Getting my sodding weight forward!

A snowHead

So I am back! It was, as I hoped, so much more useful to be skiing on a proper mountain rather than having to stop after a few turns each time at Hemel. In amongst having a great time (trip report to follow!) I tried out a few of the suggestions I'd been given here.

I still have no luck pushing my shins into the front of my boots to any sort of significant degree. It just doesn't seem to work - I find it hard to apply pressure in that way.

However I think a lot of my issues were from not enough vertical movement. I'd got out the habit fairly early on as I used to overdo it and I probably unlearned the habit way too far as it turned out. Because the thing that helped the most especially on the steeps was having more dynamic movement up and down on turns, and I remembered something somebody had told me once about "opening a door and falling through" on each turn - that seemed to really help as well. I also found it helpful to use my poles and follow those too.

Long story short. I have NO idea if my weight is any further forward or not, but, and this is the best bit - for the first time ever, I spent a whole day skiing and didn't need to stop every few minutes with thigh burn. Yes, of course my thighs felt sore and especially on steeper parts of blues and the reds but I was able to keep on going as it wasn't the "OH MY GOD MY LEGS I AM GOING TO DIE" pain I was used to. I cheerfully went top to bottom of long pistes without stopping, it was amazing and so much fun!! For the first time ever I often had to slow down for my daughter instead of asking her to wait every few minutes. I know muscle soreness takes 24-48 hours but I normally feel something before this time if I'm going to get it bad, and it all feels fine today, 30 hours later. Might be a little sore tomorrow but nothing compared to how it has been on previous trips by this point.

I also suspect it hurts more when you do lots more turns out of fear of speed - the quicker you get down a slope, the less time you're stressing the muscles I guess so it's less of an issue. I felt a lot more confident yesterday than usual - the conditions were good and I was feeling in a generally positive mood as well plus I was keen to get the most out of the day!

So whether this was down to:

a) Improved technique (see above) with more vertical movement and throwing my weight into turns more
b) The six months of wall sits (2.5 minutes a day) I'd been doing
c) This time for the first time before a trip, I'd been doing a fair bit of running recently, so more leg strength and much better cardio
d) More confidence so fewer turns on steep bits as I was less afraid of the speed and not "fighting" the mountain for a change
e) Maybe the bindings and skis were more suitable (gosh I hope it wasn't that!)

Anyway, like I said I have no idea if my weight is further forward or not - although I think it has improved - because the main thing I care about is the fact I was able to ski without stopping due to pain. That was the main factor behind it all. Obviously it may still be an issue if I do a lot of long, steep reds but I feel things have improved significantly enough for now that I can cross that bridge when I come to it (probably in January in Tignes!) With the pain I was in before I was never really able to even think about long steep reds or blacks but I feel I am in a much better position to try now I no longer have to be as concerned about the thigh burn. Needless to say I will keep up the wall sits, probably do lots more squats nearer the time in January, and of course keep up the running as I'm sure that all helps.

As an aside my daughter improved lots as well - started out the day with me thinking she'd spectacularly regressed (almost straightlining with snowploughs all over the place like she was brand new!) but once she'd warmed up physically and mentally, she got her technique back and was doing a fabulous job (considering it was only her sixth day on a proper mountain - she's a Snowdome baby really!) by the end with 99% parallel skiing even on the few easy reds we were on. She particularly loves going over the bumps at the side of pistes and couldn't stop talking about what an amazing time we were having! We fitted in so much - aside from three short pitstops for fuel and to check out the Igloo, we were skiing pretty much constantly from lift open until lift close. Gutted it's ten months until we're on a mountain again!!

Thank you again to everyone for your suggestions and help. It does seem that at least one or more of them made a difference and it gave me a lot to think about as well.

A snowHead

So glad it went well! Congratulations. "opening the door and diving through" is something somebody told me at breakfast in a chalet one day and it's helped me lots of times.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@sparklies,

Glad you and your daughter had a great time. Nice to hear you felt an improvement hopefully something you can take to the fridge and continue to work on.

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Thanks both! Yes, definitely something to take to the fridge. One thing I've learned from spending too much time in fridges - as great as they are - is that I think you can plateau very easily without a trip to the mountains every so often to put the skills into proper practice. This trip seemed to cement a lot of the stuff I'd been taught but hadn't had a chance to really try "in anger" (because it's not steep enough or varied enough basically) so it's harder to make it stick, but now I am sure I will ski a little differently in the fridge next time I go. I've definitely changed things for the better, of that I am sure.

I have posted the trip report now whilst it's still fresh!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Hi Sparklies. You don’t need to get your weight forward you just stand naturally. I taught loads of people to ski and they have to pick the position that suits them, so long as they are balanced over their feet. If you are fit you will be able to ski almost bolt upright. You should never get thigh burn, I need to be PC here otherwise I'd have to mention après ski. Without skis or boots on, jump up and land. That’s your ski position.

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@rum, thanks! Funnily enough I had a lesson today and that was what the instructor said too, and he made no comments about me being too far back either. So many different opinions!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Lots of different opinions on SHs but not among experienced qualified professional instructors. They are generally very consistent apart from those who have a poor reputation in the industry.

After all it is free

Hi Sparklies, what a super handle. That's very satisfying that someone else told you the same thing.

@sparklies, an elderly Scottish instructor told me, many years ago, that the secret of skiing is to "stand on your feet". It's so true. That lesson cost £80 and was worth every penny. wink

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I do seem to manage better if I stop thinking about it quite so much, heh! My main issue was the thigh burn, but I seem to have found at least a temporary fix for that with the core work and wall sits I've been doing. It remains to be seen if I still have thigh issues on long steep reds (I was fine on short reds and long steepish blues) but I won't find that out until January! Anyway I imagine most regular punter skiers would have issues on long steep reds to be fair. At least that is what I am telling myself.

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You shouldnt be getting thigh burn. Its hard to say without being there, but it sounds like you are trying to ski without using ski boots. Obviously you have boots on. What I mean is the boot is supposed to suppliment your calf muscles. Instead of thinking ben ze nees, think flex ze ankles. Do it first without boots, like when landing from a jump. Then note how much your ankles flex. Put the ski boots on no skis though, and do it again. The boots do a lot of the work absorbing the flex. So what that allows is for you to rest your shins on the front of the boot. Your boot must not be too stiff or it wont flex at slow ski speeds. Now you are standing in your ankle flexed ski posiiton, relaxed leaning ever so slightly on your shins, you feet are working normally with you neither leaning forwards or back. OK so far? Now you are able to rotate you body over your knees. So if you put your body forwards and stay balanced you automatically have to ben ze nees to stay in balance. If you try to put your body back you have to straighen ze nees.
If you are balanced your back muscles will start to take a lot of load off your thighs. Get it right and between the boots suplimenting your calves and you back supplimenting your thighs you get much less leg strain.
As you ski along and you are allowing everything to flex, when you need it in a turn or hitting a bump, the shins press hard on the boots, they resist and help you take the load.
Also very significant is you saying its better when you stop thinking about it. No one can ski in their concious mind, it has to be automated. For example if you started trying to walk conciously as if everyone was critisizing your walk it would go wrong - try it. Try following someone or sking and talking to someone. Use you concious mind to pick the route, and speed and leave the rest to itself. Thats what you do when you are running.

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sparklies, I haven't read the entire thread, just your first post, so sorry if repeat something already suggested, but here goes.

Take the heel lifts out. You might notice an instant fix to your problem. Too much lift forces hips to move back, and makes getting pressure on the front of the boot with the shin dang difficult. Getting forward should not be this hard, thus why I think there's more to the story than just what you're doing right or wrong from a technique perspective.

Help!!

Getting my sodding weight forward!

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