Month: January 2020

Paul, Sophie, Bob, Phil, Terry, Kari – Friday Club. Raging blizzard, it was great, so cold riding 6 chair, skiing in the front bowl a delight – worth the ride. Early pressure transfer onto the new outside ski (not 100%, don’t over do it), once on the new edges then all is possible (skid, pivot, leg rotation, carving, shaping), eliminating the ‘pop and twist’ that is such a bugaboo in the bumps, look down the bump line to control what is coming (thanks Paul), pole touch and hip movement connected, keeping the grip, video, completing the turn (let the skis come more perpendicular to the fall line before releasing), at transition tip before rotation, commit the CM over the feet (base of support) at initiation (gives edge angle). Several ‘warm up’ breaks … thank you Sophie for saving a table, thank you Bob (not this Bob) for the chocolate!!!

Thursday Club: Laurel, Rebecca, Olive, Mitzi, Diane, Deb, Vicki Paola. Great weather day, yeah, some wind but what the heck, not too cold … stayed in Peak 8 bowl all day + one pass on Vertigo … Chair 6 not skiing good, the bowl was right on. Prime focus: take out the rotation and put in the tipping. That’s not saying there is not steering in all our turns, there is for sure … it’s saying initiate with a flexed stance, pole touch, hips cross over the feet and begin to rotate (lead) by facing more (relative term) to the outside of the new turn, solid pressure on the inside edge of the new outside ski, flexion of the new inside leg to allow the hips to come inside the arc creating edge angle and alignment, the turn shape in semi-circular. If too much speed needs to be scrubbed in the bottom 1/2 of the arc, then the top 1/2 of the arc was never formed. There you have it. Much fun hanging out in the bowl, Brills might have been the best. Have a good week, don’t lose sleep over trying to dream of the perfect turn – it doesn’t exist.

Sunday Club: Catharine, Kay, Don, Lisa, Tina. The cold continues, longer breaks, it’s workable, after all it’s Breckenridge (easy for me to say as I sit here in nice warm room). Stayed pretty much up high: Way Out (today this run was definitely ‘way out’), Imperial Bowl, ridge above chair six (don’t know what it’s called), Stampede, Upper 4 O’clock, Crescendo, Horseshoe Ridge Line. Focus: separation between CM and base of support (that’s PSIA lingo), how to do it (numerous ideas, all have merit), crossing over, flexing new inside leg, committing hips to the inside (being upside down initially), keeping hips open to outside of the turn, targeting, video. Kay had a gem: early edge engagement = not having to rotate both feet at the same time … so important in bumps, steeps, off piste. Another so fun day, thank you.

Saturday Club: Sophie, Brenda, Don, Meow, Nick. Warmer but by no means balmy. High of 31 (only 16 yesterday), stayed mostly on Peak 10, that was good for a change. Hips following the pole touch, string demo tying hips to pole touch initiation, get the CM crossing over the base of support, more flexion of the inside leg (gets it out of the way, drops the hips more to inside of turn, higher edge angle, shorter radius turn), getting rid of strong rotation at initiation, circular shape to turns (long, medium, short), being upside down at edge change (this is a toug

h one on steeper terrain). Lots of chocolate for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack … combine that with strong afternoon new snow and I would say we seized the day!

Friday Club: Ernie, Phil, Bob, Paul, Terry, Terry, Violeta. This was a cold one, barn door definitely left open about 2:00pm … but, the snow just a nice shade of grip, delightful, especially Way Out. ‘Alignment’ still the theme (probably will be all season), vertical and lateral alignment ques, which comes first at transition-tip or rotate, pole touch and hip movement to the inside of the new turn, not ‘squaring’ to complete the turn (this is one of the hardest old movement patterns to re-train), less traverse/more rhythm, balance early and with gusto on the inside edge of the new outside ski, shuffle drill, complete turn on one ski drill, more flex on inside leg (like riding a bicycle, long leg/short leg) to create edge angle/hips to inside of turn/facilitate steering. Way Out, Stampede, Crescendo, Dukes, North Star, Peerless. Bob, thank you for lunch chocolate, I will bring the other two bars next week. Great day guys, love seeing the changes. Cheers.

Thursday Club: Laurel, Rebecca, Olive, Mitzi, Chongie, Paola, Vicki, Deb. Wasn’t all that warm, but workable, early lunch, break in the afternoon for tea (so British, kind of getting into that, along with chocolate). Skiing up high: Whales, Boundary, Brilles, White Crown, Vertigo. Focus: alignment, how the hips align with the skis (same with shoulders, hands, knees), early edge engagement (maintain ‘grip’), tip before rotate at initiation, pole plant bringing the hips crossing over the feet, not squaring (always working on this), soften (flex) the new inside leg (long leg/short leg), flexed with both legs at transition, longer outside leg during shaping to manage pressure. Definitely some ‘good for you’ snow today … suppose that would be the case everyday!

Jonathan, Fiona, Indya, Taz, Isla, Fynn – Sidney, Australia. At last it was warmer, quite comfortable actually, some wind but not significant, snow delightful up high. Imperial Bowl, Snow White, Upper 4 O’clock, Boundary Chute, Bliss on Peak 6. Position of strength, athletic stance, where is pressure on the foot (front of heel, back of arch), shin pressure, initiate the turn with old outside ski, pole touch & hip crossover, pole touch timing, steering both skis together, how to get out of the ‘back seat’ (shin pressure), getting rid of the wedge at turn initiation, skis hip width apart (same as knees, don’t let the knees collapse), arms wider, hips/shoulders/arms open to the outside of the turn (don’t overdue the shoulders, it’s subtle), keep both skis on the snow, less twist at initiation-let the ski start to form the arc. This was a fun day exploring the mountain, talking some technique, learn some stuff about Australia … I would say it was a cracker of a day!

Frank, Leanne, Andrew, Areanna, Alexandria – St. Louis. Another cold one, but only on the upper mountain, winds low calm, winds high ripping. No brownies today, went with pastries, they ok but the brownies best. Five pastries and one hot chocolate at 11:30, that would be the pre-lunch snack. Rhythm, no shopping, pole plant more down the mountain, be aggressive (that one for you Leanne), quiet the pole (no big swings back and forth), don’t over think it, sometimes just turn the brain off and ‘do’, using less real estate (shorter radius, hold a line, less ‘shopping’), bumps under the Falcon. Social time in the Ski Hill Grill … and so the winter break comes to an end … so much fun, hate to see you guys go. Spring time will arrive before we know it – maybe won’t need five layers of clothes, maybe the wind will die and we can start to have some fun on the upper mountain. Safe travels, thanks for everything!