Columba & Cameron 4

Chill Out day today! Both boys were physically tired and needed an easy recovery day.  They were a bit under-dressed for the wave of cold weather (they need more layers) so this combined with tiredness made it hard for them to resist the cold – but nothing a hot chocolate couldn’t sort out. The session focused around non demanding technical issues and just skiing within limits – apart from a few slalom gates…

 

Clouds Illusion

Wind and weather were coming in from the  South East with gusts of 130km above 2500m in some places. We were just on the edge of the bad weather with a line of dense cloud getting thicker from the Bellevarde towards Tignes and Mont Blanc where it was a sinister black. However, towards Solaise the sky was clearer. Columba thought that this meant the wind would blow the clear area towards us. The explanation of why that didn’t happed is interesting! It’s extremely useful to be able to read the weather in mountains or at sea – especially where hot chocolate is not available. The photo on the right from yesterday shows a cloud perched on the top of Mont Blanc – but it’s an illusion to think of this as an object – it’s a “process”. The air rises up the mountain and condenses as it passes over the top – so it becomes visible – then it evaporates as it descends on the other side and vanishes. You see part of a current of air with the “cloud” indicating a process.

Although the wind today was blowing from the South East the dense cloud was moving towards the wind – because the process of condensation was happening earlier and earlier in that direction.

Apparently the spiral arms in the Milky Way are the same thing – they don’t rotate but the galaxy does rotate – the spiral arms being a sort of traffic jam as the stars pass through those areas.

Skiing Illusions

I’d already mentioned a few of skiing’s primary illusions to the boys – the number one being “balance”. Skiing is an intelligent organisation of accelerations (intelligence of ski design and skier) and the opposite of balance. (Called dynamics in physics). People go to amazing lengths to try to justify their heart felt illusion – I’ve heard some wonderful attempts from PhD qualified engineers – all completely idiotic in the end.  Interestingly, Physicists never make this mistake!

One illusion we discussed concerned centrifugal force, because it is relevant for understanding slalom. I didn’t use this term with the boys – I just asked what would happen to a ball on a string, when being swung around in a circle above my head if I let it go when it was between me and them.  One answered that it would hit him – and the other answered that it would fly off to the side instead. The second answer is correct – because there is not outward directed force – it’s an illusion. Centrifugal force does not exist. The skier completing a turn needs to know this – because rather than fight to stay in a turn he has to know when to let go the turn. The boys were getting “late” in the slalom course because they imagined this force throwing them out of the turn and fought to resist it when they should have been letting go.

Another illusion is that you think you can look and work out what someone is doing. You cannot! When a baby is born everything works but it is blind because the brain has no database for interpreting the world. By using all the senses together a database is built in the brain and vision develops. This is why a very clear and accurate understanding of something complex like skiing is required before you can even see what is going on. Your brain needs the appropriate database – then you can see! This is why I will not teach any standard ski technique – because the database is completely wrong! Professionals are consequently unable to even see what I am teaching. (I have a lot of fun with this!!!)

Corrections

Cameron had his issue of being caught on the back of the ski boots and we hadn’t found time to deal with that up to now. I had him stand across the hill and feel how he was perpendicular to the traverse and standing comfortably – not leaning on his boots. The trick is to head of down the slope and adjust to get perpendicular with the slope so that the stance feels exactly the same. Most people make the mistake of remaining vertical to gravity when heading off down the slope and this sends them to the back of the boots. Once the feeling is clear then it’s easy to use as a reference. In technical terms we relate to the “normal” force to the surface we are standing on – perpendicular to that surface. (We do not “lean forward”!)

Columba’s issue was his tendency to round his lower back. This is a trickier issue to correct. First of all we looked at pelvic tilt – raising the pelvis up at the front, then releasing the hip joints and bending at the knees and hips. This way Columba was able to bend at the correct joints – not in the spine. This is a hard issue to work at. For Columba learning “chirunning” would help him immensely to protect his back as his body grows and develops.

Foot Forward Technique

Once Cameron’s  fore/aft issues were dealt with this opened the door to being able to work on a major component of ski technique – namely “foot (or feet) forward” technique. Turn radius is controlled by a combination of dynamics and pushing the outside foot forwards. The driving of the foot forwards does not put it in front of the inside foot, instead it tightens up the turn. This gives the ability to “work” the ski. Essentially, it’s an element of skating. The exercise I have developed to communicate the sensation of “pushing” is done without the skis on and actually teaches several other things at the same time – which I won’t go into here. It’s an incredibly effective exercise which immeasurably simplifies the learning process – and is the result of many years of experimentation and evolution in teaching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The foot is initially swung though the air with no ground contact. It’s important to not “turn” the foot – all the action is up in the hip joint only. The foot then makes a light line in the snow with the whole edge of the boot. Gradually pressure is applied so that resistance is felt and pushing is necessary. This simulates the pushing required for skiing. The pelvis must not turn during the swing of the leg. (This helps to develop hip angulation – which we will begin to look at later in the session)

Both the boys could feel much greater grip and tightness in their turns. Columba felt it was the single most useful thing he had learned so far.

Slalom

Despite the poor conditions and strong wind I wanted the boys to work on this in the slalom. Fast times were not the goal today – just technical work. The foot forward technique helped both of the boys take a faster and tighter line – but with the consequence that by going faster they were struggling with the steeper sections. This is how slalom works as a training tool – moving from one challenge to the next as speed increases. Columba was clearly skiing more on one ski than before which is a great thing to see. Cameron looked amazing in certain turns but was caught out on his inside ski – probably due to a slight skid. Both were fighting to deal with higher speed. The answer to this is to generate more “proactive” dynamics at the start of the turn – to literally throw the body down towards the snow as hard as possible. We will look at this tomorrow if the conditions allow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both Cameron and Columba are in the “Silver” category for slalom. An instructor would be expected to be comfortably inside the gold category with the fastest racer at 21’45. The gates are about a second apart so the good racer would be finished when the boys were still six or seven gates back up the hill. This gives an idea of how much scope there is for development. However someone skiing that fast would have spent about ten full seasons race training normally – including summer and autumn! Working intelligently you can get into the gold with only one or two week’s skiing per year – I already have one 13 year old boy who has done this with no other race experience.

Angulation

When filming I thought that Cameron’s fall was due to lack of hip angulation. In fact this was not the case – it was the other way around. He lost angulation due to falling. Nevertheless it was time to introduce hip angulation as a subject. Yesterday on the steep off piste terrain both boys were suffering from a lack of hip angulation. It’s one thing having angulation generated naturally though exposure to physical constraints in slalom (natural selection etc.) and another thing to understand and build awareness.

My simple way to show angulation is to use ski poles for support and to incline with the body straight. When inclined (say, to the left – uphill) I would pull back my right hip keeping the shoulders and feet still facing forwards. This causes my bottom to turn to face uphill slightly and then it can be moved uphill to create an angle in the middle of the body – “hip angulation”. Watching the skis they can be seen to edge much more as the angulation is increased. This is one set of parameters needed to control turning radius in slalom.

It’s important to realise that this is not how angulation is normally taught. It’s normally taught by facing the shoulders outwards (downhill). This is however completely wrong for the human body and it wrecks the lower back. I won’t go into that in detail here though – suffice to say – just pull back the hip.

We worked on this in general skiing and on longer carving turns where Cameron in particular could feel the edging effect. Cameron’s angulation was slightly too much sideways. The upper body has to bend forwards over the hip joint when it is pulled back – not sideways over it. Once again this is a skating action. (Everything in skiing is either skating or dynamics!)

Next thing was to combine the pushing forwards of the foot with the pulling backwards of the hip on the same leg. It’s important to make this connection because it stops the foot being pulled back along with the hip!

All of those actions with the hip work to prevent “rotation” and many other technical faults. This all becomes even more critical with pivoting, short swings and bumps – but it is much more easily introduced with dynamics as we are doing here. The reason the boys have struggled with short swings and bumps is mainly due to lack of angulation and control of rotation. This is the real reason I wanted to introduce this subject promptly.

The isolation of the hip (pulling it back) is directly from “chiskiing” – see the fixed page: Chi Skiing

Columba & Cameron 3

Cugnai Valley – Off Piste

Today it was time to put into practical use some of the coaching from the last two days. Conditions off piste were generally tough but I had no doubts regarding the ability of the boys to cope. Everything learned on the piste or in the race course is ultimately to develop the freedom to ski in the wilds and to be able to be safe and to really enjoy it – instead of struggling.

Off Piste in the high mountains is inherently dangerous and the boys need to be clear about this. It’s one thing being able to technically ski something but another thing to understand the mountain environment. Pistes are controlled and supervised with about the only danger present being collision with others. Off Piste nothing is controlled – no avalanches are brought down by dynamite and everything is left to nature.

Our problem today however was simply that the snow in most places was set like concrete. The top of Cugnai forms a large bowl and we would have to traverse an icy south facing wall to get over to the sun sheltered north facing slopes and couloirs. I expected the north slopes to still be in good condition and was not disappointed. The photo on the far right is a long steep north facing descent with good snow and no ice, though slightly breakable in places. The camera lens perspective hides the steepness.

The other photo is from where we had to change route slightly, walking uphill to go from a narrow to a wider couloir. At this lower altitude it was slightly more icy so we couldn’t take any chances.

Cameron used jump turns on the steep and he did them well, staying in control the whole time. Occasionally his inside ski would get caught but this was because of his weight being too far back and not using his pole for support in the pivot/jump turn. The pole helps to get the upper body in the right place for tight pivoted turns.

Columba skied with good leg use but didn’t actually jump, making his turns longer and with a little more speed. He copied me because although I’d used jumps at the very top of the slope  (above the boys) it was less steep further down so I’d not used jumps any more. I’d have preferred if he had either used jumps or had managed to keep his turns a bit tighter to show that he was dictating his line and not letting the slope dominate.

We found sections of good spring snow at some points and the choice of route worked out very well. Absolutely nobody else was in the entire valley! Part of the beauty of developing strong technique is that you escape the crowds, especially when they think that skiing there will be too difficult!

 

Skating

Skating exercises were carried out as we worked our way over to the slalom course. Cameron had improved his skating already and Columba was skating well but not managing to link dynamics to the skating action. Both boys were tending to try to twist the knees inwards so a bit of correction was required. I explained that the feet should be rolled onto the inside edges by standing on the heels and rolling the feet from beneath the ankle joints. This action from the heel area allows the adductor muscles on the inside of the leg to be used to hold the knee inwards without any twisting or without endangering the knee joint. This lateral movement of the knee is strong and limited to a short range of movement – ideal for holding the ski on edge when skating or skiing. The ski edge is well to the inside of the foot (not centred below the foot)so it is always trying to flatten the foot and to pull the leg outwards – so that’s why this sort of leg action is required when on skis. The video shows how the boys were beginning to connect the rhythm of skating to dynamics and to generate a resonance with the skis. Cameron didn’t complete his turns quite enough to build up force so he picked up a bit too much speed. 

Earlier on I’d asked the boys to just feel the pressure cycle beneath the feet coming from the dynamics alone – and to observe how it feels like skating.

Slalom (Columba 28.17 secs, Cameron 28.86 secs)

Competition was getting fierce in the slalom and both boys improved their times once again. Columba managed to keep his legs apart and his advantage is that he anticipates his turns well and so gets a relatively good line. I asked both boys to take advantage of their wider stance and to push the body down into the new turn very strongly from the uphill leg – similar to the jump turn but pushing the centre of mass down instead of up – and from the inside edge! With this change they both realised their fastest times so far. Cameron is still a bit too far back in his boots and Columba bending at the waist so perhaps we can deal with that tomorrow. Cameron can certainly improve his line and Columba can generate earlier dynamics. Both need to now begin to learn how to use leg retraction to get the body to move more rapidly across the skis. Columba  has some natural leg retraction and this appears to be how he manages to get a better line.  Two of the photos here of the same gate show the difference between the lines of the boys. The bottom right photo shows how early Columba sets up his line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jumps

The target today for jumping seemed to be just to execute a correct 360°. Both managed it and showed greater confidence and improved proprioception (awareness of relative body parts in space).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Columba & Cameron 2

Today started with a quick warm up run then straight up the Borsat lift and off piste. We were looking for transformed snow but it wasn’t ideal – being sometimes hard and rutted and other times breakable and crusty. This didn’t stop us from skiing it and making our way over to the Grand Pré to begin work on carving.

 

Carving

The Grand Pré is an ideal slope for developing carving, being wide, relatively empty and with a gentle but varied gradient. I asked the boys to show me what they knew already about carving and both demonstrated that they already had a basic grasp – being able to lock onto the edge of at least one ski. 

Our first exercise was to stand on the two uphill edges facing across the hill with the skis parallel. To get on the edges the feet were rolled (from beneath the ankles) and the centre of mass moved in the same direction. Most edging is from the positioning of the centre of mass – not “knees” or “hips”.  Standing on the two edges we had to point the skis downhill and allow the two skis to rail progressively around in a turn across the hill leaving two sharp tracks on the snow. When actually skiing nearly all the weight will go to the outside ski naturally – but for a slow exercise we stand on the two edges for a platform.

After railing successfully the next exercise was to look at edge changing. Once again standing across the hill the boys had to adopt the same edged position – on the uphill edges – then using poles for support attempt to roll onto the downhill edges without the skis slipping away during the edge changing. They both managed but fell over in the process. Edge changing when carving involves a pure motion of the centre of mass and no skidding of the skis to get from one turn to the next.

The next exercise was to use a gentle gradient and repeat the edge changing when running forward – this being on today’s video clip. Cameron made his turns a little too short and forced things instead of waiting for the skis to bring him around – hence he didn’t remain as symmetrical as he could have. The next part of the video is when carving at speed and Cameron does a much better job but Columba keeps his feet too close together and tucks his knee in for edging instead of using his centre of mass! Similar issues will crop up in slalom because racing is mostly about carving.

Off Piste

We ventured off piste again and this time managed to find some nice Spring Snow which had softened up perfectly. The corresponding video clip however was just before this and the snow was a bit too hard. The boys both picked up too much speed so I had to explain that skilful skiing is about being able to control your speed through picking an intelligent line. This initially can appear to be contradictory when put in the context of racing – but the intelligent line is created by a licensed course setter and racing is about being the most efficient through the course. 

Slalom (Columba 28.61 secs, Cameron 29.47 secs)

True to yesterday’s prediction Cameron took the lead from Columba on the first slalom run – dropping a few tenths of a second below Columba’s best time. Columba struggled to stay in the gates because his feet were too close together so he couldn’t move quickly enough. During the carving exercises I’d explained how a wide stance allows independent leg action and a rapid change of edges without too much movement of the body needed to get the new outside ski on edge. Columba was probably going faster but the narrow stance caught him out causing him to lose seconds. Columba at first didn’t listen when I tried to correct him because he thought he had just made a mistake – but the cause of his difficulty was obvious so I told him to widen his stance for the next run.

On the second run Cameron improved again down to 29.47 seconds but then with a brave attempt at widening his stance Columba made a 28.61 to take the lead again. Cameron however won two out of the three races so Columba needs to work at making his changes stick!

We needed now to work on other things out of the course to be able to improve further.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jumping

Both boys decided to have a go at completing a 360° jump onto the airbag. Yesterday one mistake Columba had made was to leave his rotation until after taking off. Once you have taken off your body is effectively in free-float, exactly as in outer space – so you have to set up the rotation when there is still contact with the ground.

Columba was having trouble coordinating his practice jumps without skis due to a tendency to bend forwards and not raise his arm up in the air. Eventually the same happened on his jump but he did more or less get around. Cameron made it on the very first attempt – arm in the air  - and had an incredible landing which would have been perfect if a ski had not popped off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moguls

Small bumps were used to prepare for the larger moguls and we initially worked on pivoting. The skis are placed across the ridge at the top of the bump so that he tips were in the air. Planting the downhill ski pole on the apex of the bump gives support to get the body downhill without changing edges (keeping the skis on the uphill edges). The body then moves between the ski tips and the pole and when it starts to go the tips can be swung inwards and cause a sideslip down the bottom side of the bump. The bumps effectively become linked sideslips.  The body position with the pole plant (pole planting is only used in pivoting) helps to cultivate “hip angulation” which will become important in all other parts of skiing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short Swings

Developing the pivot further we went on to “short swings” which are linked, rhythmical jump turns with all of the pivot mechanics involved. With this exercise we were making a start at getting the legs to be more active. On the flatter ground the jump and rebound has to be mainly from the lower leg but on steeps it has to be from the upper leg – and in both cases from the uphill edge of the respective ski. We tried both versions. Columba did some great steep short swings behind me but allowed too much forward motion when he was filmed. The short swing should eliminate any movement of the body across the hill.

Skating

Skating was introduced to improve timing for racing. Dynamics gives a simple down/up timing – like a motorbike falling down into a turn and coming back up to finish. Skating is added to this down/up motion to get the legs working in time with it. Our first exercise was just to see if the boys could skate. Columba is more experienced at skating so Cameron struggled a little. We did some skating around turns – always pushing inwards with each skate – several to each turn. Using the “direct method” I asked the boys to just skate straight downhill and to then add dynamics by falling inwards (between the skis) on each stride – an action which converts the skating into skiing without changing anything. Both boys started to feel the correct rhythm and active use of the legs. When they get a little stronger with this it will help them in the race course as the legs can be much more active. This is the correct basic timing for skiing in general.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Columba & Cameron 1

At the request of the boys we skied over to the bordercross at Tignes first thing – but unfortunately it was completely taken over by a competition. The boys had to ski in my tracks all the way there – this being to force them to develop a sense of “line” – which is how to control speed through change of direction and not through braking.

Given that there was no bordercross to go into we went off piste instead. Both had a good enough sense of dynamics to be able to cope even with crusty transformed spring snow – but this would be a new experience for them.  Cameron lost his skis once – but he had more trouble just getting his skis back on than he had skiing. He needs to pay more attention to scraping the snow off the bottom of the boots! At least he learned the correct procedure for putting on skis when stuck on steep off piste: Stand downhill of the two skis just behind the bindings, lift the lower foot and cross over putting it into the lower ski. Once the lower ski is on then the upper one is easy. This simple procedure gets everything at the right angles automatically.

 

Dynamics

When I asked the boys what they had to do to make a turn the answers were revealing. Columba said that he moved his hip into the turn and pushed his knee in. Cameron said he inclined. Cameron didn’t really know if he was in balance or not but Columba thought he would be in balance.

I used the standard “against the shoulder” exercises to help both of them to feel the manner that the the body has to move. It’s the whole body that moves (not just hips and knees) and it’s not just the inclination that counts it’s the acceleration – the action of moving the body inwards that counts.  This is a falling sensation and is definitely not balance. It’s scary but fun because it works. The harder you fall laterally then the more powerfully your skis respond by returning you to an upright stance – with a turn being the consequence.  The boys were given a brief explanation of the “centre of mass” and how moving your centre is how you get the skis to work properly. This was all done in a few minutes between the off piste and the slalom. The idea was to develop a common vocabulary so I could then give them some basic feedback in the slalom course.

Cameron 31.12 seconds

For completely inexperienced racers both boys did very well. The stance from the dynamics can be seen clearly here. Columba is bending at the waist so we will have to correct that to protect his lower back and make him stronger technically. Cameron is a bit in the “back seat” so we will address that issue next time – the answer is not “lean forwards” as you hear all the time – it’s just about recognising how to adapt to accelerations and what to feel. Each skier has different strengths and weaknesses so it’s going to be interesting to see how the competition develops. The key to success is in being able to correct the weaknesses – not “trying to go faster”!

Columba 29.98 seconds

Cameron definitely got the highest jump!

Columba was trying for a 360° but he looked down instead of up when he started spinning. You need to look up and behind (leading with the head) and you pull your arms in close to the body – with one up high above the head after you wind up. (We had practised without skis for a while but Columba was getting tired so he just went for it)

Pivot

To introduce pivoting we began with some sideslipping on steep sections. Cameron had difficulty sideslipping without going forwards. Columba was obviously more experienced and comfortable. To make it easier for them both I explained how to roll the feet (inside the boots) onto their uphill edges to grip and downhill edges to slide.  This is a skill that is best practised for only a few minutes at a time – but frequently.

To get the boys interested I then demonstrated linked short, tight turns on one ski only – to show what very good edge control resembles. They naturally both had a go and quickly realised that it was impossible for them at this stage. Earlier on, when off piste, we had done some jump turns to change direction and the boys had found that fun so now I wanted to show them the connection with pivoting.

From a sideslip I demonstrated pivoting from the uphill edge of the uphill ski. To get this across to the boys I removed my own skis and physically supported each of them through the pivoting manoeuvre. The key, as in sideslipping is to roll the foot downhill (uphill ski) inside the ski boot – but to allow the boot to keep the ski on its uphill edge. This allows the ski to slip and for the tip to be pulled inwards into the turn – without any rotation of the foot. With my support the boys could clearly feel the effect. Next we used a ridge to suspend the ski tips in mid air and the ski pole planted downhill for support. With a slight motion downhill of the centre of mass the skis would start to slip and the terrain encouraged the tips to swing inwards.

Linking the pivot to dynamics it’s important to realise that everything moves inwards in both cases.

This mechanism gives great versatility to any skier. In future we will work on different versions – with jumping, linking the jumps, with contact on the snow and in bumps and on steeps. This is how “fall line” skiing is done without excessive speed. Racers always begin turns on the inside edge and mogul skiers begin on the outside edge. Steeps, deep powder fall line skiing etc. all depend on the pivot.

We only spent about ten minutes on this then went for a blast off piste using dynamics. Returning to the piste we then attempted 360° spins by applying the edge control awareness used for the pivot – always getting the skis on the uphill edges!

Flora, Beth, Robert

Following a demonstration of their skiing on gentle terrain I separated the skiers into two groups – those who were strong and those who were wobbly! Robert probably felt he was in the wrong group, but his technique made him very unstable and a session of concentrating purely on technique will have no doubt done him a lot of good.  Philippe would have probably separated everyone based on his past experience of the group – but perhaps in a way it was useful that I was the one there for this exercise as I judged everyone on skill with no preconceived ideas about anyone. This group here is the wobbly one!

Video of skiing at the start of the session.

 

Initial skiing summary

• Beth was in a stem (semi snowplough) nearly all of the time and was trying to stay upright instead of inclining. There was no vertical motion of the legs and she was rotating.
• Flora would rush the start of each turn and also try to remain upright causing the weight to move to the outside of the turn. The feet were being twisted into the turn instead of being rolled on edge. Her lower ski was tending to stem.
• Robert was pushing his skis outwards (spray) and so was unable to move his centre of mass effectively. This is why he was unstable and it led to a stem most of the time. He also tended to lean on the back of his ski boots.

Skating

The common feature for all the skiers was “stemming” so we started the coaching by working on something to deal with that directly – skating! After checking that everyone could skate across the flats I pointed out the qualities we were looking for to bring into our skiing.

1. The skis had to point outwards (diverging) – not inwards (converging)
2. The knees had to be held slightly inwards tightly with the adductor muscles (muscles on the inside of the legs) – not pushing outwards with the abductor muscles (outside of the legs).
3. The feet had to roll over onto their inside edges – not flatten onto their outside edges.

Each one of those sets of opposite actions corresponds to a correction for the snowplough. In fact snowplough develops all the wrong coordination. Robert may not have ever learned the snowplough, but the skis tend to force people into a similar situation so regardless of his background experience he still needed to work specifically on the right coordination.

The next exercise was to skate around turns on gentle terrain – always pushing the body inwards towards the turn centre and using the grip from the leg, foot and edged ski in the skating stance. I explained that it was OK and safe to ski with the skis diverging but not OK nor safe to ski with them converging.

Dynamics

Now that they knew a little about how to hold a ski on edge better we could work on building dynamics. (There is a fixed and detailed page on this subject here: Dynamics Page )

Dynamics and skating are the two main building blocks of skiing – everything you do has to be related to those things. Dynamics simply means “acceleration” or “disequilibrium” – the opposite of “balance”. Skiing is about falling over not about trying to stay upright. Our job is to fall over and the skis job is to bring us back up. If we don’t try to fall over then nothing works. Falling over however has to be done in a particular way and that’s what our exercises would be for. Standing next to each of the skiers in turn I got them to push their shoulder against mine and to imagine they were turning in the direction towards me. This way they could feel the force against the outside ski. We did this on both the uphill and downhill sides. I then explained that this had to be done when moving forwards and that they had to imagine an invisible magic wall which would replace me. Although magic walls can’t be felt by the shoulder they will cause the same force at the foot and will never let you fall over. The more you believe and trust the wall the more secure you become. Through a series of half turns then whole turns and then linked turns we brought the dynamics into the skiing – always moving inwards towards the turn centre. I explained that the foot and leg of the outside (supporting) ski had to be engaged exactly as in skating so as to be strong. The aim was to reduce or eliminate the stemming and pushing outwards of the skis.

We repeated the “push against the shoulder” exercise to try to get everyone to stand up strongly on the uphill (outside) leg from the start of the turn.

I explained “Centre of Mass” to the children – a point near the belly button – which we specifically move to control our skiing. Skiing is all about moving the centre of mass.

Robert was corrected for leaning on the back of his ski boots – and told just to stand up – to try to never lean either forwards or backwards against the boots – they are just not for leaning on. This tendency for leaning against the back has come from his habit of pushing the heels out.

Video after working for a while on skating and dynamics.

 

Kick Turns

There was a very short excursion off piste to check the snow conditions and to learn how to do kick turns. Beth ended up with some practice at putting her skis back on in deep snow!

Side Slip

The steep top part of the Borsat was used to develop sideslipping skills – keeping both skis close together and rolling the feet downhill to slip and uphill to grip and stop. Sideslipping is essential to help to get Beth away from her plough but also for everyone else because it is the basis of more advanced skiing. I gave a short introduction to pivoting, where the turn is initiated and the entire first half of the turn is carried out on the outside edge of the ski. Until now all they had ever experienced was the sensation of using the inside edge to grip and turn. Most versatility comes from the opposite! Simply getting better at sideslip will make development of this skill rapid as the week progresses. Pivoting is essential for competence in bumps and steep terrain where there is a need to keep the speed under control.

Ski (Chi) Fitness

While skiing still has more than a month to go here it's time to get back into running and cycling now that the weather has improved, the days are longer and the vicious winter bugs have backed off at last.

Chi Running

First Spring run this year was a 5k using Mizuno low profile trail running shoes. Although I enjoy using "barefoot" style shoes for running and all walking (even through winter) the lack of cushioning doesn't seem to suit for long distance running. Despite years of working on improving technique and awareness any break in running with “barefoot” shoes would lead to debilitating "doms" (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) on returning to the sport and on any subsequent increase in distance or speed. Usually when the legs finally adapted to this a painful issue would then crop up with the upper metatarsal joint leading to the little toe on the right foot. This always became chronic and for a couple of years was actually mistaken as being caused by narrow cycle racing shoes. This run effectively proved that good technique along with some cushioning underfoot can completely avoid "doms". The legs were certainly tired and a bit stiff for skiing next day but there was no “doms” pain or discomfort.

Chi Running just comes naturally now, especially thanks to practicing the movement deeply all winter with every turn made on skis. It's not just an "extra" movement or minor adaptation it is the core movement and key to everything else; a big and significant movement. While developing this skill it was previously always hard to engage the core muscles. There is a strong emotional connection with the abdominal area (we vomit when scared or get "butterflies" etc.) so somehow it's very easy to avoid using the core when moving and it's hard to connect with it when dealing with the discomfort of sustained effort. Skiing provides the opportunity to focus on initiating every movement strongly and clearly directly from the core - over and over again. Integrating the cross lateral body movements involved in skiing through active use of the core has a powerful consolidating effect. The action in skiing is very clear and pronounced even compared to other activities so this is very beneficial and is why when starting running again it feels more natural and effortless to use the core. Having all the body actions initiated from the centre when running gives a feeling of connectedness with the body. The active core protects the back as the postural muscles are only activated through reflex (there is no conscious control over them). If the core doesn't work with the appropriate coordination with all motion beginning there and the stride extending behind (not in front) then posture automatically collapses. During the past year, running, skiing or cycling I've experienced no lower back problems whatsoever despite having a history of three major surgical interventions on the lower back and a permanently compressed sciatic nerve.

Chi (nasal) Breathing (and Posture)

I’ve decided to stick “Chi” in front of everything now. All my running this is year going do be done with nasal breathing. What is “Chi” about this? Well all of the coordination is concentrated right down in the centre of the body. The abdominals have to relax to breathe in properly and then they have to be allowed to contract to breathe out effectively. The cross lateral motion of the body can be used actively in this contraction process. The hard part is maintaining posture while relaxing the abdomen. The key here is to maintain a pelvic tilt – up at the front. For many years  I thought this was wrong for my lower back – which is generally too flat – but the answer is to keep the hip flexors relaxed and free so that all the parts are independent. Breathing makes you much more acutely aware of the pelvic alignment necessary for good posture (and hence for good breathing). Breathing is about quality not quantity – it must be in and out through the nose and low down in the lungs using the diaphragm and abdomen. This is coordinated with the running motion – all the motion coming from the centre and all attention being centred there.  Just completed another 10k run – it took 5k just for the breathing to sort itself out. The body (nervous system) adapts quickly to higher CO2 levels from deliberately restricted breathing (the exercise itself generating higher CO2 levels) and this gives better tissue and brain oxygenation – the oxygen release being dependent on CO2 being absorbed into the blood.

Chi Cycling

The first hill climb of the year was the usual Granier 8km workout. Interestingly, despite a heavier belly it was minutes faster than the final miserable attempt at the end of last year! The good part was the great feeling of "technique" working. All the bits and pieces of technique hanging together and doing so automatically is not something you might ever expect to be relevant to cycling efficiency - but it is! Many cyclists are already at the 2000km mark this season but that's just not possible nor appealing to me. The goal is to lose weight, increase technical efficiency and then ramp up performance while enjoying it and using it to improve the body - not to wreck it with repetitive strain injuries pedalling blindly and in horrible weather.

Climbing while working the core gives constant pressure on the pedals. The slight (backwards) internal rotation of spine works in conjunction with the forward push at the start of the downstroke through the core muscles.  This ties up to the backward "scraping" of the recovering foot through the cross lateral body action. If the hip doesn't move backwards as the foot presses forwards and down then this cross lateral core function is not possible. In skiing, if the hip is not pulled back as the ski begins its turn then likewise all connection between the upper and lower body vanishes and there is genuinely "upper/lower body separation" in the sense that this disconnection causes posture to collapse and the back to be destroyed. Having the workload shared through all of the main leg muscles and core simultaneously (quads, glutes, lower abdomen, lower back, obliques) means that the potential for endurance is far higher.

Chi Skiing

Using this mechanism clearly in skiing all winter seriously helped me avoid tiredness during long days on the mountain – frequently with no lunch break. Given that we don’t get stronger as we get older it pays to learn to make smarter and more efficient use of the body.

Steeps Technique Development

After weeks of unseasonably hot weather we are now back to winter temperatures at altitude. The sun was out but it remained cold at even 2000m.

Twenty years ago I heard about how Silvain Saudan used jump turns from the uphill ski when on steep terrain. Being brainwashed like everyone else my attempts at experimenting with this always meant trying to get onto the inside edge of my uphill ski – and it never worked.

Over the past several years I’ve been developing pivoting techniques from the uphill ski – but on the outside edge. Some of my exercises for developing better skiing mechanics in general also involve standing up on the uphill leg and the outside edge prior to starting a new turn. From all of this it dawned on me that Saudan must have been jumping up from that outside edge! Trying this out on relatively steep ground this does appear to be the case. It feels weird at first but the steeper it gets the more natural it feels. It makes more sense than jumping off the extended lower leg and allows you limit the height you drop down the mountain better.  Normally such turns are done by jumping from the lower leg – but with the legs being independent and apart on the steeps this changes the possibilities.

 

Of course all but the steepest slopes with modern skis can be skied without losing snow contact – but there are situations where this is not the case! Some people do like to keep speed down through turning and do not feel obliged to tear around like freeriders at high speed. I’m fairly convinced that the popular tendency to ski fast off piste on wide skis is what caught out Michael Schumacher. I had been in the same ski area as him on the same day – but when going off piste kept it very slow and careful – focusing on turning and technique as there were rocks everywhere!

Here’s Silvain Saudan himself practising on rocks (no snow) – with no crash helmet - and no injury due to controlling his speed… (practising his jump turns from the top edge of the top ski!)

Empty dam exposing the old Tignes village and bridge over the Isère on the road to Val d’isère…

 

Chantelle 4

Chantelle had no specific concerns about her skiing however Andrew happened to mention that she had “spun out” several times yesterday but saved herself from falling over. Watching her skiing during the warm up run clarified that the most relevant issue would be to develop some Cross Lateral activity within the body – in arcane and misleading skiing terms this would be “Upper Lower Body Separation”. In essence this means going beyond just limiting rotation to following the direction of travel as had been the case so far.

Pissaillas Glacier (3350m)… border with Italy on the distant ridge over the Maurienne valley.

Chi Skiing

When the hip is pulled back in skiing it should be very visible. I can demonstrate this well thanks to my rucksack which is attached at the shoulders. The hip being pulled back causes a displacement of the pelvis from one side of the rucksack to the other which is easily seen by someone following. The point is that the movement is internal and it is a big movement – not a subtle one.  The aim is to open a space between the hip and the rib cage – involving a rotation at the base of the spine. The spine is twisted in a manner similar to wringing a cloth – with the mid point being at the 12th thoracic vertebra – where the ribs start. The tension this creates is due to the core muscles and reflexive postural muscles being activated.  The action could be described as facing the pelvis towards the outside of the turn – always more so than the shoulders. Success with this would obviously prevent active hip rotation into the turn so it is a good place to begin.

Chantelle has a slightly hollow lumbar area when skiing, with the elbows carried behind the body. Before the chi mechanics can be implemented it was necessary to work a little on posture. The key to good posture is to raise the pelvis at the front and then sit slightly to relax the hip flexors while maintaining the pelvic tilt. This should normally achieve “neutral pelvis”.

With a bit of practice Chantelle’s hip action began to be visible.

Unfortunately around about this time Chantelle had a nasty fall on hard ice – when mounting the button lift – smack on the right hip – and then another fall on the same hip when getting off the lift. One heavy duty pain killer and she was able to live with it. Landing on the hip joint like that when there is no way of protecting yourself can be quite dangerous. Happily we were able to continue but it’s a bruise that will ache for weeks to come.

We did a retrograde snowplough exercise with the ski poles pointing outwards throughout the turn and coming to point forwards when in neutral across the hill. The plough allows neutral to be sustained and so for all the parts of the manoeuvre to be broken down into clear sequential steps. This involved turning the shoulders outwards even more than the hips (technically an error) which felt awful as the ribs and pelvis crunched together. The exercise is mainly to give a visual reference to the fact that the body counters the direction of turning – something that had not been clear to Chantelle before this session.

Connecting Hip and Foot Forward Technique

Using the static exercise of swinging the leg from behind the body for developing Foot Forward Technique we were able to combine this with pulling the hip backwards at the start of the swing. Initially we swung the leg with the hip following to feel what it was like. Then pulling the hip backwards at the start of the swing it was easy to feel how this prevented any rotation or “follow through” of the hip but even more how the hip folded in securely beneath the body.

We did this interesting exercise because Chantelle had mistakenly thought that pulling the hip back would also pull the foot back. The exact opposite is the case when it is done correctly. The combination of the two is important for dealing with steeper slopes – to tighten the turn radius and to deal with the consequently greater likelihood of rotation.

 

Pivoting

Now was the time to extend the control of rotation beyond a “passive following of the skis”. The pole plant for a pivot is done by pulling back the hip and then tilting the upper body forwards to generate an angle at the hip joint. This gets the upper body further downhill and more weight on the pole – while the skis remain on the uphill edges. The shoulders appear to face downhill, but this is not achieved by twisting the shoulders to face downhill as this would twist the spine in the wrong direction completely breaking down any muscle tension in the core. The 12th thoracic vertebra region has to be where the centre of the spine twisting is with the shoulders trying to face more in the direction of the skis. This “angulation” and “anticipation” are essential components of pivoting but should be present to some degree in all skiing. One aspect of the pivot is that it is so tight that most people spin out when the come around instead of slotting into an angulated and anticipated position for the next turn. In fact the angulation and countered hips are essential for controlling the end of the turn as well as preparing  for (anticipation) and starting the next turn.

Chantelle worked for a while at this and made a marked improvement towards controlling the rotation. When she failed to control the rotation the lower ski had a tendency to jam on its edge then spin her around and make her fall between the skis – so the incentive to correct this was quite strong.

Short Swings

Short Swings were introduced to get the legs more active along with all the rest of the pivoting coordination. We started by just looking at jumping. To jump well the centre of mass needs to be moved upwards. Most people jump by just moving a little then lifting their heels and slapping back down with very little shock absorption. To jump well the legs need to be fully extended in the air and then bend on landing.

Pushing off for a Short Swing is mainly from the downhill leg – exactly as with “End of Turn Dynamics”. The jumping is technically the end of a turn. The skis can either be swung into the turn a few degrees or 180°, landing hard on edge or pivoting. There are many options. This might be the preferred way to ski down a steep and dangerous couloir.

We practised  traversing with jumps and then using the final jump to initiate a pivoted turn. The idea was to work on the cross lateral  (anticipation and angulation) aspects at the same time. Use of a pole plant shows that the body is in the right place and rotation is controlled. Short Swings require linking the jumps with a rebound and rhythm.

Part of my goal with the jumping along with the pivot and rotation control was to try to narrow Chantelle’s stance naturally. Her tendency towards a wide stance comes from her rotation and slightly stiff legs.

Compression Turns

Andrew had a go at compression turns. Compression turns simulate the compression from a large bump – which pushes the knees up to a 90° bend or more. On the flat we retract the legs to simulate this and it is the opposite of jumping – with the body moving out of a turn by extreme flexing instead of jumping. This is an adaption to severe terrain to maintain the same effective motion of the centre of mass in either case. We only spent a moment on this subject just to show that it existed and has to be learned to master proficient bumps skiing.

Skating

I explained that the exercise for “Foot Forward Technique” with the foot behind the body – was not exclusively for pivoting. This comes from skating straight downhill and developing turns without the body rotating. If the body continues to skate directly downhill then the skating action can be more complete than if the body follows the skis around. The “push forward” is actually a push outwards from behind. It’s not always advantageous to ski like this – with the upper body constantly facing downhill – but on a groomed slope it is the strongest way to ski. When conditions are rougher it’s best to follow the skis with the upper body instead.

One of the major errors in standard teaching is to tell people to face downhill and come up to start a turn. They do this and then react by pushing the skis outwards sideways to get them around and below them - because they can easily twist them in that manner from this position. This parody of skiing mechanics has to be avoided at all costs.

Carving

We took a moment to look at carving – both Chantelle and Andrew managing to stand on the two edges of their skis – rolling the feet and moving the centre of mass across and leaving railed lines in the snow. I explained how the turn transition was made – going through neutral – by moving the centre of mass from side to side. With this exercise there is no way the feet can be allowed to slide so it is clear and pure dynamics through moving the body. Andrew did this well but it was too steep for Chantelle to manage immediately. The goal here was just to make sure that Chantelle had no confusion over how to distinguish carving from other things because the word “carving” is used a lot in skiing and some skis are specifically carving skis.

The day was completed by skiing all the way down from the glacier to Le Fornet at about 1900m. Chantelle kept a good pace behind me all the way and negotiated all the steep, icy and tricky parts with no issues at all – no spinning out of control, no falls and no hesitations.

Ian & Diane 4

Ice

Our warm up run would be on groomed ice so prior to setting off it was worthwhile giving a brief explanation concerning skiing on ice. International race courses are injected with water so that they become solid ice. Ice means that there is very little deformation of the course between the first and last skier in the competition. Extremely sharp skis are necessary for skiing on this type of ice but the racers have another advantage. All high level racers automatically use some variation of “down/up” timing and this gives a solid “on/off” pressure cycle the makes the ski grip. In fact the one parameter that makes a ski grip and turn tighter is greater speed! This is counter to standard advice which is always “ski ice tenderly – like you are treading on egg shells”.  Sure if your skis are blunt and you are tired then just skid over the ice and then turn on a soft patch – otherwise good timing and greater commitment are the keys.

When the ski is felt drifting away on the ice then remember that if you are already turning then you are already succeeding in creating a deflection inwards  - so the response should be to move more inwards and pull the foot over and inwards with the adductors. Most people try to back off instead and try to stand over the skidding ski  - which flattens it and makes it skid even more!!!

Chi Skiing

Diane was still concerned with her tendency to rotate, particularly on the left side – and she reflected Chantelle’s concerns the day before about not being able to turn tightly or deal with bumps on the piste. Targeting the rotation directly we first of all worked on the hips. Although Diane’s understanding of how to correct the hip was correct she felt very unsure of herself about it. We worked for a while revising this in the context of dynamics. When I ski the hip correction is made visible by my lower back displacing against my rucksack which is really attached to my shoulders. The change takes place during the neutral phase between turns (dynamics) or when switching from one leg to the other. It is NOT a subtle internal movement – it is major!!!!! Even when Diane and Ian were managing to do this it wasn’t ever clearly visible.

Moving on from here it was obvious to me that it was time to develop Foot Forward technique so that turns could be made more tightly along with the dynamics.

Foot Forward Technique

Foot Forward Technique was introduced through static exercises. First the skis were removed and then facing downhill one foot was placed behind the body. The exercise is on the video so I won’t explain it in detail. When the foot is pushed with pressure along the snow then this simulates the feeling of the action required when skiing. It is necessary to prevent the hip (pelvis) rotating during this exercise so it is also a good exercise for working on hip rotation issues or for developing “Chi Skiing”. The body facing downhill and the foot starting behind the body is a prelude to dissociating the upper and lower body but I didn’t want to take us into this area of development specifically.

Ian and Diane immediately felt a strong impact on turn radius when trying this for the first time. Neither had been told what would happen. This is the primary tool for altering turn radius when combined with dynamics – and it gives the potential to “work the ski”. The outside foot never actually gets ahead of the inside one because it only alters the turn radius instead.

Combining Chi Skiing with Foot Forward Technique

Pushing the foot forwards can be likened to pulling the hip back – as they are relative to each other. They don’t have the same effect because the hip involves the spine – but they do compliment each other and it is very easy to combine the two of them – in fact they help each other. Both were able to combine the techniques and use all of this with dynamics – but although the effects were visible at the level of the skis sometimes the body movements were imperceptible. We tend to have a false concept of proprioception (positioning of relative body parts in space) and serious exaggeration is often necessary to even get close to what we actually think we are doing. Ian was letting his hands down again and this tended to drag his shoulders back and leave him a little in the back seat. He corrected this largely when skiing on the steeps later on.

 

Steeps

Once the Foot Forward Technique was working it was time to move onto steep terrain to apply it properly. Some things can only really be understood in a context that exposes them properly. Steep terrain makes it clear how effective the combination of dynamics and Foot Forward technique really is. 

Naturally Diane was apprehensive, but I explained that this is part of the excitement. There is always a sense of risk about launching yourself out of a turn on the lower ski – but the real risk is by NOT doing this! In reality of course there is very little risk – but this is the magic of skiing. Skiing can generate a thrill without life threatening measures being taken. Some like to get thrills from riding motorcycles on the road – but a good number of them are in bits or in the morgue.

The steeps really showed how Ian is now able to use his legs. His turns looked lively with plenty of up and down movement. We had tried the “Skate to Skiing” exercise first thing in the morning and there was a strange dip in his timing – a throw back from when he would have come down to “check” at the end of a turn previously. When skiing with Dynamics and Foot Forward Technique, hands held up (goalkeeper) and hip correction on the steeps then his timing looked good and the range of down/up motion overall was good – the legs clearly working independently.

Diane had to work to make herself commit to the “End of Turn” Dynamics – but she managed to ski well with control, tightness and no rotation. This only has to be drilled until is becomes automatic as a defence against apprehension.

Stance

Diane mentioned that she had heard that when in powder it is necessary to “lean back” so it was time to explain a little about stance. I’d avoided the topic until now because Ian’s previous “squatting” stance would have muddled the issue. Taking the skis off and standing facing downhill I asked Diane to stand up and lean backwards. This lean causes great stress on the knees and quads. Next I asked her to go down into a sitting position and feel how the slope would still keep her over her feet and there would be a gentle contact with the front of the ski boots. This places the centre of mass behind the feet and knees – allowing the knees and hips to absorb shocks and to keep the centre of mass behind without “leaning backwards”. Skiing in bumps or deep snow necessitates this type of flexion – but not without a full range of  motion of the legs when required. Ian’s previous “squat” actually had some merit in this sense – but all of the freedom of range of motion of his legs was missing at that stage.

Off Piste (Traverse/Kick Turn)

We went off piste again but the snow was crusted and I felt it would be too risky for Diane to try to ski it at this stage knowing that she had weak ACL in one leg. We backed out and traversed back to the piste. Diane let the situation get to her a bit and started staring at the ground when traversing. The snow was rough and sun pitted but not difficult so she exacerbated the problem by looking too close to her feet. Ground staring gives a false sense of speed and causes people to become paralysed. When this happens it’s important to lift the head and look ahead.  Look out a train window at the ground and you will be overwhelmed by the speed. Look into the distance and that problem vanishes.

I explained that when traversing you can stand on either leg. If the lower leg gets tired then stand on the top one. When on the lower leg pull the hip back to create the most efficient alignment of the bone structure and this spares the muscles in the legs.

Once back on the piste we practiced Kick Turns. Both were able to do them without any difficulty. This is actually harder to do on the flat where we were – but it’s slightly scarier to do on a steep hill. It requires a little practice to be proficient. When stuck out in the wilds it can be the safest way to get down a mountain – Traverse and Kick Turn repeatedly all the way down  - if the snow seems like it’s likely to require either a superhuman effort to ski or it’s likely to break your legs when trying.

Short Swings

The other way to get through very tricky snow – especially in steep narrow spots where traversing is impractical – is to jump turn, or link “Short Swings”. When jump turns are linked they are often called Short Swings. I first of all demonstrated how to do a single jump and swing the skis inwards as we had done when pivoting – this being to change direction inn place of a Kick Turn. Without much explanation we went on to linking them in Short Swings. We didn’t discus how to extend the legs properly of how to land – all I commented on was the need to jump mainly form the lower leg (same timing and motion as dynamics) – and to try to use the pole for support as we had done in pivoting. Both Diane and Ian had a good go at this. Most first attempts are very poorly coordinated but both managed good efforts. Diane needed to use more rebound and rhythm – as in her skiing in general. I’d explained that as an exercise Short Swings exposes the general weakness in your skiing. Ian needed to get more support from his pole. This brings us into areas of technique however that we haven’t specifically looked into – such as “angulation” and “anticipation”. My main intention here however was to develop the pivot mechanism and also the range of use of the legs – plus to show a little the context of why and where such actions are applied.

Carving

Back on the Grande Pré it was time to switch into carving mode for a while. Ian asked about when and where carving was appropriate. Moderate, wide and well groomed slopes are best – when there are few people around. Specialised short radius carving skis make carving possible on narrower passages without too much speed being generated. Even race course regulations put a lower limit on carve radius of skis because they are so powerful. Carving everywhere would soon exhaust you anyway. Race courses are the ideal playground for carving. “Freeride” skiing is similar for Off Piste though the entire base of a wide ski is used – the ski being wide to prevent it from sinking as the pressure builds up on it at speed.

Diane was still confusing the sensation of “carving” with a general skidding of the ski. She could do both – certainly at low speed – but seemed blurry about the distinction at higher speed. Ian needed to hold his adductors tighter to hold the knee in laterally when inclining. If the foot is rocked over (inwards) with the forefoot turned outwards then the knee can be pulled in slightly laterally. This is desirable most of the time. This is not to be confused with people telling you to flex the ankle and push the knee inwards with the big toe pressing inwards – which will cause the knee to twist inwards and expose the ACL to potential risk.

Here is a photo to show the issue with the knee and adductors. The photo is a frame from the Short Swing video and it was not happening  all the time so this is just for illustration…

Using terrain with dynamics

Just before lunch I had the opportunity to demonstrate that with “End of Turn” Dynamics bumps can be used to launch the body up and out of a turn – so that the bumps become a help instead of a hindrance. With speed and good timing the same effect can be used to get air and to change edges (turn transition) completely in mid air. Diane could feel the advantage of using the bumps when following my line.

Centring (Self Confidence)

All of the technique that we had been working on involves building awareness of he body. The focus nearly all the time is directed inwards. Focusing in this manner centres the mind and removes many distractions and fears. This form of mental exercise is similar to a meditation and it while it gives us a deep seated contact with ourselves it also removes us form the worries that we went skiing to escape from anyway – which is a pretty good result!  Strangely, skiing is also about moving the centre of the body – the centre of mass - and through “chi skiing” we develop the power and security of the core muscles and postural reflexes. All effective motion comes from the centre outwards. Centred actions and attitudes are trained until they become our new unconscious program – and self confidence begins here!

Chantelle 3

Chantelle’s concerns from her free skiing yesterday were that she had trouble negotiating narrow passages and bumpy areas. I watched her skiing for a moment to get a feel for where things were going and decided that she was ready to learn more about dynamics and that this would probably deal with the issues that were troubling her.

Dynamics Part 2

On the fixed “Dynamics” page in the blog this is called “Turn Exit Dynamics”. The coming up and out of the turn at the turn completion has to be managed in a particular way. The goal is to get into “neutral”, standing up, skis flat, going across the hill with the body perpendicular to the hill. Imagine a motorbike upright between two turns and now place this across a slope.  Chantelle understood the analogy with ease and then after watching my “hanger” turns demonstration was able to complete her turns this way from the first attempt. When someone has already developed the ability to ski with dynamics – moving the body – and being strong on one leg – then this additional step is quite easy to get and it can be quite liberating. Chantelle immediately began to flow in her skiing – connecting her turns and eliminating the traversing. She immediately found that starting the next turn was easier. This permits the quicker linking of turns. Cleaner dynamics – with the skis running forwards – makes it easy to let the skis run over bumps and just about any obstacle.

Steeps

The off piste was now out of bounds with the heat so we went into the slalom area to work on steep terrain. Other than feeling a little nervous Chantelle had no trouble adapting and using dynamics to stay in my line. Her instruction was to move over the downhill ski into the new turn and immediately push the outside ski forwards. This is effectively a “black” category run.  Chantelle managed to stay in my tracks the first time down even though my turns were linked and tight on the steep. When skiing on her own for me to film she had to get used to making her own rhythm.

 

Pivoting

Working on the pivot we used small bumps until Chantelle began to develop a feel for the mechanics. The key is to get on the inside edge of the uphill foot and remain on the outside edge of the ski at the same time. This allows the adductor muscles to be used to swing the ski tips inwards as the body moves off downhill. It is also a good counter against hip rotation and this helped Chantelle gain control over her tendency to rotate – especially the left hip. Good pole support is necessary and this starts to lead us onto dissociation between the upper and lower body – which necessitates an explanation of “chi” mechanics to protect the back.  I also wanted to explain this so as to provide a mechanism to counter the hip rotation in all skiing – not just pivoting.

Chi Skiing

There is a fixed page on “Chi Skiing” here: “Chi Skiing Page”

We went through walking exercises to see the difference in the mechanics then I explained how skiing is unnatural for the hip positioning and how the strong and deliberate pulling back of the hip on the support leg is necessary to allow the core to function the same way as in running or walking. The change of hip should be made when going through the “neutral” phase between two turns and the hip held back all the way through the turn.  Managing to do this successfully would not only protect Chantelle’s back but it would prevent her rotation and help her skiing in general.

We discussed the direction in which the base of the spine was twisting so that when we eventually get onto more advanced aspects with the upper and lower body facing different ways (anticipation and angulation) she would be already aware of how to work to protect the spine from potential dangers.

Kick Turn

We made a brief detour into some rotten snow off piste to introduce the Kick Turn. Chantelle being an accomplished ballerina made easy work of her first kick turns – doing them so well that she even looked like a ballerina on skis.