Technique feedback thread - post a video.

[mca80]

[Stephen]

@John_XCD, if that was video of me, I would be pretty happy!
The stuff to work on would be obvious — less swinging poles around maybe the most obvious.
You look dynamic (rather than static) as you’re skiing.
You have enough speed to develop some angulation and your skis swing back and forth under your body.

In powder, and especially with light equipment, the stance of: most weight on rear ski, front ski more floating, front knee behind foot (front lower leg angled out ahead, kind of like Telehiro’s sweeping motion) is a valid stance to use — the front ski acts like a front rudder to steer and also to maintain reserve buoyancy, in case one is unexpectedly pitched forward.
* See Pics

If possible, I think it helps to shorten up the poles for the downhill.

I’m on heavier NTN gear and last time skiing think I had a breakthrough with keeping my hands lower and always ahead (almost like I was punching my way down the hill and making sure to not leave my hand and arm behind on a pole plant).
And, also noticing my tendency to have the front foot too far forward (on firm snow, unlike my comment above).
I started trying to have more pressure on the boot tongue of my front ski.

The combination of those two things instantly felt much more dynamic than what I had been doing.

I’m in the same boat as others without easy ability to record myself. I’m sure I look different than I think and being able to see that would be really helpful!
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[Lhartley]

Really great critique, lots of useful tips. I got my gf to film me today. Looked like I was in slow motion! Not at all how I was skiing in my head, where I was totally shredding that 17 degree perfect corn on dirt beginner slope. Gotta teach her how to use zoom. Or something.

[Montana St Alum]

Looked like I was in slow motion! Not at all how I was skiing in my head

I'd say that applies to all of us!
Maybe it's a genetic holdover from the days when our forebears thought, "Oh, yeah, I can totally kick ass on that wooly mammoth. I just need to scare off that saber toothed cat!"

[John_XCD]

maintain reserve buoyancy, in case one is unexpectedly pitched forward.

This is a good description of how my stance developed--- faceplant prevention. They are now relatively rare in nice conditions-- but not in variability like any sort of surprise sun curst! Much (not all) of the telehiro stuff is on firm groomed or corn or powder over a firm base-- allows more commitment to pressure the edge of the leading ski without reserving faceplant insurance. I don't really think at all about the leading ski and only focus on the inside edge (little toe) of the trailing ski which is a counterintuitive sensation. I found trying to carve on one ski on the groomers when on alpine skis was a good drill to feel this-- ie trying to carve right standing on only the right ski.

Poling is definitely not consistent and flailing at times-- mostly a result of using poles for balance amidst various bobbles.

I also ski 99% alone and this is the extent of video I have from one weekend with a buddy outside of a few times balancing my phone in a tree.

[Stephen]

I’ll try and get my wife to do some video of me, for your amusement!

[Montana St Alum]

I get the desire to avoid going over the handlebars, but I think you guys are doing yourselves a disservice by biasing your weight back. There are times when extra weight on the back can be useful, but I think that's the exception, not the rule.
It may be subtle. If you think you can get by with an extra 20 pounds of pressure on the trailing ski, you can probably get by with 10. Or maybe even 5, and I think you'll be better off with that strategy. Also, if you want a deeper stance, by all means shorten your poles. But a deeper stance burns up more energy. The taller you can stand and the narrower your stance, the less ATP you'll burn, and longer poles help there.

But there are lots of ways to skin a cat and whatever works, works!

I've re-learned the evils of getting too far back in weight distribution. I've lost vision (-50% right eye, -30% left eye but stable with treatment - can't drive, but my wife seems happy to shuttle me) and depth perception has suffered. The degradation in depth perception and the invisibility of obstructions in some lighting conditions has resulted in a situation where I'm getting in the back seat a bit in anything less than full sun light.

I'm having to adapt, but maintaining a forward bias to my stance has been key to me re-learning the importance of that centered stance.

These are from the last couple of weeks.

I'm sure this is picking the flysh*t out of the pepper, but at time :47 you can see the "head-dip" to my left and down that occurs just due to an unseen something - pile of snow, or whatever - but it happened as I got back a bit (I definitely felt it). The lighting here was fine for a groomer, but not quite enough for the bumps. for my condition.



In full sun, not too bad, but due to blind spots, focusing specifically on points on the ground help quite a bit.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/V4egjqN_xo8

[JB TELE]

I was able to get out again today. The place I went to looked great on Caltopo, but unfortunately it was absolutely ravaged by snowmobiles. Apparently it's the go-to spot around here and Silverton Powdercats stages their rentals right next to where I wanted to ski. Obviously I'm not going to try and ski into a snowmobile rut.

I did find a few slopes to play around on. This one is steeper than it looks (videos make everything look flat) but it was 45 degrees today at 10,500 feet of elevation and I was basically skiing a 7-11 slurpie, which explains why I'm sliding so slowly.

I was in my stiffer leathers on my k2 shes piste skis with voile hardwire bindings. Tighter stance in this one.

[CwmRaider]

Well @JB TELE this looks better than the first videos, but it's hard to say from the angle it's filmed at. How did it feel?
Practice makes perfect! I find that a day at a small lift powered ski slope can contribute to collecting many meters downhill and will give the best results in the shortest time.
@Montana St Alum you ski way better than me so I'll just say I enjoyed watching
@Stephen curious what videos your wife has of you

[Montana St Alum]

@Stephen curious what videos your wife has of you

Indeed!