Absolutely,,, with a series of drills called hop turns. Your indoor slope provides perfect terrain for them.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
What do you mean by a jump turn ?
Depending upon what you mean, jump turns really are a last resort when nothing else will work.
Beyond a basic ability to jump and rotate round nearly 180 degrees when traveling slowly,
I can't see any point on expending too much energy working on them.
However, it wouldn't be the first time I've completely misunderstood what someone meant !!
Is hop turns like the 'turn of a thousand steps' - where you make the turn by doing a series of small jumps or hops ?
If so, fab drill, great for poise, movement, edge control, the whole thing really
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I'm wondering if the OP means those pole assisted turns that you often see on the video's doing very steep off piste when the skier almost jumps down the steepest parts of the piste using what appears to be a double pole plant to assist in getting both skis off the ground and end up facing the opposite direction. At least that's what I'd describe it as - someone posted a link to some footage recently showing someone working a v. very steep section and they did a lot of 'jumping' at the top of that slope.
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Neilski, the other good one to practice (if your fit enough) Jump turn on the spot a few times making sure that you are not going down the slope, best done on a step section not flat section!!
then continue jump turning so that you go backwards up the slope! this helps compensate for the lack of 50 degree slope but makes you set your edges properly
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Alan McGregor wrote:
...
Depending upon what you mean, jump turns really are a last resort when nothing else will work.
TBH I guess thats why the OP would like to practice them in a controlled environment. Just looking at the video fatbob linked to you certainly would want to have the technique nailled down.
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fatbob, thats the sort of "jump turns" i mean, but maybe not in quite that extreme enviroment
i know that in essence all they involve is turning 180 whilst in the air, but in practice i struggle to achieve this with 5' planks stuck to my feet, i have done a lot of work in the last year in the gym on squat jumps and skipping to improve fitness for the off piste side of skiing, but now need to understand how to initiate the tun etc, is it a actual jump or something more subtle
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Neilski, if you can do them on an indoor slope they'll be easier when you need to use them! I sometimes practice them on flat terrain (for instance when my friends stop behind me and I do a jump turn to face them). I haven't yet tried livetoski's suggestion to go up to slope when jump-turning!
A friend of mine couldn't do them ("I can't jump like a goat, the way you do" he used to say). I told him rotate his upper body 90 degrees before jumping (so the lower body rotates automatically when in the air), and to significantly exaggerate the jump compared to the effort he thought was necessary. Seemed to work for him - he found it easier to get out of tricky situations.
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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
Quote:
I sometimes practice them on flat terrain (for instance when my friends stop behind me and I do a jump turn to face them
Some people make this look annoyingly easy - done right, they look almost effortless. Fastman is a past master. I think I might put some time into this next season - though only on the flat when waiting for friends, or whatever. Not on the Aiguille du Midi. Only because the uplift is so expensive, you understand.
Pedal hop (Anselme Baud) turn demo with Remy Lecluse. Jimmy Oden gives a step by step guide to something similar:
Quote:
1) Put your weight on the downhill ski, turn your upper body slightly outwards and face downhill. With a little controlled speed, plant the pole to the side below the binding, more downhill than a normal pole plant. Look at the snow and try to anticipate what the snow will be like; breakable, soft or hard.
2) Transfer your weight to the uphill ski and start the turn by pushing away (extending) your uphill leg. At the same time, your shoulders and torso should be facing downhill. Push your downhill pole and hand forward and in front of you (the folding pole plant) to avoid coming out of the turn too fast and being thrown off balance onto the tails of the skis.
3)Try to jump as little as possible (the closer to the ground you are the more control you will have). If possible, keep your skis on the snow throughout the whole turn. Continue pushing your downhill pole and hand in front of you throughout the whole turn.
4) Keep your speed down and stay in control by allowing the turn to finish at 90 degrees to the fall line.
Taken from Freeskiing: How to adapt to the mountain
There is another description of how to do this (again slightly different) in Mont Blanc and the Aiguilles Rouges, a guide for skiers.
I'd find a guide willing to teach this somewhere steep enough to get it working.
Pedal hop (Anselme Baud) turn demo with Remy Lecluse. Jimmy Oden gives a step by step guide to something similar:
..........
There is another description of how to do this (again slightly different) in Mont Blanc and the Aiguilles Rouges, a guide for skiers.
I'd find a guide willing to teach this somewhere steep enough to get it working.
Great link Gorilla. As I found the description and diagram in his book incomprehensible. As for practice a plastic slope would be hopeless. I would suggest somewhere f steep with a safe run out. The demo in the vid is good as it shows both a static and dynamic example, also its very smooth, I have seen skiers literally jump out of their skis trying too hard!
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
gorilla, every time I tried the pedal turn I collapsed into a heap and then accelerated downhill. I'll crack it someday!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
The link comes courtesy of Snowball on here and Jumpturn on TGR. Not sure who found it first but I'm indebted to either or both of them. I think the idea of practicing it somewhere steep where you can arrest if you bin it is the right one, i.e. not the arete or any couloir with a bend in it. My rudimentary experience suggests that the terrain needs to be >35 degrees or the skis don't come into the fall line properly (or at all).
horizon, I never got it to work without a bit too much of a stem at initiation and some sweet backseat steeze as I bring the skis back across the fall line. I will get this to work, though.
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?
In the video linked above, I can't understand what he's saying at 3.36 - something which is absolutely prohibited on steep slopes. Sounds like "conversion". Grateful translation.
LOL and to get them out of the way in time, its a b*mmer when you catch your tails on your pole
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I think it was footage on the Aiguille du midi that I was recalling when I described the footage above - yes, they were turns I thought were being discussed.
In the video linked above, I can't understand what he's saying at 3.36 - something which is absolutely prohibited on steep slopes. Sounds like "conversion". Grateful translation.
conversion = kickturn?
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Arno, ah - kick turn, that might make sense as something to avoid on a steep slope with no chance of recovery if it goes wrong.
After all it is free
After all it is free
All of this still rates an ummmm from me.
Yes jump turns are an emergency last resort, but they really should be a last resort, generaly there are better & safer ways of dealing with the situation.
There are plenty of other ways of dealing with steep terrain.
Kick turns aren't brilliant either, but at least one ski remains in contact with, & gripping the snow.
Jump turns really are a bit of a last-shot gamble.
However, if you are very steep & very narrow (45 deg +, under 3m) then they are the only option, but if you are skiing that sort of terrain you wouldn't need to ask the question
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The important thing in Remy's demo is that he pushes off the uphill ski, then lands on both.
In steep terrain your downhill leg is too stretched to jump off, especially if you have widened your stance for extra stability.
You come down onto both feet evenly because it is critical it works ! This gives you 2 sets of edges to work with, and you will rapidly come to the weight distribution that works for that turn.
FAQ
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