That "Aha" moment.

[ski diva]

Did you ever get some advice regarding skiing that completely turned things around for you? That produced that sort of "aha" moment when a light bulb went off and you wondered how you ever managed to make it down the hill before?

Thought it'd be good to share.

 

[Lilgeorg]

I think Lola may have mentioned this on another thread, but Terry Carey said to me that one should ski ice like you drive a car. No sudden movements, no sharp turns, just gently get off as quickly as possible. What I used to do is tense up and turn sharply. I now feel so much more confident when I see ice I get on and off gently. Thanks Terry.

Cnewbound told me that speed gives you control. I used to sky slower for control. I was very surprised to learn that skiing faster actually gave me more control not less. Wow!! I still don't ski as fast as Crystel but I ski faster than I did before her advice.

Finally, Maria Tomeselli told me that fear is like a bad coach who sits on your shoulder and always underminds your progress. Fire her. Hire a good coach that will sit on your shoulder and encourage you. When that bad coach starts talking to you, say, hey you were fired! Where is the good coach! I owe a lot to these ladies. Thank you.

 

[Little Lightning]

Reading "In the Yikes Zone, A Conversation with Fear" by Mermer Blakeslee. I used to think my fear was being afraid of heights but after re-reading this book, I realized my fear is taking the leap down the fall line. For me, it is the point at which the uphill ski releases and begins to turn. I'm ok on easy terrain but the steeper or bumpier it gets I feel my body holding back, trying to resist gravity.

Before Christmas, my instructor told me to tilt my hips slightly forward. What a difference! By doing that I change my hip position, use my glutes and hamstrings more instead of all quads and am more centered over my skis. I can feel the uphill ski release and take off into the turn. Skiing steeps, bumps and powder are so much easier. Now I'm working on strengthening my core muscles, specifically low back and obliques and stretching my hip flexor muscles and getting rid of my "sway back".

Kathi

 

[marta]

Yes!! Favorite advice - A few things come to mind that changed the way I ski. All from instructor/trainer "Mike from Golden" at Loveland.

1) Favorite new term: Terrain ignore-tion. Don't look down, look ahead. Just ski through it. Crud, hardpack, crud again. Just go.

2) Pinch your inch. Get that c-shape in your body when carving. Try this exercise. When standing across a steep on your edges, pinch your side between your ribs and waist. Reach down with your pole, pinch harder, reach farther. Now you've got it. This puts your shoulders over your feet, gets your skis on edge naturally, and sets you up for a good pole plant. And great abs as a result!!

3) Lift up your toes in your boots when you ski. This will help you get forward, and keep you from clenching your feet.

I'm sure I can come up with more Mike-isms. This guy kicked our butts! :D

 

[ski diva]

I noticed a few people talking about the "aha" moments they had this season, so I thought I'd bump this up. What was yours?

 

[SkiMonster]

There were lots; but the bog one this year was not to stop at the edge of a tough trail to look down, and just go right into it instead. I did that my first day this year, and I feel like I'm a whole new person on skis as a result.

"pinch your inch" - I read that (maybe on here) and it helped me a lot; that and to be able to see my hands, and lead with them when it is steep.

The biggest aha moment I've ever had though :o was the first day i ever skied. I'm sure I've told this story here before; but it's funny so I will share again. I had tried snowboarding before and it was AWFUL. I hadn't been on a snowy mountain before and had only seen people on TV, racing and stuff, straight down. I didn't get what my husband meant about going across the mountain; I thought he meant to stand up that way, and point straight down again. At the end of that winter he took me to try skiing, and had me follow him across a part of the trail and then back, zigzagging.

It seriously was a cartoon light bulb moment.
OH, you meant GO ACROSS the mountain!
:o

I still don't know WHY I had such trouble grasping that pointing straight down is not effective hwen you have no skills, and travelling diagonally might help. It was an honest to god mental block.

 

[lil mountain girl]

3) Lift up your toes in your boots when you ski. This will help you get forward, and keep you from clenching your feet.

so simple, but it's so overlooked!!!

i practice yoga and i remember the moment when my yoga instructor told us to lift our toes off the ground when standing in mountain pose (basically standing strait with feet together) -- it was incredible!!

it's like an instant awareness to stand in a balanced way -- crucial not only for skiing, but moving your body through space in general !!!

thanks for the reminder!

 

[ski diva]

Anyone else have an "Aha" moment they'd like to share?

 

[Ski Spirit]

It took the longest time for me to understand that your body needs to face downhill while your legs are turning underneath it. Many, many people pointed this out to me. Finally, someone said I was banking my turns and I started to understand (felt kind of silly after so many fundamental drills but I never got it all that time). Once I understood, everything was so much easier.

 

[Native Vail Gal]

My aha moment happened when I got the "new" carving skis! I realized how lucky I had been to learn to ski on the "old" straight skis because the carving skis were so much easier to use! WOO HOO!!!

 

[SnowDancer]

Several years ago, one tip that clicked for me (from an instructor at Steamboat) was learning when it was best to transition into the next turn. Rather than trying to think about when my skis were running flat and ready for a new direction, she had me listen to the sound of my skis on the snow; when they are most quiet is when they are ready. Since then I've developed a more natural and relaxed feel for it, but that tip truly helped me to progress to the point where I didn't have to worry or think about it any more.

About the fear of heights thing: I still have my moments (on the chairs more than the mountain), but my BF ever so kindly pointed out that I wasn't going to fall down the whole length of a trail, just the distance from my butt to the ground.:D

 

[tradygirl]

Here's a couple:

1. First day on fat skis. OMG. Ya mean I can ski powder and mach at the same time?

2. The first time I did a successful jump turn in a chute. It's all about the pole plant.

3. The first day I was told to weight my back foot more, edge with my uphill ski, and keep my knees closer together on my tele gear. I did my first true tele turn that day!

4. First backcountry tour on a powder day. Maybe not so much a skill-related "Aha" moment, but a spritual "Aha" moment. I never knew powder could be so bottomless and the mountains could be so beautiful.

 

[ski diva]

I think I'll second tradygirl's comment about fat skis. I tried them for the first time this winter, and omigod -- it was a revelation.

Then of course, I had to run out and buy a pair. :D

 

[Lola]

One aha moment I remember happened about 7 years ago during a Women's Alpine Adventure at Okemo Mtn, VT. I was always concerned about the skier's responsibility code (and I still am) and I took the edict to 'ski in control' very seriously. My instructor (Marilyn) told me to forget about sking in control, and instead, focus on sking in balance. She told me if you are in control, you are not necessarily in balance, but if you are in balance, you are always in control. :D And she was absolutely right for me! So if I start to feel a little uncertain on the slopes, I concentrate on maintaining my balance, then I am in control of the skis and I can ski in control.

 

[abc]

That's good one!

I'm surprised how many people were brain washed into copying the "proper" movement but never understand it's all about balance. Myself included, until recently.

 

[SnowHot]

Have you ever struggled to get something during instruction, and later, when you are doing something completely unrelated have an "ah ha!" moment?

Mine:
Looking ahead!
I finally figured out that my biggest struggle when I started to ski bumps is looking ahead. When I'm cruising, not a problem. When I'm in the trees, not a problem, but when I get into bumps I start to over think, look down, reach back and just lose it!
At ESA Jeb Said, "Look Ahead"
Weems said, "pick someone you trust and follow them"

Where the Ah Ha! comes in............
Mt biking. The one thing I know when I'm in the tight trees is, Don't look at the tree, look at your trail target. While riding last weekend, I said "AH HA! I get through the trees because I am not looking at them but past them!!!"

Same with bumps. When I looked at the back of a leader, I was looking past the bumps so they weren't an obstacle!

 

[sibhusky]

As I said on Epic, my big AHA moment was going down Good Med here with a friend, who just kind of told me to start "walking" my poles down the hill. Plant, turn around it and immediately plant again. I got down the hill SO much faster, linking these pole plants! Before, I'd plan a route, ski about three turns, missing the last planned turn, then stop, re-evaluate, and do three turns again. I was, as he said, "shopping for turns". Anyway, this friend, although he has never instructed, ends up being a GREAT teacher, because he's just so mildly observing and mostly keeps his mouth shut and waits for me. An awful lot of my problems after 35 years are all in my mind and I need tactics to help me deal with tricky conditions.

One problem this year is my OT wants me to take it easy and even though I didn't get hurt on a black run or in the trees, I'm supposed to stay on the blue runs for a while. (Got hurt on a green run, left the trail and went into the trees at the side. Not sure how to prevent that again since I don't remember what happened.)

 

[Kimmyt]

I'll agree with some of the others. Pole plants.

Took a private hour lesson one day when I was at Okemo (bonus points: HOTT aussie instructor) and he asked me what i wanted to focus on.

I told him that I'd been holding these long pointy things for almost 2 years and really only used them to click out of my bindings and for when I fell and needed to get up.

By the end of the lesson we were pole planting like crazy and even had delved into some introductory carving.

Since tehn I have found pole plants to be one of the most useful tools in getting more confident on steeper, particularly ungroomed, runs.

:cheer:

 

[Grace Elventhing]

I had an "Aha!" moment last season during the ESA. We were skiing bumps, and I was getting thrown about mainly because I wasn't absorbing them at all. Thinking about absorbing with my legs was not working for me, but then someone talked about focusing on keeping your head steady. Once I stopped thinking about my legs and started thinking about my head not bobbing up and down with the bumps, something magical happened. It made a huge difference! (That, and trying to maintain the "Go Factor" rather than the "Whoa! Factor"...)

 

[volklgirl]

I've had 3 AHA moments, and 2 of them occured from tips given by the same Clinician.

1.) To carve efficiently, keep your shins parallel. Wow. We all edge our outside ski, but how many of us REALLY edge our inside?? This exercise makes both skis edge at the same angle, forces commitment to the edge, and shifts your hip forward and inside without leaning your whole body. When hubby did it, it only took 1 run and he became an entirely new skier....it was amazing to watch!

2.) Here's an interesting exercise: think very hard about what your feet and legs feel when skiing. Close your eyes and keep thinking. Raise your hands up to chest level if front of you (eyes still closed). Now recreate the sensations in your feet with your hands. Continue doing this until you have the feeling down. Now open your eyes while still doing this and watch what your hands are doing without changing anything . It's amazing how many technique flaws you can find by doing this! It should be a smooth motion with your hands in front of you, slowly rolling to equal edge angles, and swooping out and away from you then smoothly rolling over to flat as they swoop back to your center, then over to the other edge as they go out and away the other direction. If your hands stay mostly flat or tend to bend sideways at the wrist, this indicates skidding rather than carving.

3.) Ski the slow line fast. Rather than always trying to slow down while essentially skiing straight down the mountain (skiing the fast line slowly), ski "the slow line" (smooth arcs across and up the mountain before going down) carrying as much speed as possible. This teaches you to use gravity and terrain features for speed control rather than using your skis as brakes.

These 3 things changed my skiing from awkward, struggling, and tiring to fluid, smooth, and effortless. I can now ski as fast as I want while maintaining control and as slow as I want without tiring myself out.