Thursday, December 2, 2010

Cold Front - Blue Skies

Thursday 02 December 2010

The best part of every storm in the mountains is when the cold front follow through afterwards and the skies are blue and the whole mountian sparkling white. Today was such a day with -15°C in Tignes village at 2000m altitude.
Snow making at Val d'Isère - sunny but cold.

Mont Blanc with its hat on - and the sun starting to set.

Haluk still managing shorter turns in the soft snow.
Haluk skied well today retaining the changes recently gained - but later on fitness began to play a role. When the snow cover is not deep and there are rocks and other surprises hidden just below the surface it's important to hold a relatively low stance, with the kness and hips flexed - very much like in the classic isometric ski fitness exercise of placing your back against a wall and sitting on air with your knees and hips both flexed at 90°. This keeps the feet and knees ahead and below you on the mountain and allows you to to absorb almost anything that might be thrown at you. When Haluk got tired he would begin to stand upright too much, bringing the feet back below the body and then both getting a little bit stuck on certain turns and less able to ride over rocks and ridges.

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