 Poster: A snowHead
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Today I made 30 extraordinary turns.
Not good.
Not great.
But extraordinary.
This evening, talk in the pub turned to "the last 5%" - the boundary between control and chaos.
How close have you come?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Extraordinary alpine or tele?
My bumps skiing is always on the chaos side of the boundary.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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In control - chaos - near death - death ?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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FlyingStantoni, I seem to crash a hell of a lot... unlike motorbikes you can pick yourself up when skiing 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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FlyingStantoni, surely it's not 5%, but a finite boundary? I ski either in control (ie in too much control, which actually means too slowly) or in chaos. What eludes me is the exact boundary between the two. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hurtle, You need more practice is all... keep pushing towards your perception of the boundary. And is it actually a real boundary or do you 'fall apart' as you approach your perceived limits of control? There is a pretty big difference between what you think you can do and what you can do.
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Scarpa, being a control freak, my inclination is to stop short of falling apart. So, I will push myself to a certain extent, but generally not far/hard enough.
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Hurtle, You already know all the answers then 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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my 3rd worst ski accident was falling off a bar stool in Schladming
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my 2nd worst was a huge crash on the ice rink in Chamonix - was only there because the snow was rubbish.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Hurtle, I know where you are - I am another control freak. I completely comprehend the notion that you won't push yourself hard enough as I am sure that neither do I.
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.Ro, I do often practice doing a few turns with my eyes closed, which isn't that hard. Stopping with your eyes closed is another matter entirely. Respect to all blind skiers.
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You know it makes sense.
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stoatsbrother,
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Stopping with your eyes closed is another matter entirely.
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Yes. I've got a bit better than I used to be at skiing in whiteout conditions but noticed, the other week, that every time I came to a stop, I fell over. In the end, I worked out that this wouldn't happen if I looked very hard at my ski tips while stopping. What is this phenomenon?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| FlyingStantoni wrote: |
This evening, talk in the pub turned to "the last 5%" - the boundary between control and chaos.
How close have you come? |
It happens very occasionally and nowhere near as often as I would like. For me it's when I "feel" my skiing, and I can balance all the forces at play: the snow, the terrain, my momentum, how I want to make those turns.
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Poster: A snowHead
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FlyingStantoni, I stepped over the boundary last year... was trying to catch Fastman while pumping turns... forgot about the 'hump' at bottom of run... saw it last minute and freaked out... until the moment I freaked I felt great... from the moment I freaked out it was all over red rover...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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andyph, Interesting
I find almost the opposite... I reach that 'in the zone' feeling best when I have been focused on my technique for enough time that the aspect I'm working on is starting to become achievable. I can then set off with a definite focus (that I know will give the desired result). This will lead to turns well outside my usual range that feel totally awesome. I do have to say though that I was taught 'focus then put it away' by my fencing coach. This means you focus hard and long enough to allow your body to conceptualise what you want to do(in fencing maybe a defence in response to certain attack) then literally 'push it out of your mind' to allow you to feel and experience the current state. If you do it well enough your body will 'autorespond' with the thing you have focused it on, as the situation requires. The thing is the conscious mind is far slower at responding than the lower levels. Allowing the conscious to let go does help enormously. However the conscious thought put into learning the technique initially, and planting the 'focus' immediately prior to the execution are essential components. Turning the conscious away is also a conscious act. Skiing without any thought produces very mediocre results for me.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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little tiger, yeah, that's right. Muscle memory or whatever, isn't it? When you reach the point where you don't think, I need to do an extension/turn/pivot, but it just "happens" and before you know it or think about it you're onto the next one.
Wish I'd fenced when I was younger.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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andyph, yes you need the 'muscle memory' first. However having the focus(and being able to 'push it away' are also important... Hard to explain... You have to realise I have the slowest ever 'reflexes' - tested in college as about double a normal person. However I managed to get 4 hits(out of 5) on a much better fencer just by doing as described above.
Coach had explained to me I did not 'need' speed at the level we fenced at - I could use the other persons speed instead if I could use my brain. As she was a decent fencer I could see what she was doing and what attack and defence she favoured. I developed a suitable defence and counter attack to negate her. Did as described and imagined it really hard - super focus for about 30secs. Then just put it away and went on to pley with her sword a little trying a couple of different attacks. Sure enough she used her pet attack - and my body auto defended and counter attacked as I'd planned. the coolest bit was it all happened in super slow motion - felt like I had an eternity to make the movements that I'd often struggle to make fast enough in training. She was perplexed enough that I managed to get her again with the same tactics.(She was used to winning with this attack). The whole counter attack did in fact rely on her speed carrying her onto my blade. I did not need any speed I did not have. Was all very weird and uber cool.
I've done pretty much the same skiing - with great results
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| FlyingStantoni wrote: |
This evening, talk in the pub turned to "the last 5%" - the boundary between control and chaos.
How close have you come? |
It happens very occasionally and nowhere near as often as I would like. For me it's when I "feel" my skiing, and I can balance all the forces at play: the snow, the terrain, my momentum, how I want to make those turns. |
Unlike Rob, there are very few times I'm not in that zone - probably only when I'm teaching/coaching. Anything else is just a waste of valuable skiing time and money  . So the ante keeps getting upped progressively until it all goes pear-shaped, a crash ensues, I pick myself up, back off a bit and what was previously getting towards the chaos boundary is now pretty straightforward. My records say I've skied just over 300 days (in the mountains) and I can probably count the days I've not fallen over at least once on the fingers of one hand (certainly need no more than two) - and on bad days need both hands to count the number of falls  . This will come as no surprise to anyone who's seen me ski - but from some of the compliments I've been getting it seems to work quite well. The important thing in this though is to pick the locations to push that envelope: trying that super-steep jump turn is not advisable above a 200m cliff, but above a 5-10m slope leading into a gentle run-out is no problem.
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GrahamN,
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This will come as no surprise to anyone who's seen me ski Laughing - but from some of the compliments I've been getting it seems to work quite well.
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Playing devils'as advocate here so please take this the the right way - but is skiing that way most of the time, anywhere other than the race piste really a good thing? You say you pick your locations carefully - but if you are skiing on an open piste there is always a risk of something unexpected happening. If you are actually crashing out on a regular basis you are going beyond the point at which you can recover, so I'd assume also beyond the point at which you can change direction, stop etc.
I think the real skill is pushing yourself to the point at which you can make a mistake - but recover through skill, rather than luck.
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GrahamN, How is your lip ?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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beanie1, you may have misunderstood me a little. (Not that you're suggesting this either, but) I'm certainly not suggesting careering down crowded pistes as a barely-guided missile. The crashes I referred to above would normally be things like, thinking about occasions in the last year: (as implied above) not getting the balance right while practicing steeps, and so taking some of it in an unintended position having overbalanced; pushing it in moguls and so losing it part way down and taking a tumble then; pulling a very high edge angle and getting a bit too much on the inside ski and as a result sliding out; getting it a bit wrong when practicing some one ski stuff and so hitting the deck; but most commonly bailing when misjudging some variable off-piste crud and taking a tactical dive. Most crashes wouldn't involve a slide of more than a couple of metres. All of this stuff above I'd get right well better than 99% of the time, maybe 99.9% - but you're going to mess up one turn sooner or later. If I'm not doing that, and sitting within that comfort zone all day, then frankly I'd get bored, give up and go find something else to do.
rjs, lip's recovered fine thanks - jury's still out on whether the tooth is going to make it though . Your ear OK? (Background for anyone else interested: after a week throwing myself down GS courses with no injuries, was helping to pull the course. The final/finish gate was a bit stuck in its hole in the snow, so the technique is to bend the gate and let it ping up so shaking itself free. Doing this once bending it about halfway down didn't release it, so had to bend it pretty much double. Important thing is to keep head out of path of unfolding pole . Got smacked at the top of the chin by the pole, cutting through the lip to the gum and belting my front teeth. Result: four stiches on outside of lip, and three on inside, and a couple of very tender incisors. So matching scar to that obtained a couple of months ago on the upper lip face-planting on Dendix.)
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GrahamN, so, have I got this right, you ski like a god 99.9% of the time and you sustain a massive injury pulling a pole out of a slope? It's not often that I'm lost for words, but on this occasion I can only confine myself to wishing you a full dental recovery. Are you insured eg for implants?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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GrahamN, ugh. Ooops.
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FAQ
...even though it's grossly overstated 