Ott - I'd love to ski with you. But I doubt you could learn from me. But I'd love to just hang and have fun and trade interpetations and play with stuff.
Mechanic - I think your on to something - maybe. By the time you get to HH's weighted release and if you follow him skiing you'll see that there are 2 tracks in the snow that both instantly change at the same time at the release and into the next turn. Is this what your tracks do? Also, how apart are your tracks typically.
I think one of the problems discussing PMTS is that by the time your at the end of it all, the actually skiing may not be that different - or maybe it is different. Steering to make the skis tip seems awfully indirect. But if you are getting your skis to tip and the right moment to where you body has already "committed" to the new turn, your turn may look similar.
Back to Ott - where is your home area? We went over to Holiday Valley 3 times last year. That might be more fun then itsy bitsy perfect north.
Anyway - I'm still working on my post. Think about how you tip to turn and where your body is when you do. These begin to be the keys as to why PMTS works so well and why many ways people try to teach someone to tip to turn don't work so well.
As a review - I suggest reading Page 35 of Eric and Rob DesLauries book Ski the Whole Mountain. This is the crux of the Phantom Move of PMTS and the key to what for me has been the most efficient way to learn or teach how to carve a turn.
I'd be interested in what the non-PMTS people think of Eric's presentation and how that is the same or different than what they would teach or do themselves.
Ott - I actually like Eastern skiing simply because (as Hobbit/SCSA can attest to) I simply "gas out" at the high colorado altitudes. It's an amazing difference. I have to often stop at A-basin to get my wind back. I have no such issues at more sane altitudes even though I love the quality of the snow, length of terrain, scenery etc of going out west.
Where do you like best on the eastern half of things? Holiday Valley is good for us as we can drive it in 2/3rds of a day. We can get 3 days skiing in by taking one day of work off. (I think your retired - I have to still work a lot.)
Anyway - this how to tip to turn and how to teach it is what I have seen as the pretty fundemental difference if there is in fact a difference between what HH, Lito, Craig, and Eric and Rob state in their books and what PSIA teaches in their ATS system.
Here is another interesting link that describs the PSIA Cert Levels. Notice the emphasis on active leg steering of both legs at all levels. This makes no sense to me. I'm willing to be convinced, but as Hobbit says, it won't work on the carvers at all and it doesn't work well in skiing. Check out Eric and Rob's book for the clear explaination why you can't actively steer your skis in powder. Explain to me why you can if you think they are wrong. One of the strengths and weaknesses of HH's books are he is straightforward in discussing what to do, and the weakness is that he doesn't bog the reader down with the why. Lito and Eric and Rob's books strength is they go much deeper into the whys. Taken together they agree on the way to ski and the way to teach skiing. I see no conflict.
So, if you've had the pleasure of reading and digesting all three books I'd be interested in what and why what they all in common teach about skiing and how to initiate and control tipping to turn differs from what experience or interpetations of skiing others have out there.
I should also point out that the drill on page 35 matches the key drill I was taught at a race camp run by PSIA III certs that had no link with PMTS. Their terminology was not the same as the external cues were not as well thought out, but the drills were identical and the movements there were instructing us to do were the same.
Here is the link on PSIA cert levels once again showing what Mechanic echos of the idea that active leg steering tips the skis.:
http://www.skipros.com/PsiaLevels.htm
In the meantime I'm still working on my plain english description of why the phantom move is such a great way to teach a carved turn.