• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

Richi Berger. Just good skiing.

Chris V.

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 25, 2016
Posts
1,366
Location
Truckee
That was a good one. A great baseline short turn style to aspire to. Upper body moving straight down the hill. He says he skis mostly groomers, but he's a hell of a bump and off piste skier, too.
 

mulva28

Short Turns Enjoyer
Skier
Joined
Jan 5, 2021
Posts
312
Location
VT
That moment of weightlessness in the transitions/releases... Ski like that on groomers and you can translate it to any terrain.
 

Philpug

Notorious P.U.G.
Admin
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
Posts
42,624
Location
Reno, eNVy
I like his bump skiing, but I am not a fan of his groomer style and would not strive to ski that way, feet are too close together for my taste. But we are talking style and style is subjective. Skiing is art, not science. Ski and let ski.
 

Plai

Paul Lai
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 25, 2015
Posts
1,965
Location
Silicon Valley
Wow, that's just beautiful His upper body just doesn't seem to move laterally.

Do I have this right? His knees appear to be slightly in front, and that allows the legs to move so freely. How does one stay balanced if the knees are slightly in front?!?
 

James

Out There
Instructor
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Posts
24,442
What is truly impressive is that these are carved turns. These are not brushed, skidded, pivoted, twisted, etc. Richi can bang out some of the fastest short carved turns ever put on video.
He’a a big proponent of leg rotation, from the hip and below the knee, rotating the upper body into the turn, (with limits), and at times extending the uphill leg to cross over.





9F300514-A521-4B22-A182-9EC12BCFDBC8.jpeg

How does one stay balanced if the knees are slightly in front?!?
In front of what?
 

jimtransition

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Nov 15, 2016
Posts
473
Location
Niseko/Queenstown
He’a a big proponent of leg rotation, from the hip and below the knee, rotating the upper body into the turn, (with limits), and at times extending the uphill leg to cross over.
Sure, but he doesn't do any of that in the pure carved retraction turns being discussed though.
 

Bad Bob

I golf worse than I ski.
Skier
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Posts
5,843
Location
West of CDA South of Canada
Would be ecstatic to be able to ski badly like that!

Don't see how you can get down on him too harshly. Could you speak these kinds of thoughts as clearly in German as he does in English?
 

jimtransition

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Nov 15, 2016
Posts
473
Location
Niseko/Queenstown
Watch that video^, hips def rotate.
He also compares rotation of the foot to using the wrist in tennis to give acceleration.
Cool? :huh: I still don't get why you highlighted those specific movement patterns in reference to the OP video, which did not show them.
 

geepers

Skiing the powder
Skier
Joined
May 12, 2018
Posts
4,256
Location
Wanaka, New Zealand
Watch that video^, hips def rotate.
He also compares rotation of the foot to using the wrist in tennis to give acceleration.

Not disagreeing.

The tempo of the short turns in the OP vid is very high and translation across the hill is minimal - makes it difficult to see anything happening with shoulders and hips. It's clearer at 2:25 on the 1st few turns on the steeper pitch - where the tempo is slower and the translation across the hill is larger. As is the ski redirection.

Plus I'm not sure how much blasphemy I can absorb in one day life:
  • Pushing :eek:
  • Extending off the up hill leg (your long turn vid post on cross-over)
  • Upper body rotating :huh:
  • Sheesh... @Chris V. says Richie and Reilly are short turn twins and apparently Reilly reckons shorts are heel push, hip dump! (20:42 below). ;)

(This vid has some interesting discussion on Richie as a skiing mentor - around 1:01:50. There's also a brief discussion on Alice Robinson's technique a couple of minutes before that.)
 

Sponsor

Staff online

  • Dwight
    Practitioner of skiing, solid and liquid
Top