 Poster: A snowHead
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| Chaletbeauroc wrote: |
@Glosterwolf,
I would not for a second suggest that fat skis are the ideal tools for slalom skiing, which is effectively what you're describing, but it's about a lot more than the edge transition speed.
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Last year, on the BB I was skiing with a well known snowhead who is a very technical & fast skier who would normally beat me, on my skinnies, through the slalom gates. This time, I was on my 110s, he was on fis slalom skis, down the parallel slalom course, I won!
The 110s seemed to hold the edge better in the turns, holding the carve, rather than losing the edge grip & sliding sideways.
Just as height weight are used to determine ski length, they should be used for ski width as well, at 90kg & not carrying much fat, I can boss a pair of 110s around like someone of 70kg on a pair of 95s.
As far as the OP can't carve, won't carve is concerned, I would share my own feelings about how I do it.
A smooth & quiet blue run is the best place to start.
Weight should be forward such that there is a gentle to moderate pressure on your shins from the boots, about 30 cm between the skis.
Push both knees to the side that you wish to turn to put both skis on edge.
This is the hard part!
The skis should "lock" onto the snow, like they are on rails but this is where beginner carvers will fall or bottle out, because the skis are going where they want to go and you have to adjust your balance to suit the trajectory of the ski, rather than adjusting the side slip of the ski to suit your balance.
It's a bit like comparing walking to riding a bicycle, with walking, you can simply step to one side or the other to suit your balance, on a bicycle, it's more like making fine adjustments to the control of the machine and your body in order to remain balanced.
Put another way, imagine being stood up on a bus, normally you would step side to side to stay upright
, but with carving, it is like having your feet stuck in one place, you have to look forward and lean to keep your balance matched with where the bus is turning.
Does this make any sense to anybody else?, as I say, it is just the way that I feel about learning to carve my turns.
As a motorcyclist, there are some that like the straight line speed & acceleration, but I love the feeling of leaning the bike through the bends, the sensation of carved turns is just the same, the harder the turn, the better. Many people don't enjoy this as much as I do and there are other aspects of skiing that are more enjoyable to them, as such, being able to carve a turn is more of a technical achievement, rather than something to enjoy in itself.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Chaletbeauroc, We teach kids to link clean arcs without using the whole of a wide piste, it isn't that difficult.
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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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@tangowaggon, i'd take it a step back to begin with, and start by doing side slips. Learning how rolling the ankles and knees in to the hill engages the edges.
From there I'd then build it up to garlands, across a slope. Then I'd work up to J turns on both sides, then look at rail tracks, and then moving that in to full carved turns
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Chaletbeauroc wrote: |
| jedster wrote: |
of course with cross under short carves when you load the tails at the end of a turn and control the pop on release it is quite possible that the rotation happens when you have no or almost no snow contact and you just put the new edge back on the snow with a gentle kiss. So you go from one pure carve to another. Personally I find that a lot easier on SLs than >100m freeride skis but that might be because of my technical shortcomings. |
I know what you mean about the 'pure carve' but it's really just a question of semantics more than anything else. When I do 'carving' on a wide piste I'm looking for a smooth transition and a completely regular turn radius, which is never going to be found in short turns either. And I think that this is what the "can't carve" faction are talking about.
Your preference is your preference, but I can't help but be slightly worried about your description of 'loading the tails'. Implies that at that point in the turn your weight is too far back, so you may have something you could work on there. It's definitely not something I'd be wanting to see in a short turn exercise. |
THat's interesting, most descriptions of short carved turns I have read talk of weight moving towards the tails at the end of the turn. I find I lose carving performance on skis with flatter straighter tails which don't offer the same edge grip at the finish of the turn (obviously they bring benefits in ease of pivotting and drifting) but perhaps that is a function of my dodgy technique. I have been meaning to have a lesson!
Point taken on smooth even turns. I do like to increase the edge angle through the turn to tighten it, simply because I enjoy the sensations.
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