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The "little ski revelations" thread

artistinsuburbia

Angel Diva
sorry, no video this season. perhaps next. Yeah, I think that I'm going to start out the season next year with an advanced lesson. I'm going to ski bumps if it kills me.
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
sorry, no video this season. perhaps next. Yeah, I think that I'm going to start out the season next year with an advanced lesson. I'm going to ski bumps if it kills me.
It might. :wink:

Weekend insights for skiing spring conditions:
  1. Fat skis rock
  2. Fat, rockered skis rock even more :thumbsup:
  3. High edge angles are a good thing
  4. Attack with a vengence
  5. It's OK to shop for turns in the really cruddy, bumped-up stuff
  6. Drive forward, forward, forward
  7. Be active! (up-unweighting, down-unweighting, long leg/short leg, reaching down the hill....)
  8. Quit the instant you start to feel fatigued!
A combination of he right mindset and my Shiros had me feeling (and looking, so I've been told) like a total rockstar in knee deep sugar and slush bumps and rutty crud this weekend. :humble::becky:
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's OK to shop for turns in the really cruddy, bumped-up stuff

I think it depends on how you define shopping. If shopping includes getting the skis horizontal or less than horizontal (tipping upward) at slow speeds, well, sometimes you just have to do that, but it makes it really hard to initiate that next turn. If that's what you mean, how did you deal with that part?
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Not that as much as just hesitating between turns to look for a spot less rutty or not quite as bumpy or just generally less ugly.

On the rare occasions that stalling uphill happens to me, I just do some counter rotation, drive the inside hand and pole straight down the hill, start bringing the uphill hand around to prepare for the next turn, and up unweight to let the skis come around.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Not that as much as just hesitating between turns to look for a spot less rutty or not quite as bumpy or just generally less ugly.

On the rare occasions that stalling uphill happens to me, I just do some counter rotation, drive the inside hand and pole straight down the hill, start bringing the uphill hand around to prepare for the next turn, and up unweight to let the skis come around.

*nod*

Once this season, blindly following a member of a group despite pretty much knowing it was going to be a bad idea (there's a lesson there), I ended up on a steep (fortunately familiar) slope that was basically sastrugi - wind-swept hardpack waves. Terrifying, actually - a 35+ degree slope with unskiable snow. I think I fell once and then gave up on going down the hill. Fortunately I had a pretty good idea from an earlier run that if I kept traversing right, I'd come to an area with blown in soft snow. I did make it to that better spot, but I was so intimidated by the waves that I had to say, out loud, "Okay, you're gonna turn, dammit. TURN!" I did, and the snow was great, and I made it down alive ;-)
 

Fluffy Kitty

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
A combination of he right mindset and my Shiros had me feeling (and looking, so I've been told) like a total rockstar in knee deep sugar and slush bumps and rutty crud this weekend. :humble::becky:

:clap:Yay! :clap:

I'll keep your tips in mind next time I'm in slush-rutt-crud. Printing it out right now.
 

artistinsuburbia

Angel Diva
love it. Shopping for the right path...sounds about right! Fatter boards are def. the way to go.

On a side note, took a "pure barre" class tonight. (It's a chain so maybe you've experienced?) I am going to ROCK ski season next year. HOLY COW, hardest workout I've ever done. Thighs are burning way more than a heavy snow day.
 

Joanna

Diva in Training
It might. :wink:

Weekend insights for skiing spring conditions:
  1. Fat skis rock
  2. Fat, rockered skis rock even more :thumbsup:
  3. High edge angles are a good thing
  4. Attack with a vengence
  5. It's OK to shop for turns in the really cruddy, bumped-up stuff
  6. Drive forward, forward, forward
  7. Be active! (up-unweighting, down-unweighting, long leg/short leg, reaching down the hill....)
  8. Quit the instant you start to feel fatigued!
A combination of he right mindset and my Shiros had me feeling (and looking, so I've been told) like a total rockstar in knee deep sugar and slush bumps and rutty crud this weekend. :humble::becky:
I like all those tips...........Tried Rossi's S3's that a friend let me use 159's thought they might be a bit long but I found with these ski's I could ski much better in this soft spring snow usually I don't ski this stuff. But Killington had so much snow and looked so good wanted to keep practicing my skiing.. was a lot of fun. I probably should demo a few more before I make a choice to buy..
 

litterbug

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
love it. Shopping for the right path...sounds about right! Fatter boards are def. the way to go.

On a side note, took a "pure barre" class tonight. (It's a chain so maybe you've experienced?) I am going to ROCK ski season next year. HOLY COW, hardest workout I've ever done. Thighs are burning way more than a heavy snow day.
I just found their website, but it's a little cryptic so I have to ask--is this derived from ballet barre work? I only took a few semesters of ballet in college, but always thought ballet in general and barre in particular would be an awesome foundation for just about any outdoor sport I could think of.
 

artistinsuburbia

Angel Diva
I just found their website, but it's a little cryptic so I have to ask--is this derived from ballet barre work? I only took a few semesters of ballet in college, but always thought ballet in general and barre in particular would be an awesome foundation for just about any outdoor sport I could think of.
Not really. It's more like Pilates/Yoga/Isometrics using the barre for balance and resistance. It's an extremely mental workout. You have to pay attention to the muscle that they are telling you to work. I've gone two weeks, I'm sore just enough each time. And it's getting harder each time as I figure out each movement's tweak that makes it that much harder. I have a body fat scale and even though I've only lost two conventional pounds, my body fat % has fallen from 33% to 27.8%. I'm totally pumped about the upcoming weeks as that new muscle should also start burning more. (I'm also keeping a livestrong diary on my phone keeping my calories to a lose two pounds per week level).
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Sort of like Dawning Chorus, but this is a place for you to post your "ahah!" moment from skiing today.

I had a revelation this morning. My first run down a few inches of freshies over crusty groomer, I was getting thrown all over the place. On the second run, I wanted to do better. I realized that I'd been staring at the snow right in front of my feet, trying to prepare for every little change of texture or shape. It wasn't working. I decided to trust my skis and look ahead down the slope instead. Instant transformation. The snow was exactly the same, but it didn't throw me around anymore. I was in control.

Lesson: look ahead. Really.

What's your revelation?
Not exactly a "moment" but after two lessons at Alta with a Level 3 instructor, things I've been learning the last couple seasons from various instructors really came together. Although we didn't work on short turns at all, I found that the improved awareness of athletic stance and other elements meant that I could do short turns on a variety of terrain. Before, I rarely did short turns without having to think pretty hard. Really worked on steep groomers, which had never happened before. Carried over to how I handled off-piste terrain, like trees.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Skied Squaw Valley today - beautiful spring weather. Not sure why I had a hard time in the tracked up, half baked snow from a recent snowfall. Somehow, I couldn't seem to get my skis to go downhill and complete the turn. There were huge bumps with recent snow and very warm temps. (Not to mention steep terrain and lots of dust on crust). Skied on my Volkl Kenjas and felt like I could barely complete a turn. Squaw has huge open bowls and it should have been a lot easier…. Any ideas? My boyfriend was on his Rossi S3's and said my skis are too stiff and too narrow for that kind of terrain.
 

Skisailor

Angel Diva
Skied Squaw Valley today - beautiful spring weather. Not sure why I had a hard time in the tracked up, half baked snow from a recent snowfall. Somehow, I couldn't seem to get my skis to go downhill and complete the turn. There were huge bumps with recent snow and very warm temps. (Not to mention steep terrain and lots of dust on crust). Skied on my Volkl Kenjas and felt like I could barely complete a turn. Squaw has huge open bowls and it should have been a lot easier…. Any ideas? My boyfriend was on his Rossi S3's and said my skis are too stiff and too narrow for that kind of terrain.

You may want to check out the Tripped Up Over Sierra Cement thread, which is also right here in the Ski Tips forum . . .
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This
You may want to check out the Tripped Up Over Sierra Cement thread, which is also right here in the Ski Tips forum . . .
And this
...my skis are too stiff for that kind of terrain.
While not too narrow, wider yet is even easier, and any amount of full rocker will help, too.
 

Skisailor

Angel Diva
I agree that width can help with crud. But the Kenjas being too stiff? Especially if it's wet, heavy crud, I would much prefer a stiffer ski to something that is light or soft.

I think the reason why so many people like the Volkl Auras in crud is because of the layer of titanium in that ski, which made them reasonably stiff. So I think the Kenjas are pretty good crud busters! Though I agree that a wider ski that is as torsionally stiff as the Kenjas or Auras would probably make things even easier.
 

abc

Banned
I agree that width can help with crud. But the Kenjas being too stiff? Especially if it's wet, heavy crud, I would much prefer a stiffer ski to something that is light or soft.
I felt the same way too. Some stiffness is actually good for crud busting.

All my skis are on the soft side, and I can FEEL the deflection of the crud on my skis and I had to be on the ready to react to it. I wouldn't want too soft of a ski for that kind of condition.

A wider ski, aka less numble, are actually helpful for the extra stability. Longer and wider, big sweet spot makes for an easier ride in such highly variable conditions.

Also, all thing being equal, rockered tip would be a huge help!
 

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Skied Squaw Valley today - beautiful spring weather. Not sure why I had a hard time in the tracked up, half baked snow from a recent snowfall. Somehow, I couldn't seem to get my skis to go downhill and complete the turn. There were huge bumps with recent snow and very warm temps. (Not to mention steep terrain and lots of dust on crust). Skied on my Volkl Kenjas and felt like I could barely complete a turn. Squaw has huge open bowls and it should have been a lot easier…. Any ideas? My boyfriend was on his Rossi S3's and said my skis are too stiff and too narrow for that kind of terrain.


Do you usually have problems in spring conditions? Squaw skiers regularly have some of the fattest skis out there, which skews things somewhat, but I don't think that the Kenja is inadequate width-wise for those conditions, especially the tip-rockered ones.
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Stiffness is only an asset in those conditions if you have the carving technique and speed to "bust through" it. A finesse or inexperienced skier is better off with a softer ski that will smear more easily up, over, and around it. I think of it as dancing with the mountain rather than charging down it.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Thanks for feedback. My Kenjas are not rockered as they are about three years old. I was thinking longer and wider skis would have helped such as the Volkl Aura. My BF is a huge Rossi fan and thinks I should be on the Rossi Savory 7. However, today we skied Kirkwood in similar conditions and I felt I skied quite well. Maybe having a bad day yesterday… I have been skiing many years (about 40) but sometimes have a frustrating day and want to blame the skis or the boots.
 

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