Messages posted by : pavelski
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The hands tell all!
They are the indicators of how well you ski! All of the following is based on assumption that you are skiing on groomed slope and NOT in powder!!! First suggestions ;take lessons! Really the few dollars, euros, yens you spend will give you 10 fold pleasure! A great exercise I was given was to pretend you are carrying a case of beer! On an easy hill, ski mid speed and focus on having your arms in the "carrying" position! There is a saying good skiers use, "quiet hands-fast feet" That is an expert skier! Quiet hands means that there is little mouvement by the hands. Yes the legs are working here and there, but arms, hands are rock solid! The hands tell you how the upper body is while skiing! A typical beginner will wave hands all over! A typical intermediate skier will have "retarded" hand ( note hand no.... s). 90% of skier suffer from this major error! They do turn, rotated around plant pole,and still hold pole down while skiing ahead. Result, pole and arm are behind, then upper body gets behind, thights begin to hurt and final lower back hurts! Hands must never but never be behind hips! Arms must at all times be in front. Another excellent exercise. Take poles off. Hold poles parallel to ground with palms up! Do long GS turns keeping poles parallel to slope! DO NOT GRAB OR HOLD POLES!!! The poles are resting on palms that are open! If poles fall off,,,,you are too much of an incline! If you are good at slow GS turns in this position then pick up speed and make turns tighter. Another Take two tennis balls, oranges or apples. On easy slope, place two balls under armpit! See if you can ski down without balls falling off! Have fun!!! Another Take elastic band half meter in lenght! Place elastic bend around wrists Hold elastic band tight while skiing Keep band at same distance at all times! Once you have quiet hands ( and near expert level) Look at all ski racers in GS and SL events! Look at where their hands are! Why do you think they are so forward! Yes you do not have gates but there is an imaginary point in which you pivot! Try this! Pretend your poles are like tatto needles. The points must just touch for a milli second the slope ( not more)! Try to move just your wrists only, while arns ar stable and quiet!!! Now put it all together; quick touch, wrist action only and say to yourself as you do it, "pick",,,,"pick" If your poles and hands are "behind" your pick pick pick rythm you are too long on the poles! Think of your poles as "feeler" rather than crutches! Think of the fish that has "feelers" in front of his mouth. Touching here and there. Never staying in one spot too long!! That is the correct action! Now we get into serious technical analysis! With modern skis ( I assume you have them)there is no longer a 3 phase ski turn! Unweigh,rotate and set edge Now it is edge to edge with clean cutting lines! An expert skier hardly uses poles! Watch the GS world cup skiers. They go from side to side with no pole action! Poles now are interfaces for brain to get feedback on speed, inclination,etc... I have shorten my poles 5cm and what a difference! Try it!!! Hope this short message will help you! Keep on skiing! |
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Whever I give an exam to my class I always say, "read the instructions carefully"!
Not sure if my instructions were clear since some of your answers were, "more behaviors" rather than items, ie tangible material items! I guess they are "clues" so I will accept them! In order to make questionnaire interesting I will not provide "answer' key yet, however all I can say is you impress me with your answers and you would be in the 95 per centile ranking if a norm-referenced test! When I posted item I was thinking more about material,tangible items skier have on them! Let us broaden questions to any clues! |
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Trencher in a previous string of messages mentionned that the ski lift line is a great "equaliser"!
However there are "hints" which differentiate the regular tourist skier and the; professional ( racer, ski patrol, instructor,guide,ski designer, etc...) If you look very carefully and know what to look for there are 5 clues that identify your ski lift buddy as one who is in the ski business and a very, very good skier! What are those clues! What should you look for? (Forget the ski jackets, the labels, chest stickers) Let's see if you can list at least 3! Next week I will provide all the clues! Then you will know if you are going up with an national team racer, a "undercover" skier instructor or the owner of the ski hill! Have fun listing your clues!!!! |
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I ride since 1990 on Burtons and yes I still use skis! We all want to have fun but it seems to me that boarders have not been "taught" the basic "mores" ( customs) needed on ski resort!
Some are just common sense! 1. Do not sit in middle of ski run. 2.Do no sit just under a dip or jump. 3.Do no sit just after lift, to put on board! 4.Make sure when you jump off lip, that there is no one below jump! I do not have to coninue! If we all though of the other person on hill, our tensions would be less! As a side bar, several years ago, I was riding with Burton ( yes the Burton) at Stowe and imagine, he was hit by a young adolescent skier! Broke his leg! Who is to blame? All riders that do not respect rules!!! |
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Just got five new pairs of skis from various companies to test! All have the new "rail" system to interface with skis! There is a small problem with this new "rail" system and here is the following solution!
All ski companies have begun to make"rail "systems however in some companies there is too much tolerance ( play) between bindings and skis. This play results in having front unit move back and forth horizontally! For expert skiers that have sensitive "feel" when on edge this play must be eliminated! Solution Take some electrical tape and place on each rail 5 cm strip of tape! Carefylly slide unit on rail, but over tape! Bravo! No play! On the Rossignol units works great! Elan skis do not have this problem since internal shaft with seratted contact points! Some skis have four clips or protusions on which bindings slide on! Plastic breaks under cold and stress! I suspect some skiers will have broken plastic "rails"! Check your skis every month since any broken rails results in you getting new ski! ( first year for sure)! A secondary option for skiers due to these systems is to change the mid point position of boots. Smart skiers have discovered that by changing relative position of boots on skis, will make skis behave differently. Try it! ( of course if you are not handy with tools, let ski technician do it) Move front unit 8 mm front( towards tip)! Notice how ski is more "responsive" to tight SL turns!!!! Have fun! |
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Powderhound is on right track.
Rating 8/10 |
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A sociologist in 1998 did a study on the social interaction of skiers on a ski lift! ( It was her PHd thesis).
The few minutes going up a ski lift provides a unique period where people from different societies, different sexes and religions meet. In the context of the above study the women researcher was focusing on how a women can determine if the males on the lift are "suitable for post-lift relations". Interested parties can read in the following weeks the results of this study! A seconadry finding of this study was what subjects women did NOT LIKE to talk about! Here are the 5 top subjects women skiers do not want men to broach! 1. Work 86% of wormen in study did not want men on lift to speak about their work! Men use this topic to "impress women" on their importance and SES! It turns women off!!!!! 2. Women skiers do not want men, in fact all other skiers to talk about the negative qualities of; temperature, condition of hill, quality of snow and generally negative aspects of holiday!!! 3. Another "hot" subject to avoid is the, "my resort is better than this resort" arguement! There is a small sample of men who insist to promote "their" ski resort since "it is perfect"! The runs are better, longer! The food is better and cheaper! The ski instructors are better skiers!!! You get the picture! 4. Men ! Do NOT talk about how to improve skiing technique! The road to hell starts of something like this," saw you skiing down Hell's Gate and you seemed to have difficulty! Here is how,,,,,,,," Silence will follow and that winter wind will get colder! Keep your advice to yourself! 5. Do not make comments about ski equipment! There are two types of approaches to avoid! The first according to the women is the male who has the "best"! Women comment that many men think that the best = most expensive! and they want you to know it! Again to promote their ego! I call it the Peacock syndrome! In the animal world, when a male meets a female there is a "courtship" dance to entice the female! It is hard to admit by some persons but men have "not so evident means" to do that "courtship dance". The "I have the best ski equipment" approach is perceived by women as , a message which reads, " since I spend so much money on skiing, imagine what I will spend on you"!!!!!! The second topic related to ski equipment is to make comments on: the old ski boots, 2 year old skis or poles that are too long! Your job on lift is to be pleasant, not to evaluation the women"s equipment! Keep advice to self! Now that you have the five topics that women DO NOT what to discuss on lift, what topics do you think they do want to talk about? |
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You want to learn to ski soooo badly but you just can't seem to find the right ski resort and right ski instructor to learn.
There are some things you should know about the "ski world" that your mother did not tell you ! ( and few ski instructors will share)! Here are some "secrets" about teaching skiing that might help you before the ski lesson starts! 1. Ski instructors are not equal!!!! One of the myths in skiing is, if someone is an expert skier then he/she can teach me how to ski! Even better,,,, if I raced at Olympic level then I can teach skiing! Skiing and teaching to ski requires different competencies! Yes a ski instructor must be a "good" skier, but more important are his/hers teaching abilities. The classic "poor" ski instructor asks students to "do it like me" without explaining how! All countries have a certification process and there are "levels"! The more "technical" the instructor the higher the grade or level! In my experience the level 1 instructor often is an excellent skier but lacks the experience to diagnose the "why" a client is having problems. A typical level 3 examination situation ( for certification) is one where a student in a ski class has damaged ski base, yet ski instructor does not "check" why ski does not glide in same tracks! Ask all ski instructors you have,if they are certified! If so he/she should have a "pin" indicating level! 2. Ski instructors often are short on cash in the early months of the ski season, so they will "accept" the very best deal they can get on equipment!The ski area where I worked, one ski company "gave" skis to all certified full time instructors! So if you assume that the skis they have on are "the skis" to have, you are wrong! They are the best deal given to them. When I skied alone ( without my ski school jacket)I would choose ski X but when I taught I had to ski on brand Y! 3.Some ski instructors are better than others to teach; beginners, varied ski techniques, women, moguls, etc..... Like physicians, fellow instructors know who is good at what! Ask around, or just watch before "accepting" an instructor! You mean you did not know that you have the "choice" in ski instructors!!!!!! 4.Triage!!!! Very important French word!!! It is used in the medical world and ski world! Any ski resort that does NOT use this procedure is wasting your money! As a client you want to be in a homogeneous group ( grouped in same ski level) so that you can get most from your lesson! In many resorts they ask you what level you are and then place you in a group base on this information! Skiing pros all know that all men ( ok most men) say they are better than they really are! The "serious" ski schools will ask you to ski down a set slope and at bottom a supervisor will tell you where to go! That is triage! If you can not do a "functional turn" on an easy slope, you will not do a "functional turn" in the steeps or moguls! If you want to determine if a ski school is well run, watch how triage is done! If you want to see if ski school is well run, pick out ski instructor supervisors and watch how they "supervise" the instructors! 5. This last "secret" is very controversial but in my opinion valid! There is an inverse relationship between ski group size and teaching effeciency! In other words, the larger the group the less you learn! Often I will see ( yes I was one of those ski supervisors) a ski class following an instructor. The first three skiers are doing what he/she wants the class to do, but the rest of the class are,,,,,well let's just say they are doing their thing! Try to get into class with less than 6 skiers (of the same ability level)! Some hints; 1. Give instructor a tip if he/she was "helpful"! 2.Ask to be placed in new group if class is too big! 3. Try to go to same instructor 4.Try to videotape progress. 5.Try to get early classes ( 9 AM) 6. If private lessons take them at 11 AM!!! 7. If instructor does not check your edges, bases and boots before class then he should!!!! 8. Try to be first (right behind instructor) when following him/her! 9. Speak to Director on what you want and what kind of intsructor you feel is best for you. In some cases women are much better teachers! 10. At end of ski week with same instructor a tip of at least $10 per skier is expected! Enjoy your class!!! |
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