- Joined
- Dec 3, 2015
- Posts
- 174
Klaus Mair -- knee driving and hip dumping -- choose your beauty; exhibit B -- exhibits exactly what ? ; exhibits C exhibits two example of good skiing and two intermediate skiers ; Svindal's video will urge how exactly the intermediate skier to create higher edge angles ? ; how is the crudology video related to the topic title ?
It's not a weak skiing and it's definitely better looking then the first video of him posted above. But still ... in 2015 one must have a little higher criteria when choosing an example to follow.
"Different edges for different wedges", SkiStaff, you think it's low-level skiing , I laughed, "two intermediate skiers", do you know them ? That was pretty sharp there 'skistaff', you must be an 'expert' of some repute. fair enough, "Different sticks for different tricks". Not that Jack and Jane Public's view are important by any means and they have spoken softly.
Now back to the main show: Wonder how one considers this demo - ignoring the skier involved - just the technique on the bigger turns , short turns, most approaches/techniques have some convergence: And especially from MINUTE MARKER: 4'46" the bigger turns . This is an "ahem" racer coaching gcool, and so clearly has his own distinct signature style somewhat different from most other skiers but good contrast and Mr. Pugh, he is teaching :
Interesting discussion, although I must say it seems to me that most of the videos could be interpreted as videos to get to a high enough angle for carving turns, I would not call them videos for developing-high-edge angles. They seem like good enough videos to get you started down that road, discounting the videos that were off topic.
Someone please post video on how to develop proper form and ski with high edge angles so that I can increase the g-forces in my skiing and ski with shorter radius carved turns with longer radius skis. Thank you.
A couple of comments come to mind, but first a little about me so you can see where I get my perspective. Much of my early ski education was self taught. I began with the old old-school snow-plow, stem-christie, parallel progression, but went through it quickly enough not to be left with a perma-stem. For many years I was just in it for the thrill of the speed, and my main source of ski instruction was watching FIS WC DH races and listening to the commentators. I spent the first 15 years mostly skiing icy and some icy narrow runs as fast as I could go, but have also spent enough time skiing deep snow to realize the difference in technique required for each. I was not interested in skiing moguls better and didn't care how I looked while skiing. I skied for 15 to 20 years before I ever took a lesson, so had not developed the typical habits I keep hearing about such as an up-move, steering to an edge angle before engaging edges, or unnecessary pivoting of the skis. When I did take lessons, I directed them to forgetabout that speed control bs and refine my carving abilities. Before taking that lesson I really did not know how I was doing what I was doing. Looking back, I'm sure I was banking and skiing too square to the skis and was only fortunate to have lived as long as I did. Taking that first lesson started me down the road to better form, counter (counter action and counter balance according to what I've read of the last while), body position, specific movements and their affect on skis. About 10 or 15 years ago I got the urge to expand my horizons and learn how to properly ski moguls, as well as really refining my turns. I like the way I ski, but I want to ski better.
I encountered PMTS some years ago through epicski and the pmts forums. What the PMTS folks were advocating seemed to make sense to me from a physics point of view, but I was not interested enough to go deeply into it. However, I found the advocated method of skiing pretty much aligned with what I was already doing, except for that focus on the inside foot pullback, which did not seem a big deal to me, but is to PMTS. This summer, being between jobs, I had some time, so I checked out their books from the library and read them over. The books came with videotapes. IMHO, over-all it seems like a good system. With proper modifications the basic approach would work well in all terrain, and IIRC, the last book makes note of the modifications.
I can see how the instruction and focus on pulling back the feet would be helpful instead of the instruction to move your COM forward with respect to your base of support. I can see how pulling back the inside foot helps position the inside hip properly. I've played with the move, pushing it to extreem, and coming back to find a balance. I think it's a good drill, and has improved my skiing, but so have many other things.
What has helped me make tighter turns is proper management of the inside ski/leg so that the outside leg could develop the angles needed for a tight high g turn. What has not helped is booting out on unexpected ice, and having to spend time recuperating from injury.
I don't know about you Mr. Pugh, but folks have already said clearly Live Lessons are the best learning mechanism and I suspect you concur, and there is no question about that in my humble mind. Instructors the world over have been a pleasure to ski with, learn from.(and a special thanks to all those who skied with a little boy since he was 3 years old as they fostered a ever-lasting love and passion for skiing.)
I was mildly surprised you found nothing really educational, but that's ok, everyone is different in how they transmit, receive and interpret information, audible, visual and literal. I personally thought almost every video posted has many a drill/lesson in it. They just vary in their intended audience, like the original HHarb video is intended for beginners pretty much, Klaus Mair's best-viewed clip is for beginners to advanced intermediates, and then the others are a demonstration of free-skiing, adaptation of technique to terrain (Crudology, Aksel Svindahl) and so on, and for those the audience is everybody, beginners, intermediates, advanced skiers and experts. All are pretty useful in their own right to varying degrees, just some are preferable to others.
The Project Kitz clip is a particular style of skiing popular with a certain class of skiers, mostly in North America and to me, it's a rather nice, well-directed, elegant clip, and the skiing looks 'to me' a lot like the Harald Harb style, with of course, signature personalized variations, naturally, well produced. I thought the entire video is directed to instructors in North America really and perhaps one or two other locales, not really Joe Public like yours truly, but others may have different views 'course. I direct your attention here, for a telling comment on that particular style of skiing, delivered clinically by a practitioner of a different school : http://www.epicski.com/t/142644/ana...ound-here-real-diff-yes-no-maybe#post_1915387
One question for anyone, in the Project Kitz clip and many others, why is there such a focus on short turns, which are kind of painful on the eyes,not the most difficult to execute, just requires serious stamina, and a strong back, and even stronger knees to continue to repeat that motion, but is'nt it the big long ones, where things get seriously hairy, especially in terrain, when skiers hit warp speed, then it's an exercise, in mind-control, body control and agility, no? Taking the g-, riding that g-, is'nt that the 'high' , since when did these short turns become du jour (other than they are life-savers in steep terrain)?(Crudology has folks really letting the g-forces build up and that terrain is the real deal, no bs there, many of them really let the radius of their turns grow, loved it!) Just a ski-novice's views, and glad to read and learn. And exercise choice "and question everything" ! (Someone says that all the time )
Last edited: