Well, what can I say or add that hasn't already been mentioned or known? Awesome course, wish it was longer....so, I will address this to all those who have yet to attend, or who are not sure whether to go for a camp.
For me, my journey into PMTS was slightly un-orthodox. Already comfortable in any terrain, a change in my ski set up - touring bindings to regular down-hill, started to cause severe hip pains. After a significant amount of research, I deduced it was an alignment issue. I discovered that when my boot was in the binding, I could move the top of my boot laterally by upto 5mm. In other-words, my misalignment was being washed out by the lateral movement/ play with the binding. I decided to invest in a new pair of boots, complete with cork footbeds - unfortunately, despite skiing being a huge industry in the the UK, there is a dearth of 'specialist' boot fitters and alignment specialists...self help, at this point, was my only option - and with a combination self video analysis, on slope practice and a pocket full of piste maps (eventually foam wedges), I achieved a pretty close job - alignment wise. My research continued and I eventually discovered Harald Harb. First came 'Essentials', closely followed by the complete set of books and videos. After a great season applying his movements to my skiing and seeing a huge leap in my ability, I decide to dedicate my summer to completely rebuilding my technique from the ground up. Averaging 3 training sessions per week on a dry ski slope, I fastidiously worked my way through the PMTS program. A big thank you to Max501 and Geoffda for their time and guidance.
Despite my hours of study and practice, up until this point I had never seen a live PMTS skier - my mental picture coming from DVDs and youtube. Although, I had a fairly good understanding of the system and grasp of the movements, I was looking for a deeper knowledge and clarification that my movements were sound.
I have been an qualified instructor in several disciplines from flying military helicopters through to waterskiing/ snow skiing, and I have to say that the PMTS instructors are second to none. By far the most professional, dedicated, passionate and knowledgable group I have ever met. Their style of instruction is like nothing else I have ever experienced. It caters for any level/ skill set of skier, even within the same group. They have the skill to identify 'your' SMIM and give you corrective action, which means that all of us in a group are concentrating on different aspects of our skiing within the same exercise.
As one would have expected from distance learning, some of my movements needed strengthening/ work and my understanding needed a little clarifying. Although frustrating at times, I never felt anything other than my skiing improving. The care and attention to your learning is amazing, especially the time and effort taken to get your alignment sorted. The pre-camp alignment assessment session was very enlightening...let's just say that my 'corks' were ceremoniously burnt and replaced for Harb footbeds after I discovered the damage they we doing to my skiing movements..anything that blocks the natural movement of the body (in this case, the foot), has been removed from the PMTS syllabus, leaving you with a clear route to expert skiing movements.
My initial assessment resulted in a 2deg outward canting shim required on my right boot and a 1deg out shim on my left. These were taped to the heals of my boots to allow for further tweaking during the week. The 'on-snow' assessment consisted of careful watching of my skiing coupled with video analysis and simple straight line single leg balancing exercises. After day 2, the coach (Walter) added an extra 1deg to my left leg, but after further analysis, he reduced this to only an extra 1/2 deg. Interestingly enough, that extra 1/2 deg was enough to make my left knee struggle to hold an edge in my right turns.
Fore & aft alignment/ adjustment was also required as I was struggling in this area due to the new footbeds. My old 'corks' were significantly higher under the heal than the new Harb footbeds - ramp angle. Despite pulling my feet back, I still felt like I was in the back seat. After spending a day skiing on a set of 3mm heal lift skis coupled with boot spoilers fitted to the rear of my liners, we hit the sweet spot. This small tweak changed my skiing posture and allowed me to control my fore/aft at will. Walters unfailing patience and desire to get my alignment 'just right' is testament to him and all the PMTS coaches. Thank you.
The theme for this year appeared to be CA, in particular with the hips/ pelvis. It seems that HH has identified this as a weak and difficult area for skiers to train and perfect. Most of our movements in this area were, at best, weak, but more commonly opposite....
The weak started on the groomers and ended in the powder with 2 days of some of the best conditions I have skied. For me the highlight was to ski powder and bumps with HH, culminating in a cheeky little 'head 2 head' bump run:
HH and his team have worked wonders. They have re-ignited the passion for skiing in my wife and made me even more of a ski nut, which my wife didn't think was possible....I am already looking for my next camp, just wish I had started them sooner.