J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Ranchero_1979

Hi Nelly,

poor bloke (snapping again). There is this horrible statistic that you are 7-11 x more likely to re-rupture but is heavily influenced by people not doing full rehab. Looking at your schedule this year was always going to be a challenge, Rome does not sound too bad :-).

I had a few lessons to:
1)open back up my comfort zone (basically ski more aggressive/dynamic/faster)
2)so could refocus on areas of improvement. Am more than happy to do drills myself but wanted someone to point out what to work on.

Literally spent most of first lesson trying to reduce number of turns on a set piste to match instructor and use power of the ski. Basically trusting yourself to go really quite fast again. Actually skiing now I can feel no difference between 2 legs. However between runs feel a definite tightening of whole left hand chain after few hrs at which point am stopping for the day. Yesterday really felt like a break through day when skiing strong again but today is off (was basically back to limping after skiing yesterday). Everyone told me 18 months post surgery to ski and 24 months to feel good again and seems to be pretty accurate.

Chamonix has been snowing since early morning. Despite not being forecast is looking like 5+cm @ 1000m and likely double at 3000m. If keeps going like this tomorrow will be a fantastic day. Have to say piste conditions now are as good as they get. Could be powder skis tomorrow :-).

You would definitely need a guide then unless are super comfortable in mountains and were part of similar team. Helbronner is 3400m and this year you would probably want to catch train back to town around 1900m. Would be a good 10km + run with 2 x really nice pitches at top.

There is no issue with the Helbrona lift (new one will not be finished for another 8 months) so in theory you can ski from Courmayeur to Chamonix. All offpiste though and crevasses are still pretty open so would take a guide unless you are familiar with area. Let me know if you need guide recommendation.

Am still in Chamonix.

http://youtu.be/vViFyLQuXeE good example of pole dragging.

I was actually saying the brace in terms of one knee being 2-3cm bigger than other by time you have brace on and have then folded over thermals etc. You would need to play frame by frame and give a time where you see something funny. Was actually made to do lots of squats jumps etc in front on physio and osteopath with very little on. Cannot see why adding ski boots would change anything apart from you start to see ski technique issues vs physiological ones. Importantly I guess there is little you can do about it anyway.

What we were really working on is trying to correct are things like.
Stance width:- trying to widen it in order allow creation of more angle. see sec 28, 33. Something I really need to focus on when setting off and then seems to stay there.
Are both skis working. see 35 (good) and 36 (not so good for a fraction of second and then good).
My right arm has a tendency to follow through a bit. Not a disaster but aesthetically not very pretty and definitely more of an issue in bumps and powder. See end of second 36, arm should ideally hot have come that far through. Next turn sec 37 much better for radius of turn. If you see someone doing pole drills in Chamonix is likely me.
Lastly my legs which occasionally wants to lift vs feeling edge change. Again not good for bumps or aesthetics. (23, 39).
The run was a steep black with perfect snow conditions and very close to perfect fall line. Aim was really to ski it as fast as possible doing short turns.

Interesting how some people listen to music when skiing. Have to say cannot believe it helps your skiing as removes one of your senses. Obviously vision is the most important but as soon as conditions become suboptimal you really sense how important the others are. On a bad visibility day try skiing without your poles. Very difficult indeed as we are so used to dragging a pole (check you probably didn't even realize) and having 3rd point of contact with snow. The very reason we shorten our poles in powder so as not to remove this feedback. Audio gives great feedback on the amount of grip underfoot and helps you adjust edge angle.

From a safety point of view be it offpiste or onpiste is definitely not a great idea. Am actually surprised is even legal.

Each to their own but would certainly suggest is performance limiting. People who say it "helps with rhythm" only need to check out a nightclub. Music is on but plenty of people trapped in the body of a tree.

Looks like they did a great job keeping the piste in good condition.