From rock hard to slush...

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From rock hard to slush...

Postby Vailsteve » Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:20 pm

Spring is here with a vengeance at Vail..the freeze/thaw cycle is in full bloom. We have rock hard snow in the morning— and I am on the mountain at 7:30 AM some days, and the snow is slush by 11:30. There is a window of an hour or two with “good” snow. At the end of the day, back at the bottom, we are waterskiing. We jokingly call the base of 19 “Lake Lionshead” for a reason...

Why do I mention this? Well, there is something in the skiing world called PMTS. It was developed by some dude named Harald (weird spelling that name...he must be Austrian or something). You may have heard of it...it is a certain set of MOVEMENTS that purport to be a better way to ski in ANY and ALL conditions.

And you know something? This PMTS thing actually works! I am, for the first time, carving an edge on rock hard snow (we don't have ice here at Vail...ha!), AND slicing an edge thru the soft slush. Amazing!

I still HATE that feeling of start-stop...I call it “stic-tion”, but skiing these conditions forces me to pull my feet back on every turn to stay centered and balanced. You cannot push, extend or twist your feet. You simply tip into a turn and tip out of a turn. And tipping onto that little toe edge is confoundingly, amazingly, powerful. My little toe lets me ski in all of this??

I guess one can say that that Harald guy is right (and oh yeah, as is his partner Diana...she of “pull your feet back” fame...now embedded forever in my brain!).

Anyway, three more weeks to go and then back to A Basin. It has been a good year...THANKS to everyone on the forum. I have learned so much!

Vailsteve.
Vailsteve
 
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Re: From rock hard to slush...

Postby Roundturns » Mon Mar 26, 2018 6:45 pm

Off the subject, but I was skiing in Vail last week and Saturday AM was a nice powder morning. As I was entering the lift line at Chair 21 an older gentlemen with a black down ski jacket that said Austrian Ski Instruction on the back of the jacket came up to me and said I could only make half a turn with my Cham 107's I was skiing. He was skiing Atomic skis and boots and had on a pair of the red and white Atomic race carvers from a few years ago and told me he skis deep powder with these skis.
I laughed and told him that's because he really knows how to ski and I'm a hack that needs training wheels in the powder. I proceeded to tell him I had the same ski and boots he was skiing awhile back and usually ski Head Rally, Magnum, and I speeds and fat skis was a dirty indulgence for me when it snowed.T I told him I was a big fan of HH skiing and he told me he knew HH well.
Anyway, I am curious to learn more about who this was. He told me he used to ski with Pepi. His last name I believe began with a V but it escapes me.
On another note later in the PM when my buddy was through skiing I skied the Head Kore 93 he had demoed. Granted the snow by this time was cruddy and skied off and all piled up but really didn't like the way these skis skied in these conditions. It really surprises me how many skiers are skiing rockered fat skis in non powder conditions. Don't get it.
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