Month: February 2016

Lopez family – Mexico – levels 1 through 4. Less wedge, more matching, softer edges, allow the skis to skid, riding chairs 7 and 5, jump turns, wider turns (turning to sharp causes the inside ski to ‘dig’), not allowing the hands and arms to be lazy, controlling speed with turns. Delightful day meeting and teaching each of you – enjoy your time in Breckenridge.                                                                          PS. Gabby, you own me one shot of good tequila … I intend to collect some day. 

Don, Nick, Meow, Brenda, Linda – pressuring more front part of ski, what it feels like to really flex ankles, stay low drills to keep from ‘popping’ and clean simultaneous edge changes, edge changes from a turn up the hill, stable upper body, how the inside 1/2 aligns with the feet. Half day drills, half day skiing bumps and off piste. Energy of group is rising, especially on the lower mountain!

Kay, Paul, Joelle, Donna, Nancy, Catherine – this was a good day! Still working on getting rid of the pop & twist, poles behind knees drill (forcing to ‘stay down’ and quick edge change), conquer some fears of the steeps, non stop top to bottom, moguls, massive amounts of chocolate for lunch (think I ate most of it). Starting to open some doors here !!! 

Olive, Betty, Chonghe, Laurel, Chris, Jenny, Mitzi, Diane, Paola – still all about early edge change with not direction change of the tips, flex during transition/extend to create pressure in shaping, hands on knees drill (groomed and bumps), no pop & twist (that is going away forever), working on letting the inside 1/2 lead all the way to turn completion (keeps hips over feet to facilitate pressure management), a bit of all types of conditions today (some really good off piste ‘crud’ now, this stuff is really good for our skiing). Energy of the whole group continues to rise, starting to attack the mountain as opposed to being reactionary. 

Maggie – Dallas. Early edge change, flex during finish/transition, extend to create pressure during shaping phase, less rise to release then twist, lots of moguls – stay flexed longer, don’t rush the extension in moguls, Whales Tale (quite good skiing there), alignment with skis, stay ‘open’ to the turn (if the hips and shoulders close, the turn will stop and wash out), lift inside ski drill (keep inside ski tip on snow), pole balance drill. Good day Maggie, pick something each day and practice … patience is a virtue. 

Linda, Brenda, Meow, Nick, Don, Kay: all about when to flex and extend, using the flex for early edge change, using the extend to apply pressure, wedge pressure drill, bump drills for tactics and managing pressure (when to relieve, when to apply). Windy (what’s new) and warm, Rustler skiing great, lots of chocolate for lunch (thanks Don). No picture (forget camera in locker).

Joelle, Pam, Kay, Donna, Catherine, Nancy – all about early edge transfer, what else can be said. Skiing good, real good … some low mountain practice runs, Rustler, Upper 4 O’clock, Peak 9, Peerless, American, Gold King … some changes, an unfortunate situation with leaving Donna behind …  that one will plague for awhile. 

Laurel, Mitzi, Diane, Jenny, Olive, Betty – no picture today, but six videos. All about edge: early, leading with inside 1/2, dropping hips into the hill for higher edges, change radius with higher edge angle and not twisting skis, more flexed at initiation (especially in bumps), tipping ankles, ride the ski, go forward with the skis. Crazy winds today (90 kt. gust on top of Peak 8), warm, all upper lifts closed, skiing actually quite good down low. All about technique today … and it was a good day.