Pure Joy!

[orsonab]

Have to share this with you lot as the wife doesn't ski and "doesn't understand me" but I just came back from a day at Gunstock and everything really clicked today. I'm a struggling intermediate skier who couldn't seem to stop skidding on the turns which slowed me down and was killing my quads. Went back to the "Teach Yourself to Ski" books, went over the basics again and then thought of only three things while skiing today: shoulders perp. to the fall line; nose over toes; and roll those ankles. It worked. I carved like never before. In fact I believe I whooped with joy at one point. I know many of you are far more advanced than I and this is old news to you but for those of you out there who are still struggling with the "blues" - keep at it and keep it simple.

Thanks for letting me vent (in a good way!)

 

[Greg]

keep at it and keep it simple.

Very well said. Congrats on your progress! I'm a firm believer in working on only one or two things at a time. There have been days I have brought a laundry list of technique items to work on and most of them go right out the window once I'm on snow. With that said, don't let working on technique overshadow just having fun. Finally, the "keep at it" part is right on. Log as many miles as life will allow. There is no substitute for slide time. Sometimes you just have to get out and ski!

 

[RISkier]

Congrats! Breatkthroughs are great.

 

[Greg]

Breatkthroughs are great.

I like to call them "ah-ha" moments.

 

[Paul]

I like to call them "ah-ha" moments.

Or Epiphanies, for those of us more pretentious. :smile:


Nice job!

 

[severine]

Congrats!!! As a skidder, I understand your excitement. Way to go!!!

 

[thetrailboss]

Orsonab: congrats. Little known fact: at one time I really hated skiing. I started at Burke in 1990 in a ski program through my school (almost 18 years to the day). I had old skis, old hand me down boots, and new bindings. I took lessons as a kid in the school program for 3 seasons or so. It took me the whole first season to get off the J-Bar and onto the lower chairlift. Then I tried the top and hit a major wall...named Willoughby, a steep blue cruiser. I sucked. I was a fourth grader and got so scared and frustrated that I only skied the easy Toll Road off the summit for a year or so.

To make a long story short, I kept skiing...it became my sport. I went to my local town hill (the Lyndon Outing Club) and tried their short, steep runs. I watched great skiers ski...and skied with them. I owe much of my skills today to being an autodidactic skier who read magazines, watched movies, and skied. One day at Burke I rode up the lift with the original trailboss and told him that I was having a hard time breaking out of low intermediate status...and wanted some different terrain other than the steep Willoughby. He showed me East Bowl, Powderhorn, and Carriage Road that morning and I never looked back. I skied tougher and tougher trails. If I had to snowplow down them, I did. My goal was not to take my skis off and to get the skills I needed to master it.

I got my first pair of new skis that were just for me. I bought my first pair of new boots later. With new equipment came more opportunities. I skied many places and came to sharpen my skills...little by little.

Three years ago I went to Sunday River for a week and got lessons that week. I thought I didn't need them, but they helped me sharpen my technique and ski my new Head Monsters better. By the last day, the instructor was praising me for my polished technique.

So in sum, I can empathize with you. My ability to charge down the slopes was not one that came overnight, but through years and years of practice, reading those same "break out of the intermediate blues" books, watching and skiing with great skiers (though the original trailboss won't admit it, he is one hell of a skier and has good form), having the RIGHT equipment, and getting out there skiing varied terrain in varied conditions. So I know the feeling of breaking another barrier! :beer:

 

[snoseek]

If you could only bottle that feeling. Skill level doesn't matter-that is what we all look for.

 

[Skier75]

Have to share this with you lot as the wife doesn't ski and "doesn't understand me" but I just came back from a day at Gunstock and everything really clicked today. I'm a struggling intermediate skier who couldn't seem to stop skidding on the turns which slowed me down and was killing my quads. Went back to the "Teach Yourself to Ski" books, went over the basics again and then thought of only three things while skiing today: shoulders perp. to the fall line; nose over toes; and roll those ankles. It worked. I carved like never before. In fact I believe I whooped with joy at one point. I know many of you are far more advanced than I and this is old news to you but for those of you out there who are still struggling with the "blues" - keep at it and keep it simple.

Thanks for letting me vent (in a good way!)

Hummm....sounds like something I need to work on, especially after my last ski trip. Thanks.

 

[Warp Daddy]

orsonab!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a few YEE HAAS are in order!!! There is no feeling like it when you are in the ZONE.------well done

I feel your Joy here in frigid NNY

 

[skiboarder]

Way to go! Skiing breakthroughs are so exciting. Greg's point was excellent: focus on no more than 2 or 3 tips at a time.

 

[tomski]

Probably has nothing to do with all the natural snow we received versus man made ice either. We call that hero snow because the results are exactly what you described.

 

[billski]

I'm even more narrow-minded than that. I focus on one "new" thing at a time, while trying not to forget the "old" things.

A hard lesson I learned was not trying to learn something new when things really count. I was at a race at Steamboat once when Billy Kidd came up and gave us a "tip". A very good tip it was, but there was no time to practice it. I made the mistake of trying to use the tip on my first race run. Loser me! I should have known better.

For me, the lesson of "new tips" applies when free skiing too. I'm not gonna try some new technique on the steeps until I've had a chance to test it out on something more modest first.

 

[SIKSKIER]

Congradulations!There is no better feeling for a struggling intermediate to finally "get it".I remember when the breakthough happened for me 25 years ago like it was yesterday.You feel like you'll never get past that wall and then WAM.The one key for me was getting over my skis on steep terrain instead of the natural tendency of leaning back and keeping that upper body facing down that steep slope.Get right back out there so that feeling does not fade away and dont be frustrated if you cant find that magic right away.You know what it feels like now and it will start to become more frequent the more you ski.