h.harb wrote:Also watch the comparison, Geoffda was kind enough to allow me to put his run up there . At that time, three seasons ago Geoffda didn't have the tipping going for him. Now he does. Tipping and flexing out of the arc is important but flexing and tipping into the arc is everything on these steeps. These turns are exaggerated to show slow transitions, for demonstration.
What the hell was I thinking? That was some serious dirty laundry being aired .
h.harb wrote:If you can leave two clean edge lines and make the arc tighten it's radius, in the bottom third, that is expert PMTS skiing, (on Blue or Back runs). It doesn't matter if it's on blue or black, or slow or fast (fast is easier), ask Geoffda, if he's seen those lines I leave.
Ya think? Actually the real question is when DOESN'T Harald pull radius? And that answer to that, as far as I can tell from several years of watching him ski in person, is never. Even when he is deliberately increasing radius, he still pulls the bottom.
h.harb wrote:Ask Geoffda another question. If you can't do a brushed carved turn, can you make a decreasing radius pure carved turn? These are the standards of the Black level PMTS instructor, so don't be disappointed if you can't do it.
Hell no! To pull radius you have to have everything working for you at a very high level. You can brush turns with lesser movement skills, but you've still got to have the complete set of Essentials working for you. If you can pull radius in a pure carved turn, you can certainly brush. But if you can't brush, you've got nothing!
Pulling radius in a pure carved turn where it gets steep is a demonstration of not just skill, but ELITE skill. Think counteracting is just something you work on at camp? Think again. Missing a strong two-footed pullback? Forget about it. Did you really start your turn with true high C edge engagement or did you just think you did? Because to really pull off the high C, you have to be able to counter-balance like there is no tomorrow--and it all has to happen as part of your transition. Did you really flex to release and engage? I hope so because if you pushed off at all, you've already given up the time you would have had to increase the tipping at the end of the turn. And tipping? You gotta have it--you gotta keep doing it, and if the hip gets involved at all, you'll never pull.
Sound hard? It IS. I can do it on green terrain in any condition (and even then, I know I should probably be able to pull MORE), but beyond light blue, I'm in trouble. Why? Hell, if I know. One or more Essentials are not up to the task. No point really in asking which one--they can all get better. The solution is to just head to groomed dark blue/black terrain and work the brush carves--SLOWLY, focusing on each movement. Why do this on steeper terrain? First, because if you don't pull the radius you'll know immediately because you'll accelerate (which is to say something went badly wrong with one or more Essentials). Second, because the steeper terrain makes the high C engagement challenging and by doing the turn slowly I can tell when I'm cheating. By cheating, I mean releasing to flat, but then allowing the tips to drop slightly before engaging. In fact, I'd wager that the vast majority of PMTS skiers don't actually get the complete high C (as in, if you can't do the static full release to new edges on a gentle slope reliably, do you really think you are getting it in motion on the steeps?). Cheating is still high C, but it's the training wheels version. The one that requires you to flip edges so that you are actually fully upside down on your new edges without *any* displacement of the ski is REALLY, REALLY HARD. It not only requires the complete game, but you have to be playing at a high level. From what I can tell, the true high C transition is the doorway to high level PMTS skiing. If you can do it, ipso facto, you have the level of movement proficiency that you need to start to think about doing things like pulling radius in pure carved turns on steep terrain. Which of course just means that there are probably a million more brushed carves between you and the goal, but at least you aren't being unrealistic in thinking that you might be able to do it some day.