Ok a better video for MA

[ginaliam]

My fellow patrol buddy just set up one of those neat helmet cameras and shot this extended video of my skiing. It's a pretty fair representation of my day to day skiing-the first two minutes in particular-one long run with medium sized, firm (you can hear the snow) but fun bumps on the upper steeper portion and then after a second of chit chat, a good groomed blue second half. The next bit is a run down a classic liftline New England bump run (at berkshire east-poke around, there's an internet following for our little ski area ) again followed by a brief run down a solid blue groomer. Snow on lift line was fairly tough but standard east coast bump fare-that is, soft and edge-able on the bumps, scraped off and icy (again-you'll hear it) in between. The groomers are fast but fun.

And as always, I do appreciate the generosity of the MA-ers who are willing to share their keen eyes, solid advice and cybertime.

Oh, the first 20 seconds or so as we scoot down to the first run I'm not trying to turn and yes, I'm intentionally flapping my arms as if I were flying...just a little fun before some real skiing! AND, evidently you can watch this in HD (it is uploaded to that resolution) on Youtube as well as an option.

Liam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJH2pjhPph4

[jclayton]

Hi Liam ,
you have obviously been skiing for a long time , are relaxed and rythmical , confident on the groomers and enjoy it all . BUT what are you looking for here ? From a PMTS point of view there is a lot to work on .

Like most people , especially insructors , you probably think you are skiing parallel . In fact I can see an opening of the ski tails on nearly every turn except perhaps on the easiest groomer . There is little flexion and not a lot of CB or CA , this becomes more evident in the bump run .

The question is , are you happy for most of the people on the slopes to admire your skiing as is or do you want to swallow your pride and rework things from the ground up . The sky's the limit !

There are a lot of guys who have gone through this , the best example probably Jay " Skiersynergy " , ex-patroller and national team acrobatic skier ( I think thats what it's called ) .

I would start at the beginning with the essentials tipping video . I asume ( without reffering to previous posts ) that you have the books .

[MonsterMan]

Great video, thanks for sharing. What a great perspective to do critique your own skiing from, as that's the way we see others when we follow them.

I can see lots of good pmts in the groomer runs, (mainly lift and tip phantom moves), and think that your best bet now would be study book two again to work on your off piste stuff. Work on all the releases and learn to "ride the piggy". I suspect that when in the bumps, you are reverting to Patroler Skiding, probably from many runs with a banana boat in your hands?

[ginaliam]

Hi Liam ,
you have obviously been skiing for a long time , are relaxed and rythmical , confident on the groomers and enjoy it all . BUT what are you looking for here ? From a PMTS point of view there is a lot to work on .

Like most people , especially insructors , you probably think you are skiing parallel . In fact I can see an opening of the ski tails on nearly every turn except perhaps on the easiest groomer . There is little flexion and not a lot of CB or CA , this becomes more evident in the bump run .

The question is , are you happy for most of the people on the slopes to admire your skiing as is or do you want to swallow your pride and rework things from the ground up . The sky's the limit !

There are a lot of guys who have gone through this , the best example probably Jay " Skiersynergy " , ex-patroller and national team acrobatic skier ( I think thats what it's called ) .

I would start at the beginning with the essentials tipping video . I asume ( without reffering to previous posts ) that you have the books .

jclayton,

I've only been skiing for about 8 and a half seasons (in my 9th season), I have no PSIA background, in fact, I used harald's books (and lito's book-still like that one to) to get where I am-I started skiing at age 30-and like most folks I have a family and Job and skiing is a seasonal passionate hobby that shares time with a lot of other things-

I'm constantly trying to get better and I feel as though I've hit a bit of a paradigmatic plateau. I only consider myself an intermediate skier and when I ski with folks I recognize as true experts I realize how far i have to go. I don't mind at all if folks who ski better than I do share their knowledge or critique my skiing at all (It's why I posted)--I've been on this forum for several years and I know the score of how MA is given and a good dose of humility goes a long way (check out my last MA video thread...I'm not going to argue points of skill or technique with those that can help.

I too think I need to start with tipping-I don't think I get that going well either.

Liam

[Max_501]

Liam, I'd suggest that you do an MA of your movements (finish of one turn through the finish of the next). Tell us what you see vs what you think you were doing at the time.

[ginaliam]

That's a good place, indeed. Ok, around 21 seconds into the video thru second 44 I do a series of short turns in bumped (but not true moguls) terrain on a steepish (east coast black) pitch-I'm starting each turn (or ending the previous) by flexing-in some case mildly lifting the down hill edge. About mid way thru each turn I usually remember to pull the free foot back. I'm focusing solely on tipping the inside foot and trying to get as much angle as that will allow (i.e I"M NOT trying to get deeper angles by further flexing the inside leg, NOR am I focusing at all on counter balance I know I should, but I'm not nor am I trying to). As these bumps aren't particularly big I'm not focused on retraction either, though, I think (and you'll tell me if I'm worng) I'm managing as much absorption as this terrain demands. I think on the last two turns in this segment I finish with too much tail push from skier led rotation, though, I'm able to keep fairly countered still within my line.

I just froze the picture at the 46 second mark-not a bad amount of counter balance, counter acting could certainly be more pronounced-but considering I wasn't focusing on either I'm surprised there is as much as there is.

As I stand talking I note how my patrol jacket makes me look like a balloon! I got to switch to a more shapely close-fitting vest!

Next segment-let's see groomer turns, just a series of shortish radii turns I'm lifting (slighly) the old styance leg and tipping the free foot. I'm keeping square to the falline (or trying to). I Froze the video at 2:01-again, counteracting is little to non-existent, I'm not flexing the inside legat all to create deeper edge angles, but I am using adequate counter balance and tipping the free foot to carve the turn. Oh, I'm keeping my stance fairly narrow (intentionally) through all of these turns.

That's what I see-I don't see the opening of the ski tails on every turn-but, I don't doubt that I do-I jusdt don't see it (and I must admit, I'm not altogether sure what it would indicate..what should I do to prevent this??).

Hope that's enough info Max (and perhaps it's too much)-where am I wrong? I have no MA skills, I'm not even sure what I'm looking for.

Thanks, again,

Liam

[Max_501]

What skis on you on?

[ginaliam]

2007 Dynastar Contact 9 165cm (12m turn)
Boots are Salomon Impact 10 (last years) and they have an Aline footbed, but no other bootwork done.

[jbotti]

I will add my comments. I would reccomend that you post video of you dynamically working turns. I can see from the video that you were having fun, but you weren't really working your turns. You were skiing the terrain and turning the amount you needed to control your speed and feel comfortable. I didn't see one turn where you actually worked the turn, where you attempted to create angles and carve or brush carve dynamic and tight turns. My sense is that you are capable of doing this and I think this is where MA can be useful.

I would get little value out of Harald or anyone giving me MA when I am cruising and hardly turning. I also reccomend that you have someone shoot you as you are coming down the hill so the videographer is below you to start.

[onyxjl]

I'm starting each turn (or ending the previous) by flexing...

This is why our perception of our own skiing is so unreliable. You clearly want to initiate a transition by relaxing the stance leg and flexing, but that is not what I see happening in your video. Particularly in the bumps I am seeing a pronounced extension of the legs at transition. Changing the timing on these flexing movements really takes work. 10,000 boot touch drills ought to take care of that though. Flex, touch boots, tip, repeat.

[milesb]

I'm seeing many turns where you are doing everything right. Flexing to release, early tipping, stance ski balance, free foot pullback, and a little CB/CA. However, it's very inconsistent. Particularly good are some of the turns right after the arm flapping, and some of the short turns. You just don't own the movements enough for them to be habit. As long as you exaggerate them when you practice, I think you will do just fine. One thing you might want to add is lifting the inside hip to start your counterbalancing.

Jbotti, I think there is tremendous value in video of "just cruising". Every video I have posted here has been exactly that, and it tells me what movements are habit and which I have to still think about doing every turn.

[ginaliam]

All good stuff thanks,

MilesB: Yeah consistency is king-I always love how harald's turns are all so similar in every sort of terrain (given differing intentions of course). Your advice about Focusing on raising the inside hip to start/increase counter balance sounds like a hot tip-I'll try to remember that-thanks!

Jbotti-yes, on the one hand I agree that doing a focused drill and asking for feedback is certainly a better way to go about MA-but, I'm not 'just' cruising here Some spots I'm running along to the start of the lift, run or to get moving-but I think through the meat of the video I'm turning (as opposed to 'hardly turning') quite a bit! Especially :21-1:10 and 1:40-2:01. And, I thought the mix of terrain on sustained runs would give a good sense of my actual skiing-I start on a three-day ungroomed (as i said bumpy but not quite yet true moguls) black run, followed by a good groomed blue pitch. and the Next segment has a shorter and the a longer true black bump run with mixed snow conditions followed again by a decent length blue groomer run-while I wasn't going for a specific drill-I did mean to ski well (or attempt to ski well at any rate). Besides, this was a lot more fun to do and shoot then some drill --the guy with the camera isn't my coach-he wants to ski as well!

Onyxil-the boot touch drill-I remember looking at that in the essentials book-I'll dig it out onight and give a whirl starting tomorrow.

Liam

[Mikey B]

Liam,

JBotti has a good point...what he means is that your turns are extremely shallow, and your skis are almost always pointing down the fall line. What he is trying to tell you is to finish your turns, complete them...you let go of your turns so early there really isn't much of a turn to MA, it's more like small speed/control checks. I used to do the same thing..it gives you that false idea that your are skiing so smoothly while really you are foregoing most if not all of flexing, release, tipping and any sort of high C part of the turn...not to mention control. You are letting go of your turns at 5 o'clock..take them to 3 o'clock...and when practicing exaggerate and try to take them to 2 o'clock. As you mention, HH...his turns look the same no matter the terrain or speed because he is in complete control and completes his arcs. This point is very important as you are learning PMTS...it is one of the first things HH and Co. got me to do at my first couple of camps.

Mike

[polecat]

Liam,

I have three words for you:

Release

Transfer

Engage


PMTS starts at the feet. Everything else is to compliment and support what the feet do. And what they need to do to progress from intermediate to expert is to release the ski’s edges, then transfer your weight laterally, then engage the new edge.

…I don't see the opening of the ski tails on every turn-but, I don't doubt that I do-I jusdt don't see it (and I must admit, I'm not altogether sure what it would indicate..what should I do to prevent this??)….

It’s subtle on the cruisers and not so obvious, but becomes pronounced as you hit more challenging terrain. Look at the segment from 2:20 to 2:30, single stepping frame by frame. You can't miss it there.

What it indicates is that you’re not really releasing your edges. By stemming to initiate a turn you step from one engaged edge to another. For a brief time the skis are fighting each other, trying to move in different directions.

You eventually transfer all your weight and lift the inside ski but by then your outside ski is already well engaged. So the motion was transfer, engage, transfer, engage instead of release, transfer, engage, release, transfer, engage.

Fully releasing before transferring your weight causes you to “float” a brief moment and allows a seamless transition from one turn to the next.

As the man says:

“Learn to float and your life will change.”

-H.H.


All of the books and vids have releasing exercises that will help, either as part of larger motions like linked phantom turns (and especially linked super phantom turns) or in isolation like the two-foot release. (The two-foot release is a great exercise but your cohorts will probably get pretty board watching you.)


pc.