December 2014 Killington trip

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December 2014 Killington trip

Postby skijim13 » Wed Oct 08, 2014 4:06 am

My wife and I will be skiing in Killington from December 17-20 working on PMTS. If anyone would like to meetup with us please send me a message. We will be going to the Superblue Camp in January.
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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby DougD » Mon Oct 20, 2014 10:22 am

Hi Jim. I'm Doug, a new member on the forum. My partner and I may be able to join you for some of those dates if you think we'd fit.

I've been skiing 30+ years and took a weekend clinic with Harald 20+ years ago, pre-PMTS. No direct exposure to PMTS coaching since then, though I've never been a PSIA type skier either. (I skied mostly with Lito Tejada-Flores' methods, until I discovered that flexing/tipping worked better than emphasizing BTE of the new outside ski). I've worked through the exercises in Book1. Plan to do Book2 and Essentials ASAP. When free skiing, I do any trail in the East, all but truly dangerous trails out West. Happy to ski with anyone, do exercises and help others with them, video and be video'd, etc. I'm not qualified to coach, but very qualified to ski, drink and be merry! Looking for like minded Northeastern skiers interested in PMTS.

Partner is a novice/hopeful intermediate. Gave up on skiing long ago due to poor instruction. I'm trying to re-introduce him to skiing using PMTS methods and his first days last season went okay. He's probably attending the Green/Blue camp in Feb.

Do you think we'd fit in your group? We live in CT, Killington's an easy jaunt.. actually did many day trips there once upon a time.
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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby richk » Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:52 pm

DougD, I'd strongly encourage your partner to come to the green/blue camp at Granby Ranch if he wants to learn PMTS.

I took my first lessons with Harald there in 2001 and it is excellent terrain for learning--wide-open, groomed, gentle pitch, and little traffic.

The small group setting is really helpful as observing other campers and listening to their coaching tips reinforces the learning.The differently nuanced explanations that each camper gets often clarifies meaning. There is lots of individual coaching, "a private lesson within a group session" is what we strive for.

It can be tough to coach a partner, especially when there is a large skill gap. Relationships are complicated beasts and the camp coaches have simple motivations: helping you to ski better and meet your goals.

I'll be one of the coaches at that camp and will look forward to meeting him (and you? plenty of good space to do drills!).

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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby DougD » Tue Oct 21, 2014 6:56 am

Rich,

Thanks for your encouragement and insights into the G/B camp. We certainly intend that he'll attend. He's eager to ski better so we can ski together more. We're just clearing our work/vacation schedules before he registers.

I'd come along too. Maybe ski Winter Park in the mornings, ski him with at Granby in the afternoons if he's up to it (and poach a few tips from you guys of course!). Of course I'd NOT offer him any coaching that week... no point in confusing him and undoing your good work.

***
Small group, multi-day lessons are indeed productive. Whatever method (or lack thereof) is being taught, the chance to ski with similarly (un)skilled skiers, receive guidance appropriate to one's level and see how you and others perform the requested movements is invaluable.

Aside from Lito Tejada-Flores' original book, which destroyed PSIA methods forever in my mind, the most valuable coaching I've received came in multi-day camps with the Egan/DesLauriers brothers and with a great instructor at Taos. Not PMTS, obviously, but certainly not PSIA/TTS either.

The Taos instructor opened my mind with a single tip. He worked with us to stop the "hup!" unweighting and the forceful focus on the BTE of the new outside ski. "Start every turn by lightening your downhill ski and tilting the LTE downhill. That's all. Don't do anything else, your skis and body will complete the turn for you." Not the full Phantom Move (he never mentioned holding the inside foot back) but remarkably close.

That tip worked brilliantly. Thinking it through afterwards I remembered a guy named Harald-something who talked about the LTE way back when. (I actually took a weekend camp with Harald at Winter Park in the early/mid 90s... pre-PMTS). A bit of Googling and I found PMTS.

Can't wait to meet you guys.
Doug
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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby richk » Tue Oct 21, 2014 6:30 pm

For a pre-season/camp warmup, I suggest using the slant board https://www.harbskisystems.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=175:slant-board-overview&catid=39 and making sure your partner has viewed the eExpert Skier 1 video https://www.harbskisystems.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&view=productdetails&virtuemart_product_id=108&virtuemart_category_id=17&Itemid=102.

Looking forward to connecting on the snow!

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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby skijim13 » Wed Oct 22, 2014 4:08 am

Doug, my wife and I will be up in Killington would like to meet up, please send me a message as the time gets closer. I would also suggest that if you both rollerblade you can work on PMTS using poles and rollerblades. The Harb website has great trainning drills on the site you can use, my wife and I use slantboard training also and it works great. The key to improving skiing is to improve your balance on one leg so also bosi ball, and yoga will help as well.

Jim
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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby Basil j » Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:00 pm

hey Jim, I would like to try and meet up and connect the Thursday of that week. I ran a ski house at Killington for 12 seasons. I met my wife at the wobbly valentines day 1996! Since the kids came I have not been back there since 2004. Would love to meet up with PMTS enthusiasts and rip around at the Beast!
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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby skijim13 » Thu Oct 23, 2014 3:49 am

Would love to meet you at Killington My wife and I will be skiing and working on PMTS during that week. One thing to be aware of it is Pro Jam week at Killington, many PSIA people skiing. We always during that week since we can use our PSIA discount for lodging due to the Pro Jam (Keep certification but follow PMTS), you can contact me by email at Skijim13@yahoo.com


Jim
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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby DougD » Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:38 am

Rich, Thanks for the additional suggestions.
- We've both been through Expert Skier 1 (book and DVD). I'll be starting on #2 this season. Partner's still working through #1.
- I've been doing one-footed balance exercises since 1985, both barefoot and in boots. Agree it's helpful off-season practice, especially if someone has two-footed skiing movements to un-learn. A slant board is in our future.

***

Jim, I've been working on one-footed balance for decades. My partner, not so much... but by coincidence he's starting yoga classes today. I asked him to discuss one-footed exercises with the instructor.
I'll PM you as the Killington dates approach.
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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby Max_501 » Wed Oct 29, 2014 10:05 pm

DougD wrote: I've worked through the exercises in Book1. Plan to do Book2 and Essentials ASAP.


IMO the serious student should master each and every section of Book 1 before moving to Book 2. Working through the exercises isn't good enough if one desires to be an expert skier.
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Drills in each book

Postby skijim13 » Thu Oct 30, 2014 4:10 am

My suggestion is to take videos of yourself doing the drills and watch them to validate that you are doing them correctly. I am lucky to have a partner that also knows what to look for to tell me if I am doing the drill correctly. From my experience hip counteracting is the hardnest one to learn, the Angry mother E videos were the key for me to feel the movement so that I know that I was doing it, before learning the movement from the E video, I was not using very much CA in my turns. Also check your tracks in the snow to see what your skis are doing like shown in the videos it worth walking back up the hill. Another key is to do the drills on a gentle slope that is not very busy so that you can focus on each drill. Here in the Northeast we go out early in the morning before the slope gets busy, otherwise you will get hit. I know this year my poles will get broken now that I have changed my pole touch (plant) to the no swing PMTS style, with the poles out further a snowboarder will be sure to take them out. The rounder and slower the turn the more likely the out of control general public on the hill is to hit you, since they straight line it down the slope.
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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby DougD » Thu Oct 30, 2014 6:08 am

Max_501 wrote:
DougD wrote: I've worked through the exercises in Book1. Plan to do Book2 and Essentials ASAP.


IMO the serious student should master each and every section of Book 1 before moving to Book 2. Working through the exercises isn't good enough if one desires to be an expert skier.

Thanks so much, Max. On your guidance, I'll cancel my orders for Book 2 and Essentials.
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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby Max_501 » Thu Oct 30, 2014 9:51 am

skijim13 wrote:My suggestion is to take videos of yourself doing the drills and watch them to validate that you are doing them correctly.


Excellent suggestion!
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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby Max_501 » Thu Oct 30, 2014 9:54 am

The point is to master the material in the order HH wrote it. Far too many readers skip around and then wonder why they can't make a BPST or carve with control. Harald's books are jammed with important details that are often missed as readers rush through the material.

Mastery of Books 1 and 2 leads to excellent results for many students. IMO Essentials is a wonderful supplement to the instruction in Book 2.
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Re: December 2014 Killington trip

Postby DougD » Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:47 am

Understood. I did exactly that with Book 1 and intend to continue in that manner, mastering each skill/drill/movement before proceeding to the next.

Once the snow flies, I'll re-do all of Book 1 before commencing Book 2, just to be sure I'm as solid as I can be (without actual coaching). As Harald has posted several times, he starts each new season by re-doing the basics before he gets back to where he left off last season.

I also hope to post video of my drills for whatever MA and other guidance you or other PMTS coaches may care to offer. The PMTS camps are fully booked for this season, but the feedback available on this forum is of incredible value.

I appreciate the suggestions, Max, which I expect are based on a coach's frustrations with "students" who lack the discipline to follow an orderly plan... in a word, dilletantes. I'm not like that. I don't dip in here and there. By profession, I write, edit and negotiate commercial/legal contracts for major construction projects, some with values exceeding $100M. There's no place in this kind of work for casual reading, hopping around or skimming over details. A misplaced phrase or a missing comma could cost millions of dollars or hundreds of people their jobs. I'll give PMTS the same level of attention, time and life events permitting of course!
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