Hi,
I just posted a note on the social chat thread wishing my PMTS friends a Happy New Year, and thanking Harald for this site. Then as I was looking around I saw this and did a double take. NO! I thought.
I get the blog, and enjoy reading it and looking at the photos and analysis, it's a great little surprise that pops up on the phone. I like reading what pops into your head Harald on a particular topic....racing, musing on pmts specifics, examples of pro racers and what they are and aren't doing. But this forum has an encyclopedic base of information in it. It also is an archive and history of PMTS culture and development which chronicles the different developments to PMTS as it has evolved. A very valuable resource, to be sure.
It is also a real "forum". Unlike a website, which is more for business, this is a forum where beginners, instructors, experts and Harald himself, can freely have great discussions, ask questions, share ideas, opinions and experiences about PMTS. I feel like I'm walking into a lodge and can go to the pro area, where I can discuss the latest equipment and trends in gear; I can go to another room/thread, and sit down with fellow PMTS instructors and Harald and discuss teaching ideas, and ask for advice, without fear of embarrassment, but openly find out more; which makes me a better instructor for my PMTS clients, whom I refer here for more information.
I can then go to specific tables in the lounge to discuss turns, different snow conditions, ski areas, exercises, just about anything PMTS I'd like to explore.
That is what I love about this forum; it is the house of PMTS where we can all meet and share what PMTS is, and help it grow.
I'm not saying we sing "Kumbaya" now, just saying that I find this forum to be unique in the ski world, and of significant value to the PMTS community.
New activity, doesn't mean lack of interest, I may not post much, but I look back at different threads to remind myself and review. I look at the discussions on aspects of techniques so I can refine my teaching and skiing. And I always look to Harald's answers on distilling things to the essential elements of the discussion. That is incredibly valuable.
This is the ONE place for PMTS to find it all.
So if possible, I would love to see it stay, and continue.
I get a lot out of it. I come here way more than the org site or website, and almost never go to the FB page. Here we have threads and can search through lots of different topics...can't do that on FB.
re: essential....I think the alignment is a good one....I see that as not so much an essential, but more as a pre-requisite. The essentials won't work if you are out of alignment, at least not well. It's a slightly different thing to me in that it's a skier/equipment compatibility thing. The 'essentials' of skydiving aren't much good if your parachute doesn't fit....know what I'm saying
I was listening/watching the DVD on performance freeskiing this morning while doing some exercising (our ski resort isn't open yet, so I'm just keeping loose) and was listening to the part near the end where Harald talks about what he thinks about as he skis....every turn has a focus and that he doesn't find that distracting. That resonated with me.
I've done several workshops with the woman who's the sports psychologist for Cirque du Soleil; and she talks about the different ways their performers prepare for each show by getting themselves into "the zone". Think about it, if they aren't in the right mindset, and focused; it could be fatal. They must know
precisely[b]where they are, their body aspect, and where everyone else (like the tumbler flying towards them) is. It all comes down to the mental component. When I did Kristin Ulmer's first "Ski 2Live" clinic in Alta, we didn't work on specific technique, we worked on the mental aspect of skiing: why we do it, how do we deal with fear or nerves at the top of a steep pitch; how do we handle the nerves of going into deep powder when we haven't done it before, or encountering crud, chopped or crusty snow; or the one that sends every skier into a heightened state, I wager: ICE.
So for me, I would have to say the 6th essential is: [b]mental awareness/conditioning. That is what I am thinking, or sensing mentally, as I perform the essentials, my
awarenessof what I am doing, going to do, and awareness of others around me, what my equipment is doing, how the snow feels, all the things my minds sifts through and adjusts to as I move out on my skis. This also includes knowing, on any given day, what my limits are and using my experience to evaluate conditions...is there an avalanche danger, where are my friends, what path will I take, should I avoid this run altogether...
so there it is: "
Mental Awareness. Being in the PMTS Zone.
Happy New Year, and I hope to see you on the slopes, and here on the forum.