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Words From a Wise Man
- Thread starter WoodCore
- Start date
powhunter
Active member
True Enough!
badinfluence
Member
Makes sense
Krikaya
Member
What happens when you want to improve your quick tight turns? I skied away from a lesson a couple of years ago when the instructor took me to a flat beginner slope where it was impossible to pick up any speed. I was so pissed off at spending all that $ for nothing I spent the rest of the day skiing aggressively which turned into the best day of the season.
I've probably learned more from this guy than all my previous instructors put together. Darren Turner keeps it simple, focuses on one aspect of improving your technique at a time, and doesn't waste words.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5gnnZXoDK0
I've probably learned more from this guy than all my previous instructors put together. Darren Turner keeps it simple, focuses on one aspect of improving your technique at a time, and doesn't waste words.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5gnnZXoDK0
skiNEwhere
Active member
I think this is only true on really steep stuff where you are basically performing survival skiing so to speak.
Normally steep trails ~25 degrees are great at exposing your flaws to begin with. Last week I skied with a coworker who asked me to critique him. He was picking up his uphill ski while turning, and only did this on the blacks and not the blues. I'm not an instructor though so I'm not sure if he needed to go back to the blues to work on this
Normally steep trails ~25 degrees are great at exposing your flaws to begin with. Last week I skied with a coworker who asked me to critique him. He was picking up his uphill ski while turning, and only did this on the blacks and not the blues. I'm not an instructor though so I'm not sure if he needed to go back to the blues to work on this
Krikaya
Member
That's exactly what I'm trying to improve. I can ski pretty much ski the entire mountain, but some trails I merely survive. I get wounded on most double diamonds, but it's only my ego that's gets bruised. Heavily.
VTKilarney
Well-known member
Satan's Staircase comment in 3... 2... 1...
KevinF
Member
I obviously wasn't there but there are multiple reasons for an instructor taking you to very easy terrain to work on things. Your instructor might have thought that you were using speed to hide flaws in your technique; many things on skis are easier to do on steeper slopes or while moving at a decent clip but truly good skiers can still do them at a snails pace as well. For instance, I find various sideslip drills nearly impossible on the beginner hill and reasonably easy on steeper slopes.
There's really no reason you need to be moving at any kind of "speed" to make a short radius turn. There's an old mantra in ski instruction about "old terrain, new skills, new terrain, old skills".
All that said, if your instructor was taking you to easy terrain without explaining how this would correlate to your desired goals on more challenging terrain, then I find that to be a problem.
Krikaya
Member
Unfortunately, my last 2 ski lessons were useless. I basically learned nothing. I'm not sure it's the instructor's fault for dumbing it down or that I should get a private lesson which I can't afford. Maybe I should get a friend to videotape me.
Edd
Well-known member
I've sucked on double diamonds for years. You get used to it.
CoolMike
New member
Here's how to bootleg a private lesson;
Book a weeknight ski and stay at Sunday River. Its very cheap at the small place next to the hostel (~100$ per person per night). Make sure it is not a holiday week. The ski and stay comes with a free lesson. The beginner groups will have 3-5 people per lesson. The advanced group will have 1-3 people. I've never seen anyone else take an expert lesson (except myself). Take a minute to chat with the instructors. Tell them what you want to work on specifically and ask for an expert lesson. It is VERY likely that it will just be you and the instructor tooling around the whole resort for 2+ hours. I was successful with this two days in a row 3-4 seasons ago. I used the same instructor both days and it was a blast!
MadMadWorld
Active member
he should definitely take a step back and focus on body positioning and paying attention as to how the body moves to engage the ski when you transition into the turn. Most people aren't afraid of the steepness of the trail itself but what will happen if they were to lose control on something really steep. To carve a turn you need speed and that's when people fall apart and they fall back onto techniques they are more familiar with.
MadMadWorld
Active member
That's just being smart. When I taught at Wachusett. I would have some people stop a few feet away from where I was standing with my class doing drills and they would listen and then ski away and try it. I can't even count how many times that happened.
Krikaya
Member
That's not smart. That's wicked smart. Good idea Coolmike. I'll have to try that since I do 95% of my skiing midweek. Thanks.
Thanks for this bit of advice. I already have a SR midweek booked and will definitely try this out.
Totally true. I think mogul work is a great example. I can get into such a good rythm on low-angle moguls but the second they start to get steep I can hit 4, 5 bumps and then next thing you know I"m in the backseat bumping over the top of them perpendicular to the slope ;P
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