PMTS and Short Turn Radius Skis

[jbotti]

I had my biggest breakthroughs with skiing years ago when I got my first pair of Head Super Shapes. The feedback that I was getting in every turn was immediate and I knew instantly when I was getting the skis on edge from tipping. I know that pretty much everyone that has tried or owned the SS's (or skis with a similar turn radius) has had the exact same experience. Unfortunately for me, when I got my Head Slalom RD skis, I noticed a big difference between the RD's and the SS's. The biggest difference is that tail on the SS's that keeps you in the carve longer and does not want to release quickly. Because of this I stopped skiing my Super Shapes and because the Rd's can be a lot to handle all day, I was not skiing those that often, I gravatated to skis with a wider turn radius, and I was skiing Fischer Progressors annd Head IM 78 in the 177 length as my every day skis. These are both great skis, but now that I am back skiing a 12 meter TR ski everyday (the 2011 New Head Super Shapes, yes the best skis ever made!!), I can say unequivicably that slalom turn radius skis are essential to ski on regularly. My progress has soared in my last 12 skiing days (yes 4 of them were skiing with Harald, Diana and Max) in some part due to being back on a slaom turn radius ski.

You cannot duplicate the instant feedback that you get with these skis and because of this, ones learning jumps into hyperdrive and the muscle memory occurs much much faster.

This past weekend I skied the new SS's most of the time, but I would switch onto to some wider turn radius skis for a run or two each day. When I did this it was obvious to me how much they can slow the learning curve. Yes, you can carve wider straighter skis and on good ones you can get really good pop on the turns. But you have to be more patient with the skis and to carve them well we are talking about GS turns. There is nothing wrong with the GS turns, but they occur at higher speeds and momentum plays a big role. Hence it is easy to think you are tipping alot because at speed the skis are going on edge and the edges are locked into a carve. As well the ski engagement occurs at a much slower pace so your balance is not challenged nearly as much as when doing slalom turns. Ultra high level GS turns by WC racers and high level skiers are a different story, but because most are not at this level it is really a different discussion.

I think the correct progression is to learn doing edge locked slalom turns on slalom turn radius skis and to pefect this. When you can absolutely rock slalom turns with pop on every turn, then go to GS turns. On GS turns the focus should be on turns that cut and bite back into the hill, not that get progressively wider as one goes down a steep slope. If you can can't get the ski to bite back and carve back into the hill, then you should go back to slalom skis and work on this. When I thnk about doing GS turns, I think about trying to do Slalom turns on GS skis (Helluvaslier talks about this and practices it). Essentally I want to carve the tigtest arcs possible with the fastest transitions that I can possibly do on GS skis. The place to learn this and get the proper feedback to be able to pull it off on a widerTR ski is from ones work on Slaom TR skis. Fast, and wide GS turns at speed give a very false sense of accomplsihment. Yes, the skis are on edge but it requires little (other than rding the sidecut) to pull off these turns.

I know this is in the broken record category, but I am as thick as anyone on this forum. Since I seem to be need to be hit over the head several times, I figure I will try to save you all the pain. Harald has been saying it for years, get on a 64-68mm waisted ski with a tight turn radius and learn how to carve tight turns. Once you do this and master it you will be able to ski anything. Nothing could be more true!!

[h.harb]

You can take this to the bank: The long arm of PMTS reaches only as far as, the words you choose to heed.

When I ski on GS skis or Super Shape Speeds, I don't cruise the side cut. I try to bend the ski into slalom turns. These efforts force me to refresh and refine my skills. When you go back to a bigger sidecut ski, like SS's, you can add tipping angle and get good results, the ski does more for you with less. Hopefully this will encourage you to do more. I can't tell you the number of times we have heard a student say, "Wow, you meant this much more tipping". "Yes we did, and you are not there yet". Golden rule of skiing: You are never tipping as far as you think.

The GS skis often tend to make skiers back off the correctly learned PMTS movements that work all right on SS, because GS skis, to be skied correctly require stronger Essentials than the SS do.

Is the SS a cheater ski?
No, it is a ski that will guide you to toward the right PMTS movements, before you really know how to use them everywhere.

If you don't have the PMTS movements figured out on SS's you surely won't find them skiing on GS skis. GS skis are like a self test for me. When I ski them, I check my Essentials and they give me immediate feedback. I like to do this. Since I know how to increase Essentials that I need; I emphasize the ones that are lagging.

When you make the switch to a GS type ski, the first Essentials that appear to be obviously missing are counter balance and fore/aft movements, If you know what the ski should be doing, the GS skis tell you immediately if you are not, by going straight or catching an edge, you have to make adjustments . They tell you, "You are not skiing me right". This changeover adjustment takes me two runs.

If you are not at the level yet, where you can identify and adjust your Essentials to make a GS ski perform, don't stay on it very long. Because, you will most likely get into a habit of using improper or compensatory movements to make the GS skis turn. For example: many skiers use more rotary or more tail push. Some skiers compensate by using up extension and rotation. The same applies when skiers use wide skis. I call this backing off the right movements, because skiers freeze and instead of adding more CB or getting feet further behind the tips, they begin to use gross movements. And that happens, either because the right movements are not well enough developed or concentration to keep focused on Essential movements, switches to getting down the hill, rather than doing it right.

Using incorrect movements unknowingly is the worst; it only serves to fool you into thinking you are skiing these skis well. Which you will pay for later by having to start over with twice as much focus on the right movements.