2 weeks until my holiday - newbie with questions!

[PBo]

Hi guys,

Been a lurker here for 2 years now. Feel like I know you all! Love the forum, the passion, the genuine desire to be a great skier, and to show others the path to get there.

Brief history: I'm 38 and first skied 4 years ago - loved it, even though I wasn't great first week. Gutted that I had wasted the first 34 years of my life NOT skiing!!!!! Had 30 snow days in total.

Being a keen in-liner, found it hard to wedge, skid etc. (still do actually) - but once I started putting skis on edge and building speed I loved it!!! (Not saying i was carving well, just an approximation to it!!)
First found you just before my last ski holiday 2 years ago (my son was born slap bing in the middle of last years season!), so experimented with the phantom move, but lacked any of the rest of the stuff to go with it.

Now, armed with essentials, I'm ready to hit the snow (after devouring the book, I'm now an awesome skier.....in my own mental vision of myself....!!!!!!). I've seen in other posts that perhaps I should have started with the ACBAES, but too late now - Essentials seems like a brilliant, clear progression to me.

Anyway, my questions. Quote>"Finally!" - all readers of this post<Quote

I don't want to run before I can walk, but because essentials seems so clear, my questions might seem like I'm getting ahead of myself, and a bit "advanced" - but I like to see the whole picture and really know where I'm headed, as well as breaking down the individual bits. After I've tried stuff on the snow is when I'll have all the basic questions!!!!!


1) Brushed carves: I understand what a brushed carve IS - but I don't understand how they happen - is it by desire or accident? Is it a speed control mechanism, or something that happens when you get something wrong?

2) Tightening the turn: Is this just about tipping, tipping, and more tipping? How are the turning radii of a ski defined by manufacturers. Is there a standard? (6ft man 150 pounds with skis at 45 degrees etc...). Are there other things other than tipping that more heavily bend the ski and therefore tighten the turn?

3) Poles - My pole use is appalling!!!! Is good pole use just a cue to help stop bad upper body movements? If I countered and counter rotated correctly, would it matter what my poles did?

Really looking forward to replies guys - when you all get up that is I reckon its 2.30 am Mountain Time!!!!

Many thanks

Pete

[Max_501]

1) Brushed carves: I understand what a brushed carve IS - but I don't understand how they happen - is it by desire or accident? Is it a speed control mechanism, or something that happens when you get something wrong?

It can be either.

2) Tightening the turn: Is this just about tipping, tipping, and more tipping? How are the turning radii of a ski defined by manufacturers. Is there a standard? (6ft man 150 pounds with skis at 45 degrees etc...). Are there other things other than tipping that more heavily bend the ski and therefore tighten the turn?

If we are talking edge locked carving then bending the ski will be a function of your application of the Essentials. They all have a role to play. Ultimately, the greater the tipping angle the more bend you are likely to see.

If we are talking about making the smallest radius turn possible then we look a the bullet proof short turn. This is covered in Anyone Can Be An Expert Skier 2.

3) Poles - My pole use is appalling!!!! Is good pole use just a cue to help stop bad upper body movements? If I countered and counter rotated correctly, would it matter what my poles did?

Good pole use if critical for all mountain skiing. It has a smaller role in groomed run carving yet it is still important.

[John Mason]

In a pure carve the turn will also be tighter the more you are standing on that outside ski. A two footed approach does not bend the ski near as much. The amount of weight distribution you choose directly varies the amount of ski bend and is quite controllable. Normal PMTS skiing is very outside ski dominant.

In a brush carve there is no limit to how tight the turn can be. (even in the length of a ski for instance) A brushed carve is what a new student achieves accidently almost in their first 2 footed release drills. Later you dial in your amount of tipping relative to speed, g-forces and also the amount of o-frame you allow and can pure carve or brush carve or any mix between the two at will. Do do pure carving requires much more patience and trust that the skis will turn you as well as working on the essentials while not imparting rotation of any kind to the skis.

Lets say you are working on pure carves but still throwing a shoulder into the turn. You'll never carve. A brushed carve is just like a pure carve in terms of no rotational input, but with less tipping.

In a more pure carve approach in bump skiing, when your skiing on the middle of the ski around the shoulder of the bump, you've effectively shortened the length of your ski to about 1.5 feet allowing for extremely short turns. The line you choose to ski bumps for me is the hardest part about bump skiing. But pick the right line or follow a skier that knows the right line and bumps get easy because the skis can carve such a tight turn on the shoulder of a bump.

[PBo]

Thanks for the reply guys.

A brushed carve is just like a pure carve in terms of no rotational input, but with less tipping.

The bit I don't quite get is that I thought less tipping produced less tight turns, not brushed carves.

If we are talking about making the smallest radius turn possible then we look a the bullet proof short turn. This is covered in Anyone Can Be An Expert Skier 2.

I can't get ACBAES here in UK before I go away (needs to be sent from US). Don't want to do Harald out of royalties, but can anyone point me to any old threads that talk about this?

thanks

Pete

[trtaylor]

The bit I don't quite get is that I thought less tipping produced less tight turns, not brushed carves.

I think these two posts by Jay would help you to better understand.

http://realskiers.com/pmtsforum/viewtop ... shed#11080
http://realskiers.com/pmtsforum/viewtop ... ushed#5899

[PBo]

thanks for replies guys - clarified a few things for me. 7 days and counting.

considering our poor weather in the uk, it's a bummer we don't get ski weather in the winter - or have proper mountains.

I blame my parents for not being austrian/french/swiss.

PBo