Fist day on the snow yesterday Using PMTS-Good Day!

[arothafel]

Ugh... I live this entire thread every ski season.

And, the more I learn and accomplish with PMTS, the more I realize how much my skiing sucked in prior years.

I have resigned myself to it being the "holy grail."

However, every once in a while, I pull off a run that just feels so right, so perfect... where all the drills, practice, analysis, etc. seem to come together in a single moment... and, BAM... I know exactly why I do this!

[skifastDDS]

Ugh... I live this entire thread every ski season.

And, the more I learn and accomplish with PMTS, the more I realize how much my skiing sucked in prior years.

It's funny, I was just telling Heluva the other day that I know we have reached mid-fall when I see nothing but errors and problems in last season's video that I was somewhat satisfied with in the spring.

[jbotti]

Ugh... I live this entire thread every ski season.

And, the more I learn and accomplish with PMTS, the more I realize how much my skiing sucked in prior years.

It's funny, I was just telling Heluva the other day that I know we have reached mid-fall when I see nothing but errors and problems in last season's video that I was somewhat satisfied with in the spring.

Agreed but what I have on tape from the end of last season is probably better than how I skied in my first three days on snow which were last week at A-Basin. I switched back to me Head boots and wow the top of the turn (High C) is very diferent in plastic boots than in the Dodges (which have immediate super human grip that is ultra confidence inspiring). Aftre a full day of wondering if I would ever be able to ski again, the next two days improved nicely. Someone in the HSS camp that was going on told me I made some nice turns and I said you must have seen my only six good ones! However by the end and after some great commentary from both Harald and Diana I felt like my skiing started to come back and I left with a true sense of excitement about the possibilities for my skiing this season.

I will pass along the one comment I got from Harald more than once and once I got it in place in my skiing, wow everything started to fall in place. I now view this as an essential key for me (mainly because my upper body can be a little too noisy especially when I'm not focused on it). Harald told me to keep my pole baskets in front of my ankles (actually even further forward) at all times. This immediatley quites the upper body, prevents the outside hand from dropping back (a perrenial issue for me) and keeps your COM forward pretty much all the time. As Harald said, it clears up a multitude of issues and it makes nothing worse. And you can still do a No Swing Pole Plant form this position. It was amazing what it immediately did for my skiing. Absolutely super for Tight SRT's.

I think it's a great key for everyone especially on your first few days on snow where at least for me almost anything can and will happen.

[Basil j]

Day 3 on the snow and I really like my new Elan's. I figured a short turner would probably be best for finding my way with PMTS movements. I spent most of Saturday on slow stepping movements across the fall line and working the Inside free foot heel to my stance foot in a brushing movement as displayed in Video ACBE#1. I pretty much stayed on the bunny hill all day working on that, edge releases and working on the Phantom move. Today I wanted to ski a little more than yesterday so I really focused on Lifting my inside foot off the snow and pulling it back while tipping it to the little toe edge, all while subtly keeping my inside hand leading the turn and counter balancing, all done extremely slowly down some moderate than steeper pitched trails. I was getting some great angles by tipping that I had never experienced before, some that made me almost uncomfortable. I used to think in the past, I had been creating some decent angles. Wake up call!!
Snow cover was fantastic today with no ice anywhere so I could really focus. This weekend, I decided to take the approach as if I had never skied before. My buddies were a little impatient with me in the morning, but saw that I was making nice round turns by the afternoon with little or no skidding, Inside foot leading every movement, pulled back with some minimal counter balancing and very committed to working on these movements. Working every movement from the foot up, instead of from the hip or knee down. This is a new sensation for me, but by the end of the weekend I felt like I could feel it when I was doing it, but more importantly I felt it more when I was not. Counter rotating is something I was taught from day one of my skiing, so I am not so focused on that since I feel that I pretty much do it naturally.
Skiing in Tighter stance is requiring much more focus than I Initially thought it would as well. I will say that keeping your pole baskets in front of your ankles is a great tip and it kept my mind off of where my hands were. Also slowing skiing down a couple of steep faces today, inside foot pulled back and inside ski tail off the snow, & baskets in front of ankles put me in a very solid position with absolute great balance and my skis were not getting in front of me at all. Great speed control with no edge setting required at the bottom of the turn at all to slow down. Turns were very calm and smooth and I actually felt more relaxed while skiing than usual today. Almost like I was doing less, and making nicer turns, if that makes sense.I feel like I still have to unlearn a lot movements I have been doing over the years, but I am having fun with this and will keep working on the movements in ACBE#1 till I feel they come more naturally and then move on to ACBE#2. This is great fun, and I will try to shoot some video before the month end.

[Basil j]

Sore obliques and hip Flexors today.?? Unusual muscle soreness from skiing for me.

[jbotti]

Not sure about the hip flexors but sore obliques are a good sign. It means you are counterbalancing.

[Basil j]

I think they are sore because I had my inside foot off the snow pretty much all day and I was using that muscle, I guess to keep the foot lifted and pulled back?? That is the only thing I can think of? hamstrings are a little tired as well.

[h.harb]

Sounds like you are on a good track.

[Basil j]

Thanks Harald. It feels like I am on the right track. I am having a lot of fun with this and am not getting deterred if I can't get a movement to work immediately. As it was mentioned in earlier posts, what I am finding to be the most difficult is to unlearn what I have been taught as the " right way" for years. By taking the aprroach in early season as if I was brand new to skiing, I am skiing very slowly on easy terrain, to really feel every movement working. I fear that if I jump onto tougher terrain too quickly, I will quickly revert back to movements that I have relied on in the past and really confuse things and impede my progression.. It's early season, the slopes are fairly empty. Now is the time to make the needed changes.
I will say the biggest surprise sensation I have discovered is in by initiating the phantom move very early in the turn and tipping aggressively with my inside foot, not only is my edgehold rock solid, but I get through the turn so fast and effortlessly, that I it feels like I am almost not doing enough to achieve the result. Does that make sense?
Both of my ski buddies yesterday mentioned that i was skiing very smoothly yesterday with little or no up & down movements, low to the snow, yet I was was balanced and rock solid. I think skiing very slowly is vital to really feeling movements,so I can quickly correct balance or weighting issues. i feel that Speed can hide technical flaws.
i am eager to get back out there this weekend and will be working the slant board all week!

[Max_501]

i am eager to get back out there this weekend and will be working the slant board all week!

Sounds like you on are on the right track. If you want to boost your progress ask one your your buddies to shoot 30 secs of video next weekend. Without a coach it's the only way to be sure things are working. Relying on feelings usually doesn't work very well.

[Basil j]

i am eager to get back out there this weekend and will be working the slant board all week!

Sounds like you on are on the right track. If you want to boost your progress ask one your your buddies to shoot 30 secs of video next weekend. Without a coach it's the only way to be sure things are working. Relying on feelings usually doesn't work very well.

Great Idea max. My biggest fear is to start using new movements improperly. Once my brother starts skiing with me, (the wife thinks I am nuts and does not get into video taping skiing) we will start documenting my progress and making corrections as needed. The very slow skiing, I think is key to adapting the movements correctly..

[Max_501]

The very slow skiing, I think is key to adapting the movements correctly..

Slow is good. But perfect practice over hundreds, if not thousands, of repetitions is the real key.

[cheesehead]

All I tried to do was tip and pull back my free ski, the rest I am sure was ugly. But, the great thing about the first day - it feels like at least some bad old habits have been forgotten (I'm sure not all) so there is a positive to the long layoff.

Even though it was 25 degrees my feet got cold in about an hour. Ideally I would have a hot gear bag but in lieu of that, how long and at what temp can I stick them in my oven? They are regular plastic boots (Dalbellos??) with ZipFit liners.

[skifastDDS]

Even though it was 25 degrees my feet got cold in about an hour. Ideally I would have a hot gear bag but in lieu of that, how long and at what temp can I stick them in my oven? They are regular plastic boots (Dalbellos??) with ZipFit liners.

I'd recommend HotTronics if your feet get cold. I have bad circulation in my toes and don't like to ski without them. I wouldn't stick your boots in an oven, that can't be good for the plastic.

[cheesehead]

>> Hotronics <<
Thanks for the tip, those look awesome! My toe circulation is a little low due to several episodes of mild frostbite over the years and the compression from ski boots reduces the circulation even more. When I can't feel my feet it makes me feel out of control.