My wife and I are anxiously awaiting the January A Basin camp. At this point we feel like we are suffering from the ?terminal intermediate? syndrome. We have taken many lessons with some being beneficial and most being confusing. Usually, the first thing I hear is ?widen your stance?. I think my stance is already wide enough to drive a truck between my legs. (I am not trying to open old subjects, just illustrate a point.) I watch a lot of ski racing and hear announcers talking about the ?new skis? and racers using a wide stance. When I watch the racers in slow motion, I see a lot of vertical separation, and very little lateral separation. I recall one lesson my wife and I had. I asked the instructor about tipping the free foot to the little toe edge. I got a quizzical ?huh? look from him. He said he didn?t do that. Yet when I watched him make short turns on a steeper hill, that is exactly what he did, and in a narrow stance. Last year in Canada we took a lesson where a lot of emphasis was place on sinking down at the end of the turn. I read ski instruction articles in well known ski publications. One of the first issues this year talked about ?railroad track? two footed turns. I also watch a ski show over the winter season which originates in Canada. There is lots of talk about turning your feet, ?you have to turn your feet?. Cross over, cross under, up un weighting, down un weighting, drive your knee into the box, equal pressure on both skis????ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! Can you say confused? I am not trying to issue criticism, just trying to understand why what I hear and see differ so much. I have Harald?s first book and video. However, trying to incorporate the PMTS methods into a lesson makes things even more confusing.
The point of all this rambling is to ask a few questions about PMTS methods prior to camp so we don?t practice poor habits prior to the lessons.
1. Is there really a down movement at the end of the turn, or is it more of movement of the feet and legs to the outside that results in a downward movement?
2. Is there any steering of the feet or is the turn radius generated only from the free foot tipping angle?
3. Is it necessary to ?drive your knee into the box??
4. Is cross over / under and up / down un weighting something I should be thinking about while skiing?
Thanks for any answers to my questions.