Columbia Ski Club! It had been awhile and I had been interested in bringing my son, Adam out to ski in the Rocky Mountains so the Blue Ridge Ski Council Western Carnival/Snowmass 2020 was the perfect opportunity. I had previously visited Aspen/Snowmass with CSC during the BRSC Western Carnival of 2012 and was happy to return. I knew this would probably be the last time I would attend a BRSC Western Carnival event so it was special.
Thanks to our new friends Gene and Terry for putting up with us and hanging out with us. It was such a pleasure. It appears that Marybeth had significantly improved her skiing compared to when I observed her last. Thanks to her and Gail for more great times on the mountain. It brought back many great memories of the past. Thanks to Bruce and Ted D. for being strong leaders in the Columbia Ski Club for so many years. CSC maintains as a strong organization largely because of you. Last but not least, thanks to Alexa (and Gene) for organizing and leading a great trip to Snowmass. We want to express our gratitude as this was a great father-son experience we won't ever forget.
I produced another short film titled: THE WESTERN CARNIVAL A Final Memoir. See my YouTube channel.
I spent a great half-day skiing with, coaching, and giving feedback to several CSCers at Snowmass during the trip. The following is a fulfillment of the requests to send out information on the fundamental skills and drills that we did that day: Everyone put forth great effort and worked on improving their athletic skiing! It was a lot of fun.
ATHLETIC STANCE AND BALANCE
1. Feet are hip width apart.
2. Ankles are evenly flexed (inside ski slightly ahead of outside ski).
3. Hands are out in front of the body.
4. Vision is forward (always looking ahead).
5. Majority of pressure is on the outside ski.
6. Upper body always faces downhill!
RAILROAD TRACKS
On flat or easy terrain, practice making thin/carved turns by rolling and flexing your ankles to edge your skis and pressure them in turns. Practice various turn shapes (short/medium/wide).
SHUFFLE DRILL (fore-aft balance)
Get in the front of your boots and live there!
1. Shuffle your feet back and forth in the turns.
2. Don't take your skis off the snow.
3. Try to stay in the front of your boot as much as possible.
BASIC CARVED TURNS (edging, pressure)
1. Start in a straight run (down) and then traverse and turn up the hill.
2. Use roll and flex technique (as above) to turn (up the hill).
3. Make separate turns and then later start to link them.
4. Cease turning up the hill and just progress to wide turns (then try medium radius)
PARALLEL POLES (balance)
1. Hold your ski poles parallel with the slope (palms up) out away from your body.
2. Perform carved turns keeping the poles horizontal (parallel with slope) - NO TIPPING!
3. Start with wide radius and then progress to medium radius turns.
FRAMING DRILL (rotary)
1. Hold ski poles up with tips point toward to sky.
2. Look down the slope at a particular target (framing object down the fall-line).
3. Keep upper body facing downhill through the frame.
4 Perform medium radius turns then progress to short radius turns.
ANGULATION DRILL (edging)
1. While in the athletic stance, place inside hand forward as if signaling "stop".
2. Put outside hand on outside hip and slightly drive it in as you feel the hip "pinch".
3. Hips should be level.
4. Practice fluid movement into this position for each turn (wide then medium radius).
HANDS BEHIND BACK (balance, pressure)
1. Place both hands behind your back and clasp them together.
2. In each turn, compensate for this by over-emphasis on bringing hips/upper body forward.
3. Push your hips forward with your hands (from behind).
OUTSIDE SKI (FLAMINGO) DRILL (pressure)
1. Emphasize putting your weight on your outside (downhill) ski.
2. Slightly lift the tail of the inside ski for each turn.
Note! These drills are generally organized from simple to more technically challenging. Some visuals are provided. Don't forget to add some free runs in to integrate the skills emphasized here into your free skiing. Don't get frustrated. This takes awhile to get. Give it time and repetition.
