 Poster: A snowHead
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| Tarquin wrote: |
| ... as long as you're enjoying yourself on your holibobs, does it matter ? |
No, in fact it's essential that you do!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
At the end of the traverse you're almost certainly going to be upright/fully extended, so initiating the next turn when you don't have a range of movement available to you is unnecessarily challenging.
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Actually that makes a great deal of sense - I've never looked at it in that way before  i.e. I'd have difficulty extending as I am already extended!
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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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| Megamum wrote: |
| Actually that makes a great deal of sense - I've never looked at it in that way before i.e. I'd have difficulty extending as I am already extended! |
Before you get up, you gotta go down!
Joking aside, you don't need a massive amount of flex at the end of the turn to create a range of movement that you can use to extend at the start of the next turn. The angle of the slope that you are skiing on, and the fact that your centre of mass is likely to be inside at least one and possibly both of your skis means that your inside leg is going to be somewhat flexed. What I wouldn't want to see is you collapse your legs half way around the turn in order to create some up movement at the start of the next turn. We want to avoid 'rigid leg' syndrome and start to use the natural movement that you have available. Once that starts to happen on a consistent basis you can then start fine tuning it in terms of the rate and direction of the movement you make.
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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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| Quote: |
I think Charlotte/Easiski's 'Signpost arms' exercise would help enormously
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I do too. However, my piece of advice would be the one I've given you before, though I know you don't like it. Get some music, a nice gentle triple rhythm is good (like a slow waltz - think of singing "pat a cake pat a cake baker man"), turn rhythmically to the music, dance a bit, don't think about technical stuff. Sing with the music, maybe, and relax.
On a very shallow straight path, just do "ups and downs" to the music. Do the same on drag lifts.
As for poles, personally I think you'd do very well to ski without them a bit. Do the "signpost arms" exercise without poles. I suspect they are a bit of a comfort blanket at the moment and that holding them is adding unnecessarily to tension. You need to relax the bits of you that aren't actually needed to hold you up.
When I feel tense and scared, on my snowboard, I imagine I am 15, that I have very baggy trousers and that I've just finished an enormous spliff.
And come to think of it...... 
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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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and that I've just finished an enormous spliff
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Slight problem with that line of thought is no personal point of reference!! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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As others have said you're being hard on yourself.
The three things that will make an immediate difference are :
1) Ask the cameraman to film and not speak.
2) Work on your fore / aft balance
Take your hands out of your pockets and 'hold' them at approximately waist height, wider than your hips and ahead of your hips.
Keep your pole tips out to the side of you like a tight rope walker and in contact with the snow.
3) Work on your lateral balance
As your skis move across the fall line at the start of the turn keep your hands ahead of your hips with the downhill pole tip in contact with the snow and slope below you.
This will place the appropriate amount of balance on your downhill ski and get you balanced laterally.
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| altis wrote: |
The image I have is of someone walking to work in the rain on a Monday morning.
At the top of the slope: stop; take in the view; feel the fresh air and the sun; and get ready to dance. |
^^^ This  Excellent words... and good advice.
(not to demean other excellent advice on this thread etc... but this really 'spoke' to me.)
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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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Schuss in Boots, Yes me too ^^^ but might be conditions dependent though that one
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Mike Pow,
I hadn't done the exercise previously, but during one of the group lessons we did something very similar with our poles and tried to keep the ends in contact with the snow - it certainly required a rethink as to how to achieve and def. put the body into a different position as a result. Maybe something to practice next time I have the space around me.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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This may be an unpopular suggestion but have you thought of trying some softer skis? IIRC you have fairly stiff skis and from those videos it doesn't look like you are bending them much, I felt my skiing came on a lot when I really felt I was bending the skis, I had too stiff skis at the time and could only bend them when going faster so I got some softer ones for a while which I think helped. I'm looking for some softer skis again as I'm starting to ski trickier terrain where I want to go more slowly again. I have also liked doing J turns in lessons to get a real feel for this, easy to see from your tracks and I got my mum to do this when she was snowplowing and it was very satisfying for her to see nice rounded albeit snowplough turns.
Try skiing a slope you are completely comfortable on and just keep turning, no traversing at all, you should never be traversing, always turning, this is something that really helped me feel in control skiing steeper slopes.
Another possibly unpopular suggestion but who was your camera man? If it was an instructor giving you a lesson then fine but if it was a friend who you ski with then tell them to STFU, nothing would make me tenser than having someone ski along beside me narrating my every move.
Have you ever tried listening to music to help you relax? I love it especially when I am skiing on my own (off piste with no safety equipment )
I also agree with everyone that says you just need to give it time, the best thing I did for my skiing was ski >50 days in a season, the advice above is given as someone who is also not a natural athlete, gets scared quite often and totally gets the disappointment of seeing yourself on video, I think I now ski like I used to think I did about 5 years ago 
Finally it's meant to be fun!
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Mon 13-05-13 18:46; edited 1 time in total
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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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This may be an unpopular suggestion but have you thought of trying some softer skis?
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that sounds a good idea - maybe hire some for a couple of days?
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Megamum, sounds like you need to go out for a ski without the camera man. 
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You know it makes sense.
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
This may be an unpopular suggestion but have you thought of trying some softer skis?
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that sounds a good idea - maybe hire some for a couple of days? |
How about having a go at snowboarding! 
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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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lynseyf, I was watching some video of myself on my stiff skis which I took in jan/feb.... after that I have mainly skied my softer skis... they are so much easier to turn and adjust turn radius... unfortunatly they don't fit in my ski bag to take to europe... https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151382512188073&set=vb.589243072&type=3&theater me on stiff skis... not going fast enough or putting enough effort in to get clean lines.... which I can do so much easier on the softer skis...
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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under a new name, 
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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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Go ahead and take a mogul lesson!
You want to feel what it's like to have a lot of up and down motion? You'll feel it without fail! You want to feel what it's like to go from edge to edge? You'll be doing that with or without meaning to!
I know, there aren't a lot of moguls in the Alps. Much less easy ones. But maybe in one of the indoor frig's?
When I was at that stage, I had the same problem of being able to 'do' all the drills without understanding why I was doing them, nor incorperate into actual skiing! I couldn't tell the difference of doing them right or doing them wrong except when the instructor told me so.
Jump into a mogul field and try to stay balanced when the ground is not! That, requires all the up/down & sideway (edge) movement to just staying upright, and suddenly, all the 'talk' about balance come into sharper focus!!!
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| abc wrote: |
| I know, there aren't a lot of moguls in the Alps. |
Objection, your honour.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Megamum, you'll notice I'm not giving you answers, but making you think, so here goes again
Why do you think stiffer skis will help you in slush and bumps?? Pro mogul skiers will be on a Ski a damn sight softer than a pro slalom skier.
My wife hates and skis like a beginner on skis that are too stiff for her, she cannot turn them. She skis all runs on and off piste but hated a stiff pair of almost slalom skis I have her to try out.
Maybe you've not found the ski that works for you???
Obviously a noodle is too soft, but persons you've gone too far the other way??
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| Megamum wrote: |
Softer skis is an interesting notion. I've got a much softer set here that are also 10cm shorter (though I haven't been on them for a long time now), in a snow dome I tend to ski what I am offered and I'm not convinced that they are overly soft either - they always seem to have a degree of resistance to them. I've skied stiffer skis for some time now and now I'm used to them I tend miss them when I have been on something softer. I didn't get a chance to ski test at the EoSB, but I have done so in the past and when I've been handed softer skis its almost felt as though I've crushed them. I totally take the point that softer skis would no doubt be easier to turn in ideal conditions, but I think I'd miss the stiffer ones in the slush and mounds. |
There's soft and then soft, you don't want beginners skis, or too short, just something that lets you feel the ski bending and allows you to make nice smooth curved turns at slow speed, once you have that feeling it will be easier to replicate on stiffer skis
There was an interesting thread a few years ago on another ski forum I read discussing advanced skis for beginner skiers and I really liked this quote from an instructor
"As for being "over - skied", it is possible, if not probable that an intermediate will feel more stable on an advanced ski, especially on terrain that they are already comfortable on. But there's a huge but here. It will be much harder for them to improve upon their current skills on such a setup. For a more advanced ski to perform as intended it requires more forces, most notably more speed. To learn a new skill effectively you need to learn it at slower speeds on easier terrain before you build it up into your regular skiing, and more advanced skis just don't allow for this in the same way. Especially when learning things such as bumps or soft snow conditions."
link to thread
http://www.theskidiva.com/forums/index.php?threads/expert-skis-for-intermediates-good-or-bad-thoughts.11555/
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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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Trying to be polite here but If you had 10 hours of lessons you probably just needed to turn your brain off, ski, have some fun and let the things Jonesy was working with you to consolidate and sink in. Probably didnt help being filmed and "directed" to do something at virtually every single turn (or indeed told NOT to do something while you were skiing which definitely doesn't help) lots of the running comments were I am guessing completely different to what your instructor had patiently tried to bed in... FOr instance did Greg ask you to face down the mountain , I doubt it....
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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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Megamum, learn to correctly bracuage/pivot slip as it can't be done unless you're properly flexing your boots & moving your hips across the skis - which I can't see happening in your video.
Great outfit BTW
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You know it makes sense.
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At 3m50s in the video, does your 'helper' say "go on, idiot, good one"?
Also, shortly prior, something about you being a 'dork'? Maybe my hearing's going.
Anyway, shortly after the 'go on, idiot' incident, you do a great right-hand turn out of necessity - to avoid hitting that other skier to your left. Proof: you can do turns without the luxury of a lengthy traverse whilst deciding whether to turn or not.
You can you can you can, just that for lots of that video you're electing not to!
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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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| skimottaret wrote: |
| If you had 10 hours of lessons you probably just needed to turn your brain off, ski, have some fun |
Megamum, a few years ago I had loads of lessons. Different resorts, so different instructors. By the time I'd finished I was so intent on concentrating on my shoulder level, hip level, driving with my knee, signposting (amongst other things) with my arms, facing down the hill (or not), flexing and extending - or just rolling my feet instead. And other things that I have forgotten (blanked out).
It got to the point where I didn't want to set off down the hill as something (probably everything) would be wrong. My friends didn't want to ski with me as I wasn't having fun and my body language said, "I daren't do anything because it will be wrong." That's what your video says to me.
You need to go out, have some fun and stop thinking so much.
Positive point. You look thinner than when I saw you last!
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Poster: A snowHead
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You never see Megamum and that bird from the snowHeads Dogtag advert together in the same room. Coincidence? I think not!
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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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I'm going to add to my advice. Have a vin chaud (anytime after 1015 is fine, on a very cold day, 0915). Then put the music on loud. Forget about all the technical stuff and dance down the mountain. And up it. On the draglifts, at any rate. It's tricky on a chairlift.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| pam w wrote: |
| I'm going to add to my advice. Have a vin chaud (anytime after 1015 is fine, on a very cold day, 0915). Then put the music on loud. Forget about all the technical stuff and dance down the mountain. And up it. On the draglifts, at any rate. It's tricky on a chairlift. |
A vin chaud and a big spliff? Or is this an either/or kind of deal?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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ALQ, Really enjoyable
Thank you.
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Mr Pieholeo, either/or. Some people don't approve of alcohol before mid-day.
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pam w, I approve of your advice. Best advice yet... by a long shot.
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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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pam w, Only one!
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Megamum, Loads of good advice above. Here's my pennyworth....
I like the comment about getting ready to dance own the hill.
More pole planting needed.
More speed might help. Definitely try the suggestion of chasing someone a little faster down the slope.
You look far too sober. Not suggesting you get too pissed, but it looks like you are thinking and worrying far too much. Often happens during lessons. Have a literal or metaphorical glass of red and put on your dancing skis.
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FAQ
