Firstly I'm not trying to sell anything or promote a company. Im simply wanting to offer advice to those that feel it may be useful.
My background is that I was in the british Freestyle moguls Team fo 5 years and after retiring from competition ran a large British Ski and Snowboard School in Verbier, Switzerland.
I'm currently injured (blown ACL doing ice hockey training ) and am not teaching at present but am still keen to help skiers if I can, even if I can't slide about at present myself
If anyone has any tuition related questions please do not hesitate to PM me and I will try and help if I can, or indeed if you need advice on where to go for good tuition whilst abroad in the resorts you are travelling too I will also endeavour to steer you in the right direction.
Enjoy your skiing guys and don't end up like me sitting the winter out when the snow starts to fall, Im very jealous!!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
cdmogulski, welcome Chris, a very generous offer.
Dont be put off by the midgets.
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?
cdmogulski, a nice idea, but why not have an open debate per question as opposed to PMs?
Yep, no problems, what ever will help people more. People are welcome to use whatever method of contact they prefer.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
OK I will kick off! My biggest problem is undoubtedly my failure to keep my weight forward, particularly if it gets v steep, bumpy, slushy etc. I am fine on even steep reds if there is lovely pisted corduroy. What be your best advice, or technique to combat this. I am a roughly a 10/12 week skier, fit-ish, had lessons but keen to get better.
Plus I am using low end equipment that I own but am seriously thinking about upgrading. Snow permitting I am going on the Warren Smith course in Verbier a week on Saturday and I was intending to ask them to point me in the right direction viz a viz gear. Does good/perfectly fitting equipment make that much difference? I am a keen golfer and I dont really feel clubs make that much difference to a golfer, is skiing different?
Getting the right equipment is very important. Well fitted boots undoubtedly being the most important purchase.
Technique and practice however is also very important and should first be done on easy non intimidating bumps or slopes where you can focus on your technique.
Sitting/leaning back is probably one of the most common areas that an instructor has to develop. It is often caused my a natural reaction caused by an apprehension to throw your body down a steep hill. Ideally one should have the upper body perpendicular to the slope, basically lean forward with your upper body.
The steeper the slope the more you will need to do this, whilst maintaing a strong core(tensed abdomen). Dont fold at the waist when you hit every bump, stay strong and on top of your skis by pulling your feet back under body on the shoulder of every bump.
The other key is the placement or timing of the pole plant. DONT pant on top of the bump, this will often push you back or put strain on your arms. Reach over the bump and plant on the backside. This will disrupt your flow less and will enable you to focus on keeping your weight forward.
We also teach people to plant and punch the hand forward. A common problem can be to allow the hand to plant and 'open the door' which will again put your weight back.
Skiing bumps/steeps is not difficult once the right technique has been gained. But practice a lot on getting you technique right before you go into them.
Warren or his guys will undoubtedly work on this with you. I hope this helps, but let me know if its not clear and I will try and help further.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Ok Chris
Got that - now can you explain the physics of inner tip lead?
Sorry in joke.
I liked Wozzer's tip of what I call "chicken wings" keeping elbows bent inwards in the bumps to improve the punch in poleplanting. Course I don't do it consistently and my arm action anywhere looks like an explosion in a catherine wheel factory or when I'm really concentrating a frozen gibbon.
What tips do you have re dealing with sudden changes of snow underfoot e.g. hitting the corn line or breakable crust?
After all it is free
After all it is free
cdmogulski, Welcome to Snowheads. I'm sure the resident experts will appreciate another voice to help out - we have some very good folks round here, who I'm not going to list for fear of missing someone out. However, please make sure you are wearing your thick skin and be prepared for the 'in jokes'!! Great to have you on board
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.
I'm just starting to stick my head over the intermediate parapet, gaining confidence all the time and starting to feel comfy on reds, and have tackled just the odd easy black. At this level confidence is easy to dent. What is the best plan of action in an unfamiliar resort if someone at this level (or earlier), unexpectedly comes upon a respectable field of moguls with no way out? (and yes it has happened, hence the question).
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
cdmogulski, welcome to the madhouse! I will think of you sitting nursing the knee tomorrow while I'm working at Castle College.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
fatbob wrote:
Ok Chris
Got that - now can you explain the physics of inner tip lead?
Sorry in joke.
I liked Wozzer's tip of what I call "chicken wings" keeping elbows bent inwards in the bumps to improve the punch in poleplanting. Course I don't do it consistently and my arm action anywhere looks like an explosion in a catherine wheel factory or when I'm really concentrating a frozen gibbon.
What tips do you have re dealing with sudden changes of snow underfoot e.g. hitting the corn line or breakable crust?
Phew thats a much easier question to answer.
In conditions such as adverse or flat light or in powder or slopes where there could be a variety of snow conditions such as breakable crust,the biggest tip is that you must keep a strong core (tensed abdomen)at all times as in moguls.
I also find that a closed stance helps and just try to ride confidently and agressivly through it.
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.
Megamum wrote:
I'm just starting to stick my head over the intermediate parapet, gaining confidence all the time and starting to feel comfy on reds, and have tackled just the odd easy black. At this level confidence is easy to dent. What is the best plan of action in an unfamiliar resort if someone at this level (or earlier), unexpectedly comes upon a respectable field of moguls with no way out? (and yes it has happened, hence the question).
yep a classic position to be in.
Take your time if your not sure.
Focus on doing long turns traversing the slope if necessary rather than attempting to ski the fall line.
above all and most importantly when approaching a field of bumps and this is the real secret to bumps skiing.
Dont focus on the bumps, its the biggest mistake that everyone makes when first approaching a bump field, instead focus on the route through or around them. So the troughs need to be your focus, for choosing a route. You will hopefully quickly change your perception of bumps if you view them in this way and they will become a fun challenge rather than an intimidating nightmare.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Butterfly wrote:
cdmogulski, welcome to the madhouse! I will think of you sitting nursing the knee tomorrow while I'm working at Castle College.
well you really are a local so if you ever get stuck re technique please do feel free to quiz away. I will try to help
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Good luck with the ACL Chris - Nightmare.
Dont spend too long on the forums though....
Quote:
We also teach people to plant and punch the hand forward. A common problem can be to allow the hand to plant and 'open the door' which will again put your weight back.
I agree that 90% of the time this is a great technique. Really helps get the weight forward and feels really positive.
Although I have never skied with Warren Smith I know he is very big on punching the hands forward.
Recently though I was taught a technique for steep terrain called a 'folding pole plant'. Where the planted pole is folded back towards the body half way round a steep turn. If you leave the pole planted too far forward / up hill on steep slopes it can result in the inside shoulder trailing behind where it ideally should be... The late Doug Coombs was apparently very big on the 'folding pole plant' (and it was taught to me by a La Grave ski bum). Its very subtle though...
Not trying to start an argument by the way.
Just being a tech-dork and highlighting a slightly different style (or perhaps way of describing it)!
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Fri 20-11-09 0:15; edited 2 times in total
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Thanks, I'll try to ski the troughs if there is a next time.
I guess they weren't "mahoosive" bumps, but it was a respectable field that could be seen some distance away at the base of the slope.
I must confess that once I'd decided they weren't going to get the better of me and decided to try skiing them, even though I had no idea how to (in fact I got brutally cross with them), I just approached them as though they weren't there. The way I skied them was to literally ride the ski that hit the bump up and over it by flexing that knee thus literally shortening the leg (though I couldn't have done it if they had been much larger) and then picking the largest trough I could find to turn in once I'd completed the traverse. I also found that a shouted out loud expletive (most unlike me to use that 'sort' of language) on the turn helped loads!!
I have avoided them ever since that incident and even now at the end of the day when the slush starts to mound in a regular pattern I tend to try and ski straight through them. If only everyone would do so they wouldn't build up in the first place
Good luck with the ACL Chris - Nightmare.
Dont spend too long on the forums though....
Quote:
We also teach people to plant and punch the hand forward. A common problem can be to allow the hand to plant and 'open the door' which will again put your weight back.
I agree that 90% of the time this is a great technique. Really helps get the weight forward and feels really positive.
Although I have never skied with Warren Smith I know he is very big on punching the hands forward.
Recently though I was taught a technique for steep terrain called a 'folding pole plant'. Where the planted pole is folded back towards the body half way round a steep turn. If you leave the pole planted too far forward / up hill on steep slopes it can result in the inside shoulder trailing behind where it ideally should be... The late Doug Coombs was apparently very big on the 'folding pole plant' (and it was taught to me by a La Grave ski bum). Its very subtle though...
Not trying to start an argument by the way.
Just being a tech-dork and highlighting a slightly different style (or perhaps way of describing it)!
Hi there.
Thanks for sending the link to the video. The pole plant Doug is doing is a great example of what to use off-piste, basically he isn't hanging on to the plant too long and it is very effective for what he was doing.
I have attached a link for a similar clip that might be useful to people for moguls. Note where the pole is being planted.
cdmogulski, sorry to hear about your knee hope it doesnt slow you down long term... looking forward to reading your thoughts on skiing though. always good to get advice from someone who can walk the talk!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I have posted this on another thread but thought it worth repeating.
An absolutely gorgeous Swedish instructor was desperately trying to find a way to encourage me to get my weight forward.
In her sexy Swedish accent she finally came up with - 'You don't sh*t the turn, you f*ck it'.
Certainly stuck in my mind for a long time.
After all it is free
After all it is free
beanie1 wrote:
cdmogulski, welcome to snowheads!
Quote:
ran a large British Ski and Snowboard School in Verbier, Switzerland.
Out of interest, which ski school?
Hi I started and ran Altitude for 7 years.
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.
Hi cdmogulski - really generous offer.
I've spent a few (quite a few, if I'm honest) days now with John Smart's mogul courses in Whistler. I've got the theory (ha ha) but putting it into practice is a lot harder (HAHAHA).
But here's the question: soft wet spring moguls: great. They're slower, they're more forgiving, and they're basically fun. But what adaptation tips have you got for icy moguls (ie spring moguls in the morning)? I find that they get too fast, too quick, like a video game with too many things to concentrate on at the same time. Speed control is just something that completely escapes me in all but the simplest icy moguls. I know to slow things down on an icy groomer; don't do anything too quickly lest your ski loses its line, but that's pretty difficult in a mogul field at any sort of speed.
Or is the trick just to do something else for the morning, and wait for the temps to come up?
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sat 21-11-09 10:52; edited 1 time in total
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
greg66 wrote:
Hi cdmogulski - really generous offer.
I've spent a few (quite a few, if I'm honest) days now with John Smart's mogul courses in Whistler. I've got the theory (ha ha) but putting it into practice is a lot harder (HAHAHA).
But here's the question: soft wet spring moguls: great. They're slower, they're more forgiving, and they're basically fun. But what adaptation tips have you got for icy moguls (ie spring moguls in the morning)? I find that they get too fast, too quick, like a video game with too many things to concentrate on at the same time. Speed control is just something that completely escapes me in all but the simplest icy moguls. I know to slow things down on an icy groomer; don't do anything too quickly lest your ski loses its line, but that's pretty difficult in a mogul field at any sort of speed.
Or is the trick just to do something else for the morning, and wait for the temps to come up?
Ice bumps, my pet hate when I used to compete!
Basically try and avoid them until they soften up ideally.
Otherwise if skiing them is necessary take your time, it wont be pleasant and will feel like your getting shaken to pieces. There is no easy way to cope with them
Frozen competition bumps that I used to ski had a predicatable rythm, but naturally formed bumps can be just horrible, without rythm and will not be fun. I defy you to find a single skier that trully loves icy natural bumps.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Ha! Thanks for that - it makes me feel a *lot* better.
I was thinking about this a bit more last night, and the additional deep, deep miisery about them (in spring) is the debris/death peebles that have frozen onto them from the previous afternoon. There's one particular run I have in mind, where skier's left is heavily shaded, and relies on air temp to soften them. When they re-freeze, in the morning they feel like genuine ankle breakers.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
) and am not teaching at present but am still keen to help skiers if I can, even if I can't slide about at present myself
