J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by dustyfog

Damn, that slope looks so tempting, groomed to perfection and what snow cover. Nice video, good skiing clearly..the tuck was in a traverse, yes?

Trencher, that is a "sick" video, rather awe-inspiring, is that you? Then again, wondering how that camera shaft is held so steady, it cannot be that light and getting heavier by the minute, it gives the optical illusion of resting on something, the head where the camera resides. Very interesting.

Great video, conditions look pristine...a suggestion, hook camera to pole, and carry pole on your side or tucked under your arm, will get you in the frame and the slopes, even better perspective since clearly you are a good skier and the filming was done with a rather steady hand. nice stuff.

Other posters are right, instructor needs to hold camera steady, and yes, Trencher's advice is sound given the pro that he is. The film is good, and its funny how the camera makes a slope most often seem a lot easier than it is. Good skiing Ally, nice controlled, leisurely and non-dnf descent! Hard to make turns when the terrain and/or gates dictates it as opposed to the skier. Good stuff, but the dude really needs a steady hand and smoke with his other hand :mrgreen:

Here on this thread i put a video of my son, as he progresses through his race
http://www.j2ski.com/ski-chat-forum/posts/list/8246.page

you see the brush gates trencher is referring to (its a 10min slog, so don't worry, the brush gates are the 1st 30 secs and on, its for any interested parents and for me and my boy to discuss wherever we are)

http://www.dynastar.com/#/products/dr901kb--exclusive-legend-eden-fluid
http://www.dynastar.com/#/products/da9kb02-exclusive-legend-eden-

Dynastar Legend Legend's - the women's version, they are the skis of choice for male and female instructors and patrollers and ski-reviewers at Alta, and Snowbird - pretty much the Greatest Snow on Earth.

The male version is incredible, blasts through piles of snow, handles firm and powerful in hardpack, and is quite good in powder. A mid-fat, real all-mountain ski. The fluid version refers to the bindings - Look PX12 which are set, you can get them as flat skis also.

Just a suggestion.

This is a compilation of my son's first ski season on our local mountain's racing team in upstate New York. He is actually a very good big-mountain skier, superb balance and calm negotiation of varied terrain, powder, serious steeps and the like. And does he have the "need for speed" when free-skiing but fully aware of controlled speed, has taken some serious spills in his career :shock: but thankfully (a) mom was not on the mountain to see them transpire (Dad saw a few of them :mrgreen: ) (b) well, he got up, shook them off and continued as if nothing had happened, but funnily, he was smarter every time thereafter, a lesson to be had from every impact, it appears.

Anyway, his goal when racing was "I do not want to DNF", and he did not DNF once in his first season. He actually ran into kids in their second season of racing who were definitely faster in racing, great motivation and he showed maturity beyond his years as he progressed, quite surely without "losing control".

Anyway, the video is 10mins long and has some parts which are kind of family asides, so scroll through if interested, some bad filming, thankfully very little of that I hope, Dad takes full responsibility for editing, no creative talent here, but it shows how he gets the hang of GS over time and begins to increase his aggression. He was the fastest of the new skiers on the team, improved every time he did a race and the progression I hope encourages other parents of aspiring skiers to encourage their kids to race. Its great for competitive spirit, improving technique and builds mental character and physical endurance.

Here in the N-East, its freezing cold, the courses are pretty much ice, and kids and their parents freeze when training, or racing, especially the waiting for your run part! I should add, waking up before dawn, every weekend, Sat and Sunday, then driving to training slopes (round trip 60+miles) and then race days, driving to race locations, general round-trip distance 130miles. Its pretty tiring, and then driving back to the city on Sunday evenings (Manhattan that is), another 120 miles ! And generally races are on Sundays ! On his first race day, the ground temperature was -5deg F, on the mountain it was -15deg F, and wind chill forget it, probably -30deg F or so, could'nt feel my fingers, they went totally numb, he has hand-warmers in his gloves but kids were streaming into the lodge to get warm after their runs, same thing happened at other races and also during practice sessions. Great part, he was up as soon as I reminded him it was to go skiing, not one complaint ''cause putting on blades was at the end of each wake-up, breakfast and then drive road trip, made it very easy for this parent, since he loves to ski! Its a labor of passion, drive, determination and love for the sport...enjoy..(warning it is 10mins long so scroll through as you desire)..do not know how to embed the video directly from vimeo so here is the link:

Turning tighter than the radius proscibed by the ski requires the following:(easier said than done but it works, I am still learning but i feel the difference now)
1. turn your feet, i.e. steer the skis
2. if turning on edge, i.e. carve/scarve, then flex ANKLES even harder, i.e. jam that shin into the front of the boot, upper body really should remain pretty static, facing downhill pretty much, rear end of course crossed over into the inside of the turn, AND push knees even farther inside the turn(Klaus Mair showed me this technique first, of course it took a year to feel it for self!), this will pressure and bend the skis more and tighten the radius of the arc. Depending on speed, slope incline and snow cover, this can lead to over-edging, and sliding/chatter, just kind of learning by doing sort of thing.
3. The tightest turns are done by lifting off and turning in mid-air, or steering the skis at the point of release across from old turn, past fall-line in the process of initiating/transitioning into new one.

just my humble experience

mammoth mountain california