Best skier in the World not Austrian, ouch!

[h.harb]

Not one skier in my group last week could do this move before we practiced it. Look at second 37.

He does it all the time, but near teh end of second 37 it's obvious. From 51 to 53 he is absolutely perfect. Second 45 a perfect iside ski turn. Check frame 54.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD_fAK8pvZM

This guy is the best skier in the world.

He flexes to release more than anyone.
He performs a perfect Super Phantom.
His feet at the gate are closer together than any other skier on the WC.

[h.harb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhgUYPxBQ1I&NR=1

If you don't have a Phantom Move in your ski racing moves, you are not on the WC. Thomas is coming back to teh Ski Team.

[tdk6]

Excellent thread and topic but could we have a description of the super phantom move.

[jclayton]

Tdk6 ,
could you please explain your request ? I know it looks like a simple question but if it is genuine I only have to assume you have Alzhiemers . If so could you see a specialist and stop wasting our time . We have been assuming language difficulties for too long now .

[tdk6]

Sorry jclayton for wasting your time but Im just as absentminded as abertsch. Did a quick search and came up with a good explanation. Thanks for your helping me out.

HH, correct me if Im wrong, but at expert level does the free foot always have to come up in the air or can the super phantom move be done with maintained free foot snow contact?

[jclayton]

Tdk6 ,
I guess I was a bit rough but you have been on threads where IT has been discussed .

Reagarding lifting the foot , in DVD nº 2 ,I believe , Harald says " lifting is for intermediates , lightening is for experts " or something along those lines .

In DVD nº 1 he compares Michael von Gruenigen and Thomas Grandi , the former lightens and glides the free ski and the latter lifts completely as he does in the video posted on this thread . ( Im not calling Grandi intermediate , he is one of my favorites to watch free skiing , beautifully solid )

Both are acceptable , the important part is the release and immediate tipping of the old stance ski .

Harald also mentions , I don't know where ,that free foot contact with the snow is important for edge feel of the snow .

[tdk6]

jclayton, no offence taken. Thanks for the clarification.

[h.harb]

How do you know you are performing the Super Phantom unless you lift? When you flex or retract quickly, to release, the stance ski will lift automatically, no need to try, that’s the WC version.

Have a good day, I'm off to ski.

[jbotti]

I may be confused and I would hate to find out after all these years that I really don't know what a Super Phantom move is (and if this is the case, so be it).

As I understand it and the way I remember Harald explaining it, a SP move occurs when the inside ski remains engaged and does not really flatten or release while at the same time the old stance leg/ski does release and begins it's tipping into the new turn. I guess it is possible to create an absolute moment of bowleggedness where both skis are on their opposing edges, but very few skiers actually have the goods to produce this result. Hence the only way for most to stay engaged with the old inside ski and release the old stance ski is by lifting and tipping (even if it is ever so slightly).

There is definitely room for a super phantom move where the inside ski stays engaged for only a spit second and then quickly follows the release of the old stance foot and ski, but here I have to agree with Harald in that most skiers will not be able to tell if they are doing it correctly without accentuating and elongating the engagement of the old inside ski while fully releasing and tipping the new inside ski.

[jclayton]

Just as you say , the difference between the Phantom Move and the Super version one of timing . The lift and tilt , as Harald puts it , is the same , preferably with O frame , it just starts earlier .

In the Super Phantom more time is spent on the uphill edge before tilting and there is a definite feeling of rolling the new stance ski over to the new edge .

The progression from normal to " super " for me was something of a breakthrough in feel during transition .

[Bolter]

No Highjack intended but . . .


Lindsay Vonn's Super Phantom Move in The SL at LEVI: Appearing out of nowhere, a fleshy downhiller, an apparition on a SL track pounding the field.
WOOOOO!

[h.harb]

John, Right to all, and also in Svindal's video there are many Super Phantoms.

[Tommi]

My vote goes to Jean Baptiste Grange. His skiing is so clean, he is absolutely parallel, he makes all the time clean transfers and stands centered even on the steeps. I made a video of his first run in the World Cup Levi SL from sunday, I included some comments, enjoy (its a large file, be patient):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txY4b6vfbG8
(updated link 1st dec with both Harald's and my comments)

I enjoyed this run so much, it's just perfect!!

T2

[trtaylor]

Very nice! Thanks for doing this Tommi. One thing that stood out for me, during the 1/4 speed slow motion notice his extremely quiet upper body.

My vote goes to Jean Baptiste Grange. His skiing is so clean, he is absolutely parallel, he makes all the time clean transfers and stands centered even on the steeps. I made a video of his first run in the World Cup Levi SL from sunday, I included some comments, enjoy (its a large file, be patient):

http://www.tupusurf.net/pdf/Grange_slalom.avi

If you have problems seeing it, use VLC player:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Use double size view..
Video.. Zoom.. Double..

If it still fails, install Divxx codecs.
http://www.divx.com/

I enjoyed this run so much, it's just perfect!!

T2

[MonsterMan]

You have a great eye Tommi, I learned a lot from watching with cheat notes.

Would you mind doing a similar video for each race?