MA request please (Feb 2021)

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

Would love to hear from anyone who is interested in giving MA feedback please!

This is not my best effort but not the worst. Last run of the day, wide 100mm rockered ski, hard snow, bumps, steep(ish).

What I see is a bunch of butt wiggles, upper body going up and down more than needed, could be more forward and lower... what else am I doing that needs to be worked on? And what am I doing right?


sorry about video quality. You know how it is...

 

[LiquidFeet]

@Pasha, first thing is what do you want to do that you aren't now doing?
Is it skiing bigger bumps, or skiing a different line or a different speed in these?
Or something else?

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

@LiquidFeet good questions! the answer is "yes, all of the above". Just trying to improve. Be better in bumps and steeps. Get better in staying centered/balanced in all sort of situations.

 

[LiquidFeet]

@Pasha thanks for answering. I have a follow-up question.
In that video, did your skis take you anywhere you did not want to go?
Did you miss a turn, or did the skis take off on an unwanted traverse?
I'm asking this because of your last sentence.
If line control is a problem resulting from balance issues,
then that might suggest a particular approach to improvement.

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

@LiquidFeet In the video, I was controlling the skis all the way. This is a major improvement in the last season and a half as far as skiing in the bumps is concerned! Keeping the eyes on the next turn (or even next next turn) has been the key. On a longer and more difficult mogul runs, I get thown out of my line after 3-5 turns and have to stop to either control speed or to give me time to pick a line around rocks and other obstacles. If taken into unwanted traverse, I stop and reset.

 

[LiquidFeet]

@LiquidFeet In the video, I was controlling the skis all the way. This is a major improvement in the last season and a half as far as skiing in the bumps is concerned! Keeping the eyes on the next turn (or even next next turn) has been the key. On a longer and more difficult mogul runs, I get thown out of my line after 3-5 turns and have to stop to either control speed or to give me time to pick a line around rocks and other obstacles. If taken into unwanted traverse, I stop and reset.

So this is the thing you want to fix.
On more difficult bumps, you gain speed and consequently lose your line.
What have you tried in the past to eliminate the speed gain?

 

[Snowfan]

@LiquidFeet On a longer and more difficult mogul runs, I get thown out of my line after 3-5 turns and have to stop to either control speed or to give me time to pick a line around rocks and other obstacles. If taken into unwanted traverse, I stop and reset.

I'm no expert and have no business posting here but I did learn something on this that I use every mogul run. Look at a mogul with a moderate trough. Think of where in that area you tend to ski. Most skiers go a little low where it is firm and there is little space to control speed.

Look higher. The snow scraped from low trough accumulates and is softer up high....go there. While higher up, skid a little to control speed and stay in the fall line...no shopping for turns. Repeat. You will find sufficient mogul speed control up higher in the softer portion. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. In increments, not stop and go, knock off a little speed skidding for a 1/2 second up higher in the trough, near the top. It works. I was taught this in a Taos Ski Week by Bob Aubrecht.

I used to have to stop...and noticed I was shopping for turns and getting beat up a bit. Now, I stay higher and scrub a bit of speed in the soft stuff on almost every bump and rarely take the Luge Track....the firm/icyish stuff 10-20 inches lower. After some practice, you will be able to go top to bottom nonstop on almost any mogul run fully relaxed and never out of your comfort (02, legs, fear, speed) or skill zone.

 

[Ogg]

I'm no expert and have no business posting here but I did learn something on this that I use every mogul run. Look at a mogul with a moderate trough. Think of where in that area you tend to ski. Most skiers go a little low where it is firm and there is little space to control speed.

Look higher. The snow scraped from low trough accumulates and is softer up high....go there. While higher up, skid a little to control speed and stay in the fall line...no shopping for turns. Repeat. You will find sufficient mogul speed control up higher in the softer portion. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. In increments, not stop and go, knock off a little speed skidding for a 1/2 second up higher in the trough, near the top. It works. I was taught this in a Taos Ski Week by Bob Aubrecht.

I used to have to stop...and noticed I was shopping for turns and getting beat up a bit. Now, I stay higher and scrub a bit of speed in the soft stuff on almost every bump and rarely take the Luge Track....the firm/icyish stuff 10-20 inches lower. After some practice, you will be able to go top to bottom nonstop on almost any mogul run fully relaxed and never out of your comfort (02, legs, fear, speed) or skill zone.

Good advice, IMO. Ski the sides of the bumps not the troughs. If the troughs are particularly icy, deep or rocky(par for the course in the NE) or the bumps are cut badly you can even ski the tops of the bumps. You should practice skiing all three lines, troughs, sides and tops so you can mix it up as necessary.

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

So this is the thing you want to fix.
On more difficult bumps, you gain speed and consequently lose your line.
What have you tried in the past to eliminate the speed gain?

I’d either ski up a back of a bump absorbing it or slide on the back side of the bump, pivoting or full hockey stop...

 

[KingGrump]

I’d either ski up a back of a bump absorbing it or slide on the back side of the bump, pivoting or full hockey stop...

Try skiing one bump at a time. The goal is to ski up to the top of a bump and be fully stopped without using the usual pivot, hockey stop or other "braking" type movement.

Think what it entails and how you would achieve that.

 

[LiquidFeet]

I’d either ski up a back of a bump absorbing it or slide on the back side of the bump, pivoting or full hockey stop...

Try skiing one bump at a time. The goal is to ski up to the top of a bump and be fully stopped without using the usual pivot, hockey stop or other "braking" type movement.
Think what it entails and how you would achieve that.

Speed gain ceases to be a problem when you can stop smoothly on each bump, without a hockey stop. So to fix the speed gain, learn how to stop on each bump. To avoid having to use hockey stops, go slow as you approach that bump. Cruise to a stop. Go to the next bump, cruise smoothly to a stop. Slow to next bump, stop. Next bump, next bump, next bump. Smooth out your snail's pace travel, with its stoppages on bump tops. Do this for the whole run, over and over. You will indeed be going very slow.

How to slow down on the top of a bump, coming to a stop? Point your skis all the way to the side, with the tips pointed even a little bit uphill. Or, same thing, with tails pointed a little downhill. AKA complete your turns, every turn. Since this is bumps, your feet need to stay under you as you do this, not out in front, and not downhill of you.

Look ahead one bump at a time, choose where you will stop, and do it smooooothly. Ski, cruise to a stop, ski, cruise to a stop, ski, stop. No jerky movements, smooth flow all the way. Don't allow your thrill-seeking self to speed up.

Embrace the challenge of making this downhill travel smooth and graceful, poetry in motion. It's harder than it sounds.

Once you can do an easy bump run reliably this way, you're ready to replace those stops with slows. Practice poetry as you morph stopping to slowing on each bump top. Aim for mastering this stage, slowing to a crawl on each bump, targeting one bump at a time and hitting each target consistently.

Add speed on current terrain before steepness as you progress. When moving up the hill, start sloooow again on the new terrain that has more pitch. It will be difficult to stay slow, stay smooth, stay on target.

Matering this task will be your path to balance and control. You will be infused with an attitude of serenity. Think Zen. Go slow to master speed.

 

[Tom Holtmann]

Speed gain ceases to be a problem when you can stop smoothly on each bump, without a hockey stop. So to fix the speed gain, learn how to stop on each bump. To avoid having to use hockey stops, go slow as you approach that bump. Cruise to a stop. Go to the next bump, cruise smoothly to a stop. Slow to next bump, stop. Next bump, next bump, next bump. Smooth out your snail's pace travel, with its stoppages on bump tops. Do this for the whole run, over and over. You will indeed be going very slow.

Look ahead one bump at a time, choose where you will stop, and do it. Stop, stop, stop, no jerky movements, smooth flow to stops. Don't allow your thrill-seeking self to speed up.

Embrace the challenge of making this downhill travel smooth and graceful, poetry in motion. It's harder than it sounds.

Once you can do an easy bump run reliably this way, you're ready to replace those stops with slows. Practice poetry as you morph stopping to slowing on each bump top. Aim for mastering this stage, slowing to a crawl on each bump, targeting one bump at a time and hitting that target.

Add speed before steepness as you progress. This will be your path to balance and control, but with attitude infused. Think Zen. Going slow is the key to mastering speed.

Going slow (or its equivalent) is the key to mastering almost everything but is the one concept that most people can't seem to abide by.

 

[graham418]

Another tip for speed control is to learn how to ski on a flat ski. Do some braquage drills, work on pivoting your skis without changing direction (slipping down the fall line) Disengaging your edges will give you speed control. You may have noticed that as soon as your edges hook up, you accelerate

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

Speed gain ceases to be a problem when you can stop smoothly on each bump, without a hockey stop. So to fix the speed gain, learn how to stop on each bump. To avoid having to use hockey stops, go slow as you approach that bump. Cruise to a stop. Go to the next bump, cruise smoothly to a stop. Slow to next bump, stop. Next bump, next bump, next bump. Smooth out your snail's pace travel, with its stoppages on bump tops. Do this for the whole run, over and over. You will indeed be going very slow.

How to slow down on the top of a bump, coming to a stop? Point your skis all the way to the side, with the tips pointed even a little bit uphill. Or, same thing, with tails pointed a little downhill. AKA complete your turns, every turn. Since this is bumps, your feet need to stay under you as you do this, not out in front, and not downhill of you.

Look ahead one bump at a time, choose where you will stop, and do it smooooothly. Ski, cruise to a stop, ski, cruise to a stop, ski,stop. No jerky movements, smooth flow all the way. Don't allow your thrill-seeking self to speed up.

Embrace the challenge of making this downhill travel smooth and graceful, poetry in motion. It's harder than it sounds.

Once you can do an easy bump run reliably this way, you're ready to replace those stops with slows. Practice poetry as you morph stopping to slowing on each bump top. Aim for mastering this stage, slowing to a crawl on each bump, targeting one bump at a time and hitting each target consistently.

Add speed on current terrain before steepness as you progress. The start sloooow again on new terrain with more pitch. This will be your path to balance and control, infused with an attitude of serenity. Think Zen. Going slow is the key to mastering speed.

thank you! this is great! Taming the thrill-seeking self is a challenge but it will pay dividends!

 

[LiquidFeet]

Looking forward to your follow-up report.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Speed gain ceases to be a problem when you can stop smoothly on each bump, without a hockey stop. So to fix the speed gain, learn how to stop on each bump. To avoid having to use hockey stops, go slow as you approach that bump. Cruise to a stop. Go to the next bump, cruise smoothly to a stop. Slow to next bump, stop. Next bump, next bump, next bump. Smooth out your snail's pace travel, with its stoppages on bump tops. Do this for the whole run, over and over. You will indeed be going very slow.

How to slow down on the top of a bump, coming to a stop? Point your skis all the way to the side, with the tips pointed even a little bit uphill. Or, same thing, with tails pointed a little downhill. AKA complete your turns, every turn. Since this is bumps, your feet need to stay under you as you do this, not out in front, and not downhill of you.

Look ahead one bump at a time, choose where you will stop, and do it smooooothly. Ski, cruise to a stop, ski, cruise to a stop, ski, stop. No jerky movements, smooth flow all the way. Don't allow your thrill-seeking self to speed up.

The key to a smooooooth slow stop is a smooth paceful (peace and pace) turn initiation. Go to shallow terrain and make turns as slowly and smoothly as you can--no tight muscular activity, no quick change of edges, etc. Gradualation. I make up those two terms for emphasis on smoothness.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Also know that super slow motion parallel turns on low pitch terrain are difficult to do. Just trying harder doesn't always work if the movement pattern is not amenable to a simultaneous parallel turn entry.

 

[Chris V.]

Hi, Pasha. What I'm seeing is technique that's getting the job done on the terrain depicted, but displaying limitations that are going to make things tough when it gets steeper or the bumps gnarlier. Your initial goals are going to be to develop really solid, dynamic short turns on groomed slopes, and much more flexion and extension range of motion. There are lots of threads on short turns, and I don't wish to launch into yet another discussion of the complexities. Anyway, just having someone tell you how to do it won't likely lead efficiently to you being able to do it.

But I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that you practice the very straightforward drill explained in the following video clip, and see what that does for your ability to make, strongly, the other moves you know you should be making. The main demonstration starts about 23 minutes in, but I urge you to view the whole thing to understand the context. This is from the SIA Austria guys in collaboration with Tom Gellie.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

I'd hope a skier venturing into bumps would have the skills to change edges gradually at minimal slope pitch

 

[Henry]

First, your skis were the wrong tool for the job--at least the job of that day. 100mm rockered on hard snow is handicapping yourself.

Look how your arms and shoulders are influencing your turns. We talk about upper-lower body separation, a.k.a. counter, where the skis turn left and the body turns right, and the skis turn right and the body turns left. Look at your video at about :15 seconds. Your big, long lasting pole plant pulls your shoulders around toward the hill. Your body is necessarily rather straight after that kind of a pole plant, and all this together takes your skis off edge. You lose ability to edge them as you might need.

Look for videos of drills for pivot slips. Do a few hundred of these.
-Practice skiing without poles with your hands on your hips, thumbs forward (brings the shoulders forward). Use the counter motion that pivot slips teaches.
-Practice skiing with your poles held horizontally across your body in both hands in front of you, palms up. Don't swing your arms, counter rotate your upper body. As before, practice the counter motion from the pivot slips. It won't be easy--you're breaking old bad habits.
-You want your upper body--hips and shoulders to turn the opposite way your feet turn. You want this upper body counter starting at the beginning of the turn and lasting until the end.
-Learn pole taps instead of pole plants. Learn to tap the tip of the pole on the snow down the fall line from your heel, not out in front of you the way you were previously taught. Reaching in front takes the upper-lower body separation away. Holding the long lasting pole plant in the snow until it pulls your shoulder back makes it worse.
-Keep your hands in a balancing position, a bit up and a bit out, just where your body would put them without thought if you were walking across the slickest icy pavement. Don't swing your arms and don't drop your hands to your sides.


Get good at all this. Now, practice the mogul skiing tips above.