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Post by danboisvert on Apr 16, 2014 13:00:38 GMT -7
... This trade-off between instant gratification and future pleasure is a personal judgment call. For those skiers who seek to ski somewhat after the fashion of the world's best, the choice of crisp, deliberate practice is clear. But it's not the choice for everyone. Yeah, definitely not the choice for me. Gratification is an important component for me in all my hobbies, and I don't want any of them to feel like work. Spending the majority of my season drilling would feel like work to me. I'm planning to start next season with a camp though, just to see what it's like and hopefully improve a bit. After that, I might work some drills throughout the season, but the lion's share of my days will be having fun with my friends. I also think it's possible to get carried away with the focused practice thing. As HH has said a couple times as well, it's possible to have great movements but be limited in your ability to apply them due to lack of mileage and experience in varied terrain and conditions. I think I might currently be erring on the side of more mileage, but am having a really good time doing it, and am perfectly okay with that.
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Post by ToddW on Apr 16, 2014 15:49:56 GMT -7
Yep, mileage and the fun of freeskiing are why most of us ski. And you can mix that fun with lessons too -- I spent some time in March chasing Harald around A-Basin between drills. Mileage, varied terrain, and speed were the focus to see where improvements would stick and where gaps remained unfilled. Pushing my limits following a skier of that caliber was a hell of a lot of fun. Doing so even better as training progressed was even more fun.
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Post by livingproof on Apr 17, 2014 6:36:34 GMT -7
Yep, mileage and the fun of freeskiing are why most of us ski. And you can mix that fun with lessons too -- I spent some time in March chasing Harald around A-Basin between drills. Mileage, varied terrain, and speed were the focus to see where improvements would stick and where gaps remained unfilled. Pushing my limits following a skier of that caliber was a hell of a lot of fun. Doing so even better as training progressed was even more fun. Yup, sometimes you have to let your bad self ski.
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Post by JimRatliff on Apr 21, 2014 20:04:29 GMT -7
But sometimes it's your "good self" that shows up in your skiing, and that can be really gratifying. I will also say that we seldom "do drills" for multiple runs, let alone the whole day. We say "lets work on this" or "focus on this" for the next run. Or we notice something in the others skiing and focus on that on the next half of the run.
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Post by ToddW on Apr 25, 2014 10:37:25 GMT -7
Back to the thread's topic "closing down the season."
The big K served up a fantastic banquet of skiing last weekend ranging from a delicious sweet corn appetizer to a manly portion of mashed potatoes. Mmmmmm good.
I'm thinking of heading up for some spring rain skiing tomorrow. They just reopened the canyon area, so odds are there will be a nice, soft surface on the steeps. Living Proof, it's too bad you've put away your boots for the season. As you know, rain days at K can yield amazing skiing.
Did someone mention mileage and varied terrain and conditions a few posts back? There are at least 4 ski areas open in the Northeast this weekend (and one or two majors sitting on the fence about whether to reopen for the weekend.) Get out and grab some mileage on constantly changing conditions.
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Post by meput on Apr 25, 2014 16:19:36 GMT -7
Still having fun in Maine. My friend Brian and I just had a great day at the 'loaf. Plenty of terrain open. Here is my AlpineReplay data from the day: www.alpinereplay.com/stats?id=47933&vId=880673. Sun (yes, I remembered to put on my sunscreen). Temps in 50's on the mountain. Bumps, groomers early, corn, sugar, minimal bare spots and slush. What more can you ask for at this time of the season? The skiing is still available in the east. All you have to do is reach out and grab it.
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Post by lynn on Apr 26, 2014 9:17:43 GMT -7
Meput How did the Maine GTG go? We we sorry to miss it, but it was in the middle of our two week western trip. You know, those necessary ceu's! One of these days, I won't be working every other weekend. The only question will be; can I then afford to ski every weekend? O, the hardships we have to consider in this sport.
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Post by meput on Apr 26, 2014 14:06:52 GMT -7
Lynn, The Maine gathering attendance suffered for a whole host of reasons. Dan was to arrive with 3 "friends" who bailed on him at last minute. Ultimately we had 4 Maine PMTSers and Dan (and some hanger-on snowboarders). As a result, Dan got dragged all over Sugarloaf. I don't know if he missed any blue, black or double black trail that was open and we hardly repeated trails for the 2 days that he was here. Unfortunately, Brackett Basin glades didn't have decent snow yet (once he left, the snow came and Brackett opened with good skiing). I had a great time while under the guise of the NE PMTS gathering, but then again I have a great time whenever I am skiing. Lots of good skiing, beer, wine, food, hot tub time, and fellowship. Would it have been nice to have more attendees, yes. Did we have fun, absolutely! One of these days, I won't be working every other weekend. The only question will be; can I then afford to ski every weekend? But will your psyche allow you to not ski every weekend?
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Post by lynn on Apr 27, 2014 9:10:33 GMT -7
But will your psyche allow you to not ski every weekend? OMG, I think I need therapy!
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Post by meput on Apr 27, 2014 10:04:25 GMT -7
OMG, I think I need therapy! Let's see: One hour therapy ~$100 One day skiing ~$100 In the big picture, cheaper to go skiing than to go to therapy about skiing. Skiing wins!
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