bounceswoosh
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I got out early this morning to ski. Given that it was warm yesterday and still mostly shady when I was skiing, the groomers were firm. Surely not east coast firm - but firm for me. I could hear my skis!
I wanted to check out one of the steeper blues while the cord was still intact and the crowds were low. The first run, I fell back into default mode - not as fast as I would normally ski a blue groomer zoomer, but fast enough that I realized that a fall would be a problem. Probably that's when my Garmin clocked a max speed of 33mph. Going at that speed, I felt comfortable, and my skis pretty much did what I expected them to do.
I decided to try the same run, but go slowly. I wanted to use relatively short radius turns (knowing me, probably more like medium radius) - and I didn't want to use the entire width of the run, because people freak me out.
Pretty much immediately, I found that I was washing out - just sliding. Given that I'm still rehabbing my knee, I didn't want to experiment, so I bailed onto a less steep slope.
I realize I don't have video, but I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts? Why would I have no traction issues flying down the hill with long radius turns, but slide out when I try to go shorter (and consequently more horizontal)?
Possibly relevant, possibly not - I have no idea when these edges were last sharpened. They're probably pretty dull. Wax was pretty fresh, but of course that doesn't help with bite. The skis are pretty soft, 90mm underfoot, playful rather than charge-y. I did check my tracks at one point on a less-steep slope, and they looked railroad-y, not abrupt.
I have a guess. I think that when I made tighter with the intent to slow down, I may have leaned back toward the hill. Whereas when I was flying, I was almost certainly in an aggressively forward stance. I have a history of leaning into the hill rather than forward when I'm in a more sideways mode. I don't mean that I'm backseat; fore-aft is still pretty fine. It's more to do with my orientation with the hill, not with my skis.
But - I have a week till I get to see my instructor, so ... what do you think? (And be kind, please! I always have trouble keeping it slow on groomers - which I realize indicates some broader technique issues. But I never cared *that* much, because speed is fun. Even though I should have cared. This is the first season where it's been critical to keep it slow, because I don't dare slow down abruptly.)
I wanted to check out one of the steeper blues while the cord was still intact and the crowds were low. The first run, I fell back into default mode - not as fast as I would normally ski a blue groomer zoomer, but fast enough that I realized that a fall would be a problem. Probably that's when my Garmin clocked a max speed of 33mph. Going at that speed, I felt comfortable, and my skis pretty much did what I expected them to do.
I decided to try the same run, but go slowly. I wanted to use relatively short radius turns (knowing me, probably more like medium radius) - and I didn't want to use the entire width of the run, because people freak me out.
Pretty much immediately, I found that I was washing out - just sliding. Given that I'm still rehabbing my knee, I didn't want to experiment, so I bailed onto a less steep slope.
I realize I don't have video, but I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts? Why would I have no traction issues flying down the hill with long radius turns, but slide out when I try to go shorter (and consequently more horizontal)?
Possibly relevant, possibly not - I have no idea when these edges were last sharpened. They're probably pretty dull. Wax was pretty fresh, but of course that doesn't help with bite. The skis are pretty soft, 90mm underfoot, playful rather than charge-y. I did check my tracks at one point on a less-steep slope, and they looked railroad-y, not abrupt.
I have a guess. I think that when I made tighter with the intent to slow down, I may have leaned back toward the hill. Whereas when I was flying, I was almost certainly in an aggressively forward stance. I have a history of leaning into the hill rather than forward when I'm in a more sideways mode. I don't mean that I'm backseat; fore-aft is still pretty fine. It's more to do with my orientation with the hill, not with my skis.
But - I have a week till I get to see my instructor, so ... what do you think? (And be kind, please! I always have trouble keeping it slow on groomers - which I realize indicates some broader technique issues. But I never cared *that* much, because speed is fun. Even though I should have cared. This is the first season where it's been critical to keep it slow, because I don't dare slow down abruptly.)