Hi all,
Some stuff I've been working on and some personal observations:
1) I've really been working on the weighted release this year. What I've noticed, is that I need to put more weight on my little toe side, to get it to dig in to the snow. If I don't, sometimes my ski wobbles. I've also noticed that if I press on my big toe while digging in with my little toe, I get much better edge angles.
If I don't dig my little toe side in, particularly on steeper slopes, I don't get the turn I'm looking for. I got this tip from Harald. He instructed to me to "dig my little toe in" and it's helped.
2) On steeps I can hold an edge if I counter my body and pull my inside ski up towards my chest. I've been working on this so much that at times I fall over! I'm really standing on that downhill ski, but when doing so if I don't keep my body countered my tails wash out.
3) I've been real lazy with my pole plants. But this year I've been working on them. Basically, I don't release until a pole plant. And, I've been working on keeping my pole swing in sync with my turns. When my pole swing is on, I can attack and rip. I feel centered and balanced. When my pole swing is slow, I feel back and out of balance.
4) Inside foot pull back. I noticed I was off on my right side -- screwing me up in bumps. I notice when my inside foot pull back is off in the back bowls -- I'll get bounced around much more in the funky snow and what not.
It's so important, to keep those feet under the hips! The risk of injury goes way down and the quality of turn goes way up.
5) Falling forward. When I fall it's almost always forward, almost always in choppy bumps. So this is good. What this tells me, is that I need to back off the front of the boot some. Better to be too far forward than back, that's for sure.
6) Skiing slow. This is probably my best achievement so far this year. I've really been working on making turns but not picking up and speed. In bumps is where I've really made progress and I'm psyched. Skiing bumps slow requires the right technique and there's no way to hide poor skills. Your pole plants have to be right and that inside foot needs to be under those hips or all heck breaks loose! Also, the more you carve going down the bump -- tipping to the little toe edge -- it really helps with speed control. Use your edges (little toe big toe) in the bumps to ski slow. It's really cool when you nail a tough bump run like Prima and make it look easy! You feel like King of the World!
7) Before, I had said that carving isn't the end all -- much more to skiing. Well, I need to modify that. A skier shouldn't get stuck in making GS turns all day, but I can't emphasize enough, the importance of learning to ski on the edges. Learn to ski on the edges and the mountain is yours. Or as HH says, "Ski on the $500 dollar part of the ski, not the $50 dollar part."
I practice 1000 steps all the time. It's great. It's amazing, even drills that are for "beginners" can really help. I'll go off on a green run and ski 1000 steps the whole run. Then when I go back to tougher stuff, my turns always feel so much better.
9) Skiing ain't easy. If it was, it'd be called snowboarding. To get to where I want to go, baby it takes lots of practice. Parallel shins sounds like a simple concept -- it ain't. But I'm gettin there.
10) Snowboarders have changed the hill. My buddy Hedley, whose all world, says bumps used to be different. Oh well. I'm not going to bitch. I'll just learn to ski jagged bumps!
That's it for now! Now for my own little message to the world:
"Be cool -- drive a small car"