• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

The "little ski revelations" thread

gardenmary

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My coach has always taught me that the outside/downhill leg is longer than the uphill leg - which, when you think about it, is crazy obvious. The weight, for the most part, is over the outside leg. Again, thinking about it, if the weight is over the uphill leg, you're leaning into the hill, and you lose control of the downhill leg/ski.

One of my other "aha" moments was the feeling I got the first time my stance was sufficiently perpendicular to the slope. It went against all my instincts - but it felt SO RIGHT. I knew I was in complete control. I know it has something to do with resistance and g-force but I am SOOOO not a physicist!
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
To get that "position" you need to be balance over the downhill ski - just like gardenmary says. And you need some speed to keep it there.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The new exercise that has made a huge difference on bumps is practicing just going across a bump line without worrying about making a turn to feel absorption and what knees/thighs should be doing. Both the Level 3 instructors used that exercise to get the point across (@snoWYmonkey at JH and Walter at Massanutten). Does not need to be a wide bump field, one or two is enough. What was important was having someone watching who could make sure that things were done correctly, at least a few times.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I have done that many times. One turn at the far side of the run, rinse, repeat. It is fantastic, isn't it?
 

Perty

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I have to be honest, I also was hesitating. @Perty , if it is working for you, awesome! Straightening the outside leg is what I've been trying to ditch as a bad habit, but there may be more to the story, and it's always relative to what you're currently doing. So do not take my questioning as necessarily meaning it's "bad" - but it is surprising to me.
.
I see it as a means of increasing pressure. Interestingly, SSNo2, now a qualified instructor, was talking about putting all your pressure on the outside ski too. Sometimes this things are a cause of improving technique, other times they are an effect I think. I doubt that my leg is actually straight, but the act of trying to straighten it increases the pressure, and in theory angulation. The "Schlopy drill" is definitely something an instructor put me through in a lesson last year. My angulation is "pants" [i.e rubbish]...SSNo2, on the other hand, can now carve like an angel.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I see it as a means of increasing pressure. Interestingly, SSNo2, now a qualified instructor, was talking about putting all your pressure on the outside ski too. Sometimes this things are a cause of improving technique, other times they are an effect I think. I doubt that my leg is actually straight, but the act of trying to straighten it increases the pressure, and in theory angulation. The "Schlopy drill" is definitely something an instructor put me through in a lesson last year. My angulation is "pants" [i.e rubbish]...SSNo2, on the other hand, can now carve like an angel.

I do think that is why people need individual lessons. The advice given to one person may not make any sense when applied to another.

The miracle trick for one person may be over-exaggerating something that another person is already doing too much and needs to reel back in. I think with most sports, you're often trying to teach someone to find a balance point, but they're quite skewed in one direction, so the first thing is making them go the other direction and you need to cue more than they actually need to convince them to go that way at all. Ultimately, they could go too far in the other direction, but when they're not doing it enough to find the balance point you're looking for... you just have to fix any eventual over-correction later.

There are certainly things that I work on where I tell myself I just want to do whatever the movement is "as much as possible". I do know that there is such a thing as too much. But until I get closer, I probably don't need to worry about it. :smile:
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The new exercise that has made a huge difference on bumps is practicing just going across a bump line without worrying about making a turn to feel absorption and what knees/thighs should be doing. Both the Level 3 instructors used that exercise to get the point across (@snoWYmonkey at JH and Walter at Massanutten). Does not need to be a wide bump field, one or two is enough. What was important was having someone watching who could make sure that things were done correctly, at least a few times.
I have done that many times. One turn at the far side of the run, rinse, repeat. It is fantastic, isn't it?
What is really fantastic is being able to ski down the short ungroomed "humps" at Mnut without stopping, whether going across or down the fall line. The difference is what's possible this season compared to a few seasons ago is amazing. Since MakAttack doesn't always get enough snow to form big bumps, it makes for a good comparison as my skiing improves.

Mnut 09Feb MacAttack.jpg
 

MaineSkiLady

Angel Diva
The new exercise that has made a huge difference on bumps is practicing just going across a bump line without worrying about making a turn to feel absorption and what knees/thighs should be doing. Both the Level 3 instructors used that exercise to get the point across (@snoWYmonkey at JH and Walter at Massanutten). Does not need to be a wide bump field, one or two is enough. What was important was having someone watching who could make sure that things were done correctly, at least a few times.
^^ This. DH (a lowly L2, but had 29 years under his belt before "retirement") taught this for years and years, I watched it (and participated) many, many times. Used to be called down unweighting, or similar > forgot. Whatever it's now called, it's still a hugely useful drill. Another good place to practice: washboard run-out rollers, even a SBX, SX course if one's available/open to public.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
MSL for Paper Tiger - terrain adaptation. We don't teach "down unweighting" anymore!

Really is just absorption of the bumps and keeping your head at the same level on the time.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm trying to feel what "down unweighting" might mean. Letting you legs flow down into the trough instead of pushing them? I find I ski best when I push my tips into the trough or back side rather than just "letting" them go there.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
MSL for Paper Tiger - terrain adaptation. We don't teach "down unweighting" anymore!

Really is just absorption of the bumps and keeping your head at the same level on the time.
Yeah, the idea is to keep the upper body from going up and down. What Walter was saying was "flow like water" . . . and then he would demonstrate. Fun to watch. Much harder to copy. We were also skiing out of the bumps and then back again, supposedly using the same technique to make nice rounded turns at the same speed regardless of the terrain.
 

MaineSkiLady

Angel Diva
MSL for Paper Tiger - terrain adaptation. We don't teach "down unweighting" anymore!

Really is just absorption of the bumps and keeping your head at the same level on the time.
Indeed, just "flashing back" to that era, many moons ago, when I was first taught it - that's what it was called then! Showing my age....haha
 

vhf

Certified Ski Diva
What it feels like to really finish my turns and not rush them has been a big revelation for me this season. I'm definitely still working on that!

The biggest one for me though is always: relax and breathe!
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My little revelation today was one on personal achievement. I realized how well I was skiing powder/chop/variable snow, when just last season and the one before, I would have struggled mightily. Watching some gopro video this evening, I had the same thought - wow, I'm pretty good at this stuff!
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My little revelations today came courtesy of my snowblades. I had forgotten that they are an incredible training and diagnostic tool, perfect for getting balanced and centered
  • Both blades all squiggly and weird = not enough angulation and a reluctance to really get them out from underneath the center of the body.
  • Inside blade all squiggly = not enough weight on the inside ski.
  • Banging the tips or tails of the blades = too much steering and not enough edging.
  • Blades refusing to turn = too far in the back seat.
  • And my most irritating fault = shooting across the hill out of control during a left turn because I tend to "park and ride" with the left hip, arm, and shoulder to far back and too far inside (yup, totally reluctant to drive my center of mass downhill on that side!).
Oh the horrors that went on on the hill today!! Yay for letting the blades "show me the light"!
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
I really have a love/hate relationship with those things......

Revelations - I really do like to teach this sport. 2 never-er's...3 and 5 yrs old. 3 yr old not really interested. 5 yr getting it, but not quite after 1 hour. For some reason Mom and Dad gave the both kids gravol for the 1 hr drive to the hill....they were like still asleep when I'm trying to teach them....But we had fun and they will be back.

Win for the parents, win for the hill!
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I had three days of really great skiing. Friday was epic. Saturday was epic-er. Sunday, I was so sore all over, I thought maybe I'd just do a couple of runs, then bail. As it turned out, our lesson group was huge - I think we literally started out with 15 people, several of whom had just started their season. This worked out fantastically for me. Instead of bombing steeps, we spent a lot of time on more mellow terrain, or doing drills on stuff I usually jet down. And I was sore and worn out enough to actually pay attention, rather than letting my ego tell me I already need all this stuff, thanks anyway, those drills are great for the other students ...

This morning (Sunday), at lesson line-up, instructor Dirk walked up. He'd seen me skiing down Spruce on my new skis while he was on the lift, and had a few pointers. Now this is a guy I haven't skied with this season, so I'm flattered he noticed me (in totally different gear no less). He's been teaching groups I can't hang with yet. Anyway, he told me I'd been skiing a bit back on my heels, and that if I'd just get forward a tiny bit, it would make all the difference. Just an inch. Standing there in the meeting area, I flexed forward slightly in my boots, demonstrating. "Exactly, that's all, just a bit!" I explained what I did to start this thread - that I had been staring at the snow in front of me, but now I'm looking forward and I'm all better, thanks.

So as we worked on the E chair double black bumps, I commented to buddy John that I keep lifting my inside ski to initiate the turn. I suspect this is something I do all the time, but it gets way more noticeable when I'm tired. He watched me and then suggested what he called "sinking into" the turn and demonstrated. It's kind of like using your shins and core and just letting your quads come along for the ride? Hard to explain. Harder to do. I did manage to do it a few times, and I could feel how everything was smoother and felt more in control and even slower, although I'm not sure it was actually slower, just less skidded. I could *hear* the difference, just by getting lower. Less scraping, same snow.

A few run later, Kevin, the instructor, described how a lot of us tend to get back a bit on our heels and push the tails around when we're in challenging terrain. Oh. Oh! That's me! And once he described it, I could just feel it, so clearly, in the trees and in the bumps, how I would get out of the driver's seat and steer with my heels. Hey, doesn't that sound a lot like what Dirk was saying? Maybe he had a point, after all. Maybe I don't have it all figured out just yet.

When we went up to Whale's Tail, I realized I have all those same bad habits in the soft steeps - lifting the inside foot to initiate the turn, getting back and steering with my heels - and that getting low as John had demonstrated really did help a lot with both. Of course, I was sore as hell, and that probably had a lot to do with my skiing - I hadn't been lifting my foot skiing Oatmeal Bowl the day before. But I am sure I had been doing so in the bumps and trees. I guess I'm a verbal learner - it's hard for me to fix something until I can actually put it into words and viscerally understand the description.

I wish I weren't so sore, and I wish I didn't have to work this week. Today's revelation is to finally really feel and be able to articulate in my own head what I'm doing wrong, which in my experience often leads to a breakthrough. I want to ski and ski and ski and feel those heels push, and correct them, and work on sinking into the turn and not lifting my foot. But no, I have to work, and even if I didn't, I could barely manage the groomers back to the base today. I need some recovery time. But Friday ...
 

snow addict

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My little ski revelation of the weekend is that when something is described as "a bit technical delicate traverse" in common language it means a vertigo attack and grabbing the mountain side behind your back because all you can see on the other side is a void surrounded by cliffs, and to ski down (there is no option to bail) you have to enter this void. So with this little bit of knowledge I am immensely proud of myself, and all 5 of us who made this descent yesterday should get a badge saying "I skied the front side of Mont Gelé and survived":smile:

There were 5 of us and day was beautiful with thick clouds below 2700m and glorious sunshine above. We skied the backside on the same mountain in the morning, lift cues were huge, so after backside we only managed to make it to the very top on the other side of the resort and ski down and by the time we got back up we knew it was our last run, but instead of following the valley at the back someone suggested to stay high and go over the ridge, because "we have never done it" plus it would eventually bring us to the middle of main run and we could just ski down to the village without having to queue again. Vertigo attack was very real, we were basically stuck there for 10 minutes telling each other not to look down, I don't smoke but I had a cigarette with boys while we were gathering the courage to get in. Technique? What technique? All I cared about is to make one single turn and not screw it because there is no room for such things at least until you are out of the first cliff band. But once out of cliff bands the skiing for last 250 vertical meters is superb, it feels almost flat even if it's still fairly steep.

Anyway, technique tip of the day is a turn which reminds of stem-christie, semi-parallel turn. If you can execute it well - with a good weigh transfer and solid support from the pole it can get you out of many dangerous situations. That's why I don't understand the trend to teach "straight to parallel". Some very good solid basic skill will be missing. Yeah, jump turns are a superior expert technique, but they need to be spot on and when you absolutely can't afford to screw it and can't pick up any speed a good step turn can provide a solid crutch to make the first crucial turns in because it allows to stop completely immediately after the turn and it can be initiated from a totally static position. And pole plant should be very close to make sure you bring your skis around in the tightest possible turn.

I definitely need more lessons, but even now lessons that I've taken so far are paying off well especially that I missed most of the last season with injury.
 

SkiBam

Angel Diva
Anyway, technique tip of the day is a turn which reminds of stem-christie, semi-parallel turn. If you can execute it well - with a good weigh transfer and solid support from the pole it can get you out of many dangerous situations.

Yup, good ole situational stem (CSIA taught this - do they still?). You do what it takes to get down.

Something I started doing a few years ago is consciously pulling the new inside foot back as I start my turn. Actually, I think about pulling both feet back (which has the same effect as getting more forward), but in particular the new inside one. This seems to make it easier to complete the tun and thus control speed and to transfer weight to the downhill ski - also makes for nice round turns.
 

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
26,237
Messages
497,688
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top