MA for HighAngles

[HighAngles]

This may be scary (it was taken on Halloween after all ), but I want to start documenting where I'm at with my skiing this season and hopefully get some good direction from you guys to help me out. So here is my first video before I start going back through all the drills. I've found that many years of my old skiing came right back at the beginning of this new season. The work I put into changing my skiing in the back half of last season wasn't quite in my muscle memory yet. My main nemesis has been a lack of tipping (too much reliance on inclination to get edge angles) and not enough CA/CB. I did work hard though on fixing my pole plants and think they are much better than where they were (I'm planting down the fall-line now instead of up at my ski tips).

Keep in mind that my screen name is clearly what I aspire to, as this video shows that there aren't any "high angles" happening in my skiing yet.

[Mac]

I'd say that was some pretty nice skiing, especially for early season when you're still trying to get the bugs worked out. Yeh, there might have been a few places where you were sitting back a little. And the camera tends to make people stiffen up. If I could do any better than that I'd offer you some words of advice, but for now, all I'm going to offer is words of encouragement, I'll leave the MA to people that are more technically savy than I am. I plan on getting my first turns of the season in on Wednesday, hopefully I can look as good as that.

[jclayton]

A quick look .

Left turns CA is better , on the right turns it is late and less . But still generally late .

Not changing edges quickly enough evidenced by some heel pushing throught the fall line and a slight wedge at times ( 00.13 & 00.15 ). The edges should change more across the slope , not coming into the fall line , this would also round out the turns more . More flexion is needed at transition .

[HighAngles]

jclayton - thanks, you picked out some things I wasn't noticing yet. The lack of CA on the right turns versus the left I hadn't noticed, but I do see that now.

I have also tended to be a "park-n-ride" skier, hanging onto my edge set well past the fall-line instead of getting the transition going sooner. That's a rhythm and timing thing for me that's been really difficult to eradicate.

I noticed that my skiing looked fairly stiff and the flexion that should normally be there at the transition was barely noticeable in the video. The heel push was really evident too and probably the first thing I noticed when I watched the video (with sunlight coming between my legs it was really obvious). So clearly I need to go back to my releases and make sure I'm initiating everything with the stance leg first. Do some "O" leg shape drills and get that timing back in my skiing. Harald says you need to exaggerate the movements because you're probably not doing them as far as you think and I believe I need to get back in that mind set of exaggerating everything in this early season skiing.

I aspire to having the incredible round shaped turns that Harald has, hopefully I'll get that high C top of the turn working better with an earlier transition, better flexion, and increased tipping.

It's funny though, I think my brain knows what to do, but getting those thoughts into real muscle/body movements is so much harder than it looks. Harald says over and over on the videos that things may look simple, but you can't overlook putting in the time even on the easiest of drills because more than likely those body movements aren't really in your skiing.

It sucks to have to stop and take video, but our own self-perception of what we're doing and the reality of what's really happening are usually very different (at least for most people).

[geoffda]

Hey Mark,

Just a quick look, but I wonder if the heel push is a result of balance issues that you are having? Could it be that what looks like a heel push is really just you losing your stance ski and skidding the finish of the turn because you aren't standing on it properly? Try making the same turns using one-footed releases and see if that makes a difference. I know my first day back, I always struggle with lateral balance & using OFRs for several runs helps me quickly get back to standing on my skis properly.

You definitely aren't tipping the free foot enough and you are getting static with it once you get on edge. You can see some definite a-framing going on at the turn finish of several turns. Again, if you have too much weight on your stance foot, that will contribute to the problem because you will have trouble tipping a weighted ski. Regardless, you need to focus on continuous tipping of the free foot (and OFRs will make this easier as well).

[HighAngles]

Geoff - I like your idea of going back to the OFR and maybe some pure phantom move turns to assess where my balance is. Maybe I was a little too heavy to the inside ski since I also have that tendency too (I have a lot of old issues to resolve!).

I also have struggled with continuing to tip more aggressively as the turn progresses. Heck, I think I'm tipping a lot, but the video bears out that I'm barely tipping at all. The angles Harald achieves are amazing.

P.S. Breck opens Friday. Will you be there?

[geoffda]

P.S. Breck opens Friday. Will you be there?

That's a joke right? Not unless the high alpine is open. Nope, I'm hangin' at the Basin until enough terrain opens up to warrant going elsewhere. The new chair is awesome. 3 minute ride up & no crowds == lots of laps. You should come up. I'm there pretty much every weekday from 9:00 - 10:30am, lower mountain, just working on skiing with my buddy James. He's getting a new boot setup from HSS tomorrow night, so hopefully he'll be able to invert & we can start working some drills. Come on up & join the fun!

[HighAngles]

Sorry Goeff - I won't go near A-Basin until there's at least a 40" base. I've trashed too many pairs of skis there. I'll stick to LL for now and we'll meet up at Breck at some point when you feel it's "worthy" .

[HighAngles]

Spent some time again this morning at LL working on some drills (no video unfortunately), but this time on some narrower skis (68mm and 72mm underfoot). These skis are also a bit stiffer. The skis in the video are somewhat soft, 76mm underfoot, and about a 14m radius. So clearly not ideal for PMTS. I found that on the narrower skis that the turns felt better and I didn't feel my stance ski sliding away on me. I am still having problems really committing to the tipping at the start (top) of the turns on the steeper sections (although it's still all intermediate runs available at the moment). Getting that early tipping while maintaining balance takes some serious commitment to assure yourself that you're not going to land on your face.

[HighAngles]

I've come to the conclusion that every single turn in my video has an up move. I don't know where my flex to release went, but it sure wasn't happening in this beautiful piece of cinema. Ack.

[pdxammo]

I see the little pop you referenced, and I also see that you never quite seem to develop much difference in your leg lengths. I would imagine since you never really extend you aren't getting your release from your flex through transition leading to the pop-up. I'm fairly new to PMTS so I'm just giving it my best shot, feel free to ignore me, it will get better.

[h.harb]

Thanks for providing the video. That's good skiing especially on a 78mm ski. Sure there are some little issues, as suggested by others. Hey, you guys are getting too good at MA. I can only add, more inside leg flexing and tipping would help. The right turn CA should be held until your skis are flat, during the release. The little skid or down stem on the left foot and ski, doesn't happen on every turn, but you can pick it out when you come square with the hips too early.

On skis this wide the "Tipping Point" to real carving is farther over. I call the point, where your skis engage to lock the carve that's "Tipping Point". It takes everything we talk about in PMTS and move it to beyond the holding or brushing point; to the next level and that is the "Tipping Point". This requires more counter balance, flexing with tipping in transition and commitment to inside leg tipping. After you achieve all that, crank the big toe edge boot over until you think you are going to boot out on the inside of the boot shell, That will make the edge hold and create a thin lined carve.

[HighAngles]

I will post some new video as soon as it stops dumping in Colorado (I wonder if it ever will the way this season is going!).

I really feel that my groomer skiing has hit a much higher level once I connected the dots and things have clicked in my head. In watching the new Free Skiing DVD I could imagine/feel what my muscles and limbs should be doing as I watched Harald's skiing.

Through a lot of work I have improved my fore/aft balance (I've been skiing from the back seat for years) and really worked on my pelvis positioning. The realization that our CA must occur down through the hips and NOT as a twist at the waist was a real revelation. That one change made linking quicker/shorter turns much smoother and really helped take the energy from one turn into the next. Getting my pelvis in the right position for CB has also made a huge improvement in my ability to balance over my skis when reaching for higher tipping angles. I have been able to make slow smooth 2FRs now whereas before I would constantly start to fall over to one side.

I'm going to teach my son how to use my video camera so that I'll get more opportunities to say "yeah, I got video".

Thanks Harald for taking the time to comment. I'll definitely work more on the CA/CB and holding onto it longer through the release.

[JohnMoore]

The skis in the video are somewhat soft, 76mm underfoot, and about a 14m radius.

What skis were you on, and what difference did you find going to the stiffer narrower-waisted skis? Did you notice a real difference in the speed of getting from edge to edge?

[HighAngles]

What skis were you on, and what difference did you find going to the stiffer narrower-waisted skis? Did you notice a real difference in the speed of getting from edge to edge?

The skis in the video are the Stockli Rotor 76. It's not a wood core ski, somewhat soft, and doesn't have the edge grip of some of the other skis in my stable. So that basically translates into my lack of confidence in really tipping them over and being sure they're going to hold their line. I know a big part of that is just a lack of pure skill and I'm sure whatever ski you put under Harald he would be able to make them work.

I have another pair of Stocklis that are 72mm underfoot with a full wood core and metal layers that's definitely a bit stiffer. I consider those my "hero" skis. I really feel like my skiing is best on those (although my 68mm race skis are a strong contender for that title). The challenge for me with a stiffer more powerful ski is that I have to really get my timing right to be able to recenter my fore/aft balance at the transition. I need a very active foot pull-back or the skis will get away from me in a hurry.

I switch between skis quite often (usually in the same day). There is a clear difference in quickness edge-to-edge for the narrower skis. On Tuesday I skied a 98mm waist in the morning in the powder and then switched to a 92mm at lunch for the left-overs and those felt like I had toys on my feet - they felt small and easily maneuverable. Then I switched to the 72mm ski and the difference was even greater (as you could imagine). For me the trade-off between the skis is the edge-to-edge quickness versus the surface area which allows the ski to plane up faster in deeper conditions and thus ski faster.

I wish I had the skills to ski a 72mm (or narrower) ski all-mountain like Harald. I just don't have my balance or my releases dialed in to his level. When I ski alone I do usually go for the narrower skis and attempt to ski them all-mountain. When alone I don't have to worry about keeping up with the pack so I can take my time and really enjoy my turns. My preference is for tighter turns and lots of them, but I'm typically the exception on any given day at the mountains I ski at. Look around and that's not what you'll find - it's mostly guys on rockers straight-lining or making 3 turns down the entire slope. As Harald says in the new video - "That's just a waste of good snow".