Post by gary on Dec 29, 2014 9:28:04 GMT -7
With the warmer conditions we've had this week our mountain has been treating us with amazing spring snow. 1st run is carpet and after that...broken snow, marbles, pushed up, sugar pow and piles.
IMO...Nothing brings out skiing faults better than these kind of conditions. Most people made 2 or 3 runs on our 1200 vt mountain and just didn't want to deal. These pretty much are the usual pass holders. Nobody was paying for tickets with only limited trails open.
For me...it was training days these past 3 days. Skiing in these conditions, pole plants, edge angles, body angles and foot work are critical to smoothing out the mush.
Here's what I found out about me...my turns in these conditions to the left were more rhythmic, more natural and flowing than my turns to the right. Even my pole touch moving to the left was smoother. My pole touch to the right felt more rachety and I couldn't figure out why till my 2nd day.
My goals 1st day out was to try and resolve what I thought was a lazy left arm pole plant. No matter what I did, it was just not as smooth as my opposite side. So...what was I doing different mechanically on my right side different than my left? That was my challenge.
AND just like that the light bulb turned on...love that when that happens. What I found was my timing and movement with my body when going to right was out of sync. As a HUGE proponent of pulling the free foot back..I found that my right side was more in sync with movements while the left side, (feet on up) was lazy.
Normally this wouldn't show up in groomed snow conditions. However with more challenging snow, I found myself trying to catch up with my turn...something I could feel.
With some extra effort ...I focused on the weak side free foot pull back and after a couple more runs, I found that "lazy" pole plant become more fluid and my timing improved and well as more control in my turn shape, and speed management.
Sometimes the problem we think we have is the result of another issue in the kinetic chain. Putting ourselves in challenging conditions with the goal of improving ones movements pays off with huge dividends as long we are aware and in tune with those movements.
IMO...Nothing brings out skiing faults better than these kind of conditions. Most people made 2 or 3 runs on our 1200 vt mountain and just didn't want to deal. These pretty much are the usual pass holders. Nobody was paying for tickets with only limited trails open.
For me...it was training days these past 3 days. Skiing in these conditions, pole plants, edge angles, body angles and foot work are critical to smoothing out the mush.
Here's what I found out about me...my turns in these conditions to the left were more rhythmic, more natural and flowing than my turns to the right. Even my pole touch moving to the left was smoother. My pole touch to the right felt more rachety and I couldn't figure out why till my 2nd day.
My goals 1st day out was to try and resolve what I thought was a lazy left arm pole plant. No matter what I did, it was just not as smooth as my opposite side. So...what was I doing different mechanically on my right side different than my left? That was my challenge.
AND just like that the light bulb turned on...love that when that happens. What I found was my timing and movement with my body when going to right was out of sync. As a HUGE proponent of pulling the free foot back..I found that my right side was more in sync with movements while the left side, (feet on up) was lazy.
Normally this wouldn't show up in groomed snow conditions. However with more challenging snow, I found myself trying to catch up with my turn...something I could feel.
With some extra effort ...I focused on the weak side free foot pull back and after a couple more runs, I found that "lazy" pole plant become more fluid and my timing improved and well as more control in my turn shape, and speed management.
Sometimes the problem we think we have is the result of another issue in the kinetic chain. Putting ourselves in challenging conditions with the goal of improving ones movements pays off with huge dividends as long we are aware and in tune with those movements.