Month: January 2013

Ten inches new snow, powder techniques, not too cold, best skiing all season – this was a good day. Babes: Pam, Carla, Judy, Barbara, Donna, Joelle, Elsa, Becky. Indoor session with pivot plates discussing upper body stability/leg steering which effects an early edge and direction change. Powder turns on Crescendo and Swinger – slow the rotation, tip early, EVERYTHING forward, not to over pressure the downhill ski. One run down High Anxiety with mostly untracked 10 inches over old moguls … this one took awhile … all safe and sound! Video for lunch focussing on arm position, less rotary at turn initiation, staying so far forward it feels insane.

Was it ever cold today: about 5 degrees with 25 knots of wind, that is probably somewhere around -15 wind chill and it felf every bit of that. Michelle and Sandra (Memphis and Denver), level 3 working on matching with tipping to release, matching early in the turn, independent leg steering to keep the skis from wedging, feather the edges for more skid allowing the turn to be shaped for speed control, flexing of the ankles and opening of the knees to bring center of mass forward over the base of support (aka, feet). Thank you ladies for enduring such a brutal day … skiing presents such challenges and enjoyment. Take care.

Level 7, extension of the Babes: Donna, Elsa, Becky, Emily, Kathryn. Bumps – that now is our focus … stay aligned, quiet the upper body, flex to absorb the bump, extend to maintain pressure and follow the bump contour, shape with leg steering, MAINTAIN SNOW CONTACT WITH BOTH SKIS. American bumps the most challengeing … Dukes bumps the place to learn. The desire to see you achieve makes getting up at 5:30AM every morning more than worth it. This group is becoming such a ‘family’, this is what makes winter go around!

 

Babes: Barbara, Judy, Becky, Pam, Donna, Elsa – windy woods today, but sunny, no new snow. Rhythm turns (with and without pole plants), lateral exension to initiate, step turns (these were tough, huh), crossover and crossunder turn initiation, Crescendo and Dukes bumps, lots of real hard snow, video. I think you ladies skied better than I taught today – somehow missed the boat on the Crescendo run, still thinking how I could have set everyone up for success better. We are a spunky group, thank you for always striving to become more accomplished skiers.

Morning: John and Janelle, level 7, tune up on technique. Upper body discipline, pole balance, lead the turn with new inside ski YET balance on new outside ski, inside ski active in shaping while carrying some weight, initiate with upper body ‘through the door’, taking cener of mass more down the mountain, feather the edge to facilitate more shaping with leg steering … discussion on the cracking process of raw crude. Nice changes, most enjoyable morning.

Afternoon:

George, Washing DC area, level 3 rapidly progressing to level 5. Stabilize the wedge, tipping to release edges, turning with both legs, less edge/more smear/easier to shape, patience, speed control with direction of travel (aka turns) and ski/snow friction, less upper body motion, slow the whole process down, enjoy the ride! Good job George.

Morning:

Fay, Brook, Chelsey – level 1 at 9:00AM, level 4 at 12:00AM – amazing. Minnesota, Colorado and Wyoming. Parallel turns down green terrain, tipping to release then steering to shape – by lesson’s end working on more knee flexion, less edge angle for earier steering, keeping both skis on the snow and simultaneous leg steering. What a successful morning – well done.

Afternoon:

Louis (Miami) and Hector (Daytona), level 2. Calm the nerves, stabilize the wedge, begin direction changes, flatten the skis with less hard edge, matching in the traverse, patience to let the skis work, speed control with direction of travel and less reliance on wedge and edge push, enjoy the ride, think cold beer, relax. Good progress in only 2 hours, actually great progress in 2 hours, skied down to the bottom of Rips Ride by 3:30PM. Don’t get to crazy with the party guys … no, actually, it’s vacation, let it rip. See you next year.

Level 7: Lalila (Brazil), Mathew and Dan (Chicago).Early morning drills of balancing on inside ski with lift of outside ski, arm and hand position, pole balance, slowing down the initiation, inside leg steering, less edge angle early in the term, more shape and friction to control speed and less brace on outside edge. Afternoon: bumps, tactics, chairs 6 and T-bar, Pica and lots of hard pack. Grand progress, keep up the good work!

Level 7 – Carla, Judy, Joelle, Becky, Barbara, Elsa, Don, Holly, Lenny. Some fun drills (well they were fun in my frame of reference) on Peak Nine – thumper turns, stork turns, shuffle turns, shuffle turns with pole balance. Afternoon more bumps and applying techniques of early edge engagement … aka … tip to steer. The mogals on Peerless were … interesting!  An eye opener for sure … no coaching feedback needed, the bumps tell no lies. ‘Thank you for the memories’ – I love these days.