Skiing - some pointers

Jan 15th:

Interesting class on skiing at REI.  It was by the authors of the Weekend Warrior's Ski Instruction books.  I got several useful pointers on how to ski better.


Equipment:

* Boots - must fit tight everywhere except for the toes.  A professional customized boot fitting for properly shaped liner and planed soles (for stance alignment) are worth the money.  Lateral boots (vs Rotary boots) work better with present-day skis, since these skis are designed for lateral boot.  If your boot are older than 2 years, then they are most likely rotary boot.

* Skis - I got lost in the technical level of some of the discussion, eg.  Wood/metal traditional vertical sidewall, front rocker, GS side cut; Normal camber and ski rocker;  Modern traditional early rise camber skis, no reverse camber.  But what I did gather is that you should try 3 demo skis on one day in the same ski conditions, and buy the kind that you liked best.  Also, you are better off spending most of your money on good boots, and then buying last year's second hand skis (still good skis) at the ski swap for cheap.

* Poles - should be the right length - elbows bent at slightly larger than a 90 degree angle.


Technique:

* Arms:
Hold your arms/hands as through you were hugging a big beach ball to your chest.

* Angulation:
Angle made by upper body vs legs.  Upper body should stay straight while legs should carry movement.

* Read:
Read and watch instructional videos as much as you can (Funny, he didn't mention taking lessons).

* Quick Carve Turn:
Plant pole by tip of your ski, powerful athletic stance, early turn initiation (carve), big edging.
* Practice each day:
Practice your technique for the first 3 runs of each day, on a green or blue run.  It will make a huge impact on the rest of your runs.

* Video yourself:
Have someone make a video of you skiing and review it - how you think you ski is not really how you ski.

* Ski Often:
It is not how long you ski in a day but how many day you ski that matters (related to muscle memory).

* Train:
Don't wait for the first few days of skiing to whip you back in to shape.  Train all through the summer so that you are in shape by the time winter comes.

* Ski with experts:
Ski with experts - follow them and copy their moves as they ski down the hill.