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Fast or pretty?
- Thread starter ski diva
- Start date
newboots
Angel Diva
Haha! Creative, that’s me! 
I suppose I’m getting better, but I still feel like a rookie. My goal has been to ski upright, as in head on top, skis on bottom. I did notice getting faster last year (my second year), and I sincerely hope I’m headed toward pretty. Sometimes, though, remaining upright involved some flailing and creativity!
I suppose I’m getting better, but I still feel like a rookie. My goal has been to ski upright, as in head on top, skis on bottom. I did notice getting faster last year (my second year), and I sincerely hope I’m headed toward pretty. Sometimes, though, remaining upright involved some flailing and creativity!
tinymoose
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I really wish I'd been a kid skier/racer. I feel like I'm operating under a perpetual deficit. I see the kid racers ripping it up around the mountain and they ski so pretty. Or even adults who raced as a kid. It's a goal I'll always strive for and never reach. It's annoying. lol
Best thing I've ever seen was at Jack Frost. @vanhoskier was there. This racer girl ripped it up in the bumps by literally carving her way through them. It was sick. I'm sure she wasn't 100% carving but oh my goodness.
Best thing I've ever seen was at Jack Frost. @vanhoskier was there. This racer girl ripped it up in the bumps by literally carving her way through them. It was sick. I'm sure she wasn't 100% carving but oh my goodness.
tinymoose
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Off topic, every time I see your name I think of Volkl Racetigers. Is that where your name comes from?
Ski Sine Fine
Angel Diva
I want pretty. I don’t really know how I look, but I FEEL like Frankenstein, way too stiff trying to stay in control.
BlizzardBabe
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Found this old, old, OLD thread and thought I'd bump it up. Which do you prefer?
Fun that you've done this. The "noobees" on the old thread are now accomplished pros!
I like the idea of skiing strong that was mentioned above. I've been working on strong, athletic, slow, and fast (but not too fast) when I need it.
Fast(er). I like it best when I ski 'out of my mind.' That is to say that The Little Voice in my head is not talking to me about weight distribution or hand position or where the next turn is coming. I just dance with the mountain and let it lead me into the next big carving turn, feeling the energy in my skis. I feel like I'm flying. Skigasm.
MissySki
Angel Diva
I bet you don't, I find there is always a major disconnect between how people think they look and how they actually look! There are times where I feel the same exact way you are describing, especially in bumps and trees where I'm really cautious and not confident at all, but then sometimes am told by others that I made something look easy and graceful. The whole time in my head it was "omg, don't fall/don't die/keep going!!!". That's always a, "really, wtf were you watching?!?!!?" moment, but nonetheless it seems there is a disconnect between what we perceive about our movements and what they actually look like to others!
Olesya Chornoguz
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I was going to post that you immediately came to my mind when I think of someone who skis beautifully and very fast!
I prefer both pretty and fast, though I don't need to ski fast all the time, certainly ski slowly off-piste, cause you never know what's lurking under the snow.. Empty groomer with soft snow, that's a different story, fast feels so good on that!
Ski Sine Fine
Angel Diva
I’d also like to say I ski faster than I should, but slower than I deserve
RuthB
Angel Diva
You are definitely a pretty skier, or my definition of one anyway.
For me it is pretty and fast. I'm okay with the term pretty. I think that it includes being strong and agressive but has the extra dimensions of fluidity, effortlessness and elegance. Much as a good ballerina makes things look effortless and elegant but is also strong and agressive.
I also think that pretty skiing is not the exclusive domain of female skiers.
liquidfeet
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
When this thread first came up I read an old post of mine. I couldn't believe that was my post! Then I looked at the date. I've grown, I guess.
Haha Newboots interpretation of creative made me giggle. Mine is finding new ways to ski on the terrain seeking out those dips and bumps on the sides and just skiing wierd and having fun. This season I plan to expand into the freestyle side.
I've been told that I need to slow down. But I like going fast! But as almost a perfectionist I'm always fussing over my technique.
Yes!. I have a 2013? pair of them that I basically learned how to ski on. That was the only pair of skis I owned when I made this account.
I've been told that I need to slow down. But I like going fast! But as almost a perfectionist I'm always fussing over my technique.
marzNC
Angel Diva
What I discovered in the last couple years after working with instructors to up the "ski pretty" factor is that now I can "ski fast" in a way that I never expected. Never interested in racing. Used to feel a bit out of control beyond a certain speed and would only do that on relatively long empty slopes where I knew there was a long run out towards the bottom of the trail. Still prefer to play with more turns than carving as fast as possible, but have much less trouble keeping up every so often with a friend who likes to go fast.
And when you are having fun going fast . . . I'm not yet to the point of being able to keep up! Have clear images of you disappearing over the next rise as we skied the nicely groomed and untracked snow in the Taos terrain park last season. And that was within a minute of getting started there.
snoWYmonkey
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Great question...so many more from it. I see that we all have our own definition of pretty. I like to add in control and efficient, which does not always equate to pretty. I always think of Bode Miller. Not often pretty, always fast, efficient and on the edge of control. In a race course the edge is fine, on a shared public ski hill not so much.
I would say that looking pretty is my most common request, especially from women. I try to refocus onto smooth and balanced, which usually ends up being pretty. I hear fears often of "if I lean forward am I sticking my ass out?" Occasionally yes, mostly no.
As a pretty focused skier for years my goal 4 years ago was to go fast. It changed, for the better, my skiing. Not caring so much about perfect control has finally allowed me to be a tad more dynamic in my skiing. I was constantly docked by my coaches for being perfect(ly) boring in my skiing. Not that fast is the answer, as I still spend hours carefully making very clean consistent speed super slow turns on greens which is so hard to do. The Herminator, Hermann Maier used to do so before his olympic gold winning runs as a warm up. It stuck in my mind (another excuse not to push and go fast for a safety conscious teaching nerd like myself).
I think fast and pretty is a good goal, but fast often has major moments of imbalance that could by an untrained eye be called not pretty (think racers other than Mikaela Shiffrin). For me the lesson there is to go from off balance at speed and recover back into pretty and fast.
Great thought provoking question! (sorry for my early morning rambling reply)
I would say that looking pretty is my most common request, especially from women. I try to refocus onto smooth and balanced, which usually ends up being pretty. I hear fears often of "if I lean forward am I sticking my ass out?" Occasionally yes, mostly no.
As a pretty focused skier for years my goal 4 years ago was to go fast. It changed, for the better, my skiing. Not caring so much about perfect control has finally allowed me to be a tad more dynamic in my skiing. I was constantly docked by my coaches for being perfect(ly) boring in my skiing. Not that fast is the answer, as I still spend hours carefully making very clean consistent speed super slow turns on greens which is so hard to do. The Herminator, Hermann Maier used to do so before his olympic gold winning runs as a warm up. It stuck in my mind (another excuse not to push and go fast for a safety conscious teaching nerd like myself).
I think fast and pretty is a good goal, but fast often has major moments of imbalance that could by an untrained eye be called not pretty (think racers other than Mikaela Shiffrin). For me the lesson there is to go from off balance at speed and recover back into pretty and fast.
Great thought provoking question! (sorry for my early morning rambling reply)
MilkyWookiee
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I don't love the word pretty, but a few years in the mid Atlantic triggered me to become a technique wh*re when there just wasn't enough vertical or steepness (?) to rip at high speeds. I'm also still working my way out of ill-fitting/soft/short gear. I would rather ski all terrain well than some terrain fast. But I like skiing to feel good more than anything. Holding an edge on nice GS turns on blue groomers, dynamic turns on steeps and bumps, the "dolphin dive" (credit: Laurie Cobb) coming over a headwall, are all the things that make me say "one more run." I also never wanted to feel feminine on the hill until maybe 2 years ago (yes I skied in a men's Carhartt jacket for a SOLID 8 years) so as I've found the womens section of ski shops, "pretty" is something I'm more open to
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