way he was always working his adductor muscles (pulling
inwards) and could bend easily and push back up easily.
Rounding turns - not "trying" to
face downhill
In general I told Rodion not to rush the start of his turns but
to round them out – though I’m sure his continued failure to do so is due to
the need to correct his overall body position (too far back) and his lack of
awareness of the role of the centre of mass.
Running Went for an hour’s run straight after
skiing. It was snowing lightly and people were slipping and falling on the
steep paths and trails between the buildings. I decided to aim for where there
might be less people. Basically I was pretty clueless about where to go but with
an hour to run around there was no worry about making mistakes as there was
plenty of time to put them right. I headed out of town towards the pistes and
then when that became too difficult went off piste on a trail laid down through
the snow by people during the day. Although only at 1600m altitude I was
struggling to breathe through the nose so had to alternate with mouth breathing
for spells. When climbing I focused on the core muscles, especially the
hamstrings and glutes to access the strongest muscles for climbing and despite
the snow and steepness it was relaxing and enjoyable. Working on a forefoot to
midfoot strike the foot muscles all felt active and despite holes and potential
trouble everywhere my feet seemed to guide me flawlessly though every obstacle
– incredibly sure-footed. The Chinese 600 lumen (20 Euros) head torch was
excellent – so bright at times reflecting off the snow that it hurt my eyes. I
came across a total of four other runners and waved to each one of them – only
one responded cheerily. I like to acknowledge others who share my interests –
but I guess it’s not for everybody. Ultimately it’s always best to err on the
side of being friendly because it can never do any harm. The run was enjoyable
and as usual my energy levels felt higher after the run than before it – for an
hour or so anyway. Starting the run I’d had a few pains, in the the feet and
lower back – but by the end they had all been massaged out of my body through
the use of good mechanics.
The Lost Apartment Liliana and Victor had invited me to eat
at their “impossible to find” chalet and so after a shower I headed off there
on foot and slipped about all over the place. Still can’t quite figure this out
as the running shoes have the same Vibram rubber but have smoother soles – yet
during the run both up and downhill I hadn’t slipped once. Liliana had prepared
a traditional Russian/Ukrainian meal which was really delicious. It was also
the first time I’d had the chance to chat to Victor because until now he had
been completely occupied trying to organise and take care of his family.
Travelling to Zermatt from France was never going to be easy on Dec 31st - especially as it was Saturday, a holiday everywhere and there was a major snow storm with heavy snow fall down to 700m. The traffic heading down the Tarantiaise valley had dissipated by about 1:00pm but there was a complete standstill in the other direction - a major traffic jam still 15 km from Bourg St Maurice and extending to Moutiers and even beyond with the barriers closed on the motorway at Aigueblanch.
I decided to risk driving over the mountains through Mégève and St Gervais then down to Chamonix - guessing (correctly) that all their traffic would be coming from the other direction. All of those towns were jammed near their centres but still passable without too much delay - the snow and ice however being very bad at Chamonix.
After Chamonix everything stopped at Argentiere. In the confusion I asked someone directing the traffic and he told me that I could still get through to Switzerland - but would have to wait as cars could only move in single file in one direction at a time. Eventually I was funnelled up a single track lane thick with snow and with banks of snow over the roof of the car - no way back! Passing a junction where there was some activity I ended up scrambling up a steep hill until the road ended at "Tours" at the top - this was a dead end in the middle of nowhere. It looked like the night was going to be spent sleeping in the car - for which I was equipped. Going back down the road a short distance I found myself on the end of another queue. We had been diverted up this lane with the intention of forming a queue - out of the way of the traffic coming the other way from Switzerland - but nobody had explained this. There were firebrigade all kitted up in silver helmets and Genrarmes everywhere. The main road had been closed for avalanche risk and the Col des Montets was blocked. There was a small railway tunnel they were planning on shunting us through - and they did a body count in each car first. The tunnel was surreal - with barely enough room for a car on a narrow side lane. My wing mirror scraped the wall at one point. Out we popped on the Swiss side of the tunnel with only a short stretch to go to the border. I still felt confused and a bit lost despite the GPS working. It wasn't until 15km from the parking at Tasch (before Zermatt) that there was a service station open to buy a coffee - after 6hrs 30mins driving.
You have to park at the "Terminal" at the bottom of the mountain and take a train up to Zermatt with all of your luggage. To use a trolly at the terminal you need 5 Swiss francs and if you only have Euros like me then expect to carry everything. No traffic is allowed in Zermatt - only special electric vehicles - buses, taxis and delivery vans. The paths and roads are simply covered in snow and ice with some grit added. Sign posts are also conspicuously absent. Expect to be lost and confused - especially if your hotel turns out NOT to be a hotel and there is no one there to greet you. The aggressive little electric taxis rip you off big time. It's an ugly scene resembling something out of BladeRunner. I was immediately hate-struck by the place but decided to put that down to tiredness and hope that it would improve.
The competitors might not have had the best technique in the world but they were certainly going for it!
The skier's were notably faster than the boarders - and "cross" does make for a more interesting spectacle than traditional racing. Seeing someone being caught and overtaken adds another dimension of entertainment.
