The "little ski revelations" thread

[MrsPlow]

I've been trying to ski bumps in a bit more joined up fashion, and not getting very far. Also struggling with smooth turns and speed on groomers. Finally had an epiphany today - look further ahead, don't look at the next bump or turn. So much better! I knew this already, had the hang of it last year, but I think I lost the knack after spending time worrying about what I was about to ski over in the early season - avoiding rocks and tree stumps etc.

The ten-two helped as well - I don't quite see why it should help so much but it does seem to make the turns feel less 'z' like. As did shouting 'tits!' to remind myself when skiing down some of the steeper bits.

 

[Swears Like A Sailor]

Excellent!! And what a great name!!!!! Do you sail, too? Or just swear like one?!!

I do SUP and have a kayak, but no traditional sailing...mostly just swear like one.

 

[kiki]

I do SUP and have a kayak, but no traditional sailing...mostly just swear like one.

Welcome @Swears Like A Sailor ! And what is SUP? Fourth season and succeeding on ungroomed black--very inspiring!!
Where do you ski? Where is home?

 

[Swears Like A Sailor]

Welcome @Swears Like A Sailor ! And what is SUP? Fourth season and succeeding on ungroomed black--very inspiring!!
Where do you ski? Where is home?

Sorry - SUP = Stand-Up Paddleboard. I'm on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, but Kirkwood is what I would call my home mountain. I am there every weekend and that's pretty much where I learned to ski. Heavenly is closer and where my husband works, but it's usually too crowded there for my tastes.

 

[Swears Like A Sailor]

I've been trying to ski bumps in a bit more joined up fashion, and not getting very far. Also struggling with smooth turns and speed on groomers. Finally had an epiphany today - look further ahead, don't look at the next bump or turn. So much better! I knew this already, had the hang of it last year, but I think I lost the knack after spending time worrying about what I was about to ski over in the early season - avoiding rocks and tree stumps etc.

The ten-two helped as well - I don't quite see why it should help so much but it does seem to make the turns feel less 'z' like. As did shouting 'tits!' to remind myself when skiing down some of the steeper bits.

I'm laughing at the whole "tits!" thing I don't have any experience with bumps, but I love that advice - look further ahead! That definitely helped me when I first moved to groomed black diamonds...that, and "Reach, Touch, Turn". If I get nervous about a steep pitch, I just focus on those 3 things and it gets me through.

 

[Randi M.]

I CAN SKI MOGULS!

I started skiing almost 35 years ago (with a big break in the middle). I am a pretty aggressive skier, and have skied steeps, cliffs, jumps and trees, all without problems, but moguls always eluded me. I just couldn’t figure out how to ski a bumped up trail without flying from bump to bump. This season I was determined to change that.

I found a great series on YouTube called “Bumps for Boomers”, put out by the Aspen ski school. It breaks down different strategies for approaching moguls, and their “green” technique enables you to get down the mountain very slowly but still linking turns. I really studied it!

A few weeks ago we were at Belleayre and it had a blue run that was bumped up along one side. The lack of pitch made it great to practice on. I looked awful but I felt under control and started to develop a rhythm.

Yesterday morning, Okemo got about 4-5 inches of fresh snow. By the early afternoon, the entire mountain had been skied into moguls. They were literally everywhere, from top to bottom, greens to blacks. It was the best practice day I could have hoped for! I figured out how to find the snow, how to really use my poles, and when to turn on the fronts, the backs and the ruts between.

Today I skied down a bumped up double black. Granted, Okemo is not a challenging mountain, but this is a huge accomplishment for me after a lifetime of apprehension. At this point it’s just a question of repetition and the speed will come. The funny thing is I already can’t believe I ever couldn’t figure it out.

So much of skiing is really about fear - being limited by it, facing it, overcoming it, working past it. So exhilarating.

 

[nopoleskier]

I CAN SKI MOGULS!

I started skiing almost 35 years ago (with a big break in the middle). I am a pretty aggressive skier, and have skied steeps, cliffs, jumps and trees, all without problems, but moguls always eluded me. I just couldn’t figure out how to ski a bumped up trail without flying from bump to bump. This season I was determined to change that.

I found a great series on YouTube called “Bumps for Boomers”, put out by the Aspen ski school. It breaks down different strategies for approaching moguls, and their “green” technique enables you to get down the mountain very slowly but still linking turns. I really studied it!

A few weeks ago we were at Belleayre and it had a blue run that was bumped up along one side. The lack of pitch made it great to practice on. I looked awful but I felt under control and started to develop a rhythm.

Yesterday morning, Okemo got about 4-5 inches of fresh snow. By the early afternoon, the entire mountain had been skied into moguls. They were literally everywhere, from top to bottom, greens to blacks. It was the best practice day I could have hoped for! I figured out how to find the snow, how to really use my poles, and when to turn on the fronts, the backs and the ruts between.

Today I skied down a bumped up double black. Granted, Okemo is not a challenging mountain, but this is a huge accomplishment for me after a lifetime of apprehension. At this point it’s just a question of repetition and the speed will come. The funny thing is I already can’t believe I ever couldn’t figure it out.

So much of skiing is really about fear - being limited by it, facing it, overcoming it, working past it. So exhilarating.

AWESOME!!!

 

[CrystalRose]

Yesterday I decided to take 2 lessons (I'm trying my best to step my game up for DivaWest) and boy was it a roller coaster of emotions! We had a ski off and I was put in a higher group with 2 other skiers (a woman and her son). We went straight from the bunny slope to some blue trails I've never seen before! Uh... OK Instructor dude, I trust from my 5 seconds of skiing you think I can do this. So we get there and the woman panicked from the steepness of the slope and we had to take her back to the beginner area to switch her out with a lower group. I felt bad for her because I think we all know that over-terrained feeling. I think she did fine considering. But man, those new blues were fun! I can ski some blues now!!! My first lesson also included my first. It was kind of fun in way I can't explain (maybe because I wasn't hurt or scared). One second I was upright, the next I'm twisting and sliding on my butt looking uphill at all my gear. The hiking back up part wasn't fun.

My mountain does lessons in 2 hour increments and that second lesson was... not as fun. I may of been tired but all the confidence from earlier in the day vanished. We practiced falling leaves and getting tall at the top of the turn. Neither one I did well. Getting tall at the top of turn made me feel out of control, which equals fear, which equals survival skiing. My side slipping isn't the best and falling leaves are essentially advance level side slips so that wasn't the best either. So, I went from the high of conquering blues in the morning to exasperation. I'm just going to pretend the second lesson didn't happen.

TL;DR ACTUAL SKI REVELATIONS:
1. No more lessons for now. I want to ingrain what I know and go back when I have actual questions. I feel like there are too many chefs in the kitchen all telling me different things and it's making the dish aka my skiing worse.
2. Take breaks!! I just want to ski, ski, ski and that means by the time I'm about to wrap up for the day I'm sloppy. That makes me nervous, and then the survival skiing shows up, and then I'm bummed out and not having fun.
3. Drink way more water. See point 2.

 

[JO-ski]

@CrystalRose
That is totally me! I am feeling the same as you. I just want to ski, all the time. And I get excited when I conquer a skill and just want to keep going. But I'm learning that it's super helpful to practice what I learned for a little while and get everything into muscle memory. That way, I feel I have confidence in the fundamentals before trying the next skill. Plus, when I'm feeling confident with the fundamentals, it naturally leads to learning the next fundamental skill, even without an instructor.

I'm rooting for you! I did my first blue run this weekend too! Maybe next year I'd feel ready for Diva East.

 

[EeveeCanSki]

But man, those new blues were fun! I can ski some blues now!!!

Congratulations!! As I told my instructor on Saturday...and I'll say here too..."It's only gonna get funner." Isn't it the best thing to really *feel* your own progression in real time?! And see it too!?

As far as lessons go, I've found taking one hour at a time this season vs. two like I did last season has given me happier returns. I'm not as tired, and I have more time to practice and process things on my own, and stay stronger longer during the day. This is important as well given that I'm challenged more by both the skills I'm learning and my own voice.

 

[CrystalRose]

I actually didn't mind the two hour length, but it might have been a mistake to do two back to back (so four hours total). Also, I don't feel like I learned a ton this time BUT it got me to explore more terrain so that made it worth it.

A new revelation also: I don't like certain runs? I put a question mark because even though they were rated blue and didn't have any difficult sections I didn't enjoy skiing it. Maybe I psyched myself out on it or because it was at the end of the day. My local mountain has limited green terrain so it's either ski it or don't ski. Now that I have options, it seems like I'm getting picky lol! Anyone else have runs they don't enjoy?

 

[Randi M.]

I actually didn't mind the two hour length, but it might have been a mistake to do two back to back (so four hours total). Also, I don't feel like I learned a ton this time BUT it got me to explore more terrain so that made it worth it.

A new revelation also: I don't like certain runs? I put a question mark because even though they were rated blue and didn't have any difficult sections I didn't enjoy skiing it. Maybe I psyched myself out on it or because it was at the end of the day. My local mountain has limited green terrain so it's either ski it or don't ski. Now that I have options, it seems like I'm getting picky lol! Anyone else have runs they don't enjoy?

There are absolutely runs that I enjoy more than others, on every mountain, at every degree of difficulty. There are some runs that are just more fun. If you’re developing a preference it means you’re developing as a skier!

 

[marzNC]

A new revelation also: I don't like certain runs? I put a question mark because even though they were rated blue and didn't have any difficult sections I didn't enjoy skiing it. Maybe I psyched myself out on it or because it was at the end of the day. My local mountain has limited green terrain so it's either ski it or don't ski. Now that I have options, it seems like I'm getting picky lol! Anyone else have runs they don't enjoy?

Perfectly natural. Your preferences are likely to change as your technique evolves. But not necessarily.

There are two black trails from the summit of my home hill (75 acres). Each only takes 2-3 minutes to finish, maybe 5 minutes for an advanced intermediate. When I first started skiing them almost 15 years ago, I was an intermediate. I much preferred Paradice. It's longer, and only has one steeper section towards the bottom. After I was skiing more regularly, I could ski the other trail. But I still like Paradice better even as a solid advanced skier. It's more fun to me. I know other advanced skiers who feel just the opposite.

 

[newboots]

I Am a Skier!

We have had hero snow for the last three days here in Vermont, and great snow for a couple of weeks. I've been skiing a lot, and today I went out with @Abbi and dear BF. She doesn't know Killington all that well, so when the two of us skied while BF headed for some frightening double diamond, I played mountain host.

Here is what is amazing, my ski revelation. On this great snow, I Am a Skier! I took Abbi over all the trails I know - Cruise Control, Bittersweet, Skyelark, and even Skyeburst, blue trails where I'm usually pretty nervous. Wow! I just skied them! (Well, pretty defensively on Skyeburst.) We even skied the black section of Skyelark and later, with my BF, Wildfire.

So much more confidence! I am hoping that this will translate into more confidence on the usual ice, slush, pushed-up piles, and inadvertent moguls that we are usually skiing on!

I was all fun! I am a skier!

 

[badger]

@newboots . That kind of day will always return to you! The memories created on those "best" days are such confidence boosters.

 

[newboots]

@newboots . That kind of day will always return to you! The memories created on those "best" days are such confidence boosters.

Thank you, @badger! It was so great to feel like a skier, instead of a beginner, or worse, ski slope survivor!

 

[kiki]

@newboots so happy for you! And you give me hope for me too!! And of course we are skiiers!!!! Silly girl.

 

[kiki]

Ok
My ski revelation this past weekend.....
I am progressing!!!
Even if some days are a step back, overall I am feeling comfortable on more challenging terrain and going faster. So appreciative of all the encouragement to keep going and not give up!

And I am enjoying it. (Thank goodness!)

Sunday, I went on a green I used to think of as hard, and i was going faster so it felt like a lot of work to dodge around all the slower people.... so i went to blues for the quiet! Such a change from earlier in the season where i had a panic attack on that same run due to fear.

And housekeeping! I love my skis which give me confidence (z90), too bad about the first set I invested in.... and the goggles that don't fog (abom) I love them, wish I'd figured that out before the other super expensive branded ones I got....A lot of this season so far has been "housekeeping" figuring out what to wear and which socks work with my boots and what food to carry in my pockets.

And the season is winding up now! How can this be?

 

[Jenny]

@newboots - those days are awesome, aren't they?

 

[Abbi]

I Am a Skier!

We have had hero snow for the last three days here in Vermont, and great snow for a couple of weeks. I've been skiing a lot, and today I went out with @Abbi and dear BF. She doesn't know Killington all that well, so when the two of us skied while BF headed for some frightening double diamond, I played mountain host.

Here is what is amazing, my ski revelation. On this great snow, I Am a Skier! I took Abbi over all the trails I know - Cruise Control, Bittersweet, Skyelark, and even Skyeburst, blue trails where I'm usually pretty nervous. Wow! I just skied them! (Well, pretty defensively on Skyeburst.) We even skied the black section of Skyelark and later, with my BF, Wildfire.

So much more confidence! I am hoping that this will translate into more confidence on the usual ice, slush, pushed-up piles, and inadvertent moguls that we are usually skiing on!

I was all fun! I am a skier!

I had a lot of fun! And since I have skied with you twice, a month apart, the jump in your confidence level is massive! Thank you for being tour guide, too. I have to keep looking at maps to not get lost!