Breckenridge Ski Lesson Pictures And Some Food For Thought

John (New Jersey, morning), Brenda (Odessa, afternoon). Crazy day, winter for sure, some sun, some periods of blizzard (I liked the blizzard, storm skiing), three inches of new by day’s end, cold feet (yeah some, but worth it). John in the morning working on inside ski release and steering, butt in the chair, more flex in ankles and knees, completing the turn with strong leg steering, tip before steer, getting off the hard edge, two ski pressure (all the way from initiation through finish), hockey slides/stops. Brenda in afternoon, no teaching, not one word, all skiing the new powder, trees, T-bar, White Crown, No Name, B-50 line, Meadow, Toilet Bowl, some fresh tracks every run – the essence of skiing, what it’s all about, takes years to get to the 9 level, what a journey, never ends.

Greg & Stephanie (South Dakota). Started out sunny, not too cold, breezy (what day is not at Breckenridge), clouds by noon, snow setting up by 2:00pm, not necessarily good snow, but good for you snow. At transition coming forward and lateral (NOT up), tipping from the ankles and knees to bring the hips over the skis and skis onto new edges THEN steer with leg rotation, can’t get too much shin pressure, more flexion in the knees and ankles to facilitate leg rotation, completing the turn (sometimes up hill), more skid and less edge (the mountain provides plenty of edge), no sitting at end of turn to pressure the tails (this kills the turn at the 3/4 point), pivot turns on a berm, lead with new inside ski, keep both skis on the snow and pressured – that would be grip, pole plant to initiate – bring thighs and hips over skis, CM always inside the turn, get feet/skis away from hips as far as possible.

Pablo & Mariana (Breckenridge), Luis & Marisela (Mexico City). Another blue bird day, temps in 40s, hard to dress just right, no complaints (well, none the readers would want to hear). Rips ride in the morning, learning to slide with both skis, more even pressure, don’t rush the turns, going downhill for a moment is good, how does leg steering work, tipping the inside ski to keep it from getting ‘stuck’, arms more up and out for weight distribution and balance, flexing ankles and knees is good, bending over at the waist is bad. Afternoon a couple runs on Springmeier (Luis starting to rock) then off to the T-bar, Imperial, Rustler and King (it’s short but it’s steep), releasing with pole touch/tipping with ankles and knees which brings the hips over the skis and brings skis onto new edges, lead with new inside ski (this is cure for the wedge and lifting that new inside ski), maintain ‘grip’ all the way through the turn which created friction (good stuff) and aids in shaping, flex the inside knee (up toward the chest) to yield ability for strong inside leg steering, use sides of moguls for banking and shaping. Hmmm, see Mariana, I only said good stuff.

Holly smoke was it warm … good news/bad news – the day so enjoyable, the snow going fast. Shelby (Denver), Alec (San Francisco), Josh (NYC), Lelia (Breckenridge), Zack (Breckenridge). Intro to bumps, balance in the traverse, where to turn on the mogul, pivot turns, hockey slides, lead with the new inside ski, release to new edges by tipping ankles/knees/thighs and bring hips over the feet, rotate legs one direction and counter the hips in the other direction, hands on knees drill, pole balance, pole touch to initiate the edge release from old turn and bring the core forward on lateral down the mountain, ski purchase throughout turn (lose this – lose the game), how to flex lower and stronger, flex inside knee up toward the chest to bring the hips up the mountain and increase ability to leg rotate for a powerful turn finish, adjusting line in the bumps with skidding, committing to the turn when it’s steep (keep the faith, this gets easier with practice), using the hockey pivot and slide mind set when it’s steep and the moguls get deep. Imperial Bowl, Rustler, Outlaw, hike the ridge (that was a push), High A, Dukes bumps.

John (Colorado Springs). Springmeier in the morning, Imperial Bowl in the afternoon. Leading with the new inside ski, leg steering, tipping from ankles and knees to bring CM over the top and produce new edges, tip then steer, where is sweet pressure spot on bottom of foot, shins into front of boot (even when you are sleeping), pole touch to initiate, pelvis comes forward to load the tips and lateral to bring hips inside the new turn, wind the the body spring, as legs rotate in one direction to shape the turn the hips counter in the opposite direction (without this the whole body squares up and the turn stops), balance in bumps, where to turn in bumps, pivot turns, keep both skis on the snow (even when you are sleeping), ski/snow purchase all the way from top to bottom of new turn, completing the turns and friction for speed control, abduction and adduction leg rotation, semi-circle turns (short radius, medium radius, large radius), no popping up and twisting (that is unless you want to go too fast in moguls and steep terrain).

Bob (Breckenridge), Pat (Breckenridge), Diane (Colorado Springs), Victoria (Breckenridge/NYC). Snowed all day, not too cold, some wind but workable, good five inches up high by end of afternoon. Slowing everything down, big/quick movements mean compromise in balance, pole touch initiating thighs and hips crossover yielding clean edge changes, steering with inside ski, leading with inside ski (this eliminates the outside ski wedging and inside ski lifting), ski purchase (this does not mean ‘buying them’), flexing and rotating the new inside leg while countering with the hips in opposite movement (that would be toward the outside of the turn), said another way: legs rotate in the hip sockets to steer in one direction while hips rotate against stable upper body in the opposite direction – this ‘counter’ movement is essential for powerful leg steering to complete each turn.

Now this was a nice spring day (not spring yet but felt like it), no wind, warm sunny, no warm up breaks. L6 working on ‘stuff’ L7s need: coming off the hard edge that results for a slight wedge at initiation, pole plant (touch is too woosy at this stage of the game), tip the feet and knees to bring the thighs and hip over the skis to produce clean edge change on BOTH skis simultaneously (this takes much practice, don’t give up), uphill arcs with inside ski leading, finishing the turn with strong leg steering, stay flexed at finish/initiation – don’t just stand up, move flaterial (forward & lateral) to load up the tips and moving the hips to the inside of the newly developing turn, hockey slides (these appear in almost every lesson), no lazy arms, leg steering more effective with flex in ankles/knees/hip, hip rotation to face outside the turn (sit in uphill chair) – without the hip rotation, then when the knees flex and the butt just goes back which loads up the tails which stops the turning action of the legs and skis.

Paige & Tom (Colorado Springs). And there goes February, days are longer, March should mean spring time, but dang it was cold today. Breakthrough day: hockey slides and ‘sitting in the uphill chair’ seemed to be the keys, still working on pole touch (plant, whatever), rhythm, linking turns, narrow ski corridor, more flex in legs, get lower and stronger, three black runs (piece of cake), balance in the moguls (not a piece of cake, but we are still speaking).