Heluva put up a nice stoke video. I was lucky enough to be present for some of those turns. One of the things we (max and I) got to see first hand (live)in Greg's skiing was his incredibly powerful pull back which he uses in almost every transition. His pull back is so strong and so powerful that he can get away with less than perfect CA in his off piste skiing (at times) and still rip. Most of us mortals will not have a pullback move anywhere as strong so we need to nail our CA in all turns off piste especially in steep challenging terrain. But what I learned first hand watching Greg was that my pullback move can be a lot more powerful and a lot more consistent than it is and this was a focus in my last 7-10 ski days last season. The combination of strong CA and powerful foot pullback present in every arc is a recipe for excellent and controlled off piste skiing in even the toughest terrain and conditions.
I think there are a lot of PMTS drills that strive to produce this result but for me it has come down to 2 drills that seem to really nail the result for me. For CA, Angry Mother is the drill that finally got my CA in place in tough conditions off piste. For pull back and excellent for aft position at the top of every arc I was doing flappers (pulling the feet back in each transition to the degree that the tails come off the ground) a lot at the end of last season. Flappers are great because they require a very forceful pull back similar to the one that Greg uses all the time in his skiing. The combo of alternating runs flappers and angry mother like CA drill work each day was producing some super results.
In general in PMTS we prioritize tipping and from there we try eliminate any up move by emphasizing flexing. In general if your tipping and flexing need to be stronger it is usually best to work on this first. But once that is in place, there really isn't much you can do better for your off piste skiing than nailing your CA and your pull back.
For me my early season focus is already pretty clear. I want to build on the progress I made last year and these two drills will be my focus for much of the season (certainly for at least the first two months).
While we are all jonesing to ski it really is a great time to re-focus, pull out notes from last season (I know you all took notes right? ) and dial up the mental game plan.
I'm guessing that Loveland will start making snow within the next 5-10 days so we are getting awfully close. Good time to get stoked!!