In Season 2019 the Grom and I had a day with an instructor friend and he spent most of the time getting us to have our shoulders in the right orientation - essentially at the same angle as the slope (although plenty of minor refinements to exactly which direction you face after the right shoulder angle has been achieved). It was a great day and has transformed my skiing (and ... grrr ... the Grom was doing it anyway...).
Think this way: the slope in an on is 30deg, the line of my shoulders should match that. This slope is 40 deg, I need to match that. After a while it becomes really natural, since you simply match the plane of your shoulders with the plane of the slope. This has a profound impact on edging. Do it, and your edges find a magical level of grip. Fail to match the angle...level your shoulders...feel your grip vanish. There are many things which we need to refine in skiing, but this is one thing which makes quite a few important things just fall in line and into place.
Cody Townsend demonstrates this brilliantly in his new video:
Good advice, I particularly liked the bit how he describes trying to keep his tips on the snow while turning down the steep pitch. I try to do that initiation of get weight well over the front, but his demo makes good viewing.
Don't the shoulders make such a difference though, it was really emphasised to me when learning to board just how much very small angles can influence the shape of your skeleton and how it subtly moves your feet without trying.
MTB too, I use a method to teach others riding berms, to look at where you want the tire to exit the berm as it moves the shoulders and pulls a perfect line through it. The sooner you lock onto the exit with your eyes the more consistent you'll run the course you want.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Ski3 - ...absolutely...harnessing the magnetic tree effect but to do good rather than bad things...look where you want to go rather than at the things you want to avoid ...
Back to skiing, I find that it I do incline my shoulders in the way that Alex and Cody demonstrate, then I tend to stop fretting, and get the right ‘sight lines’ - ie gets me looking in the right direction and at the right things, in the manner you describe...
After all it is free
After all it is free
Good advice. Even if my usage will be limited to black pistes
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Great video. You don’t need to skiing 50 degree chutes to benefit from the advice.
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