Is anyone reading this? I try to keep up with the times. Some times I even feebly try to be, "ahead of the times." This page was originally posted in December of 2008. Nine months later I noticed I had entitled it "Skiing Update December, 20008" not 2008. Maybe it's the thin Mountain air that left this unnoticed or the lesson is just that good, you think?
Ski Lesson update December, 2008: I know my initial instructions were for straight skis. They are still here for the few that still ski them but shaped skis rule (for you on "The Dark Side" i.e. riders you will have to find another site). But thanks "boarders" it was the Burton Board that brought about shaped skis (have any of you heard of a Smurf Board?).
Lets get going:
"Pressure your skis and ski with your feet." Who is this person telling a man that has spent 51 years sliding down ice and snow covered mountains what to do? These are the words of a skiing "phenom" I had the good fortune to meet three and a half years ago.
The past few years injuries and 'wear and tear' on my body have limited my skiing and changed the way I ski. The changes have been for the worse. The first thing that was necessary was to stop skiing gently. What was I thinking trying to ski, "like a butterfly?" This is not boxing it's skiing and I am no Mohammed Ali.
Skiing is turning your skis to control your speed, direction and too stop.
"Skiing is a dance and you should dance your way down, The Mountain." This is additional advice from my newly found skiing Guru. "Dance," have you ever heard of the "Crazy Canucks," she asks me. Not only is she a girl she's from a foreign country. You know from that remote country 50 miles north of where we were skiing that's known as Canada.
OK enough political incorrectness. Girls can ski and Canada is a beautiful country and wonderful neighbor, and Oh yes Canadian girls, well have you heard the joke? QSTN "Did you know that all Canadian's are either Hockey Players or Sluts?" ANS "Really my wife is Canadian." QSTN "What team does she play for?" Whoops, now that I have insulted over half the human race, an entire country, and my newly found skiing Guru, I better get on with this ski lesson.
Today as I waited to ride the Summit Chair up Whiteface I was joined by another "single" skier. Once on the lift she let out a familiar sounding call. A call I heard four years ago. I turned to her and ask, "Joanna?" She responded yes. I knew immediately that the previously mentioned skiing "phenom," the Canadian girl was back at Whiteface. I was about to get another ski lesson. This one was just trying to "keep up" as she gracefully carved her way down Whiteface's Skyward trail in heavy spring snow. "Holy burning quads" how does she make it look so easy?
Start in a basic balanced athletic position with your feet spread about shoulder width and you knees slightly bent. The steeper the terrain the further you bend your knees.
This Canadian girl (did you get that "girl" not hockey player) really knows how to ski. Here's what she taught me:
To repeat:
Pressure your skis - Press down on you skis initiating the turn by putting pressure on the tip of the ski.
Ski with your feet - Apply pressure to the tip of you skis by pressing down with your feet. Start the turn by pressing on the front part of your feet.
Moving on:
Lean your skis over onto their edges in the direction of the turn. If a right turn tip the skis to the right, if a left turn tip left.
Weighting the down hill ski - As the turn begins more weight will be transferred to the outer or down hill ski (gravity and centrifugal force help this happen). Keep the other ski on the snow allowing it to ride along next to the down hill ski (do not lift it off of the slope). You can rise up (unweight) as you do this but it is not necessary. Without rising up you can reduce some of the pressure on the up hill ski (just don't press it as hard) but keep it on the snow. This is subtler than raising (extending) your entire body but gets the job done
Transfer you weight towards the back of you feet as you progress through the turn. Do this by foot pressure, not by shifting you body back. Keep your body forward and moving down the hill.
Finish the turn by transferring most of your weight to the heel of your foot. This keeps the tails of your skis from "washing out" (skidding).
Get centered after the completion of the turn by moving your weight forward towards the front of your foot.
Stay balance (centered) and get ready for the next turn.
I know this sounds like you are doing a great deal of shifting around but these moves are all subtle i.e. you can make these weight transfers with very little movement (forgive the redundancy, but learning anything usually involves repetition - guilty again - another redundancy). Try this while sitting at home in a chair. Press down on the front of your feet, than the center, than the back and finally press down equally on the entire base of your feet. Shift your weight more to the right foot than the left. Shift the weight from the inside of your foot to the outside. All this shift in pressure can rake place with almost no body movement. Now do this while skiing and you will be turning down the mountain. Weight forward than back than forward again while shifting it from right to left. You are doing a "Dance" down the mountain. My youngest daughter used to sing while skiing to kept her dance rhythmic, you can too. If you sing like me you may be arrested for noise pollution so keep it down.
If you're a man find a beautiful girl to inspire you, if she is from Canada that's okay you just got doubly lucky. If female find a beautiful girl to inspire me. Wait a minute I think I slipped up there. If female find me to inspire you. Okay that's probably not going to work. If female find a handsome young man to inspire you and stay out of my way.
One of my daughters sent me a Tee Shirt from the Great State of "kaleeforkneea" with a Senior Surfer logo on it that said, "Old Guys Rule." She did it to make me feel better. It didn't work. I feel like an old jerk when I wear it. I digress, this is supposed to be about skiing.
End of lesson, I'm tiered and it's time for my nap.
Things I have discovered since the above lesson, yes I am still learning. It's part of what makes skiing so wonderful, there is always more to learn.
I came across a book entitled
"Brilliant Skiing" while surfing the Internet. It is a book written my an Aspen Ski instructor Weems Westfeldt and is worth reading. Click the
"Brilliant Skiing" link to read.
When I initially wrote this article "Brilliant Skiing" was available free on line. That has changed; it can now be purchased at Weems Westfeldt's web site for $20.00 (worth every penny) or at Amazon.com. I purchased a Kindle addition ($5.98) and can take it with me to the mountain on my iPhone. A word of caution, do not read while on an active mountain descent or doing an inverted aerial.
Weems Westfeldt writes with easily understood instructions and does so with passion and humor. He says the "art of skiing is turning,,,and the secret to that art is edging." Put your skis on edge and do so early. Please take the time to read his book. He said it far better than I can and he is a PSIA instructor, I am not.
There also is a skiing Guru at Whiteface (my home mountain) whose skiing I have admired for decades. He has skied Whiteface since it's remodeling in the 50s. Yes he was there at the beginning of Whiteface's, "modernization." He is a PSIA Instructor and has been for years. He no longer works at "The Ski School" (by choice) but still imparts his skiing wisdom on a privileged few. He is 82 years old and as a fellow, "Senior Citizen." I am one of the lucky he shares some of his decades of skiing knowledge with. Part of what follows he credits to a couple of Harvard girls (sisters I believe) that wrote an article for a skiing publication years ago. I missed their name but they were (and probably still are) world class skiers. His name is Armand and below is what he says (this is skiing Gospel)
Clocks and Toes:
The Clock
Armand told me "The Harvard Girls" said to think of the face of a clock and that no matter what direction your skies are pointed they are pointing to twelve o'clock. Got it? It doesn't matter in which direction your skis are on the hill just rotate the face of the clock so they are pointing at twelve o'clock. If you want to make a right turn point you body at two o'clock on the face of your imaginary clock. To make a left turn (God Forbid) point you body to two o'clock. Your skis will follow you body if you put them on edge and pressure them correctly into the turn (as stated above). It's between ten o'clock and two o'clock that you move. It's ironic but in fly fishing it is also between two and ten o'clock that you move your move the fly rod to accomplish an accurate cast. I wonder if all great things are done between two and ten (what do you think)? God that would reap havoc on first marriages, forget what I question. Remember that "Harvard Girls" know how to tell time and some really know how to ski.
Toes
Remember what the Canadian Girl said (above) about skiing with your feet? No I do not have a foot fetish!
Q: What about girls?
A:Well maybe, where did you start your learning (your Mama).
If anyone is still reading here is what Armand said about toes.
At the start of the turn tip the down hill foot (and ski) towards that foots little toe and try to bury that toe in the snow. Now men may be thinking, toes, girls, dancing down the mountain, what the hell is this? Should you wear a TUTU for this and totally emasculate yourself? I'm assuming here that all females have stopped reading this long ago but for any that are still here imagine you are in a revealing leotard and... what am I talking about (I must be hallucinating). Never mind please ignore that. Let's get back to skiing.
Analysis:
This toe tipping gets your skis over on the new turning edge and does so quickly and (hopefully) significantly. Remember, "the art of skiing is turning and the secret to that art is edging," your skis and transferring your weight to the turning or new outside ski and doing it early in the turn (the sooner the better). So "twinkle toes" you got that?
Clocks and toes, toes and clocks, which comes first? I try and do them simultaneously but if "Brilliant Skiing" is right it's toes before clocks. How can anyone think of all this stuff at once? The answer is you can't, at least I can't. I use mantras to help me. I talk to myself skiing down the mountain. I say "toes, clock, toes, clock" over and over as I "dance" down the mountain. "And if I "fall" (die) before I wake I pray I fall (die) of a belly ache." Q: What's that supposed to mean? A: Nothing! Do not pray while skiing, pray before and after skiing if "The Spirit" moves you. No offence Yogi ("you can't think and hit at the same time") but you can talk to yourself (a little about simple things) and ski (but not pray ) at the same time. God this is getting complicated Q: is there anything else?
Of course
This is information passed on to me by a skiing friend that goes to Winter Park for "bump" clinics. She (yes I know another girl) says here bump guru gave her the following advice:
To explain this I want you to put your hands together parallel to the floor with your fingers together, On a ski slope your feet will become your hands. Place you hands evenly side by side. Now slide one hand slightly towards your body. This places that hand behind the other one, Imagine that the hand closest to your body is your down hill ski (foot). Now move that hand forward and pull the other one back reversing your hands position. The hand that is now closest to the body is the new down hill ski (foot). Move your hands back and forth. Move you feet while skiing back and forth in this fashion as you move (dance) down the mountain. As my Canadian skiing girl Guru said you are "pedaling" down the mountain. So there it is, toes, clocks, dancing, pedaling, tutus, and leotards. Is this skiing or what?
Practice all of these on terrain that you are comfortable with to set up the motor skills you need on the tougher parts of the mountain. If you skiing isn't going well on a particular day stop and think about what you are doings incorrectly. Run some drills on blue and green terrain and head for the blacks and double blacks. Always respect the mountain and thank a higher power for it being there. Humility is a necessary quality in life and skiing as often requires a no fear attitude to keep your weight forward and moving skillfully down the mountain.
There you have it. Time for another nap.
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