@Trailside Trixie I am so proud of you! I loved reading this post so much. Well done!
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Your "Aha!" moment
- Thread starter Stay Tuned
- Start date
MissySki
Angel Diva
Congrats @Trailside Trixie ! It feels so good to check off runs that scare us at our home mountain especially. I still have a few I haven't skied at Sunday River as well, for me it's some off piste things that don't seem to often have the snow cover I would want to attempt them/be able to get around cliff areas without a ton of uncovered rocks/very tight trees/etc. And of course, most of them are under lifts which is good and bad because I can at least check out what they look like anytime I'm considering skiing them, but that can also make it easy to psych yourself out and find reasons not to do it, especially with an audience haha. I got to check one of them off late last season, and it was the best feeling once I got past the scariest part that also turned out to be totally fine and pretty easy after all.
IKam
Angel Diva
My Ah Ha moment was on a lesson at Alta where I was told to bend from the hip, not the waist. I had previously been told to press my shins against the boot and such but bending from the hip accomplished bringing the body forward. Also, he told me to get my poles cut down by 1cm, I believe. The aches in my thighs have disappeared because of really going forward.
IKam
Angel Diva
My husband has been getting shorter and shorter skis, and is now doing so much better with his Volkls and actually I am doing so much better on my newer skis, Black Pearls 85. Yes, equipment is super important.
IKam
Angel Diva
Actually, my skies are 82 waist and 145 cm. My husband's are 140 cm.
Ms Mia
Angel Diva
I've just had another aha moment today.
I was chatting with a patroller in the chairlift. I told him I had started the Level 1 Certification course last weekend and that by day 2, it was clear I had underestimated the standard required. The feedback the instructor had given me was that he didn't see sufficiently consistent control of speed, nor consistency in my turns. The patrolled offered to give me some tips so we began a piste together, and he noticed my hands are down and slightly behind me all the time. I'm not in the back-seat, but indeed, I lack consistency in control. He told me two things which changed everything: keep my hands up and slightly forward so they're always in my periferal vision, and look where I want to go.
The last tip is such a beginner one, but I realised I've been concentrating on the surface just in front of my skis, looking out for ice and changing terrain. But it means I haven't had consistent speed nor consistent control in my turns, as I'm always catching up with myself instead of anticipating further down the piste.
He actually got me to point with my downhill arm across to the other side of the piste for a few turns, and lo and behold, I'm more centred on my outside ski, I'm on my edges, I have much smoother turns. For the rest of the morning, with my arms slightly in front, I'm swinging and planting my poles like headlights ahead of my turn, and making beautiful, consistent S turns.
Somewhere else in this thread (I can't find where right now) someone mentioned using their poles like lights guiding them, and I was reminded of this as my skiing suddenly improved.
It all seems so basic, but I guess that's the point of these "aha" moments. Something just clicks and you can feel it instead of think it.
Day 3 of the L1 is this weekend. I may not pass, but I reckon I can bring more consistency this weekend just by keeping my hands in front and my gaze further ahead. And get out of my head! (With thanks to encouragement from @Jilly !)
I was chatting with a patroller in the chairlift. I told him I had started the Level 1 Certification course last weekend and that by day 2, it was clear I had underestimated the standard required. The feedback the instructor had given me was that he didn't see sufficiently consistent control of speed, nor consistency in my turns. The patrolled offered to give me some tips so we began a piste together, and he noticed my hands are down and slightly behind me all the time. I'm not in the back-seat, but indeed, I lack consistency in control. He told me two things which changed everything: keep my hands up and slightly forward so they're always in my periferal vision, and look where I want to go.
The last tip is such a beginner one, but I realised I've been concentrating on the surface just in front of my skis, looking out for ice and changing terrain. But it means I haven't had consistent speed nor consistent control in my turns, as I'm always catching up with myself instead of anticipating further down the piste.
He actually got me to point with my downhill arm across to the other side of the piste for a few turns, and lo and behold, I'm more centred on my outside ski, I'm on my edges, I have much smoother turns. For the rest of the morning, with my arms slightly in front, I'm swinging and planting my poles like headlights ahead of my turn, and making beautiful, consistent S turns.
Somewhere else in this thread (I can't find where right now) someone mentioned using their poles like lights guiding them, and I was reminded of this as my skiing suddenly improved.
It all seems so basic, but I guess that's the point of these "aha" moments. Something just clicks and you can feel it instead of think it.
Day 3 of the L1 is this weekend. I may not pass, but I reckon I can bring more consistency this weekend just by keeping my hands in front and my gaze further ahead. And get out of my head! (With thanks to encouragement from @Jilly !)
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Trailside Trixie
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Another aha moment last weekend was when I did havoc at bromley for the first time. Thanks to the blue to black clinic at Magic and my 8 week clinic at Jiminy i have new confidence for skiing. Havoc is a black diamond at bromley on the east side. Has many steep pitches with chill connecting parts. As you ski towards each pitch you can't see beyond so it freaks you out. As you get to each pitch then you can see where you are skiing but prior to that it looks like you are approaching a cliff lol. Felt so good to finally go down this trail.
Aerlind
Certified Ski Diva
I had an aha moment this weekend. I've been spending a lot more time in the bumps this winter (thanks to dating an ex-freestyle mogul skier....) and I've been trying hard to get my turns better and more consistent and confident. I also upgraded to skis that are 6cm longer than I had ever skied about a month ago, and adjusting to the longer length in the bumps hasn't always been smooth!
This weekend I was on a steep pitch with some good powder still on it, but the bumps were still semi-defined (it was Headwaters bowl at Big Sky, for anyone familiar). I went to make a turn and the tail of my uphill ski got caught in the powder (it's heavy spring snow!), which nearly sent me over but I wasn't going fast so I corrected it. The next 6 turns were made in absolute fear of that happening again, until I finally figured out to lift my heel (and thus the tail of my ski, since my boots fit properly) as I'm making my turn to literally get the tail out of my own way. The next few turns went much better. I tried this again on the next run, which was more skied out with better-defined bumps (and less steep), and holy cow it made turning so much easier. I caught up to my boyfriend and explained/demonstrated what I was doing, asking if that was "correct", and he said, "Yeah, that's what I meant when said you kind of suck your leg up to shift your weight to the other ski..." because for me, when I think "lift your heel" I ACTUALLY lift my whole foot slightly to shift my weight to the other ski. My brain just needed it explained differently than he did!
This weekend I was on a steep pitch with some good powder still on it, but the bumps were still semi-defined (it was Headwaters bowl at Big Sky, for anyone familiar). I went to make a turn and the tail of my uphill ski got caught in the powder (it's heavy spring snow!), which nearly sent me over but I wasn't going fast so I corrected it. The next 6 turns were made in absolute fear of that happening again, until I finally figured out to lift my heel (and thus the tail of my ski, since my boots fit properly) as I'm making my turn to literally get the tail out of my own way. The next few turns went much better. I tried this again on the next run, which was more skied out with better-defined bumps (and less steep), and holy cow it made turning so much easier. I caught up to my boyfriend and explained/demonstrated what I was doing, asking if that was "correct", and he said, "Yeah, that's what I meant when said you kind of suck your leg up to shift your weight to the other ski..." because for me, when I think "lift your heel" I ACTUALLY lift my whole foot slightly to shift my weight to the other ski. My brain just needed it explained differently than he did!
