I was in Les Menuires over the New Year. Skied mostly offpiste but one day we videod each other doing some short turns on packed snow. I was trying to do reasonably smooth short turns.
Where: just off the side of a red run, somewhere in Les Menuires
Snow conditions: packed, very good grip, very mellow bumps
Skis: my 93-mm waist Tankers, with a radius of about 23m I think (not the ideal shape for short turns, I know)
It's not really my place to comment, as you're a good skier, and I didn't really cover myself in glory doing this in our recent trip to Tignes . However...
(Comments mainly on first vid. Second looks pretty good to me, but the turns are generally longer radius, so the technique is a bit different)
My first query is about your pole plants. They look less like an integral part of committing to the turn, than just finding something to do with your hands. Hand position is good-ish, but the plant looks a bit wishy-washy. Doesn't llok to me as if that is enough to act as a genuine focus point. Try planting a little further forward and stabbing forward into the snow a bit more aggressively. This will then give you a good explosive commitment to the turn. There seems to me a suspicion that your left plants are weaker than the right. The plant the turn before the one it went a bit pear-shaped looked particularly ineffectual, which put you out of balance coming into the one that went wrong? A more aggressive plant would also help with my other slight suspicion here, your upper body looks a bit of a passenger here - side-to-side movement is good, but fore-aft is a bit lazy? Core doesn't look as activated as it could be, and maybe a tendency to drop back a bit (although there's very little sideways view, so it's difficult to be more than suspicious on that one - and you look fine wrt this on the other vid).
My more major concern though is the first half of the turns. Are you getting the turn to start with a pressure movement to get the ski to bend, or a lighter weighted twist? The absence of any snow coming off the ski in that first half, and the speed with which you get into the fall-line, makes me suspect the latter (although I'd need to look at it in slow-mo to be more sure, and I'm not brilliant at spotting that at the best of times). I do the same and it's OK in that level of snow, but in deeper and heavier snow it falls apart, and either the turn doesn't happen or you trip yourself up (as skimottaret can attest). I did a lot of work trying to get the pressure on at 1-2 o'clock in the turn and it's hard work but really works - by the last couple of days I actually managed to ski a few runs moderately competently. Actually making a more aggressive pole plant may help with this too, getting the whole body to go for it more in the first part of the turn. High energy skiing, but worth it.
All picky points on generally good skiing....but you did ask .
(With a bit of luck I'll be getting quite a lot of practice on the same next week...on my own 95mm 25m radius skis )
I agree with GrahamN but i would say that maybe you need to bring you shoulders forward a little which would probably help with the pole plant as mentioned earlier. Plus.... I did my BASI 1 last year and for the first time i understood what it meant when everyone told me to finish my turns. It is difficult to see on the video but i would say like me, you are a bit keen to get into the next turn, even in short swings. Let the skis come round the turn a little more before initiating the next one. It could be because of your skis too.
Looks good though
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
horizon, Strong skiing - to make your short radius stronger I'd suggest skiing less "off piste" on-piste. That is you are quite 2 footed all the way through the turns. I think you could pressurise the downhill ski a lot more and ride the radius more, 1 footed - before starting the next turn. (Finishing the turn as ski bat suggests). Thinking long leg/short leg through the turn, getting grip from the downhill ski. Moving towards this type of skiing will help rid the occasional A-Frame you have and lower ski breaking. Your strong core, body position and pole plant will help you get to that stage fairly quickly - my overall thoughts are focus on your legs and the arcs your skis are making - don't worry about the upper body/poles, they look good.
After all it is free
After all it is free
These are all interesting comments - many thanks!
The very reason I'm looking for comments is to unearth stuff I hadn't spotted myself. Then I can play with different ideas and see what works better. (for instance, I hadn't considered having less pressure on the inside leg).
I wish I had a video of doing turns on the Scott Missions - there were a few runs where I felt the turn shape was much rounder. (It does help that they have a radius of only 17m).
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
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